This Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup is full of wonderful flavors and whips up so quickly! You’ll love this soup so much!
Gluten Free
I love the flavors of Thai cooking. The contrasts between sweet, sour, salty and spicy are intriguing and unique. This soup, with flavors of creamy coconut, spicy red chilis and a bit of curry, finds balance with citrusy lemongrass and lime. This is a recipe I’ve wanted to make for a while now. There are endless variations of this soup, but this is my lightened up interpretation. The end result is delicious.
Traditionally, a soup like this contains some type of noodle. To keep things light, I use shredded Napa cabbage to give this some bulk and texture. I love the cabbage in this soup, especially in this creamy, tasty broth.
Another great thing about this recipe is how quickly you’ll be able to get it on the table. That kind makes this soup perfect for special weeknight dinners or even for weekend entertaining.
With so much flavor going on in this soup and great textures from the creamy broth, wonderful shrimp and Napa cabbage, I know that this may become your favorite new recipe! Let me know if you’ve made it! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
This recipe has been updated in 2019 from its original in 2014 to include light coconut milk. The change was made to improve taste and to create an even healthier recipe.
Thai Coconut Shrimp Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
- 4 teaspoons minced lemongrass or lemongrass paste
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 13 - 14 ounce can light coconut milk
- 2 cups Napa cabbage finely shredded
- sea salt to taste
- lime wedges for serving
- fresh cilantro or parsley for serving
- green onion sliced, for serving
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, garlic, ginger and lemongrass. Give it a stir, then add the curry, crushed red pepper flakes and the broth. Increase the heat to medium-high bringing the broth to a light boil. Add the shrimp and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer for 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and cabbage. Increase the heat just a bit and as soon as the soup comes to another very light simmer, remove it from the heat.
- Season with salt to taste. Serve in bowls and top with a squeeze of lime and some cilantro or parsley, green onion and additional crushed red pepper if you'd like.
Thai Cashew Chicken and Mango Salad with a slightly spicy and creamy cashew dressing. It’s packed with mango, avocado, bites of chicken, crunchy cashews and more.
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Hi Caroline
Could you please give me some advice on what type of curry powder you used? Could I also use a curry paste?
Of course, Su! For this original recipe, I had used a curry powder that was actually discontinued. It had a really nice flavor that I’m still trying to find in other curry powders. I will say, that one did have more turmeric than most curry powders I’ve used, so if you have a blend that you love, maybe add a touch more turmeric to it for that beautiful color and lovely flavor. You can certainly use a favorite curry paste as well…and still add a bit of turmeric if you like. Hope that helps!
What type of noodle would you use?
Great question, Brenda! I would use Thai brown rice noodles or you could certainly use a ramen type of noodle as well.
Can you freeze this soup? If so, how long can it be frozen for?
Personally, I wouldn’t, Kenny. The freezer can really change the consistency of the shrimp and may curdle the coconut milk. Hope that helps!
this soup looks so delicious but there must be a misprint!. How in the world would you have to buy 13 cans, 14 oz each, of light Coconut milk for this soup that serves 4-6? Would you please get back to me regarding this issue. i would be happy to try this interesting soup. Thank you, Cherie Ross
Hi Cherie! That would be a LOT of coconut milk, right? So, that just means you can use a 13 to 14 ounce can of coconut milk. Different brands vary in ounces. Hope that clears things up! I’d love to hear if you give it a try.
How is this soup to heat up? I made it, it delicious! Makes quite a bit!
So happy you enjoyed it, Sharon! I would reheat just until heated through and avoid cooking for too long or the shrimp will get weird.
Coming back to say that I’ve been making this recipe regularly for years now and my whole family (including toddlers) loves it! We eat it over white rice.
This is so sweet to hear, HQ! Your kids have an impressive palate! I love your idea of serving it over rice. Thanks for sharing!
What is the nutritional information calorie/ fat/carbs?
I’m not able to provide nutritional information at this time, Renee. There are lots of nutritional calculators online where you can plug in the link to this recipe. Hope that helps! Thanks for stopping in!
Where is the recipe?
Scroll up, Lois. It’s up there, I promise! :)
I know curry powder and curry paste are not interchangeable. Since this is a Thai recipe I’d like to try it as well with curry paste. Do you think that would work and, if so, how much should I use?
You are so right, Cheryl…curry powder and curry paste are very different and will yield very different tastes. That said, you can certainly experiment and use a curry paste that you love. Since powdered spices are much more concentrated, I think you could start with 2 teaspoons of curry paste and taste test from there, adjusting to your own preference. I’d love to hear your results! :)
I used a red Thai curry paste! It typically has the lemon grass, curry, ginger and spice. I thought it went perfectly with the rest of the recipe:)
That’s a great idea, Leah! I will definitely try that next time I make this. Thanks for sharing! xo
What kind of curry did you use? Is there a brand you recommend ?
Guess what, Eve? The brand I used to use has just been discontinued! I’m so disappointed, because it was really nice in this soup! Any curry that you typically love will be fantastic. Thanks for stopping by! :)
I am a physician and have a great passion for nutrition , in fact this subject about fat in coconut is very interesting to me so I reviewed some large studies published in the journal of nutrition and there is a difference in the type of saturated fat as all saturated fats are not equal , the amount of lauric acid which is a medium chain fatty acid is what makes coconut fat unique in that it does not raise the LDL i.e bad cholesterol , it actually decreases it and increased the HDL or good cholesterol so I use coconut oil for cooking and more studies recommend against using olive oil for high temp cooking as it changes the PUFA or polyunsaturated fatty acids into oxidized fats and that is harmful , but this only happens at higher temperature points , just wanted to add my 2 cents .
Well, I’m so appreciative of your two cents, Swarna. :) That is such helpful information. Thank you so much for sharing it!
Thank you appreciate the info especially for a Physician.
If you take a nutrition course, saturated fat is saturated fat regardless of if it is plant based or animal based. Coconut oil is one of the most misleading products on the market as it has the highest amount of saturated fat of almost any other oil available. But is being advertised as healthy because it is plant based? The reason it has become so popular as a health food is purely because that is where it is located in the store. The body does not distinguish between saturated fats whether they come from bacon or coconut oil.
Healthy fats refer to unsaturated fats such as olive oil and grapeseed oil. If you want to do a quick thought experiment to know if what you are about to eat is a healthy fat (unsaturated) or unhealthy fat (saturated – even if it is plant based), is to imagine what the state of that fat is at room temperature. If it is liquid like olive oil, then you’re good. If it solid like butter or coconut oil, then you should probably only eat a little of it.
I know that many people are coconut crazy right now, but do a little research into the product beyond what it says on the label and you might think twice before using it. So I think the original recipe calling for the milk is probably a good idea to cut out that unwanted saturated fat.
Thanks for that information, Callie. That is my understanding as well. I do love using coconut oil, but, like all things, in moderation.
Since I started using coconut oil a LOT my cholesterol has dropped to 121 (58 HDL, 38 LDL) and triglycerides have dropped to 95, so I think the idea that saturated fats are all equally bad is pretty hard for me to swallow. I believe the lauric acid makes a huge difference in the nature of coconut oil over other saturated fats.
I made this because Alison Sweeny from The Biggest Loser posted that she made it and she and her family loved it! This really is delicious. I loved the combination of flavors and it was so easy and quick. Great recipe. Thank you.
Kat…yes! I saw that Alison had shared that a while back. I was thrilled! So great to hear that you enjoyed it as well. Thank you for being so sweet!
Everything in the recipe was great except the cabbage. Had to pick all of it out. Would be better with bamboo.
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy the cabbage. If you ever change it up, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Please, do some research! Saturated fats such as those in coconut milk are ESPECIALLY good for heart health!! Keep using it! I will be trying this, using my usual full fat canned coconut milk! ~ former Big University metabolic researcher.
I’ve made this using full-fat coconut milk, Suzanne and it’s delicious. I know you’ll love it. I use coconut oil frequently and feel that it’s a great plant-based option, as opposed to saturated fats from animal products. Coconut oil has many health benefits, but that said, I still do believe that it is important to reduce the amount of even “healthy” fats in our diet whenever we can.
Did you use raw shrimp, peeled and deveined? Or pre-cooked shrimp?
Madi, I used raw, peeled and deveined shrimp. I don’t recommend pre-cooked shrimp for this soup. Hope that helps! Enjoy.