March 2020 | Cook Now

Coconut Shrimp Curry

This easy shrimp curry tastes better than a restaurant in under 30 minutes! It’s a Thai red curry flavored with coconut milk and curry paste.

This one left us speechless. Really! Because this shrimp curry tastes better than a restaurant, but it’s a quick and easy dinner you can make at home. There is so much flavor going on here: rich coconut milk, aromatic curry paste, tangy lime and peppery basil surrounding tender, juicy shrimp. Serve it over jasmine rice and your friends and family will be singing your praises. This one is a keeper and even better: it’s a healthy dinner in less than 30 minutes. There are a few secrets to making this Thai red curry: here’s what to do!

Keys to making shrimp curry

It’s so easy to make a shrimp curry! To make it taste like a Thai red curry you’d get at a restaurant, here are some tips on the most important ingredients in this easy dinner recipe:

Thai red curry paste: It’s a paste made of chiles and aromatics like garlic, ginger, and lemongrass and absolutely essential to the flavor! It’s not too spicy and only adds a gentle heat. See below for more.
Large shrimp: Using shell on shrimp is nice because they come out even more flavorful and juicier; or use tail on shrimp if desired.
Full fat coconut milk: Use only full fat coconut milk here: it’s gets that essential creaminess to the broth.
Fish sauce: It might sound odd if you’ve never cooked Southeast Asian style cuisine, but it’s absolutely essential to adding that authentic flavor in Thai and Cambodian food.
Basil or Thai basil: If you can find it, Thai basil is most authentic and has a subtle licorice flavor. If not, whatever fresh basil you can find works!

What is Thai red curry?

Alex and I spent time in Cambodia together years ago, and the flavors of this shrimp curry instantly brought us back to Southeast Asia! Cambodian cuisine features curries very similar to Thai red curry.

What is it? Thai red curry is a Thai dish with a sauce made with red curry paste and coconut milk. It can be made with different proteins like chicken, beef, shrimp, or tofu. Then what’s red curry paste? If it’s not part of your cooking repertoire, you’ve got to add it: stat.

The secret: red curry paste

Red curry paste is a jarred paste that makes it easy to make a Thai red curry. It has all the flavors you’d find in the broth, without needing to buy them separately: chili peppers, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, cumin, coriander, and more. Alex and I use it in all sorts of dishes and it has the best flavor. We highly recommend adding it to your fridge! A few notes on red curry paste:

It’s not too spicy (the heat level varies). The heat of the curry paste depends on the brand. The brand we love is very mild, so it doesn’t add lots of heat to this shrimp curry.
It’s easy to find in the international aisle in most grocery stores. It keeps for months in the refrigerator and you can use it in lots more recipes, like our Curry Lentil Soup, Curried Butternut Squash Soup or Coconut Lentil Curry. If you can’t find it at your grocery, you can buy it online: Thai Kitchen red curry paste.

Do I really need fish sauce?

To many home cooks in North America, fish sauce might sound odd or scary. But here’s the thing: it’s the secret to many Southeast Asian recipes! When Alex and I visited Cambodia, they put fish sauce in just about everything. Why? It adds an incredible depth and savory umami flavor to everything from broths and salads.

Fish sauce is made from fermented fish. Yep, not the biggest selling point! But you can think of it more like a Southeast Asian-style soy sauce. When you add it to the broth in this shrimp curry, it adds a noticeable authentic Thai flavor. Don’t leave it out!

Use shell on shrimp for big flavor.

The best shrimp for shrimp curry is shell on or tail on shrimp: mostly because it looks the prettiest! Shell on shrimp has the best flavor: both because it gets the juiciest when cooked in the shell, and because the shell adds a little flavor to the broth. But if the thought of peeling shrimp isn’t desirable (we get it!), tail on shrimp is great too. (Want more shrimp recipes? Here are 10 Healthy Shrimp Recipes.)

Best rice for shrimp curry? Jasmine.

The perfect pair for this shrimp curry is rice: but not just any rice. Jasmine rice! Jasmine rice is also called Thai fragrant rice: because of its beautiful popcorn-like nutty flavor. When Alex and I used it for this shrimp curry, it was the finishing touch that transported us back to Southeast Asia. Try our jasmine rice recipes: How to Cook Jasmine Rice and Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.

If you can’t find jasmine rice, basmati rice works too! Or any type of medium or long grain rice. You can use brown rice too (it has more nutrients), but here we wanted to be ultra-authentic and served it with sticky white rice.

More curry recipes

Love curry? We do too. Once you’ve made this shrimp curry, here are a few more to try! There are lots of types of curry from all over the world: most of the recipes on this site are Indian or Thai-style curries:

Easy Chickpea Curry One of our top recipes, this 20-minute chickpea curry is Indian style (made with curry powder, not paste).
Vegetable Curry This vegetable curry is the best way to eat your veggies! Cauliflower, bell pepper and chickpeas swim in a flavor-packed broth.
Coconut Lentil Curry This fast and easy dinner idea that’s healthy and full of flavor. It has similar flavors to this shrimp curry!

This shrimp curry recipe is…

Pescatarian, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Coconut Shrimp Curry

(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4
Diet: Gluten Free

Print Recipe

Description

This easy shrimp curry tastes better than a restaurant in under 30 minutes! It’s a Thai red curry flavored with coconut milk and curry paste.

Ingredients

Jasmine rice (or basmati rice), for serving
1 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves
1 red bell pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
15-ounce can full fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Zest of 1 lime (plus lime wedges to garnish)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound large shrimp, shell on or tail on (wild caught if possible)
5 leaves fresh basil or Thai basil, plus more for garnish

Instructions

Start the jasmine rice (or basmati rice).
Mince the onion. Mince the garlic. Cut the pepper into thin strips.
In a large skillet, pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic & red pepper and saute for 1 minute. Stir in the curry paste and saute for 1 minute.
Add coconut milk, fish sauce, turmeric, lime zest, water, and kosher salt and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the shrimp and cook about 4 to 5 minutes until the shrimp is tender and opaque, depending on the size of the shrimp. Stir in 5 large leaves basil.
To serve, spoon the shrimp and sauce over rice. Garnish with additional chopped basil and lime wedges.

Category: Main Dish
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Thai

Keywords: Shrimp curry, Thai red curry, Thai shrimp curry, Coconut curry

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Asparagus Risotto

This flavor-packed asparagus risotto pairs creamy arborio rice with Parmesan and lemony roasted asparagus. A true crowd pleaser!

Creamy, savory, crunchy, and zingy: this asparagus risotto is truly sublime. Otherwise known as, the best way to usher in spring! Alex and I are craving fresh flavors over here, and this fancy yet simple dinner is the perfect antidote. Roast up some asparagus with lemon at the same time that you’re stirring up a creamy risotto on the stovetop. Then throw the tender bright green asparagus into the risotto, right along with the lemon. You’ll wish the pot would never end (we certainly did!).

What’s in asparagus risotto?

You’ll need a handful of simple ingredients for this asparagus risotto. The flavors are crisp and pure. Here’s what you’ll need:

White arborio rice: a short-grain Italian rice used for making risotto
Asparagus
Broth and dry white wine: wine is essential to the nuanced flavor!
Lemon: fresh lemon pairs perfectly with asparagus
Parmesan cheese: brings just the right savory notes
Olive oil, butter, onion, garlic powder: For flavoring
Toasted pine nuts: step it up with this Italian-style garnish (here’s how to toast them)

The keys to making risotto

Making risotto is actually quite simple! It’s just a matter of slow cooking short grain rice with broth until it becomes extraordinarily creamy. When Alex and I first started cooking, I remember thinking that risotto was something that came out of a box marked “risotto”. Turns out, it’s just a special way to cook arborio rice.

Use arborio rice. Make sure to find short-grain white arborio rice for this recipe. You should be able to find it at most grocery stores. This variety of rice becomes plump
Heat the broth first. Start with warm broth (this recipe uses some water too, so you don’t have to buy more than 1 quart). This helps it to cook right into the warm rice without lowering the temperature of the food.
Add warm broth 2 ladles at a time and stir until integrated. That’s all you have to do! Once the broth cooks into the rice, add another two ladles.
Cook until creamy & al dente, then add Parm. Keep cooking this way until the rice is creamy but still a bit al dente (with a little bite in the center). It should take about 12 minutes. Then add the Parmesan cheese and stir vigorously for 2 minutes.

How to cook the asparagus: roast it!

While that risotto is bubbling, you’ll roast up a pan of asparagus until it’s tender. We love that this veggie adds fiber to the risotto, making it more filling and nutritious! How to cook asparagus? Use the concept from our Roasted Asparagus. It’s so easy: just about 10 minutes in a very hot oven makes it perfectly tender. Here are some tips on the asparagus side of this risotto:

Prep the pan and have it ready to go while making the risotto. You’ll prep everything and get your pan of asparagus ready, then start the risotto. Because…
Time it so the asparagus finishes just as the risotto does. When the asparagus comes out of the oven, it’s perfectly bright green and tender. You’ll want to catch it just at that point so it’s at its brightest color when you serve. Overcooking the asparagus makes it turn a drab green color.
Leftovers lose the color in the asparagus: but still taste good! The asparagus will fade to a yellow green color in leftovers. But they still taste wonderful: they’re just not showy for serving to guests.

Why to make this asparagus risotto

This risotto is the absolute perfect spring recipe, filled with bright green fresh and tangy flavors! Of course, you can also serve it any season you can find good asparagus. A few recipe testers tried this recipe for us: here’s what they had to say!

“We made the asparagus risotto tonight and it was SO SO SO good! I was surprised at how much lemon flavor it had from roasting the lemons with the asparagus. We had to keep ourselves from eating the whole thing in one dinner!” -Connie
“It was so delicious. It was creamy and tangy and the asparagus was perfect!” -Karen

What to serve with risotto

Sometimes it’s hard to decide how to make risotto into a full meal (Alex and I have been there)! Accessorizing with a salad makes for a healthy vegetarian dinner. Of course, it want to add crunchy, savory garlic bread we won’t judge! Here are a few ideas for what to serve with risotto:

Easy Arugula Salad Here’s the simplest salad you’ll ever make! This easy arugula salad is fool-proof: you don’t even need to make dressing.
Classic Garlic Bread It’s crunchy on top, chewy on the inside, and full of flavor: the perfect side to go with pasta or tomato soup.
Fennel Orange Salad A fancy and refreshing side dish! It pairs juicy orange and the subtle licorice essence of fennel with a citrus vinaigrette.

PS if you love risotto, make sure to try our Butternut Squash Risotto, Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Cauliflower Risotto and Parmesan Risotto.

This asparagus risotto recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.