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.
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Made this tonight and it was insanely good! I cooked with coconut oil instead of butter and use cauliflower rice instead of basmati rice. Creamy, delicious, and dairy free!
Two thumbs up!
I’m forever pinning your recipes but this is my first time actually making one. I’ve gotta say, it won’t be the last! This is FANTASTIC, and will be added to my make again file, FOR SURE! I rarely leave blog comments, but I wanted to let you know, this tastes as good as it looks!
I made this for Valentine’s Day, looking for something kind of red. Not even sure how I found your blog. It was very good. Thank you.
Hey Chungah – I made this wonderful soup last night and it was fantastic. I agree with you completely that it is very easy yet as good or better than you would get at a restaurant. I followed the recipe closely but here are a few changes/thoughts.
I always make my own stock and had been looking for a recipe that I could use with the shrimp stock I was saving all those shells for weeks for and this was the perfect one. So instead of chicken stock I made this recipe using home made shrimp stock which reinforced the seafood flavor with a rich shrimp broth.
I was sceptical about the lime juice and only used a half but it was actually amazing and added incredible flavor and brightness.
I added a “touch” more of the curry paste (we like some heat!)
I omitted the rice as this was an appetizer so didn’t want it to be too filling.
This soup base would also be great with salmon or chicken instead of the shrimp, whatever you have left over in the fridge can be used.
Next time I will throw in a couple of mushrooms with the veggies at the beginning. But I put mushrooms into everything.
Thank you for this great recipe!
– Jeff
What red curry paste do you recommend?
I personally love Mae Ploy.
Thanks, I noticed that it contains Shrimp, is there any red curry paste that doesn’t have shrimp or fish sauce in it? Can you recommend?
Unfortunately, I have not experimented with other brands.
I just checked at my grocery store, and all they carry is Thai Kitchen brand, which does NOT contain shrimp.
Well done you, for making me eat coconut.
I genuine hate coconut. I will never, ever eat it as itself, in chocolate, in whatever it comes…
But, since I love thai food (or a malaysian Laksa) en I know I can handle a bit off coconut like that because it’s not super present I thought I’d give it a go tonight..
It was good! Whilst cooking I sniffed it a few times and thought, nah… not going to eat this.. (I kept everything seperate so I wouldn’t ruin the shrimp e.d. in case the soup wasn’t to my taste) but all put together with a bit more chili paste than you recommended (lol, I overdosed it to hide the coconut) and a lot more lime juice for the same reason it came together really well!
Thank you! New Recipe Sunday (on Saturday today) has been another great success!
HI, I love your blog!!! I’m making this tonight but don’t have curry paste. Can I use curry powder?
Unfortunately, I just don’t think curry powder is an appropriate substitute. But as always, please use your best judgment.
Hi Chungah, Thanks so much for sharing this delicious recipe with us. I found it on Pinterest. I have some food intolerances and my blog focuses on a certain style of recipe to include lots of vegetables, so I modified it a little bit and wrote about it on my blog here http://www.foodprepsundays.com/new-recipes/thai-prawn-laksa/. Just wanted to say thanks for a delish meal! x
LOVE this recipe. It was easy and DELICIOUS
Is it possible to make this using a crockpot? If so, would I just put all the ingredients in the pot for the entire cooking time or would the coconut milk need to be added towards the end? For reference I will not be using shrimp but substituting chicken which can be cooked in the crockpot without problems (I rarely eat shrimp so I’m not sure if it could be cooked properly in a crockpot).
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!
I made it and it was delicious! Huge hit.
Is the rice necessary? Does it stand alone, without it?
You can choose to add or omit the rice as needed.
Everything sounded great, but recipe came out bland for my wife and I tonight. Substituted lite coconut milk and olive oil for butter (wife is lactose intolerant). Unfortunately, it came out bland.
Arie, thank you for trying my recipe. However, using various substitutes can result in a mediocre outcome.
Mmmmm I made this tonight and it was amazing. I used what I had, which was chicken. I also added potatoes carrots and mushrooms. I used homemade chicken stock and only added 1 tsp red curry paste and that was just right for me, I’m a tender foot. I only had one can of coconut milk and it was wonderfully creamy.
It totally reminded me of Tom Kha soup so next time I will add straw mushrooms and tomatoes. Thank you soon much for posting this fantastic soup. I love all your recipes.
Oh man! This is such a keeper! I have made it many ways with different veggies and/or tofu! It always tastes amazing! Give it a try, it will not disappoint!
This recipe is delicious i made it tonight. I altered it slightly using less amount of red curry paste seeing as my 15 m old is eating with me also i added chunks of tilapia and one small yellow potato with one carrot and some asparagus because we need the veggies, but the soup itself is amazingly tasty. Thank you so much for posting. Its quick and easy and delicious
This soup looks delicious! Is it hot in spice or more of a medium heat? Have you ever done it with any other fish or meat?
It’s more of a medium heat but you can easily adjust this recipe as needed to suit your heat tolerance. I have not tried this with any other fish or meat but chicken would be a great substitute.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! Thanks for posting a new favorite for me and my hubby. We prefer a bit more spice so next time will double the curry paste. I wanted to make it exactly as written my first time and was not disappointed. This is a definite for guests!
I made this tonight and it was delicious. My whole family liked it. I added kale to the soup because I had some on hand. Hubby asked me to put recipe in my “tried and true” book
I made it exactly as the recipe (used orange bell pepper instead of red) and it was sooo good! I did add a good bit of salt at the end to make the flavor to my liking (probably like 1/2 tsp). My 2 year old even ate it and he barely eats anything! I might add some carrots or something else next time for some more veggies!