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
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OMG so yummy!! Followed recipe except Better than Bullion chicken instead of stock. Added 1Tbl fish sauce. Thank you for a great, favorable recipe!!
We 100% loooooved this quick, easy soup! Cold Sunday night: I have prawns, I have coconut milk, I have Thai red curry paste, I have chicken stock (and a few other things like ginger, garlic, red peppers in my crisper) googled Thai coconut prawn soup recipes, with my four MAIN ingredients in mind, and Damn Delicious delivered! Seriously? Come onnnnnnnn! This was so quick and easy to pull together. We couldn’t believe how flavour packed this dish was! I DID add fish sauce as others had mentioned – cause I have it and I like it – but OMGawsh……fantastic, rich, flavour bomb soup! YUMMMMM Thanks for the inspiration!
This is delicious. I didn’t have unsweetened coconut milk so mine was a little sweet but I added a bit more lime. I love trying new recipes and this one is a keeper.
Great soup! Loved it and it was super easy. Unfortunately I used frozen shrimp and that did not go well. Will try again with fresh shrimp.
Thanks for sharing
The meal was superb. Thank you for sharing. I will definitely make it again. I added Zucchini and green beans. This was mentioned in another review.
So good! Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing recipe! I added fresh basil with the cilantro and followed previous suggestions to only partially cook the shrimp. I used chicken broth vs veg broth and also added sliced mushrooms and more garlic because why not! So good!
Super easy to make and tastes delicious, no more take out for me. I spiced it up with Thai Chilies. So good!
Per my previous review, if using the already cooked Uncle Ben’s rice packets, use a HALF PACKET, not the whole packet. Delicious recipe.
Absolutely delicious…never had this in a restaurant with the rice in the soup but it was a winner. It was easy for me because I keep chopped onion, cilantro and garlic in the freezer. I also had a packet of Uncle Ben’s already cooked basmati rice which has the perfect packet amount to add to the soup. Plus I had a tube of ginger paste so for me it was really super easy, otherwise I may not have considered it easy.
Great soup! Added 2 Tbsp fish sauce
This was great. Only thing I added was about 2 Tbsp of fish sauce.
Wow! Is this fantastic! Quick, easy and so delicious. Definitely a keeper and a sharer! Thank you.
I absolutely love this recipe,I have made it several times
This is a great recipe. I’ve made it multiple times and it consistently tastes great! Authentic Thai soup.
Excellent Soup! I realized I didn’t have coconut milk, so I used almond milk instead and then pinched some coconut flakes that I had (which melted) and it still tasted so great. This is a quick and easy recipe that is absolutely delicious!
I make this more for the broth, as I drink this at my desk and sometimes even for breakfast!!!
This has become one of our family favorites. My son (9 yrs old) loves to help in the kitchen, and this has become his dish. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been determined to replicate the shrimp soup from a local Thai restaurant for YEARS! This is so close that I almost jokingly asked him if it was the recipe he uses!
Omitted the rice and added enoki mushrooms. Swapped out the red bell pepper for thai chilli (we like it spicy!), and used green onion instead of regular onion (what I had on hand). Also added some sirracha and finally some brown sugar to give it a little something sweet to balance it all out.
I don’t cook, but I’m learning. I folliwed this recipe and my family was super impressed. VERY easy and delicious