Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Marmalade Sauce
Crispy and crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, this Coconut Shrimp is as healthy as it gets. Dipped in the Spicy Marmalade Sauce, this is a party in your mouth!
During the month of December, I’m an online ordering fool. I think I may have purchased all but 2-3 gifts online this year and then I peer out the window like a nosey old woman every day waiting for the UPS truck to drop off my packages.
I love fried food so I was seriously psyched to try out an air fryer. As soon as I took it out of the box, I threw in some frozen french fries. I know….so gourmet of me but I really wanted to see if it would make them taste fried. The verdict: not really “fried” because there’s no oil involved but super crispy and just what we all strive to achieve when we bake those frozen fries. I give the french fry project an “A”. Yep, this was a winner.
Next up, frozen chicken dinosaurs (they’re just nuggets shaped like dinosaurs)….I know, more frozen but we were just warming up here. They were, also, super crispy on the outside but nice and tender on the inside. The perfect nugget without all the grease. I’ve been feeding my family chicken dinosaurs for weeks now….guilt-free. And we haven’t gone through the McDonald’s drive through in about a month. Winning!
Now was time to break out the big guns and try some of my favorite fried foods. First up….fried artichoke hearts. I wanted to love them, I really did but I couldn’t get over the raw flour flavor. Here’s a tip for AirFrying…..never, ever, ever, use flour. Period. Unless you can do something to get rid of the raw flour flavor, there’s no oil to cook it so it really just gets drier and flaky and nasty. Let’s skip it. I’ll try them again later. Next, were the Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Marmalade Sauce. I tried the recipe three times to get it right because I knew they had potential. And they turned out amazing….for an Airfryer. Crispy, crunchy and the shrimp was perfectly cooked. Not rubbery or dried out. Would I prefer Coconut Shrimp from a deep fryer? Certainly but if you’re striving to eat healthier and cut out the excess fat….this is the ticket.
Get the Recipe: Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenner pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/2 cup panko bread
- 8 ounces coconut milk
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
for the sauce:
- 1/2 cup orange marmalade
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce
Equipment
- air fryer
Instructions
- Rinse the shrimp and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, cayenne and panko bread crumbs. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the coconut milk and egg. Set aside. Fill a third shallow bowl with the shredded coconut.
- One at a time, dip the shrimp in the flour mixture, the coconut milk and then, coat in the coconut.
- Place shrimp in the basket of an air fryer and heat to 400°. Bake until shrimp is golden and cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Work in batches as necessary.
- While the shrimp are cooking, whisk together the marmalade, honey, mustard and hot sauce.
- Serve the shrimp with the sauce immediately.
22 Comments on “Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Marmalade Sauce”
What I have found to work well instead of flour is potato starch. For example, take chicken wings and rinse off, pat down with a paper towel, then shake in a plastic bag with potato starch and put in air fryer and cook until outside is getting crispy. Perfection! I bought my air fryer around Christmas as well from an electronics store for their “deal of the day.” Mine is on the smaller size but was only $50 so was perfect to try. Now I have to get a bigger one! Can’t wait to try your shrimp recipe! Thanks!
Holy cow! I had no idea that you could fry without oil. Totally worth buying an air fryer just for the fun of playing with it.
So the coconut shrimp look delish! But that marmalade sauce…oh my! I am a condiment girl at heart!
Your recipe for coconut shrimp sounds awesome! I wonder if I could do fried pickles or sweet potato fries with the air fryer….mmmmm. Thanks for the chance to win!
Pinned so I can remember that I MUST make this! Our family loves shrimp and it’s nice to do without all the oil 🙂
I saw a demo of an air fryer once and it was cool but I honestly don’t see how its much different than baking? I still kidn of want one though. haha. LOVIGN the marmalade sauce with these shrimp!
The recipe sounds delicious. I would love to make the Sriracha & Honey Tossed Calamari.