Baked Coconut Shrimp with Tropical Dipping Sauce

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Tropical Dipping Sauce is sure to be your favorite summer dinner. Crunchy shrimp that are so easy and much healthier!

There are many things I love in life, and crispy coconut shrimp is right up there with pasta, shoes and newborn babies. I don’t know what it is about it, but I just cannot get enough of the stuff. If it’s on a menu, hands down, I’m ordering it. If I spy it in the frozen section at the grocery store it’s getting thrown into my cart.

On our honeymoon in Aruba, ALL I wanted was to nibble on a cheap batch of fried coconut shrimp while listening to the waves crash into the shore. You would think this wouldn’t be a difficult feat, but much to our surprise we found the shrimp to be nearly impossible to find. After a rather lengthy Internet search, asking locals and hoping and praying to find a magical little hut on the beach serving my favorite (apparently) elusive Caribbean snack food, the only place we found that came close to delivering on my craving was going to cost us $40 for four average sized shrimp. Uhhh no thank you.

Is it too much to ask for a simple batch of crispy, sweet shrimp with a tropical dipping sauce?? In the Caribbean? You would think it would be on practically every menu of the hundreds of seafood shacks dotting the coast – nope. Needless to say, I left Aruba without my beloved coconut shrimp.

I could have just come home and high-tailed it to the closest Red Lobster, but for some reason nibbling on coconut shrimp in a suburban restaurant with red booths, dated carpet and no sign of the ocean just didn’t do it for me.

Enter: Baked Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Coconut Dipping Sauce.

Why search high and low for something I can just make at home?? At home, I can whip up coconut shrimp, turn on some Caribbean music, make myself a fruity drink and at least pretend like I’m back in Aruba.

Aside from being perfectly sweet and crunchy, these guys are baked, making them a snack food you don’t have to feel guilty indulging in. A mixture of panko breadcrumbs, and sweetened, shredded coconut is pressed into freshly peeled and deveined shrimp. They’re coated in a little bit olive oil spray and popped into the oven until they’re golden brown and crispy.

While the shrimp are browning up in the oven, I throw together a quick dipping sauce made up of non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, crushed pineapple, shredded coconut and a touch of salt. Even if shrimp aren’t your thing THIS sauce needs to be in your life. You can put it on chicken, slather it on grilled mahi mahi or just eat it for breakfast, it’s THAT good.

Are Shrimp and Prawns the Same Thing?

Shrimp and prawns differ in the shape of their bodies and the number of claws they have.

But, as far as cooking and eating them, they are completely identical and interchangeable.

Are Shrimp Seafood?

Shrimp are the most popular seafood in the United States.

Shrimp is a rich source of protein.

Shrimp may also promote heart and brain health due to its content of omega-3 fatty acids and the antioxidant astaxanthin.

How Do You Know When Shrimp is Done?

Shrimp should be cooked until the exterior is pink with red tails and the flesh is slightly opaque and a little “white” in color.

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Tropical Dipping Sauce

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