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This easy Thai shrimp curry recipe is quick, simple, and there’s plenty of sauce for the rice! Ready in less than half an hour.
I love a good coconut sauce, and this coconut shrimp curry doesn’t disappoint. I kept this recipe pretty simple so it comes together fast. Shrimp cook very quickly, so once you actually get cooking, it doesn’t take long at all. It’s also fairly healthy.
It’s been a while since I last posted a Thai-inspired recipe, but I do have a few others on here if you are interested like my Thai chicken curry soup, 15 minute Thai green curry soup, this Thai sweet potato curry, or my Thai turkey soup.
I made this Thai shrimp curry for the first time on January 27. I hated the photos so redid them like 2 months later. I hated the second batch of photos even more than the first, so we’re using the January photos. I just don’t like these photos. The light wasn’t even bad that day. Sometimes I am so baffled why things don’t turn out how I think they will. It’s not like I’m using a different window or board or bowl or camera or anything. I’ll probably end up redoing them again sometime. But, as Mark Zuckerberg says, “done is better than perfect”, so at least I know the recipe is tasty. -end rant-
I love the contrast between the rich coconut sauce and all the fresh herbs… that’s probably my favorite thing about Thai recipes. It’s not quite time yet for my garden basil, but it’ll be coming soon(ish)… can’t wait. The growing season here in Canada isn’t exactly long, but I’ll take what I can get lol.
How to make Thai shrimp curry
- Prep your shrimp. If using frozen shrimp, run them under cool water until they’re fully thawed.
- Sauté the onion for 5 minutes or until softened;
- Stir in the garlic and curry paste until fragrant;
- Stir in the chicken broth and let it boil for a couple of minutes;
- Add in the coconut milk, shrimp, and red pepper;
- Add the lime juice, season with salt & pepper to taste, and add the fresh herbs.
I love serving this Thai curry over white jasmine rice.
Want to make it spicy? Try adding some chopped fresh Thai chilis or some dried red pepper flakes if you have some in your pantry.
What kind of shrimp to use in Thai coconut shrimp curry?
I used 31-40/pound count frozen raw shrimp. You can use smaller or larger shrimp if you want; just adjust cooking time by a minute or two as needed.
Let me know if you’ve made this easy coconut shrimp curry!
Questions? Ask me in the comments below.
Easy Thai Shrimp Curry
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium shrimp thawed, peeled, can remove tails if desired
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 heaped tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 (13.5 fluid ounces) can full-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- Lime juice to taste
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 small handful fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 small handful fresh basil chopped
- Scallions chopped, to taste
Instructions
- If you want to serve this recipe with rice, I suggest getting the rice going prior to starting the curry.
- Add the oil and onion to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and curry paste and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth and fish sauce. Let it come to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Reduce the heat and stir in the coconut milk.
- Add the shrimp and red pepper. Let the soup simmer gently (don't let it reach a crazy boil) for 5 minutes or until the shrimp are cooked through.
- Add lime juice to taste (I used 1/2 a lime) and salt & pepper as needed.
- Add the cilantro, basil, and scallions prior to serving. Serve over rice (I love jasmine rice).
Notes
- I used Thai Kitchen brand red curry paste and coconut milk (I prefer it because it's less watery than some other brands I've tried).
- Anything from 3/4 pound to 1 pound of shrimp will work.
- If you want a thicker broth, add less chicken broth.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Good flavor but a little too much broth. I would cut the broth altogether and add some chili garlic paste for a little heat. Added snap peas with the red peppers and added carrots with the onions.
Made this in my restaurant.. it was a huge hit
Great! Thanks! Be sure to send your guests my way… 😉
Yummy! I didn’t have red curry paste so I used green curry paste. It was really good. I was hoping for leftovers but wasn’t going to happen.
So happy it worked out, Melinda!! Thanks for leaving me a comment. 🙂
We loved this so much! Thank you for an amazing recipe. I’m making it again this week because my kids loved it and we want to test it how it will work in thermoses before school starts 🤗
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Fabulous!! Thanks for letting me know!
Yum! I want to make this tomorro, looks delicious. Is there something that I can use to replace fish sauce? (To avoid buying a title for just one dish) would it be bad if I omitted it?
Hi Jackie! I’d just omit it. It’ll taste a little less authentic, but it’ll still be good. I can’t really think of a good substitute, just make sure to add enough salt to the dish. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Delicious! Used oyster sauce as I didn’t have any fish sauce, and spinach as I also didn’t have any peppers. I made cauliflower rice to go with it. It was really tasty!
I’m so glad you were able to adapt it!!
Yum! I want to make this tomorrow, looks great. Is there something I can use to substitute fish sauce? (So I don’t have to buy a whole bottle for just one dish) would it be bad if I just omitted it?
Thank you in advance!
Delicious
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Yum, this shrimp curry sounds and looks incredible. Definitely on my list for this weekend! So glad I saw this on Foodgawker 🙂
Hope you like it, Quin! 🙂
Super easy and very flavorful! Loved this! My boys (4 and 6yrs) both ate it up. My husband did not. Lol! Can’t get that man to like seafood. But 3 out of 4 is still a definite win! Passed this recipe along to my mom friends too. Thank you!
Haha well… I guess you can’t win ’em all! So glad the boys liked it at least hehe. Thanks for leaving me a comment and passing the recipe along! 🙂
Hi can you make this for me without shrimp? Thx
No.
Made this tonight and it was delicious. The only variation that we changed was we a couple of Thai Birds sliced in with the red pepper. And it was served it over Brown rice.
This will be a keeper base recipe to add and change up a little for a yummy seafood stew.
That is awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
Make this without shrimp? I would just substitute chicken.Iknow this because I have a son with fish phobia.
Sure! I don’t see why not.