Tropical Coconut Shrimp Tacos
Tropical coconut shrimp tacos served over a chili lime coleslaw and topped with a mango papaya salsa. Seriously the best coconut shrimp tacos I’ve ever had! Eat them and you’ll feel like you’re in Maui.
I have been lucky enough to visit Hawaii twice. Once for my honeymoon, and another trip last August with my sister and her husband. It is my absolute favorite place to vacation. I would go every year if I could.
Give me a beach, a good book and a cocktail and I’m in vacation heaven.
On our honeymoon we discovered Coconut’s Fish Cafe in Maui, which makes the best fish taco’s on the island. They serve it over a crunchy coleslaw and top it with a mango salsa. We ate there 3 different times for lunch, and went again on our 2nd trip to Maui. Can’t get enough.
With a name like Coconut’s Fish Cafe, I always wish they had a coconut shrimp taco. Seems only fitting. But they don’t, so I made one myself! I didn’t think this was possible, but I like this tropical coconut shrimp taco even more than their fish taco version.
This tropical coconut shrimp taco is the crispy coconut shrimp taco of my dreams! The shrimp is coated in panko and shredded coconut, then fried in coconut oil to get even more coconut flavor. The coconut shrimp are so unbelievably crispy and crunchy and tasty, it’s hard not to eat all the shrimp before it’s taco time.
For crunch and creaminess I made a barely spicy chili lime coleslaw. The crunchy cabbage mixed with the slight spice from the chili powder and brightness from the lime juice is the perfect flavor addition to the taco.
Last, I top the taco with my tropical mango papaya salsa. Amazing! Tropical fruits mixed with cilantro, onion and lime juice.
When I make these coconut shrimp tacos, Shawn and I eat them and mentally drift away to Hawaii. He’ll look at me and say, “There is no way these taste this good.” They truly are the best taco’s I’ve ever had. Hands down. And I’ve eaten a lottttt of tacos in my day. Shawn loves them so much, he can eat 4 of them in one sitting.
You should definitely make these for Cinco De Mayo next week. And then again the following week. And then once a week for the rest of your life.
They’re that good.
Tropical Coconut Shrimp Tacos
Ingredients
Chili Lime Coleslaw
- 1/2 head of green cabbage, shredded
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise, or greek yogurt if you hate mayo
- juice from 1 lime, about 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- pinch of salt, or more to taste
- pinch of pepper, or more to taste
Mango Papaya Salsa*
- 1 medium papaya, seeded, peeled and chopped into 1/4" cubes, about 1 cup
- 3 medium mangos, pitted, peeled and chopped into 1/4" cubes, about 2 cups
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped, about 1/3 cup
- 1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, finely chopped, about 1/4 cup
- juice of 1 lime, about 2 tablespoons
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Coconut Shrimp
- 2 pounds peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed and patted dry, tails removed
- 2 eggs, cracked and beaten
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut**
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- white flour taco size tortilla's
Instructions
Chili Lime Coleslaw
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, lime juice, chili powder and salt. Stir to combine. Add in the shredded coleslaw and stir to combine. Set aside, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Mango Papaya Salsa
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the papaya, mango, red onion, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Coconut Shrimp
- In a small mixing bowl, add the eggs. On a plate, combine the panko bread crumbs, shredded coconut and salt. Stir to combine. Dredge the shrimp in the egg mixture, allow the excess to drip off, then coat in the panko coconut mixture. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with all the shrimp.
- Line a plate with paper towels for the fried shrimp to drain on, set aside.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat until very hot. Add in the coconut oil, and allow the oil to heat up for about 1-2 minutes until very hot. Add in enough shrimp to have an even layer. Do not overcrowd the pan, otherwise the shrimp will stick to each other and get soggy. Cook on first side until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown another 2-3 minutes. Transfer to the paper towel lined plate. Repeat to cook remaining shrimp.
Assemble the taco
- Assemble the tacos by layering the chili lime coleslaw, coconut shrimp, and topping with mango papaya salsa. Best served warm.
Notes
**You could use sweetened coconut, but I prefer unsweetened
More Cinco de Mayo Recipes:
Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing
More Taco Recipes from my Blogging Friends:
Slow Cooker Caribbean Beef Tacos with Mango Salsa by Sweet Peas and Saffron
Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Cabbage Slaw by Snixy Kitchen
36 Comments on “Tropical Coconut Shrimp Tacos”
Another amazing recipe! We love taco Tuesday in my house but before finding all the fun taco recipes here it was basically the same thing every week. These shrimp tacos were my favorite so far, I never thought about making coconut shrimp at home before reading things recipe. As, always the recipe was easy to follow and the flavor was also amazing. Thank you for spicing up my Taco Tuesday’s! =)
Shrimp tacos are the BEST on Taco Tuesdays! So glad you enjoyed them.
Hi! Tried these and they are truly amazing thank you for the recipe! Wondering if you can tell me if there is a way to make the shrimp ahead? Delicious recipe but time consuming and messy if you are entertaining company…. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks!
Hi Tara! I’m so glad you liked this recipe! It is one of my favorites. Whenever I make it, I pretend I’m back in Hawaii. Haha!
But yes, this is definitely a tricky recipe for entertaining company if you’re making it when they’re there. No fun standing over a hot stove frying up shrimp when everyone else is having fun! What I would do would be to fry up the shrimp, and do the oil a little hotter so the outside cooks really fast, but they’ll still be a little raw on the inside. Then I’d transfer them to a wire rimmed baking sheet and pop them in a 200 degree oven to finish cooking them, and then keep them warm. That should keep them crispy and crunchy. You could probably leave them in the oven for at least 30 minutes.
Let me know how it works! And thanks for letting me know you liked my recipe. You just made my day : )
Ah, these make me wish I were on vacation right about now! Shrimp and fish tacos are always high on my list of things to eat when I’m in a beach town. I love that you used coconut shrimp! Must try these asap!
These look so delicious, Natalie! I need to go to Hawaii some day…can you believe I’ve never been? Maybe I’ll just make these for now and mentally drift away to Hawaii ;)
Oh my goshhhh do these look good! Seriously, those shrimp are cooked so perfectly crispy. I’m in love. We went on our honeymoon to Hawaii too! These tacos sound like the perfect tropical getaway. :)