Beer-Battered Coconut Chicken with Orange-Horseradish Sauce

This crispy coconut chicken is absolutely delicious. A simple beer batter tenderizes chicken breast strips, then they’re rolled in coconut and pan-fried to crispy perfection. Dipped in an orange marmalade-horseradish sauce that’s loaded with flavor, this is one of our all-time favorite recipes!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Beer-battered coconut chicken strips might just become your new favorite recipe. There’s so much flavor here, between the flaked coconut, the beer batter, and the tangy orange-horseradish sauce. Delish!
• These coconut chicken strips crisp up beautifully! The double “breading” of flour and coconut flakes gives the chicken strips a coating that gets deliciously crispy when you pan-fry it. The chicken stays tender and juicy inside, too.
• They’re so easy to make! It might look involved, but once you get into a rhythm, you’ll have breaded, fried, crispy chicken strips in no time.
• It’s a terrific freezer meal option! After you dredge the chicken in flour, batter, and coconut, set the battered strips out on a baking sheet and pop the baking sheet straight into the freezer. Let them chill (ha) for 1-2 hours, or until they’re completely frozen. After that you can transfer them to a freezer-safe sealable bag or airtight container. They’ll keep in the freezer for several months! You can also freeze the fully-cooked chicken strips. Just let them cool completely first, then use the same freezing method as above.

Key Ingredients

Flaked Coconut – Sweetened or unsweetened coconut will work here. It just depends on what you prefer! You could also use shredded coconut if you prefer it.

Beer – The type of beer you use here is entirely up to you. An amber or a stout will give you pronounced flavors. Pilsners and lagers are typically the beer of choice for beer-battered chicken, thanks to their bubbles! They’ll keep the batter light. If you opt not to use beer in your batter at all, try replacing it with apple cider vinegar or club soda. The carbonation in the club soda will mimic the bubbles in the beer, keeping the batter light. Note that the flavor will be different depending on what you use!

Chicken Breasts – You can also use store-bought, pre-cut chicken tenders to make this recipe a little easier and faster. Just make sure they’re skinless and unbreaded. If you’re using frozen chicken you’ll need to thaw it completely first!

Chef’s Tips

• If your coconut flakes seem pretty big, run them through a food processor or high speed blender first, just for a few seconds. They’ll stick better if they’re small, but you don’t want them to be too small. If they’re too small, you won’t get a good crisp.
• For the crispiest coconut chicken possible, you really need to do both steps – the pan-frying AND the baking. If you don’t want to fry the chicken, you can go straight to the oven with them. The breading won’t be as crispy, though!
• Make sure your oil is hot enough before adding the chicken. Too hot and the breading will burn; not hot enough, it’ll just soak up oil. The temperature should be somewhere from 350°-375° Fahrenheit. Use a deep frying thermometer to monitor the temp, or if you don’t have one, use a wooden spoon! Just dip the handle of the wooden spoon in the hot oil. If it bubbles steadily (not violently) around the spoon handle, you’re good to go!
• Cold beer will make the batter come out crispier than if you use room temperature beer. Also, if your batter seems too thick, you can add a little more beer. A thinner batter will give your coconut chicken strips a lighter coating. Don’t go too thin, though. You want the coconut to be able to stick!

Try These Other Delicious Recipes, Too!

• Beer Cheese Dip
• Perfectly Crispy Gluten Free Fried Chicken
• Texas Caviar (aka Cowboy Caviar)
• Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken
• Sous Vide Tri Tip with Easy Chimichurri Sauce
• Creamy Coconut Chicken with Lime
• Cheese Grits (Stone-Ground & Quick Grits Options)
• Buffalo Burger with an Easy Burger Sauce