Coconut Chicken with Thai Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

One of the favorite and most requested meals in my home is my coconut chicken with homemade sweet chili dipping sauce. The coconut chicken is fried in panko crumbs and coconut, to give it a sweet taste, and the sauce is a perfect mix of sweet and spicy giving it a Thai inspired flair, which I absolutely love!

A good friend of mine has always spoken about the coconut chicken she makes for her family and how delicious it is, so when I came across this recipe on another blog, I simply had to try it!

I didn't change very much from the original recipe, but it's hard to go wrong here. This would be equally as delicious with some large prawns or shrimp. Hopefully it becomes a staple in your meals as it has with us!

Thai Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, minced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons sriracha hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Coconut Shrimp Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 3/4 teaspoon season salt
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 cup canola oil, divided

Directions:

Pour water and vinegar into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

Stir in sugar, ginger, garlic, sriracha, and ketchup. Simmer for 5 minutes while stirring with a whisk.

Stir in cornstarch and allow to thicken up just a bit while stirring. Remove from heat.

Transfer to a plastic bowl, cover and refrigerate while you prepare the chicken.

First prepare your chicken. Cut it into strips or nuggets and cut off any excess fat.
Then prepare the 3 dipping stations.
In the first one, combine the flour and seasonings until mixed well.
In the second, combine the milk and eggs and whisk together until well combined.
In the last, combine the panko crumbs with the shredded coconut.

Place 1/4 cup of the oil in a large skillet and heat on medium/high.
While the oil is heating, prepare the chicken. First coat it completely in the flour mixture.

Then coat in the milk/egg mixture.

Now coat fully in the panko/coconut mixture.

Now add the coated chicken to the heated oil and fry for a few minutes on each side or until they are golden brown and crispy. Don't overcrowd, be sure to leave room between each piece of chicken so they can cook evenly.

Once they are crispy and golden, I like to remove them from the pan and place on a cookie sheet to maintain their cripsness while I finish cooking the rest. I place the cookie sheet in the unheated oven so they will maintain some warmth.

Beautiful and golden!

The full batch!

Ready to eat!

Serve with dipping sauce, and enjoy!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts are my own.