Succulent shrimp with a golden crunchy panko and coconut shell, these delicious Baked Coconut Shrimp could easily be your family’s favorite finger food! Don’t forget the Thai chili sauce for dipping.
If you are looking for an appetizer dish to make for a party, baked Coconut Shrimp with sweet chili sauce is one of the easiest shrimp recipes I recommend. It takes only 20 minutes of prep time and simply pops it into the oven to finish.
Yes, it is BAKED, not deep-fried so it’s a much healthier alternative. The panko/shredded coconut coating has a delicious golden brown appearance and stays crispy after baking because I used the same “pre-toasted panko” technique as you may have seen in my Baked Tonkatsu, Crispy Baked Chicken, and Crispy Salmon recipes.
Watch How to Make Baked Coconut Shrimp
Succulent shrimp wrapped with a golden crunchy panko and coconut shell dipped in Thai sweet chili sauce. The best part? It’s baked!
I usually use 1 lb of large shrimp, which is about 22 pieces, for my family. The shrimps do disappear very quickly, so consider making extra if you’re hosting a party. You can dip in any kind of sauce that goes well with shrimp, but my family loves dipping in Thai sweet chili sauce. Sweet and spicy sauce on a crispy shell bursting with flavor, who could resist?
If you have extra time, make homemade sweet chili sauce yourself. I really like the homemade chili sauce I made for the Grilled Lemongrass Chicken recipe.
Dunk the crispy coconut shrimp in Thai sweet chili sauce….
Oh yes, it’s totally addicting. I have to eat at least 4-5 pieces in one sitting!
Wine Pairing with Coconut Shrimp
To go with the coconut shrimp, we paired it with a dry white wine. Mr. JOC is sharing the wine review with you guys.
Hello there, this is Mr. JOC back with a wine review. Today’s wine is a departure from our usual California wine review as it originates from Italy. I love exploring wine stores and trying wines from outside of California, especially a unique wine that tastes great and not too pricey. Masi’s Masianco is an Italian white wine with a unique blend of 75% Pinot Grigio and 25% Verduzzo. Rated 88 points by Wine Advocate, this fun white wine is perfect for relaxing in the summer sun. As you first smell the wine, you notice the light and almost perfumey aroma, with a hint of honey. Served chilled, you taste summer fruit flavors like white peach as you sip the wine. Before you know it, it’s gone already leaving behind just a tiny bit of tartness on your tongue, leaves you wanting more. I prefer to sip this wine slowly rather than drinking in large gulps to appreciate the flavors.
What gives Masi’s wine their unique flavors is their Appassimento grape drying technique, drying the grapes on bamboo racks in the winter months losing 30-40% of their weight, concentrating both sugars flavor and complexity with this process. If you are looking for a fun wine this summer at a BBQ, Masi’s Masianco will sure be a hit.
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Coconut Shrimp
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp (22 medium/large shrimp; peeled and deveined)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (plain flour)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell)
- sweet chili sauce (to serve; for my homemade recipe, click here)
- 3 sprigs cilantro (coriander) (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the panko and oil in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown (about 2 minutes).
- Transfer panko into a shallow dish and allow to cool, then combine with shredded coconut.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on the shrimp.
- Add paprika in the flour and mix together. Whisk eggs in a shallow bowl until foamy.
- Dredge each shrimp in the flour to coat completely and pat off the excess flour. Then dip into the beaten egg and finally coat with the toasted panko/coconut mixture. Press panko/coconut flakes on the shrimp to make sure they adhere.
- Place shrimp in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake at 400ºF (200ºC), until coconut is golden and shrimp are cooked through, about 15 to 17 minutes Flip once while baking.
- Add chopped cilantro in the sweet chili sauce and serve with coconut shrimp.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days and in the freezer for a month.
Many thanks for this recipe! I decided late today that I would make Coconut Shrimp, but did not want to fry them. I have used many of your delicious recipes, including the baked ton katsu, but somehow had missed the baked Coconut Shrimp. After rejecting other recipes for the anemic appearance of the finished product I landed on this one and gave it a try. Simple, easy and very effective. It was a big hit enjoyed by the entire family. No leftovers.
Many thanks
Hi Michael,
No leftovers! Yay! 👏🏻
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi, Nami! I think this Coconut Shrimp would be perfect for a cocktail party. It’s easy to make and I bet it’s delicious. Thanks for the recipe!😊
Hope you enjoy this recipe, Ashlynn!
[…] Coconut Shrimp […]
Hello, could this (delicious looking) recipe be used for bento? And if so, what would I have to do?
Hi Raven! Yes, you can use for bento. 🙂 If you’re making this previous night, I would reheat in an oven toaster to make it crunch, then let it cool completely, and pack. Condensation from warm/hot food in bento makes the food soggy, so make sure to let cool. 🙂
I baked up a batch of your coconut shrimp and loved not having to deep fry them. It would be helpful to indicate the size of the shrimp.
Aloha,
L. F.
Hi Lilian! Thank you for trying this recipe! I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll add medium to large shrimp in the recipe.
Can I use unsweetened shredded coconut instead of sweetened as in the recipe?
Hi Caroline! Yes! 🙂
I made this for Valentine’s Day. I had been searching for a Bed Coconut Shrimp recipe for a couple of days, I wasn’t satisfied with what I was finding as none of the finished recipes looked appetizing; almost all of the shrimp were pale. When I came across this recipe I liked the picture of the finished dish, so I tried it. These were great, better tasting than anything fried and looked gorgeous, nice and brown due to the toasting of the panko crumbs. We’re having it again tonight!
Ooops, above should read, Baked Coconut Shrimp!
Hi Trish! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe. Pre-toasting panko makes a huge difference on color of the final dish, texture, and taste! We use the same method for Japanese tonkatsu dish. It’s baked, and similar to deep-fried tonkatsu. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. xo
Hi Nami,
The coconut shrimps are simply scrumptious. Baking it was a bonus. Since I cannot eat spicy foods, I skipped the chili sauce and made a piña colada sauce and it was really good too. Thanks for this recipe. Darlene
Hi Darlene! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your very kind feedback. 🙂
I absolutely love your blog. I made this recipe tonight (minus the coconut) and my son absolutely loved it. I really like that it’s baked and not fried. Pre-toasting the Panko is genius! My kid has asked for this again, so this week I will make enough to try a Bento box as well for his lunch! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Minh! I’m so happy to hear your son enjoyed this recipe! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. Yes, pre-toasting panko creates really nice crunch! 🙂
What part of Japan makes this Coconuts shrimps??
I sometime get frustrated when people introduce non proper Japanese food.
Hi Nappa! This is not a Japanese food (we don’t really use coconut in Japanese cooking). My website has mostly Japanese recipes but once in a while I also include some family’s favorite recipes (only ones that we enjoy and would like to share – a lot of desserts are non Japanese). Although Just One Cookbook started as a family recipe collection, I focus on more Japanese recipes on this site. Hope this makes sense. 🙂
Hi Nami,
How can I convert my unsweetened shreeded coconut to a sweetened type for this recipe?? Or do I need to buy the sweetened shredded coconut straight from store??
Thanks for all the lovely recipes and my family loves ALL of them that I’ve tried so far… Can’t wait to try this one too… 🙂
Hi Sun Sun! I’m very sorry for my late response! I recommend to use sweetened shredded coconut if you can. I’ve tried with unsweetened once, but the unsweetened version won’t taste nearly as good. 🙂
Thank you so much for trying out so many of my dishes! xo 🙂
Hi Nami, that looks like a great recipe. I was just wondering if it would be any good cold in a bento lunch? Or is it best eaten hot. Many thanks Joli
Hi Joli! I would totally put this in a bento box! Make it crispy in the oven toaster (if you have – but do not use microwave), let it cool completely (avoid condensation from closing the lid) before you put in lunch box. It’s not going to be as crispy as right out of the oven, but I believe it makes a great bento dish! 🙂
Thanks Nami, I went ahead and made this tonight with extra for bento…but sadly they didn’t last! They were soo yummy! I secretly made some more for bento tomorrow so hope hubs will get a nice surprise. He LOVED them! Thanks Nami. I love your recipes.
How AWESOME! Thank you for letting me know. I’m so happy he really liked this recipe! I’m sure he’ll be so excited to open up bento box. 😀
Thank you for following my blog! xoxo
Hi! I just have unsweetened shredded coconut. Can I use that? Will it change the taste? Thanks 😊
Hi Cheryl! It should be okay, as the dipping sauce is sweet. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Love your healthy (baked) alternative to the fried version of some classic favorites!
This looks great and our family loves the sweet chili sauce on anything!
Thanks so much Donna! Yeah, I love sweet chili sauce on anything too! Another recipe with sweet chili sauce coming next week. 😉
Hi Nami. The Coconut Shrimp recipe looks great! I will definitely try it soon. Please correct the following error in the ingredient list: 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut (shrimp). Thanks
Thank you so much Karen! I just fixed it. Thanks for letting me know. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Thanks for sharing another great recipe. I am absolutely in love with your pre-toasted panko technique to avoid the hassle of frying… and extra calories!
Thank you Kimmi! I’m happy to hear you like the technique. It’s pretty close to deep fried texture! 🙂