Coconut Shrimp with Pina Colada Dipping Sauce

So last night we made Coconut Shrimp with pina colada dipping sauce, mashed potatoes, and cheddar garlic biscuits. These items can all be found on the traditional menu of one of America's favorite restaurant chains, but why spend money when it's easy enough to recreate at home? This dinner was absolutely amazing!! While it is very time intensive and not very forgiving on your waistline, it is well worth all the extra calories for a little taste of restaurant deliciousness in the comfort of your own home. 

Here are the ingredients you will need to make the Coconut Shrimp:

• 1 gallon peanut oil
• 1 or 2 pounds shrimp, cleaned and pealed... but leave the tail on
• 1/2 to 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 2 or 3 eggs beaten with pinch of salt

Note: If you increase one ingredient, it is imperative you increase the rest. It all really depends on how many shrimp you want to cook. We had closer to 2 lbs., so we increased the rest of the ingredients!

Directions:

• Heat oil to 350 degrees F; this will take approximately 15 to 20 minutes
• In a large, shallow dish, mix the flour with the salt
• In two separate large, shallow dishes, place shredded coconut and beaten eggs
• Roll shrimp in seasoned flour mixture. Then dip the shrimp in the beaten egg and dip in shredded coconut, making sure that each shrimp is fully coated
• Using the fryer basket, fry the shrimp until they turn golden brown - about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove and drain on paper towels.

Now here are the ingredients for the Pina Colada Dipping Sauce:

• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup pina colada nonalcoholic drink mix
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup crushed pineapple
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

• combine all of the ingredients and mix well
• put in the refrigerator while preparing the shrimp

I won't add the recipe for the cheddar biscuits because I've blogged about them previously. However, you MUST make them with this meal. Here is the recipe for the biscuits [the link routes you to my fettuccine dish where my biscuits first appeared!!]

This dish was as delicious and better than going out to eat. You can pair these shrimp with anything your heart desires - I only made the biscuits and mashed potatoes, mainly because it took so long to prepare the shrimp and I was over the preparation and ready to get down to the eating part. However, broccoli, baked potatoes or even rice pilaf would pair wonderfully with this!

This meal is a great dish for the holidays, particularly because seafood is such a huge part of Christmas and New Years. It's a nice way to add a twist on a typical shrimp dish; it's not the only one out there and it will be my goal to find new and creative ways to dress up normal seafood meals. Plus this was so good!!!

 

Until next time, happy experimenting!!

Comments

[Tina]

Oh my gosh! I will definitely try this. We have a place here, Bayou Bistro, that serves this exact same dish! I order it every time I'm there! I can't wait to try this recipe!

[Cooking With Mel]

You'll have to come back after you try it to tell me how you like it!! It's a little time consuming to prep it, but SO SO worth it!! It's delicious!! Thanks for popping in Tina!! Happy Saturday! :)