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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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
Wonderful recipe, I’ve made the soup several times. Can I freeze leftovers?
I’d like to know if the leftovers can be frozen too….
Likely not if you use shrimp in it. I’d make the broth, freeze that then add shrimp when serving.
Easy to put together and so delicious. Definitely a keeper. I have made it several times. Although very delicious the way the recipe is written I might start adding more vegetables like others have suggested.
This was delicious! I’ve never made homemade curry, and I will be making this again. Thank you!
Super easy to make and very tasty!
SO easy fast and insanely tasty! I totally forgot to make the rice…didn’t miss it. It was s big hit!
Subbed in Salmon, added mushrooms (cause I had them), a 1/4 Jalapeno pepper, and it was EPIC!
Tried it and it turned out delicious.
Absolutely amazing -both gourmet and comfort food at the same time! Restaurant grade. I fell in love with this recipe.
And so easy to put together. I love curry, I love shrimp I love to cook with coconut milk. So this soup was invented for me.
I made the vegetable broth myself it took me 25 minutes.
I put less lime juice though just half.
This was sooo good! I had a hankering for some Thai last week and this was pretty easy and delicious. After reading reviews, I decided to double the garlic and coconut milk and halved the onion. I also added sliced mushrooms at the same time I added the other vegetables. I also added some bamboo shoots while simmering. At the end, I adjusted the flavor with salt, pepper, and Sriracha. Definitely a keeper! My extremely picky kids even ate it. They didn’t love it, but they ate it, so that’s a huge win!