My wife and I have had the joy of eating at several Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurants. We always end up ordering something shrimp-y. Hey, ‘shrimp’ is in their name! When we can’t make it a restaurant and get the real deal we make copycat versions at home. Like this copycat Bubba Gump’s Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp. Crazy good coconut-crusted deep-fried shrimp with a fantastic Cajun marmalade sauce. Serve it as an appetizer or devour a batch for dinner. Either way, this is good shrimp!
Shrimp Cook Fast. Really Fast.
Keep an eye on your copycat Bubba Gump’s Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp while they fry. Shrimp cook very, very quickly. Coconut can burn very, very quickly. Once you see golden brown colors, flip them and don’t cook them much longer.
To help prevent the coconut from turned too brown too quickly I did use unsweetened coconut. The sugars in sweetened coconut will burn quicker. You won’t notice a difference in the taste of the shrimp, so go with unsweetened.
I get out my big deep fryer when it’s time to fry a large batch of food. It comes to temperature quickly and it maintains that temperature perfectly. It has a built-in oil filter and storage unit so I can re-use the oil several times.
I highly recommend that you double the recipe for the sauce. It’s crazy good. I’d use it for any shrimp, any time, any where. Doesn’t have to be coconut shrimp, either.
Also try my Bubba Gump Tangy Honey Shrimp.
Copycat Bubba Gump’s Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp
Ingredients
For the shrimp
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 pound shrimp medium (22-24 count) raw, peeled and deveined
- 1 ½ cups Bisquick
- 1 bottle beer
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon seasoning salt
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
For the sauce
- ½ cup orange marmalade
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Instructions
For the shrimp
- Heat oil to 350 F. Meanwhile, rinse the shrimp and pat dry.
- In a shallow bowl or pie plate whisk together the Bisquick and beer.
- In another shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together the flour, seasoning salt, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place the coconut in a third shallow bowl.
- Working in batches, dip the shrimp into the wet batter. Then roll in the flour mixture. Lastly, roll in the coconut, pressing down slightly so that the coconut adheres.
- Fry the shrimp for 1 minute. Flip and fry another minute, until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate.
For the dipping sauce
- Combine all ingredients. Note: I’m a dipping sauce lover, so I did end up doubling the amount of dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are approximate.