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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I love Thai food and can’t wait to try based on all the positive reviews. There is one question I have that I don’t recall coming across…how much soup is in one serving? I am wanting to enter this dish into the recipe builder on my Weight Watchers account and that is the only bit of information missing.
Very good I did add little spice to make spicer and a can of corn for more texture. And I just added the uncooked rice to it instead of cooking first and it cooked just fine in the broth.
This soup was just okay. I will make it again but will double the amount of red curry paste and ginger. Will also not dice the vegetables. They are too small. I will cut them in chunks so the soup will have more body. All in all it was a good base just needs a little work. I also will add mushrooms and shredded carrot.
Easy, yummy & a hit with my family!!
Made it! So good went heavy on shrimp… no regrets! Thanks for the recipe
I never written any comment on pinterest but i thought i should let you know that I made this for dinner, it was so….. good. I added the shrimp for 1 serving and keep rice on the side. I am keep the leftover soup in the fridge and I’m thinking of just reheating it with zucchini and shrimp for my next meal. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe..
Made this last night, but not as a soup. Left out the veggie broth and doubled the red curry amount and garlic. It was delish and a big hit.
Super easy and fast. Always a hit at our house!
This was delicious! I used 2 cups of seafood broth and 2 cups of vegetable broth. I used another scoop of red curry paste to even it out. I also added mushrooms, shredded carrots, and a diced sweet potato(already cooked) at the end. I also served with a jalapeno and it was sooo good! I will be making this again.
This was an easy to make dish and proved very popular!! Thank you.
Absolutely delicious! I had to sub coconut cream because I didn’t have coconut milk. I also added a little crushed red pepper after first taste, per my family’s request for a little touch of “heat”. Other than that…a true family keeper. Everyone ate 2 helpings.
OK… so twice as much curry…about a 1/4 of a cup less stock and 2Teaspoons of Sugar…Cook it twice as long. Then you got some Lovininthe Pot!!! ❤❤
This was awesome!!! I added an extra tablespoon of curry paste and left out lime (didn’t have any.) I also didn’t cook shrimp first, just added near the end so they didn’t overcook. Definitely a keeper, and I’m not even a soup person!
I was craving a nice hearty, spicy soup tonight. Subbed leftover chicken for shrimp and orange pepper for red since I decided not to shop! Hit the spot for sure.
love love LOVE this soup!
I served it to a few friends and they all said it was the best they had ever had!!!
The only thing I changed was to cook the shrimp [with shells on] in the soup at the end . I find the shells add a lot of flavour and they make the soup a bit more interactive 😀
This was amazing! I added extra lime juice, substituted green curry for the red and added a minced jalapeño. We’ll be making this again!
You provided serving size but is that half a cup? 1 cup? How much exactly?
We (hubby and I) absolutely love this soup!
Made this about 12 times! It’s probably my favorite.
So fresh and tasty. The lime juice, ginger and cilantro really adds the freshness.
I do add double of the liquids as I like my soup to be soupy.
Thank you, I would have this daily 🙂
I felt the flavor fell a bit short, I added 3 table spoons of a Thai peanut sauce I really enjoy and I feel like it filled out the flavor a bit. Otherwise I really enjoyed it.
Love this recipe! I removed the red peppers as I’m just not a fan of them, left everything else as is. When reheating I have done it in increments while stirring and the shrimp don’t seem to be *too* overcooked. I plan to make a similar recipe with shredded chicken for my husband, as he isn’t a huge shrimp person.