Easy Thai Shrimp Soup
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Skip the take-out and try making this at home – it’s unbelievably easy and 10000x tastier and healthier!
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reasons to make easy thai shrimp soup
- Takeout favorite
- Budget-friendly
- Uses easy-to-find ingredients
- Cold weather comfort food
- Leftovers taste even better
- Super flexible recipe (and can be made vegetarian friendly)
what is red curry paste and where can i find it
Commonly used in Thai dishes, red curry paste is made from a blend of red chili pepper, garlic, lemongrass, Thai ginger and various spices.
Red curry paste is typically used for stir-fry, soups or mixed with coconut milk for curry. It is readily available in most grocery store chains, particularly the Thai Kitchen brand, and online, with some brands containing shellfish (shrimp paste).
tips and tricks for success
- Know your shrimp size. Shrimp size is calculated on number of shrimp per pound. The smaller the number, the larger your shrimp. There are about 40-50 medium shrimp per pound.
- Buy frozen shrimp. For superior quality and freshness, using frozen shrimp is ideal (but avoid the bags with freezer burn), opting for a quick thaw under cold running water.
- Use your favorite protein. This recipe will work well with chicken thighs, chicken breasts, shrimp or tofu.
- Use full fat coconut milk. Although lite coconut milk can certainly be used, full fat coconut milk will yield a much more rich and creamy broth.
- Mix it up. Swap the red curry paste for green, add in more veggies (cabbage, zucchini, mushrooms or bok choy) or use rice noodles in place of rice.
- Stir in more stock with leftovers. When reheating leftovers, stir in more stock as needed as the rice will continue to soak up the broth.
what to serve with thai shrimp soup
Easy Thai Shrimp Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
You can thaw frozen shrimp overnight, transferring it from the freezer to the fridge the day before. For a quick thaw, you can run them under cold water until completely thawed, about 5-10 minutes. Pat them dry as thoroughly as possible to remove any excess moisture.
Yes! Chicken is a great swap for the shrimp, and you can sub chicken stock for the vegetable stock as well.
We personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great with mild heat, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
We do not recommend freezing this as coconut milk tends to separate when frozen.
Easy Thai Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 1 1 /2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Season shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add shrimp, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add onion and bell pepper to the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in red curry paste, garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in coconut milk and vegetable stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes.
- Stir in rice, shrimp, lime juice and cilantro.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Can I substitute the coconut milk for regular milk?
Yes, but I find that the flavors really shine when coconut milk is used.
This is a sure hit for anything from dinner parties to a cozy night in. Very modifiable. I also roast the red peppers and add a touch of honey before serving. There is an amazing organic coconut cream paste I add too, because I don’t avoid coconut fat or avocado fat for anything. No one in my immediate family eats seafood, so I make this with chicken for the home crew, and shrimp for me and my guests. I also play with quantities quite a bit. I use more of pretty much everything except the broth for richness and thickness, making it more like a sauce than a soup. The base freezes well, too!
Thank you, this really was “Damn Delicious”, I’m making this for the second time in three weeks. Yum!!!
Can I sub green curry paste for red?
Yes!
Can you add rice noodles or some type of asian noodle?
Yes, absolutely.
I tried this soup and my family loved it. I doubled the recipe. Next time I make it, I will increase the curry paste by about a tablespoon, decrease the vegetable broth by 2 cups and probably add carrots. Oh and I will chop the red peppers into bigger pieces! It is a great soup both savory and sweet and my whole family loved it which does not happen very often. Also, I used the basmati rice mix from Trader Joes as that was all I had. I will definitely put this on my make again and again and again list!
This looks amazing, would it work to cook in the crock pot?
It is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a traditional stovetop recipe to be used in a slow cooker without further recipe testing. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide. Hope that helps!
Can’t wait to make this! If I wanted to serve more people than 6, could I just double the ingredients to make a larger portion?
Yes!
I love, love, love this soup!! This is definitely one of my all time favorites.
The only 2 changes I made were that I used roasted red peppers and in the end added
about one and a half tablespoons of honey. I feel that the honey added a little more balance.
With all this snow we have, it’s nice to have something with a little heat. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
When I calculate the nutrition info, I’m getting way different results. I’m getting 387 calories, 13 g fat, 52 g carbs, and 32 g protein. I’m using MyFitnessPal and the exact ingredients and amounts. Any idea what’s going on?
Yes, my apologies. The numbers have been updated.
All i have is red curry sauce-do you know the what the equlivant of red curry paste to red curry sauce?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
I made this last night and it was a huge hit with my family! Quick question. Has anyone ever used tofu instead of shrimp, and if so, how did they do it?
I just made this. I cannot believe how delicious it came out. Thank you for this recipe.
made this for my family, they loved it! even though I 2x it there’s not much leftover:-)
it was a little spicy tho.. I was wondering why and then I looked at the curry paste bottle and it was at its highest!! make sure you don’t make that mistake!
but lucky for me they LOVE spicy (well most of ’em)
thanks chungah! I am not going to put my email on here for safety reasons btw:)
I don’t have fresh ginger, would the ground ginger work?
Yes, the ratio for fresh to dry herbs is typically 3:1.
I made this and it was very good. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m wondering if anyone has tried it with rice noodles instead of rice? And did it turn out?
Love this soup! Made it a few weeks ago and again tonight. I added a few more vegetables (carrots, celery & green pepper) as well as some mushrooms. Other than that followed the recipe exactly. So so good.
Thank you for this recipe… it is delicious! I used green chili paste instead of red, just because it’s what I had on hand. Didn’t feel like it was spicy enough, so added some cayenne. I kinda over-did it. I loved it but my family complains that it hurts their throat, though they still really like it and continue to eat it. 🙂
This is a beautiful recipe. I added Talipia chunks as well. My wife & I loved it.