This tasty shrimp curry is blanketed in the most luscious coconut red curry sauce and full of so much flavor! It’s quick, easy, and crazy delicious!
This sassy shrimp curry cooks up super fast but magically tastes like it’s slow simmered for hours.
And the leftovers? OH.MY.GOSH. If you manage to squirrel a little away for the next day you’re in for a treat! It’s fantastic the first day and equally awesome the next.
I kept thing simple with the veggies this time around but we make this curry so often that I will toss in pretty much anything I have on hand.
I’ve added broccoli, cauliflower, peas, and zucchini along with the peppers and onion and have loved it every which way.
side dishes for shrimp curry
When it comes to curry, my side dish game is always the same. I either serve it up on a fluffy bed of jasmine or basmati rice or scoop it up with some warm and toasty naan bread. Or both!
You can choose your favorite long grain rice or choose a low carb option like cauliflower rice as your side. Fluffy quinoa or tender rice noodles would also work great too!
Another tasty option would be to cool things down with a fresh cucumber salad. Yum!
Easy Thai Coconut Shrimp Curry
Ready to faceplant? Let’s get our recipe on!
Easy Thai Coconut Shrimp Curry
This tasty shrimp curry is blanketed in the most luscious coconut red curry sauce and full of so much flavor! It’s quick, easy, and crazy delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 pound raw shrimp, cleaned and prepped (thaw if frozen)
- 1-2 TBSP avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 white onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1-2 large jalapeño
- 3 TBSP red curry paste
- 1.5 TBSP fish sauce
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 14 oz canned unsweetened coconut milk
- 1.5 TBSP cornstarch dissolved in 1.5 TBSP cold water
- 2-3 TBSP fresh chopped Thai basil for topping
- lime wedges for serving
- crushed red pepper flakes (optional extra for a spicier curry) season to taste
Instructions
Prep shrimp as needed. Should be peeled, cleaned, and thawed if frozen. I used extra-large shrimp but medium and large work great too.
Dice onion, cut bell pepper into thin strips and chop, and mince or slice your jalapeno. For a spicier curry, include the jalapeño seeds and use two jalapeños. For a more mild curry remove the seeds and only use one jalapeno or skip entirely.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large pan. Add onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper and cook until softened, approx 4-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer veggies to a bowl and set aside.
Over medium heat, add the coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Whisk together and bring to a gentle boil. In a small bowl, add 1.5 TBSP cornstarch to 1.5 TBSP cold water and whisk to dissolve. Add to sauce and simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally. Approx 5 minutes.
Pat shrimp dry and add to the sauce along with your cooked veggies. For more al dente vegetables, you can add them at the end if you prefer. Allow curry to simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are cooked through and opaque.
At this point you can taste-test the curry and decide if you'd like more heat (cayenne or red pepper flakes may be added to amp up the spiciness) or extra of any of the ingredients. Sometimes I'll stir in extra red curry paste or add a teeny pinch of salt, to taste.
Top with Thai basil. Serve with jasmine rice or basmati rice or see blog post for more tasty serving suggestions!
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Facts below are estimated using an online recipe nutrition calculator. Adjust as needed and enjoy!
If you get a chance to try this scrumptious shrimp curry, let me know!
Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation. I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
looking for more Thai inspired recipes?
One of my all-time most popular recipes is this Thai Salad with Carrot and Cucumber Noodles. It’s studded with cilantro, chickpeas, and the most amazing sweet and sour dressing!
Because I’m clearly obsessed with Thai salads, I also make a mean Thai Chopped Salad with lemongrass ginger shrimp.
On the soup front, I whipped up the most amazing Red Lentil Curry Soup featuring a spicy kick from Thai red curry paste and chili garlic sauce.
I’ve also been working hard at perfecting my Drunken Noodles recipe and *cannot* wait to share it on here very soon – stay tuned!
Jessica
I made this tonight and it was a hit. Both my kids loved it as well, this includes my picky 11 year old. Wouldn’t change a thing. So delicious and will be making this again soon.
Tracey
That was so easy and absolutely amazing! What a great find! Thanks
Chris
I wish i had a picture to share, but seriously it looks like the posted recipe picture. We’ve cooked this probably 5 times this month and had friends over every weekend for the past four weeks and EVERYONE loved this dish. So easy to put together, great with shrimp, chicken or both! I’ve been hesitant to try Thai cooking because I thought it’d be complicated or I’d mess it up…. this recipe makes you look like a fabulous cook!! One girlfriend couldn’t stop saying that it was the best food she’s ever had, so flavorful and fresh and delicious! Eat with a good sticky rice, extra lime wedges, and if you have some fresh lovely basil in your garden like I did it’s even better!
Jenn
DAY = MADE!!!! I’m so so glad the shrimp curry was a hit and that it has made repeat status in your kitchen. Thank you!
Biswajit
Nyc recipe
Delilah
Good and easy recipe but next time I’ll leave out the sugar entirely, or else only use half a teaspoon. It’s way too sweet for me.
Jenn
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Delilah! Yes the sugar can be 100% omitted and if you like it spicy, you can even add more heat! xoxo
Samia Taj
Amazing recipe and so easy !
Keya
Definitely making this again…!
I live alone so I’m grateful for the leftover…! I followed the directions exactly and only added a teeny bit more curry paste and red pepper flakes at the end… Would probably cook my vegetables a little shorter and add the seeds from the jalapeño for a little if that heat. But this is so flavorful and not difficult to prepare.
The key is to prep all of the ingredients because the recipe goes fast…! Thanks for sharing…!
Yolandi
Incredible!!!!!!
Jenn
Thank you Yolandi!
ClaraZ
Amazing recipe! Thanks very much! I a beginner in cooking and always kinda intimidated by it but I made this last night and I really really enjoyed it!!
However, I have 2 1/2 suggestions:
1. I wish I could pat and dry the shrimp in advance. I did not dry the shrimp early enough, so I just threw my shrimps in and it kinda diluted the thickened up sauce. And it turnt out to be a bit watery than I expected. So maybe mention dry the shrimps at an early step or maybe I m just really lack of cooking common sense.
2. I think you forgot to mention to add the bell pepper, onions mix which was set aside in a bowl earlier back to the curry. I read the recipe word by word and I didnt know when and which step I should put the veggie mix back to the sauce pan lol. Again, lack of cooking common sense here :p
3. Comparing the dish I made last night by following very strictly step by step per the recipe to the similar dish I had at Thai restaurants, the flavor is not as strong as the restaurant version, I wonder if adding more salt or more red curry paste can strengthen the flavor? Or a way that wont make it saltier? Any insight would be appreciated.
But anyways, thank you very much! You made cooking easy, encouraging and possible for me 🙂
Jenn
So glad you enjoyed the shrimp curry Clara! I will certainly add these little extra details. I make this one so often my brain is often on autopilot and I for sure need to add more tips and steps to help out my beginner chefs! <3 To amp up the flavor, you can add an extra dash of fish sauce (just a little) as well as more red curry paste. You mentioned the shrimp needed patting dry for you so that will also help as to not dilute any yummy flavor! Updating some more details into the post as we speak! xoxo
Jenn
Ooh and for drying the shrimp, you want to pat them dry before tossing them in the pot. If you do it earlier they will just release moisture again while waiting for their turn to get cooked, from my experience. If your curry ever seems to thin you can add a little extra corn starch diluted in cold water. Some restaurants use canned coconut cream instead of just coconut milk to make their curries extra thick, though I try to avoid the extra calories and stick with the coconut milk and cornstarch combo so I can control the thickness to my liking. Hope that info helps!
Mariya M
If you slightly precook th ed shrimp ahead 9f time they wont give 9off so much water in the final cooking. Pat dry and saute them in th ed olive/ avocado oil first for just a minute. Then remove them and throw in your veggies with a bit more oil. Then remove those and set both aside separately till you add them into the sauce. The shrimp will finish cooking in the sauce and won’t water down the curry.
Vicki
Question about your recipe: Step #5 that has a note mentions CHICKEN when this is s shrimp recipe. Did you mean this note for this recipe, and mean to say “SHRIMP” instead of chicken? Thanks!
Jenn
Hi Vicki! Thank you so much for catching that! I have been testing the recipe over the course of the year and originally made it with chicken, then decided I liked the shrimp best and kept testing it that way. When I uploaded my recipe notes over from my app it still that that note in there and I didn’t catch it. So happy you pointed it out! xo
Ashley F
I had no idea this would be so easy to make! So delicious!
Jenn
Thanks Ashley!
Tayler Ross
I made this for dinner last night and it was incredible! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Jenn
Love it! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe Tayler!
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