Crispy air fryer coconut shrimp are an easy and crowd-pleasing appetizer ready in just 20 minutes. Juicy shrimp are coated in a crispy coconut and panko coating, then air fried until perfectly crisp and golden brown. Add your favorite dipping sauce and watch how quickly they disappear!
Why You Will Love This Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Recipe
- Quick and Easy: Ready in 20 minutes, coconut shrimp are perfect for a fast and impressive appetizer or snack. Just dip your shrimp in an egg wash, coat in the coconut mixture and into the air fryer they go!
- Extra-Crispy Texture: Thanks to the air fryer, you get that desirable crunch without the mess or hassle of deep frying.
- Flavorful Coating: A mix of sweet coconut, panko breadcrumbs, and parsley ensures each crispy shrimp is bursting with flavor.
- Crowd Favorite: No one can resist these perfectly golden, crispy coconut shrimp! It’s easy to double or triple the batch to feed a crowd.
What You’ll Need
You likely have most of the ingredients on hand already. No need for a big shopping trip! Scroll down to the recipe card for exact amounts.
- Eggs: These work to bind the coconut breading together and help it stick to the shrimp.
- Lime Juice: This adds a surprising amount of fresh, zesty citrus flavor to cut through the richness of coconut. Lemon juice can be used instead.
- Coconut: You can use sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut, depending on your preference.
- Panko Breadcrumbs: These are a coarser Japanese style breadcrumb that crisp up beautifully in an air fryer.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Dried Parsley: Feel free to use a different dried herb, such as cilantro or basil.
- Shrimp: Opt for large shrimp with their tail on for easy grabbing. If using frozen shrimp, thaw them completely before beginning.
How to Make Coconut Shrimp in Air Fryer
Ditch the splatter and mess of deep frying! The air fryer keeps your kitchen clean while cooking. Scroll to the recipe card at bottom of the post for full detailed instructions.
- Mix the Wet Ingredients: Combine the eggs and lime juice in a small bowl.
- Mix the Breading Ingredients: In a second bowl, combine the coconut, panko, flour, salt, pepper and dried parsley.
- Bread the Shrimp: Dip each shrimp into the egg mixture, then into the coconut and panko mixture to coat on all sides. Place coated shrimp in even layer in air fryer basket sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Air Fry the Shrimp: Spray the breaded shrimp with cooking oil spray. Air fry at 375°F for 6 minutes, flipping half way through, until golden brown.
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Chef’s Tips for Success
- Preheat: If your air fryer needs it, make sure to preheat it before adding the shrimp for maximum crispiness.
- Dry Shrimp: Rinse and pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel before beginning, this will help the coating to stick.
- Use Two Hands: When breading the shrimp, it’s easiest to use one hand for the wet ingredients and a second for the dry mixture. Otherwise, your hands will easily get covered in sticky coconut.
- Don’t Overcrowd: Avoid overcrowding the air fryer basket, keeping the shrimp in a single layer without overlapping. If necessary, air fry the shrimp in batches.
- Sweet vs Savory: Use sweetened shredded coconut if you prefer coconut shrimp with a slightly sweet bite. For savory coconut shrimp with zero sweetness, use unsweetened shredded coconut.
What to Serve with Coconut Shrimp
I like to dunk these crispy shrimp in sweet chili sauce or cocktail sauce. If you are looking to make a dinner out of these shrimp, serve them over cilantro lime rice. If your hosting a party, here are some other fun appetizers to pair with these coconut shrimp:
- Hot Spinach Dip
- Cheesy Ranch Pigs in a Blanket
- Best Texas Caviar
- Crockpot Jalapeno Corn Dip
- Crispy Air Fryer Brown Sugar Chicken Legs
- Bisquick Sausage Balls
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Leftovers can be saved, but are never as good as they are when served hot and fresh!
- Store: Transfer cooled shrimp to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to four days.
- Reheat: Place the shrimp back into the air fryer at 375°F for about 2 minutes, until warmed.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing this recipe. The breading will never crisp up as well again.
Yield: 4 Servings
Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Recipe
These golden and crispy Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp are a fun, hand-held appetizer for game day. They're made in an air fryer for a totally satisfying snack.
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 ½ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened or sweetened depending on preference
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 lb large shrimp, peeled with the tail on
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Instructions
- If needed, preheat air fryer to 375°F.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and lime juice, set aside.
- In another medium sized bowl, stir the coconut, breadcrumbs, flour, salt, pepper and parsley until well combined.
- One at a time, dip each shrimp into the egg mixture, then drain and immediately dip it into the coconut mixture and press the coconut onto the shrimp.
- Place shrimp in a single layer on greased tray in air-fryer basket and then mist the shrimp with cooking oil spray. (Cook shrimp in batches if needed.)
- Cook in the air fryer at 375°F for 3 minutes, then flip and mist the tops again with cooking oil spray. Fry for 2 to 3 more minutes, until crispy and golden brown.
- Serve with your favorite sweet chili sauce and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro or parsley, if desired.
Notes
Store: Leftovers can be saved, but are never as good as they are when served hot and fresh! Transfer cooled shrimp to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to four days.
Reheat: Place the shrimp back into the air fryer at 375°F for about 2 minutes, until warmed.
Dry Shrimp: Rinse and pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel before beginning, this will help the coating to stick.
Use Two Hands: When breading the shrimp, it’s easiest to use one hand for the wet ingredients and a second for the dry mixture. Otherwise, your hands will easily get covered in sticky coconut.
Don’t Overcrowd: Avoid overcrowding the air fryer basket, keeping the shrimp in a single layer without overlapping. If necessary, air fry the shrimp in batches.
Sweet vs Savory: Use sweetened shredded coconut if you prefer coconut shrimp with a slightly sweet bite. For savory coconut shrimp with zero sweetness, use unsweetened shredded coconut.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving, Calories: 368kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 19g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 200mg, Sodium: 1165mg, Potassium: 343mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 295IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 87mg, Iron: 2mg
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Easy and good. Coating stuck for me. I added more panko and double dipped my shrimp. (Egg mixture, panko mix, back in eggs, panko)
Agreed that 7 min is too long
Thanks for sharing your air fryer recipe. Just tried it and it was great.
Gave this coconut shrimp recipe a try. It was easy and very tasty. I wish I could have gotten more of the coconut and panko mixture to stick to it. But as I said it was very good and I would make it again, thumbs up from hubby as well!
Easy and delicious. Mine cooked in 6 minutes, my shrimps were big. Just received my air fryer as a gift last night and had frozen shrimp so I made these for dinner in a snap! Thanks for the fun and easy recipe. Happy holidays!
Made these tonight, found the recipe on pinterest. Usually have fails from pinterest so I was nervous, but these came out amazing. I spritzed mine with canned avocado oil spray before air frying and they are perfectly golden and delicious. My husband is already asking me to make them again for his parents. Great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
The coating didn’t stick even though the shrimp were dry. A total of 7 min in the air fryer is waaay too long. What coating that did stick was nearly burnt and the shrimp were tough and dry. I will not be making this recipe again,
Hi Jessica … thanks for your response. I made mine with frozen shrimp that I thawed. I didn’t rinse them but they were probably too wet from thawing out. I’ll make sure I pat them dry next time. I made a dipping sauce by heating orange marmelade with some pepper flakes in it and was very tasty with the shrimp.
I made these last night and I had a real problem getting the coconut coating to stick to the shrimp. I followed the recipe exactly as written. Mine didn’t look like your picture … most of the coating was in the pan and not on the shrimp.
Hi Donna! Oh no, that stinks! Did you possibly rinse your shrimp right before dipping them? If you rinse your shrimp and they are wet right before you start, that can cause any coating to fall off. If you did rinse them right before, you can always pat them drop with a paper towel before coating them.