You may have heard of deep frying food in hot oil or baking it in an oven, but did you know there was another option for cooking seafood – air frying.
This method uses hot air to fry foods without using any fat at all, which means that no unhealthy oils will be used during preparation.
If you’re looking for something tasty yet healthy, then these air fried spicy coconut shrimp might just be what you need.
Do You Like Air Fried Spicy Coconut Shrimp?
Air-fried spicy coconut shrimp come from Thailand, where they were created by combining traditional Thai ingredients such as chili peppers, garlic, lemon grass, lemongrass, shallots, and turmeric into one delicious recipe.
The result is a unique combination of flavors that create a wonderful balance between sweetness and spice.
These shrimp also contain high levels of protein, so they can easily be incorporated into a meal plan that includes other nutritious proteins, such as chicken breast, eggs, pork chops, salmon, tofu, and even beef strips.
If you want to try out this new snack on your own, then click here to learn how to cook air fried spicy coconut shrimp.
You’ll find step-by-step instructions along with tips for making them even tastier and more flavorful.
What Is Your Favorite Thing About Air Fried Shrimp?
The best part of this recipe is that it doesn’t require any oil to cook them in, making them much healthier than traditional methods of preparing shrimp.
They also taste amazing because they’re cooked in fresh air instead of hot oil.
This gives them a crispier exterior while keeping their meat juicy inside, so you’ll get maximum flavor from every bite.
If you want to try out other recipes, check out our list of the top ten most delicious air fried dishes on the internet.
These air fried spicy coconut shrimp can serve as either a starter or side dish, depending on how many people you’re serving.
You could even use them as a filling for tacos if you don’t feel like eating shrimp shells.
For those who aren’t fond of shrimp, you can easily change up this recipe by replacing the shrimp with chicken pieces or fish fillets.
It’s really easy to switch out ingredients when you’ve got such versatile options available to you.
How to prepare air fried spicy coconut shrimp
- Cut the heads off of each shrimp, leaving the tails intact.
- Clean the shrimp well under running water until no sand remains in between the shell and flesh.
- Dip each piece into flour, shaking off excess after each dip.
- Heat some vegetable oil over medium heat in a large skillet.
- Add one tablespoon of olive oil into the pan once the oil has heated enough to sizzle.
- Once the oil starts to shimmer, add half of the floured shrimp to the pan.
- Cook the shrimp for 3 minutes per side (or 5 minutes total), ensuring that the outside of the shrimp is nice and crispy.
- Remove the shrimp from the pan onto paper towels to drain off extra grease.
- Repeat steps 4-6 for the remaining shrimp.
What Is Your Favorite Dipping Sauce For Air Fried Shrimp?
Air-fried seafood gets its name from the fact that it doesn’t require any traditional fats like butter, lard, shortening, or olive oil.
Instead, this type of cooking relies on pure heat to cook seafood while keeping them moist and tender.
In order to achieve this, you can either use convection or conduction (or both).
Air fryers usually feature a fan system that circulates heated air through the chamber where you place your food items while also allowing some fresh air into the room so that evaporation isn’t too rapid.
If you want to learn more about air frying, check out our guide here.
It has lots of information about how to get started, as well as tips and tricks to help you become a better chef.
While air frying seems simple enough, there are actually many different ways to prepare the food.
One popular way involves using a marinade, such as one made with soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, chives, onion powder, lemon juice, and other spices.
This mixture is often poured over the shrimp before they go onto the pan for air frying.
Once cooked, the shrimp are placed back onto the pan along with their marinade.
The marinade will continue to cook the shrimp until it reaches a desired doneness level, and then serve it up as part of a larger meal.
Another common recipe for air fried shrimp includes breading the shrimp first.
Then, the shrimp are dipped into flour, beaten eggs, and cornstarch, and finally put into the hot oil.
When the batter bubbles, the shrimp are removed from the oil and placed onto paper towels to dry off.
When choosing your favorite dipping sauce for air fried shrimp, it really depends on what kind of flavor profile you prefer.
Some people love things that are tangy, while others enjoy sweeter flavors, and still others enjoy a mix of sweet and savory flavors.
Whatever your preference, we hope you enjoy trying out one of these recipes below.
How Do You Make Air Fried Shrimp?
When you think “air frying,” one word comes to mind immediately – crispy, crunchy, golden brown.
The process involves placing raw ingredients into a sealed container (like a plastic bag) and allowing them to cook under extremely hot conditions.
This ensures that they don’t lose their moisture and become soggy and limp when cooked.
Once placed inside the air fryer basket, the air fryer heats up rapidly and cooks the food from within.
The result is perfectly seasoned, juicy, crisp-crusted shrimp that can easily be served as an appetizer or side dish.
If you want to make this recipe more filling, feel free to add some toppings like diced tomatoes, red onion, bell peppers, jalapeños, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, and even fresh basil leaves.
You can also use canned chili sauce instead of making homemade salsa if you prefer.
What Is Your Favorite Thing To Eat Air Fried Shrimp With?
These air fried spicy coconut shrimp can be eaten alone as an appetizer, or paired up with other dishes like salads, sandwiches, tacos, pasta, rice bowls, and more.
You can even serve them on their own as an entrée if you want to add some protein to your meal.
However, one of my personal favorites is pairing these delicious snacks with a slice of grilled pineapple.
The sweetness of the fruit balances out the spiciness of the shrimp perfectly, creating a flavorful treat that is both fun and filling.
If you’d rather not use pineapple for this recipe, feel free to swap in mango, peaches, plums, nectarines, or apples instead.
Just remember to keep the amount of sugar low so that the fruit doesn’t end up too sweet.
Plus, you can always toss together a salad with your air fried shrimp to round out your meal.
What Is The Best Way To Cook Air Fried Shrimp?
These air fried coconut shrimp can be made as an appetizer or part of a larger meal.
You can serve them on their own if you want, but they would also go well with rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, salads, vegetables, and desserts.
How to prepare air fried spicy coconut shrimp
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour (1/4 cup), salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper.
- Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add half of the shrimp by placing them flat side down into the pan, leaving enough space between each shrimp so they don’t touch one another. Cook for 2 minutes, flip, and cook for another 2 minutes. Repeat this process 3 more times with the remaining shrimp.
- Using tongs, remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the other tablespoon of vegetable oil back into the pan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Once the oil is hot, add the rest of the shrimp and continue to cook for 4 minutes per side.
- Remove shrimp from the pan again and let cool slightly before serving.
What Is The Worst Thing About Air Fried Shrimp?
While many people love this type of cooking because of its health benefits, others find it too bland and boring.
The truth is that most air fried dishes don’t taste like much more than plain breading on top of whatever they’re coated in.
This can lead to underwhelming results if your guests aren’t expecting anything special when they bite into them.
If you want to spice up your air fried shrimps so that you can wow your friends, then try one of our favorite recipes below.
How Long Does It Take To Cook Air Fried Shrimp?
Cooking time depends on how big your batch of shrimp is.
It can vary from as little as 20 seconds per piece to longer than 30 minutes if you choose to use more shrimp than recommended by the recipe.
The average cooking time for this recipe is around 15-20 minutes depending on whether you use smaller or larger shrimp.
The most important factor when determining how long it takes to cook shrimp is temperature control.
To achieve consistent results, keep track of the internal temperature of the shrimp and adjust accordingly.
Temperature Control Tips
- When the shrimp reaches 145 degrees F (63 C), remove them from the heat source immediately and let them cool completely before serving.
- If you want to add additional flavor to the shrimp once they come out of the fryer, you can prepare a marinade beforehand and apply it right after removing the cooked shrimp from the fryer.
- For extra crispy shrimp, dip the finished product into a bowl filled with cornstarch and set aside until it comes back up to room temperature.
More info on air fried shrimp recipes
- How to Air Fry Chicken
- How to Air Fry Fish
- How to Cook Crispy Baked Tilapia With Garlic Sauce
- How to Make Easy Roasted Salmon
- How to Deep Fry Seafood
- How to Bake Fish Fillets
What Is The Best Way To Eat Air Fried Shrimp?
These air fried coconut shrimp are crispy on the outside while still retaining their softness on the inside.
The shrimp are also seasoned with the most delicious seasoning I’ve ever tasted, so they taste like they came straight from Hawaii.
And because this recipe doesn’t use any oil or grease whatsoever, your body won’t absorb them either.
As far as how many people can enjoy one serving goes, my family has happily eaten two servings each (which would be about 16-20 medium sized shrimp).
But if you want to feed more than one person at once, simply double up on everything else too.
So, here we go! Let’s get started…
How Often Do You Eat Air Fried Shrimp?
I love this recipe because it’s such a simple concept that anyone can cook, even if they don’t own a kitchen appliance like an electric stove or a wok.
The only equipment needed is an airfryer (which retails between $100-$200 depending on size) and some tongs.
The first step when making these airfried spicy coconut shrimp is to mix together the ingredients for your batter.
This includes flour, cornstarch, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and egg.
Then simply add water until the mixture forms a thick paste-like consistency.
Don’t worry about measuring too much here as adding more water than you think you need will cause the shrimp to become soggy once cooked.
Next, cut up the shrimp and place them into a large bowl covered by plastic wrap so they stay dry while you work.
Once you remove the plastic wrap from the bowl, dip each piece of shrimp individually into the batter, being careful not to allow excess to drip off.
After dipping each shrimp, put it back into the bowl and repeat until all pieces are coated in the batter.
Once you’ve finished coating all of the shrimp, let it sit for 30 minutes before placing it inside your air fryer basket.
To avoid burning yourself, never leave your air fryer unattended while it is heating up.
When the air fryer has reached its desired temperature, put the shrimp inside and close the lid.
Cook for 3-4 minutes per batch, turning halfway through the process.
After 3-4 minutes, turn down the heat and continue to cook the shrimp for 1 additional minute.
Remove the shrimp from the air fryer and serve immediately.
Equipment
- 1 Air fryer
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled and deveined, tails on
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- Sweet chile sauce
Instructions
- air fryer's basket should be sprayed with cooking spray before being placed away. Between two paper towels, pat the shrimp dry before seasoning with a sprinkle of salt and a few grinds of pepper.
- In a food processor, pulse the coconut and panko until the ingredients are uniformly finely minced. Place in a small bowl.
- In a separate shallow basin or baking dish, stir the flour with 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. In a third shallow dish, whisk the eggs with a small amount of salt. Before dipping a shrimp in the beaten egg, dip it in the seasoned flour, brushing off any excess. When equally coated, dredge in the coconut-panko mixture and turn. Continue doing this until all the shrimp are covered, then transfer to a big dish or rimmed baking sheet.
- Set the air fryer's thermostat to 385 degrees. Put part of the shrimp in the fryer basket in a single layer as you work in batches, and then spritz liberally with more nonstick cooking spray. Cook for 10 minutes, rotating the shrimp halfway through, until they are well cooked and golden.
- Serve some sweet chile sauce beside the coconut shrimp for dipping.
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My blog is all about creating delicious meals with ingredients that are easy to find in your local grocery store. I’m passionate about making yummy meals that I can share with my friends and family.