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!
I am such a sucker for Thai take-out, particularly for red curry and coconut soup. But ordering take-out has been getting a bit costly so this homemade coconut curry soup comes in very handy, especially during the cold, winter months. And the leftovers taste a million times better too.
Best of all, it’s so easy to make and it doesn’t require ingredients that are hard to find. And if you’re not a fan of shrimp, you can easily swap that out for chicken, pork or even tofu for a vegetarian option.
Either way, you’ll be sure to skip your usual Thai take-out and indulge in this budget-friendly version instead.
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.
I personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
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 (12-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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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!
Thanks for this recipe! This was perfect for some leftover shrimp stock I needed to use up. I only used one can of coconut milk and it was still fantastic. Left out the rice and added zucchini to make it low carb 🙂 Thanks again!
Can you used cooked shrimp or does it have to be raw?
Brent, you can certainly use cooked shrimp – I would just recommend skipping the first step to cook the shrimp since it’s already cooked to begin with. 🙂
I’m definitely going to make this tonight! I’ll make a few substitutions for Whole30 (clarified butter, no rice) but I bet it will be amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
I always read the comments on new recipes to see if everyone liked it, but typically its just a bunch of comments saying “I want to try this” which doesn’t help me at all. So I will say with confidence that I just made this recipe and it is incredible! I made a few small changes and will make more in the future which I think will help. I used a blender to help smooth out the diced onions and bell pepper once the broth was made. I also added a tad more curry paste. Maybe I missed it in the recipe but it definately needed salt before serving. Next time I’ll make it with half the amount of basmati rice. Even without these changes, the soup would still be amazing. That’s just how we prefer it.
Sure hope the shrimp is edible- did you notice you had in th recipe that the shrimp were being cooked the whole time?-In the last paragraph you said “add the shrimp, lime juice and cilantro” BUT the shrimp have been in the stockpot since cooking them in the butter!!!! I”ll let you know it it turned out!
Carole, the recipe actually indicates to set the shrimp aside to avoid overcooking:
Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add shrimp, salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
Just had this for dinner tonight, and it was yum! Even my pickiest eater just didn’t eat all the shrimp but slurped up the rest. It’s a keeper and will be in regular rotation at our house. 🙂
I assume red curry paste is really hot/spicy? What should I use if I want a milder curry flavor? thanks!
Polly, you can try using less paste to suite your taste preferences.
Wow. Made this soup for supper tonight and it was awesome. I followed the fast metabolism diet and everything in the soup is FMD friendly. Definitely a keeper.
Wow, that looks yummy. If we have someone who can’t have shrimp, would you recommend chicken as an alternative?
Yes, absolutely.
Be careful though. Thai chili paste has shrimp in it.
Good point, Susan. For the record, though, certain brands–like Thai Kitchen, which is all my grocery store had–does not have shrimp in its ingredients list.
The only modification I would make to the recipe is more shrimp. Other than that it’s sooo good! I love it! I will be making this again!
This soup was perfect for freezing! I also added some diced chicken breasts and frozen peas for a little added color and flavor. LOVE IT.