These Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Tacos are everything you want and more. Warm, crunchy, sweet, and a little sour – they’re the perfect way to be transported to a tropical paradise.
I think I might be a tacotarian. I could celebrate Taco Tuesday just about any day of the week. Tacos are the perfect vehicle for pretty much any food. I have to say these crispy, sweet coconut shrimp topped with crunchy, tangy honey-lime slaw is an ideal combination.
Ingredients for Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Tacos
- Purple Cabbage: I really like using purple cabbage for this slaw for a nice bright pop of color on my plate, but regular cabbage works well in this recipe too!
- Pineapple: A little chopped pineapple adds a sweet tropical flavor to the slaw.
- Cilantro: Fresh is always best when it comes to cilantro. You can always add a little more at the end for garnish.
- Lime juice: I squeeze mine fresh. I like to take a few extra wedges if I have any extra limes on hand and squeeze on top of my tacos when it’s all finished.
- Apple cider vinegar: Like lime juice, it adds a nice sour flavor that will be balanced out by the sweetness in this recipe.
- Honey: Honey is the sweetness that will balance out the sour in the slaw. If you don’t have any honey on hand, you can use agave nectar or even plain old sugar.
- Shrimp: I like to get the large EZ peel shrimp since they’re already deveined and a breeze to peel.
- Flour: I used all-purpose flour in this recipe because that’s what I had on hand. You can certainly use whatever flour you have on hand. Coconut flour would work great and help pump up the coconut flavor!
- Eggs: Eggs help the breading stick to the shrimp.
- Panko breadcrumbs: Panko has a larger crumb size than regular breadcrumbs, which gives the shrimp more of a crunch. I like to combine panko with the coconut to make the shrimp extra crunchy.
- Coconut flakes: You can use the sweet or unsweetened, whichever you prefer. I used the unsweetened because the sweet Thai chili sauce had enough sweetness for me.
- Cooking spray or melted coconut oil: If you can find spray coconut oil in the grocery store, even better! We use this to help crisp up the shrimp in the air fryer.
- Sweet Thai chili sauce: This stuff is one of my absolute favorite condiments. I could put it on everything.
- Six-inch tortillas: You can use corn or flour, whichever you prefer.
- Sriracha (optional): Not really optional for me as I love heat, but you do you.
How to Make Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Tacos
I like to start by making the slaw. It allows all of the flavors to marinate while you make the shrimp. You’ll need to coat your shrimp with the flour, eggs, and panko/coconut mixture. The breading process can be a little messy, so I try to bread the shrimp only using one hand so I can keep my hand clean.
After you coat your shrimp, you either brush on your coconut oil or use the cooking spray and then air fry away! Once the shrimp are done, you toss them in the sweet Thai chili sauce and layer with the slaw in the tacos. If you’re using sriracha, you can drizzle a little on top at the end.
Air Fryer vs. Oven Method
If you don’t have an air fryer (I highly recommend you get one!), you can make these Coconut Shrimp Tacos in the oven. You would simply need to preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You would bake the breaded shrimp on a sheet pan for 5 minutes, flip the shrimp, then bake for an additional 5 minutes. Air frying will get you crispier shrimp, but the oven method works too.
What to Serve with Tacos
📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp Tacos with Honey-Lime Slaw
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded purple cabbage
- 1 ½ cups pineapple chopped
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 1 lb. large shrimp peeled and deveined
- ⅓ cup flour
- 2 eggs beaten
- 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cooking spray or melted coconut oil for brushing
- ⅓ cup sweet Thai chili sauce
- 12 six-inch tortilla corn or flour
- Sriracha to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer to 360 F.
- Place cabbage, pineapple, and cilantro in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together lime juice, apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. salt, and honey. Pour vinegar mixture over slaw and toss. Set aside.
- Place flour, eggs, and panko in 3 separate bowls. Add coconut flakes to the bowl with panko. Season the coconut flake/panko bowl with salt and pepper to taste.
- Working in batches, dip shrimp in the flour, then the egg, then the panko breadcrumbs/coconut, coating the shrimp all over. Place shrimp in the air fryer basket, evenly spaced apart.
- Spray shrimp with cooking spray or brush with coconut oil. Cook in the air fryer for 3 minutes, flip shrimp, brush/spray with more oil, then cook for an additional 2 minutes or until shrimp are opaque when pierced with a knife.
- Toss shrimp with sweet Thai sauce. Assemble tacos by layering warm tortilla shell with slaw, then coated shrimp. Drizzle on sriracha, if using.
Adriana
Sounds delicious but I don’t have an air fryer. How would I make this without one.
Marisa
These were excellent! The slaw is so yummy! I wasn’t sure about the Thai Chili sauce so I made one with and one without sauce. Without the sauce was very good but WITH the sauce, it brought all the flavors to life! I used mango instead of pineapple. Will definitely make this again. Thanks
Melissa
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Marisa! I’m with you – the Thai chili sauce really makes it pop. I love your idea about swapping the pineapple for the mango – I think I may have to try that next time I make these!
andy
Very delicious. I was afraid to toss the shrimp in the Thai Chili Sauce so I used it as a topping. I think you could get away with one cup of panko vs two because I has so much left over after breading one pound of shrimp.
Melissa
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Andy! Thank you for the helpful feedback too!