Thai Coconut Curry Soup
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This will be your go-to Thai curry soup! Serve with fresh Thai basil, cilantro and lime juice. So cozy, so good.
Hello, cozy-soup-weather-season.
When it’s 34 degrees F windchill in the middle of October and it’s too cold to go outside, we’re all staying home with this Thai coconut curry soup.
The freshly squeezed lime juice, Thai basil and cilantro adds such brightness to this soup, cutting through the heat to give it just enough of a spicy kick. For less heat, you can easily cut down on the red curry paste to your liking.
You can serve it as is, you can add rice, you can add rice noodles, you can sub out the shrimp for chicken, or you can keep it completely meatless.
It is all good, guys. There’s no going wrong here!
Thai Coconut Curry Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Thai basil leaves
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add bell peppers and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in red curry paste, ginger and garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in chicken stock, tomato sauce, fish sauce and brown sugar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, about 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in coconut milk and simmer until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in shrimp, and cook, stirring occasionally, until pink and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in basil, cilantro and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
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Made this tonight and it was delicious! I used extra red curry paste since I love spice and added shredded zucchini when the shrimp were added. I want to try make this in the Instant Pot. Any ideas or tips on how to make this in the Instant Pot?
AMAZING! I followed the recipe closely. The only thing I left out was the Thai basil just because I couldn’t find any so just put a tblsp of reg basil instead. I also am watching my calories so I used the light coconut milk. It worked perfectly because it was more brothy and less thick which I like. my family enjoyed it as well. I used shredded chicken instead of shrimp. Was yummy!
This was my first time trying something like this but I love red curry. It came out so good and really wasnt difficult. Great recipe!!!
Takes a little extra time, but well worth it. I threw in some slivered carrots early on, and a few handfuls of baby spinach with the herbs. Used regular basil and jarred ginger. Still great! I think most veggies could be added to this.
I’ve been making your recipes for a couple years and have never been compelled to comment until now — this was really, really good. My girlfriend requested it “non spicy” so I just used 2 Tbsp of red curry paste. Next time I’d just use the full amount – it was barely perceptible after the coconut milk was added. As is, this soup isn’t super spicy so fear not!
We omitted the shrimp and just used veggies. This soup is perfect for any veggies or any protein. We’ll definitely be making it again.
The soup is delicious. I followed the recipe + I added broccoli. I used 3 large tablespoons of red curry, next time I will use a little bit less.
Finally, I managed something that tastes as good…or better…than our awesome local Thai take out place. Followed the recipe exactly except I did add a little minced Thai lime leaves since I had some. Next time will try it with thinly sliced chicken breast.
This was my first time every making curry and I was little nervous at first. I followed the recipe exactly and it turned out amazing! The hint of lime at the end really pulls it all together. I served mine with cilantro and a side of rice. It has been negative degree weather out lately so this was the perfect dish to warm up to.
Delicious! I used lite coconut milk and added scallop go
It, so so good!
Just made this soup and it was awesome! I have a ‘green binder’ of repeat recipes and this one definitively made it in there! Our family is on the lighter side of the hot scale so I adjusted a the curry a little bit and it was spot on. I made some white rice and served the soup over that. Seconds for everyone!
Have not tried but can’t wait too, the recipe sounds great. What kind of red curry is used?
I made this and man, it’s a great soup to add to your soup journal. ….I’m eating some right now!
This recipe says 2 cups of chicken stock, is that the right amount?
What can you substitute for the chicken stock?
Veggie stock
Just made this soup as the base for a friendsgiving meal. friends brought in butternut squash, green beans, corn, cabbage. It was AMAZING. Everyone raved over the soup. I tested before the extra ingredients as well, made the soup just like the recipe. So many options. Thank you so much for a great recipe. And ditto, wonderful site for recipes.
Wow this recipe was delicious! I couldn’t believe it tasted just like it does at Thai restaurants. I didn’t make any adjustments to the recipe. So far my favorite recipe I’ve made from this website that I adore so much. Thank you!
We’re so happy this was a winner for you!
Yup! This was delicious! I didn’t make any changes, followed the recipe as shown. I did not add any rice or noodles, and it is so full of flavour.
And appears to be gluten free 🙂
…and I froze it for about a week, then travelled to see my daughter, and took it with me. She put it in the fridge and had it the next day. I ended up with a flurry of texts about how amazing it was, so apparently it froze well. Only suggestion I gave her was to continue stirring it as it heats, b/c it separates a bit.
If it’s possible to freeze it without the shrimp, do that, and add fresh shrimp when re-heating it.
I’m a newbie here to Damn Delicious and I gotta say, why have I not been coming to this website for ALL my meal inspiration! Seriously, this place is great! And speaking from a designer point of view- I really dig the website aesthetic & photo appeal- it’s much nicer than other food websites I’ve been to before, so kudos!
Anyways, on to this recipe- this was seriously SOOO freaking good! I was like “Ahh. That IS damn delicious.” I have never in my life made a soup before, but when I saw this meal on the homepage- I just really wanted to try it. That said, the instructions were really easy to follow and even though it did require a lot of prep work, it was so worth. I only got nervous when it came to step 4 because after stirring in the coconut milk, it didn’t exactly thicken. It just seemed the same consistency like it was before. Not sure where I went wrong. But it still came out really good and I served it with a side of white rice and I think next time I might add in another bell pepper just to make it feel more hearty. But I’m definitely adding this to archive. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Stephanie! I’m no expert but I LOVE making thai inspired meals, and one thing I’ve found is if you use reduced fat coconut milk, or you buy something else other than the canned kind, it won’t thicken up your soup/broth. It’s the fat that gives it that creaminess, and I’ve messed this up a time or two before without even noticing! – Lydia
This recipe was so delicious! My boyfriend and I loved it. We used frozen cooked shrimp from Trader Joe’s and it was still awesome. Highly recommend giving it a try!
Can you substitute chicken for the shrimp?
Absolutely!