Whole30 Coconut Shrimp with Orange Sauce (Paleo)
Posted: 03/07/18
Updated: 03/06/23
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These Whole30 coconut shrimp with orange sauce are the best dang Whole30 coconut shrimp, I swear it. With a crispy, coconutty shell and a delicious orange sauce, these are a quick Whole30 dinner recipe and they’d work beautifully for company, too. Your friends would never guess they’re Whole30 coconut shrimp! One of our very favorite quick Whole30 dinner recipes for sure.
Number one craving this pregnancy? You’d never guess it.
Well, you might, considering the title of this post. You just might… OK, fine, it’s Whole30 coconut shrimp with orange sauce. And sure, maybe it wasn’t Whole30 coconut shrimp with orange sauce during the roughest part of the first trimester but just any damn coconut shrimp within a 5-mile radius, but man, I would’ve done anything for a plate of crispy coconut shrimp and a sweet sauce for dipping. Anything.
Except drive 6 miles to the closest Outback to get my orange sauce fix. You know. That first trimester is tiring!
So I essentially staved my craving off for weeks until I was feeling better, feeling enough energy to cook, not offended by the mere presence of the garbage can next to me in the kitchen. And I made the best damn Whole30 coconut shrimp in the world. And yeah, I haven’t probably tasted every single Whole30 coconut shrimp recipe out there, but I can say with confidence that this is the one, y’all.
I was worried, in fact, that the coconut wouldn’t stick right or coat everything in a crispy, coconutty shell. That the sauce would be too orangey, not grounded and a bit spicy, kinda like the stuff at Outback. What I should’ve been worrked about, really, was that my neighbors would wonder just what in the world was going on when we were eating these.
Groans and moans the entire time, that ohmygahhhhh this is amazing. Ohhhhhhh honey this is so good. Holy moooooly I am amazing.
These Whole30 coconut shrimp with orange sauce? Yeah, they’re that damn good.
The coconut shell is crispy and somehow takes on the form of a batter with just a couple ingredients. They’re easy to fry up and the coconut sticks well. The sauce is, again, just a few ingredients and shockingly good. The shrimp cook quickly and are so tender yet so, so full of flavor. I might even make the claim that this Whole30 coconut shrimp recipe is one of my best ever.
Aside from my Whole30 In N Out burgers (double double animal style, duh), my paleo chocolate mousse dip, and uh… like 19 others. But you know. All the love for my recipes, I have it. I have it all. I wouldn’t share less than whoa recipes with you all!
So here’s the deal.
Can I Use Regular Orange Marmalade?
Not if you want these Whole30 coconut shrimp to be, uh, Whole30. If you’re just paleo, roll with whatever. But if you’re on a Whole30, you’ll have to use St. Dalfour Orange Marmalade: it’s sweetened solely with fruit juice, making it Whole30 compliant.
I learned of the stuff when I made NomNomPaleo’s curry turkey bites with apricot-ginger sauce years back, and it works perfectly in this sauce. The sauce will be a little more bitter than a standard orange marmalade sauce, because there’s no white sugar in there blitzing your tastebuds, but I actually prefer the taste! It’s more complex and works beautifully with the mustard and horseradish.
Can I Bake These?
I wouldn’t. You risk overcooking the shrimp and the “breading” won’t get that beautiful golden crisp it needs. If your reason for wanting to bake the shrimp is to avoid oil, I would still pan-fry them. You really don’t need too much coconut oil to crisp up the coconut shell beautifully.
Can I Cook These in the Air Fryer?
I’m not sure – I haven’t tried it myself. But it seems like it would work! Try cooking the shrimp in batches at 390ºF for 5 minutes, making sure to not overcrowd the basket. Use an air-fryer-safe spray oil on the basket, and give the tops of the shrimp a spritz, too. That’ll help the coconut crisp right up.
A Few of Our Most Popular Whole30 Recipes
- Balsamic Whole30 Salad Dressing
- Whole30 Marry Me Chicken (Paleo, Dairy Free)
- Easy Whole30 Dump Ranch Dressing
- Dates Wrapped in Bacon
- Whole30 Meatballs with Marinara Sauce
- Slow Cooker Fajitas
- Whole30 Fish Taco Bowl with Mango Salsa and Chipotle Aioli (Paleo, Low Carb)
- Instant Pot Paleo Chicken Soup
- Whole30 Chicken Tenders (Paleo, Low Carb, Gluten Free)
- Whole30 Loaded Sweet Potato Fries (Paleo, Dairy Free, Gluten Free)
Whole30 Coconut Shrimp with Orange Sauce (Paleo)
With a crispy, coconutty shell and a delicious orange sauce, these coconut shrimp are a quick Whole30 dinner recipe.
servings
Ingredients
For the Orange Sauce
- ½ cup St. Dalfour orange marmalade see Notes
- 2 teaspoons stone ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
- 1 pinch salt
For the Coconut "Breading"
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 1 cup shredded coconut must be unsweetened
For the Shrimp
- 1 pound large shrimp peeled, deveined
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil for frying, plus more as needed; see Notes
- 1 pinch salt
Equipment
- medium bowl with lid or plastic wrap to cover
- Whisk
- 2 shallow bowls
- Baking sheet
- Large skillet
- slotted spoon or spatula
- Plate lined with paper towels or wire cooling rack over paper towels
Instructions
- Add orange marmalade, stone ground mustard, horseradish, and salt to medium mixing bowl. Whisk well until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Cover bowl and refrigerate sauce until ready to serve.
- Crack 2 eggs directly into one shallow bowl. Carefully whisk eggs until pale in color and no longer streaky. Set aside.
- Add coconut flour and unsweetened shredded coconut to second shallow bowl. Mix well until ingredients are thoroughly distributed. Set aside.
- Season shrimp well with salt on all sides. One by one, dip salted shrimp in egg mixture, making sure to coat all sides of shrimp well. Allow any excess egg to drip back into bowl.
- Place egg-washed shrimp in bowl with coconut "breading" mixture. Cover shrimp with large pinches of coconut mixture and gently press on shrimp to fully coat all sides.
- Transfer "breaded" shrimp to baking sheet and set aside. Repeat process with egg wash and "breading" until all shrimp have been coated. Note: if you run low on "breading", replenish as needed with 4:1 coconut to coconut flour ratio (i.e. – ¼ cup shredded coconut with 1 tablespoon coconut flour).
- When all shrimp has been "breaded", heat large skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add coconut oil and swirl pan to coat. When oil is hot and shimmering, add shrimp to skillet, working in batches as needed to avoid overcrowding. Pan-fry shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes, then flip and fry another 1-2 minutes or until breading is just golden brown on both sides.
- Transfer cooked shrimp to plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil. Note: for crispier breading, place shrimp on wire cooling rack over paper towels rather than plate. Repeat frying process until all shrimp have been fried, making sure to wipe skillet out between each batch and replenish with new oil to prevent residual "breading" from burning.
- When all shrimp have been fried and oil has drained, divide shrimp into portions and serve with plenty of chilled orange sauce.
Notes
- Orange Marmalade: For this to be a Whole30 recipe, you must use an orange marmalade that’s sweetened only with orange juice. Any other sweeteners are not Whole30-compliant. If you’re paleo or not following any specialty diets, use your favorite orange marmalade that meets your needs.
- Coconut Oil: I prefer to use refined coconut oil here, but unrefined works great, too.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 409kcal, Protein: 21g, Fat: 22g, Saturated Fat: 17g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 189mg, Sodium: 717mg, Potassium: 427mg, Total Carbs: 32g, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 24g, Net Carbs: 25g, Vitamin A: 273IU, Vitamin C: 0.3mg, Calcium: 72mg, Iron: 1mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
I followed the direction but no matter how fast I flipped the coconut seemed to burn 😩. I even lowered the pan temperature. Not sure how everyone else had such success.
Oh, no! I’m so sorry that was your experience with this recipe, Grace! It’s possible that, even though you turned the temperature under the skillet down, the oil was already too hot and didn’t have a chance to cool off as much as it needed to. I hope you’ll give this one another try!
These were amazing!!
Do you by chance know how long these would last in the fridge? Or could you freeze them?
This will last a few days in the fridge, probably no more than 4 days. You could definitely freeze this too!
Hello! The recipe doesn’t specify what should be mixed with what. Could you specify that for me please? Thank you!
Thanks for the catch! We recently moved some of my older recipes to the new recipe card program we use, and some things got lost along the way. It should be fixed now!
I loved this recipe! I’ve tried several of yours, but this is my favorite! What sides do you like with these?
You state in step 1 to “combine sauce ingredients” — can you clarify which ingredients you mean?
Additionally, you state prepared horseradish as an ingredient. What does “prepared” mean in this context? And does this need to be fresh horseradish to be W30 compliant?
The group of ingredients for the sauce are:
-1/2 cup St. Dalfour orange marmalade you must use a juice-sweetened orange marmalade to be Whole30 compliant; if you’re paleo or with no dietary restriction, pick one that sounds good to you
-2 teaspoons stoneground mustard
-1 teaspoon prepared horseradish
-1 pinch salt.
Prepared horseradish means that the horseradish root is grated and mixed with salt & vinegar.
AHhh I was wondering what I did wrong – and I realize I used organic coconut flakes instead of my organic shredded coconut hahaha. Taste was good, but it just did not cook evenly. I’ll try these again. Thanks for a great recipe!
You are so welcome. I hope the recipe turns out for you this time!
so you cannot use coconut flakes? also, how many servings in this recipe? Thanks!
These are absolutely phenomenal! I happened upon your site because I tried Goop’s version of these and thought they could be better so I did a search. Although the others were okay this recipe is so good and so crispy but that sauce just makes the whole thing SWOON! Sooooo tasty. I cannot wait to get home and look through your whole site for other interesting recipes to try. You obviously are very talented. Keep up the good work. Cheers!
I am SO thrilled you liked it so much! This is definitely one of my favorite recipes 🙂