This quick and easy Thai style Shrimp Coconut Curry recipe makes a rich and aromatic dish that’s sure to impress your guests.
Serve with simple rice pilaf for a easy weeknight meal.
Simply Delicious Thai Shrimp Curry
This fragrant with delicious Coconut Shrimp Curry is ready in just 25 minutes! It’s super easy, and packs tons of flavor!
Why This Recipe Works
- Using your favorite Thai curry paste ensures you get the flavors you enjoy every time.
- Cooking the shrimp in the curry paste and aromatics gives them a kick of extra flavor
- Using coconut milk adds an extra depth of and balances out the complex flavors.
What Is Curry
Curry is a variety of dishes usually prepared in a sauce that originates in Asia. They are rich in flavor have a wide variety of spices blends that often including turmeric, coriander, ginger, and fresh or dried chilies.
Coconut Curry
Unlike Indian curry, Thai curries are almost always made with coconut milk. It works really well to balance the intense spices and fresh aromatics. Resulting in a creamy delicious dish.
How To Make Shrimp Coconut Curry
Pat the shrimp dry with some paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
Heat the canola oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until the onions are very tender, but not caramelized.
Add the garlic, ginger, and cook another minute.
Add the curry paste sauce and cook, stirring, another minute.
Add the shrimp and with the mixture cook in the paste about a minute to coat.
Add the fish sauce and coconut milk.
Cooking shrimp with shells (or in this case tails) adds extra flavor to the dish. I remove them before serving for easy eating, but this is totally optional.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until thick.
Serve with white rice.
Types of Thai Curry Paste
For this recipe, I don’t specify a curry paste. If you’re a fan of Thai food, you probably already have your favorite.
Here’s a quick guide of common Thai curry pastes with links to buy (As an Amazon Associate, a small commission is made from qualifying purchases) :
- Red Curry: A hot and spicy curry paste usually made with red chilies, crushed with garlic, shallots, ginger, and lemongrass.
- Green Curry: Hot and spicy curry paste commonly made with green chilies, turmeric, garlic, Thai basil, shallots, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, and kra chai.
- Yellow Curry: A mild curry that gets its color from turmeric. Usually include cumin, mustard seeds, nutmeg, and kaffir lime leaves and juice.
- Panang Curry a spicey, but mild curry paste that is usually made from dried chili peppers, kaffir lime zest and leaves, coriander root and seeds, cumin, ginger, and lemongrass.
Tips For Best Results
- After adding the shrimp, cook briefly just to coat in the paste. The shrimp will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Use full-fat coconut milk for richness.
- Most Thai curry paste works, but I’d avoid Massaman curry paste with seafood.
- Feel free to add your favorite vegetables, you can pre-steam them and add them at the end.
Other Great Seafood
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Let’s Make Coconut Curry Shrimp
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds large shrimp deveined and peeled
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 onion large, minced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- 2 tablespoons Thai curry paste whatever you like best see post for more info.
- 1 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- fresh cilantro (AKA coriander) a good handful, chopped
Instructions
- Pat the shrimp dry with some paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Heat the canola oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until the onions are very tender, but not caramelized. Add the garlic, ginger, and cook another minute.
- Add the curry paste sauce and cook, stirring, another minute. Add the shrimp and cook with the mixture for about a minute just to coat.
- Raise to high and add the fish sauce and coconut milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until thick (3-4 minutes).
Tips + Notes
- After adding the shrimp, cook briefly just to coat in the paste. The shrimp will finish cooking in the sauce.
- Use full-fat coconut milk for richness.
- Most Thai curry paste works, but I’d avoid Massaman curry paste with seafood.
- Feel free to add your favorite vegetables, you can pre-steam them and add them at the end.
Linh T says
Why no seafood with massaman curry? Thanks!
Erren Hart says
I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.
Smp says
Because under tips+notes, you said ‘Most Thai curry paste works, but I’d avoid Massaman curry paste with seafood.’ I’d like to know why as well.
Erren Hart says
Massaman curry paste is not usually a good choice for seafood because of its strong flavor and spices. It has a rich, sweet, and earthy taste from ingredients like cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cloves, and star anise, which are better suited for beef or chicken dishes. These warm spices can overpower the mild taste of seafood, which does better with lighter, fresher flavors that don’t cover up its natural taste.