Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce

This sweet & crunchy Coconut Shrimp is irresistible. It is traditionally deep fried but since we are having so much fun with our air fryer, we decided to make this a healthier version!

We used the Ninja Max XL air fryer for this recipe.

Ingredients

For the Shrimp:

• 1 lb large Shrimp, deveined & peeled with tails attached

• 1 cup Panko

• 1 cup sweetened Coconut flakes

• 1/4 cup all purpose Flour

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 2 eggs, whisked

• Avocado oil spray (for air fryer)

Sweet Chili Sauce:

• 1/4 cup Rice Vinegar

• 1/3 cup Water

• 1/2 Tbsp Sambal

• 3 Tbsp Sugar

• 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water (to thicken sauce)

Instructions

Set up 4 separate plates for breading:

1) Flour, salt, pepper

2) Beaten eggs

3) Panko + Coconut flakes

4) Empty plate for coated shrimp

1. Hold the shrimp by the tail and dip it into the flour, then the eggs, then dredge the shrimp into the panko & coconut flakes. Press the breading into it until fully coated. Place coated shrimp on a plate and continue breading the remaining shrimp.

2. Preheat air fryer at 300F for 3 minutes. Spray avocado oil on shrimp and place it in the air fryer basket. Don't over crowd. You may have to work in several batches. Air fry at 300F for 7 minutes. At 3.5 mins, open the basket -- flip shrimp over and spray avocado oil. Continue to cook until done.

3. In a sauce pan- add rice vinegar, water, sambal, and sugar, then simmer on low heat for a few minutes. Once simmered, add cornstarch + water mixture to thicken the sauce.

Notes:

You may want to test out your air fryer temp settings with 1-3 shrimp first. We tested ours a few times and we noticed that the Ninja has a strong wattage. We initially followed most recipes to air fry at 400F for 10 mins but it burnt the coconut flakes! 300F for 3 minutes was perfect for us.

If you make this recipe, we'd love to see it! Tag us at @NY.Foodie on your stories & posts.