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Baked Coconut Shrimp With Piña Colada Sauce

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Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Baked Coconut Shrimp With Piña Colada Sauce

Before switching over to a real food lifestyle, I used to love coconut shrimp. I figured there had to be a delicious healthy version I could make at home. Luckily, this one worked out within the first couple tries and couldn’t be easier!

So here it is… straight from what I like to call “The Mess Kitchen.” (Test Kitchen seemed too official, and mess more accurately describes it most days!)

How to Make Baked Coconut Shrimp

Although it sounds fancy, making coconut shrimp really just takes a few easy steps. First, dip the shrimp in seasoned cassava flour, then in beaten egg. Roll in a mixture of almond flour and shredded coconut. (I prefer to use unsweetened shredded coconut and then dip the finished shrimp in a sweet dipping sauce… recipe below!)

I like to use large shrimp for this recipe, but you can use whatever size you’d like. Just make sure that they are peeled, deveined, and cleaned with the tail left on (it’s the perfect handle when eating). I also love shrimp in this Greek shrimp saganaki recipe!

Late afternoon is a really busy time of day around here so I like to bread the shrimp ahead of time and refrigerate them for a few hours until I’m ready to cook. Then it’s easy to just toss them in the oven while I prepare the sides.

Note: Some people like to butterfly their shrimp prior to breading and cooking. This means that they are slit part of the way through along the back to open them up a little bit. Check out this tutorial for detailed instructions on cleaning and butterflying shrimp.

Piña Colada Dipping Sauce

Since I use unsweetened coconut to bread the shrimp, we like a little sweetness with the dipping sauce. Since tropical fruits pair really well with the coconut, we usually serve this dish with a mango chili sauce or our favorite, piña colada sauce. You can make these sauces ahead of time and use the leftovers to jazz up other meals during the week.

To make piña colada sauce, pureé fresh or canned pineapple, add the cream from the top of a can of coconut milk, and sweeten with a little honey.

To make the mango chili sauce, pureé fresh (or frozen and thawed) mango, a little homemade sriracha sauce, honey, a squeeze of lime juice, and enough olive oil to make the sauce the right consistency for dipping.

What to Serve With It

These shrimp can be served in a variety of ways. They make a great appetizer or snack for a party but are also filling enough to be served as the protein for a meal.

I often serve coconut shrimp on a bed of salad greens with sliced cucumber and tomatoes. Add a drizzle of one of the dipping sauces for a dressing or my sweet and tangy Asian ginger vinaigrette and it’s a meal!

Baked Coconut Shrimp Recipe

Healthy baked coconut shrimp made with coconut flakes, cassava, and almond flour. Make an easy pina colada sauce for dipping.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Calories 639kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

4 people

Ingredients

Piña Colada Dipping Sauce

Instructions

To make the shrimp:

  • Preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • Place the coconut oil on a baking sheet and place it in the oven to melt.
  • In a medium size bowl, mix together the cassava flour and spices and set aside.
  • In a small bowl, beat the eggs and set aside.
  • In another medium size bowl, mix together the almond flour and coconut flakes.
  • Dip the shrimp first into the bowl with the cassava flour and spices, then the beaten eggs, and finally the bowl with coconut and almond flour mixture, pressing gently to help it stick.
  • Remove the baking sheet from the oven and gently place shrimp in a single layer on the baking sheet.
  • Drizzle the shrimp with olive oil and return the pan to the oven.
  • Bake 10-12 minutes until the outside of the shrimp are golden and shrimp are cooked.

To make the dipping sauce:

  • While the shrimp are baking, in a small bowl, whisk together the pineapple, cream, and honey.
  • Serve the shrimp immediately with the pineapple dipping sauce.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Baked Coconut Shrimp Recipe
Amount Per Serving (8 shrimps)
Calories 639 Calories from Fat 369
% Daily Value*
Fat 41g63%
Saturated Fat 22g138%
Cholesterol 378mg126%
Sodium 1216mg53%
Potassium 324mg9%
Carbohydrates 41g14%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 21g23%
Protein 31g62%
Vitamin A 264IU5%
Vitamin C 12mg15%
Calcium 250mg25%
Iron 5mg28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

  • Blend the sauce with an immersion blender if you like a smoother sauce.
  • OR Blend fresh mango with a splash of sriracha, lime juice, honey, and some olive oil for a mango sauce.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Ever made a healthy version of an unhealthy recipe? How’d it go? Let me know below (and share the recipe!)

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

27 responses to “Baked Coconut Shrimp With Piña Colada Sauce”

  1. Amanda Avatar

    5 stars
    These are awesome!

    Like you, I was a big fan of coconut shrimp before beginning my healthy eating journey. My husband used to ask on date night, “so, which coconut shrimpery are we going to tonight?” ?

    Three of the four of us love it. My littlest one prefers hers only dredged in the coconut flour, not the “breading” mixture. But, that’s an easy accommodation. And I’m sure that she’ll eventually see the light! Haha.

    I do make slightly more of the breading mixture as I found I ran out before all the shrimp were covered the first two times I made the recipe. Everything else has worked for me exactly as written.

    Thank you, Katie, for a winning recipe! This has earned a spot in our monthly rotation, for sure.

  2. Amanda Avatar

    5 stars
    Delicious! My whole family happily gobbled these up… even the 6 yo. The coconut-pineapple dipping sauce was the real star for us.

    Can’t wait to make it again. Thanks so much for the recipe!

  3. Pam Avatar

    You say that peanuts are not nuts so what are they and are they good for you! Are beans good for you like red beans or black beans?

    1. Katie - Wellness Mama Avatar

      Peanuts are technically legumes but they are very high allergen and some people react very negatively to them. Same with beans. They can be very healthy for some people, but others don’t tolerate the specific lectins in beans very well.

  4. Kaya Avatar

    I’d really love to know if I can bake this instead of fry it. I’m just not a fan of frying anything, it never seems to work right for me.

  5. Jessica Avatar
    Jessica

    5 stars
    I made this last night and it was amazing!!! I also made the pina colada sauce in my vitamix and it was delicious….definitely added to the shrimp!!!!

  6. Cindy Avatar

    Katie, I have learned that the way shrimp are processed, we should never consume it, especially farm raised. Do you have a good source?

    1. samantha Avatar
      samantha

      Hi there,

      Did you (or anyone else seeing this!) try baking them? I would like to try as well – any thoughts on this Wellness Mama? Thanks!

  7. Shannon McCrady Avatar
    Shannon McCrady

    I skipped the flour entirely and it worked just fine! Thanks for the delish recipe! Everybody loved it!

  8. Juenara Washington Avatar
    Juenara Washington

    I made this today and can’t stop eating it….quick and tasty…Will try to substiute chix for the kids…thanks for posting this.

  9. raquel Avatar

    Is there any tallow left after the shrimp are fried? If there is should I re-use it? I just got grassfed beef tallow today and can’t wait to try this recipe!

  10. Amber Avatar

    This looks delicious…I have been making almond popcorn shrimp for my girls for a while now, but who knew it would be so easy to turn it into coconut shrimp?! Can’t wait to try it out this weekend when family comes to visit.

  11. Erin Avatar

    we don’t et shrimp but will eat other types of fish or chicken. Any ideas?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      Can easily work for bite size pieces of chicken or white fish.

  12. Beth Grant Avatar
    Beth Grant

    We made this twice this week. The first time we only had small shrimp on hand, and it didn’t work so well.
    The second time we made sure to have the Jumbo Shrimp and it was amazing! Will definitely be making this again.

  13. Jen Avatar

    Thank you for this recipe.  I also love coconut shrimp and order it every time I see it on a restaurant menu.  I know I’m just fooling myself when I tell myself it’s ok to order it because they really only use coconut in the batter 😉  Been on and off paleo for going on a year now, and ready to get back on track.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      You can just use coconut milk with arrowroot powder in it…

      1. Kendra Avatar

        Should you use full fat coconut milk, or any? And can you use tapioca flour instead of arrowroot? Just wondering if other combinations have been tried for egg substitute. Thanks! I am looking forward to making this for my kids!

  14. April Avatar

    Delicious! I love coconut shrimp. This recipe was truly easy. Thank you!

  15. Lisa G Avatar

    I substituted 1/4 cup of coconut flour for the 1 cup white flour in my apple crisp recipe.  It turned out great.  Even my very picky father-in-law liked it.  The coconut flavor really added to it.  Just make sure your oatmeal is gluten free if you are trying to go that route.  I will make it for him again on Fathers day. 

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