Coconut milk flavored with peanut butter and red curry paste makes a classic Thai-inspired, creamy sauce. When tossed with shrimp and bell peppers, it makes for an easy dinner!
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“My favorite food is Thai curry. I travel around and try any and all Thai restaurants I can find. And I love this recipe. I have been making this since 2016 for my family. Always a huge hit. Restaurant quality. Seriously good.”
~Rachel, FoodieCrush reader
This is the red Thai shrimp curry of your dreams, with big, succulent shrimp coated in a coconut-based curry sauce.
Even better, this is a fast and easy recipe that takes just 30 minutes to prepare. While the curry bubbles away, I like to make a batch of steamed white rice in my Instant Pot.
Just like chili, this creamy coconut shrimp curry tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had time to come together.
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
- PLEASE TAKE NOTE! There have been some comments that the dish is too salty. I believe this is from using a lesser quality fish sauce, which will lend a saltier taste. Please use a high-quality fish sauce like the one I recommend, or add just 4 tablespoons of sauce and then taste it, and add more to your liking.
- I like Key West Pink Shrimp in my shrimp coconut curry. In my opinion, they’re sweeter and more flavorful than striped or tiger shrimp that are typically farmed.
- Don’t skip the brown sugar! You need a little sweetness to balance out all the rich and savory umami flavors going on in this dish.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Shrimp — I find wild caught Key West Shrimp in the freezer section at my local Kroger (under the Private Selection brand).
- Vegetables — I used a blend of brightly colored bell peppers, plus onion for flavor. Use any combo of vegetables you like in your red shrimp curry.
- Coconut milk — Use canned unsweetened, full-fat coconut milk. If using low-fat coconut milk, the sauce will be thinner and has a tendency to break.
- Thai red curry paste — Each brand varies in how spicy it is, so taste yours before adding the full amount to the curry.
- Fish sauce — Don’t be afraid of fish sauce. It sounds odd but lends a distinctly Thai flavor to the dish. My husband read somewhere Red Boat is a highly-rated fish sauce, and is 100% natural, so it’s the one we buy now.
- Peanut butter — Use creamy peanut butter for the best consistency.
- Lime juice — The acidic lime juice cuts through the salty fish sauce and brightens the curry.
- Ginger — Use fresh or dried ginger in this dish. I’ve used both. If using fresh, use 1 ½ tablespoons minced ginger and cook it with the peppers and onions and omit the dried ginger from the coconut milk mixture.
- Brown sugar — Rounds out the flavor profile of the red curry.
- Fresh herbs — Cilantro, basil, and green onions add a fresh pop of flavor that rounds out the hearty curry.
How to Make Coconut Curry Shrimp
- Prep and marinate the shrimp. Peel and devein the shrimp (but leave the tails on). Then, toss the shrimp with a little oil, garlic, kosher salt, and red chili flakes. Let the shrimp marinate for 10 minutes.
Heidi’s Tip: I like to leave the tails on my shrimp for presentation’s sake, but if you want to, feel free to remove the tails from the get-go.
- Cook the veggies and shrimp. Cook the onion and peppers in a hot skillet until softened, then transfer them to a bowl. Working in batches, cook the shrimp in the skillet and then place it in a separate bowl.
- Next, make the red curry sauce. The creamy sauce is amped up by combining coconut milk with salty fish sauce and lime juice, plus peanut butter, red curry paste, brown sugar, and ground ginger.
- Bring it all together. Add the cooked onion and peppers back into the skillet and pour in the coconut milk mixture. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Add the shrimp to the skillet with the basil and cilantro and toss to coat.
- Garnish before serving. When serving this coconut curry shrimp, it’s all about the garnish. Cilantro leaves, fresh basil, sliced red jalapeño, chopped green onion, and a squeeze of lime simply enhance this dish in my opinion.
FAQs
The peanut butter doesn’t make the curry taste like peanuts, it just deepens the flavor. However, you can omit the peanut butter if you’re out or have an allergy in your family. (You could also experiment with using almond butter, if an allergy is the issue.)
To adjust the spice level of this Thai red shrimp curry, add more or less curry pasta and red chili flakes to taste.
Go for it! The bell peppers can be replaced with another type of pepper, broccoli, bok choy, you name it.
Storage Tips
Shrimp curry lasts up to 5 days in the fridge, and leftovers should be gently reheated over medium heat or in the microwave. Be very careful if microwaving, because shrimp tends to go dry and rubbery when microwaved.
What to Serve with Thai Shrimp Curry
Serve over brown rice for another layer of nutty flavor. If you’re a white rice kind of eater, go for it. Cellophane or rice noodles would be really good underneath the curry too, or spiralize a few zucchini noodles to keep the veg-love flowing.
Side dish ideas include:
- Thai Quinoa Salad
- Thai Coconut Noodle Salad
- Thai Zucchini Noodle Salad
- Asian Slaw
- Sesame Broccoli
- Asian Pickled Cucumbers
- Asian Ramen Noodle Salad
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Shrimp In Thai Coconut Curry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound jumbo shrimp , peeled and deveined, tail on
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil , divided
- 2 cloves garlic , minced or pressed
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
- ½ onion , peeled and sliced
- ½ red bell pepper , seeded and sliced
- ½ orange bell pepper , seeded and sliced
- ½ yellow bell pepper , seeded and sliced
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 4-6 tablespoons high quality fish sauce , start with 4 tablespoons and add more to taste
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons lime juice , about ½ large lime, juiced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons basil leaves , chopped
- 2 tablespoons cilantro , chopped
- 1 green onion , chopped
- Red jalapeno pepper , thinly sliced (optional)
Instructions
- Place the shrimp in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the oil, garlic, kosher salt and red chili flakes. Toss to coat and let marinate for 10 minutes.
- Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium high heat with 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onion and peppers and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer the peppers and onion to a bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and cook half of the shrimp for 2 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes or until opaque. Transfer the shrimp to a plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and cook the remaining shrimp then add to the other shrimp.
- In another bowl or 4-cup measuring cup mix the coconut milk, fish sauce, peanut butter, red curry paste, lime juice, brown sugar and ground ginger and stir well.
- Transfer the cooked onion and peppers to the skillet and pour the coconut milk mixture of the peppers. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Add the shrimp to the skillet with the basil and cilantro and toss to coat. Serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with more cilantro and basil, chopped green onion and sliced red jalapeño of desired.
Notes
Nutrition
More Easy Thai Recipes to Try
- Thai Beef Curry
- Thai Turkey Meatballs in Red Curry Sauce
- Thai Green Chicken Curry
- Pad Thai
- Thai Chicken Larb
- Thai Basil Chicken
- Thai Black Pepper Tofu
- Thai Beef Salad (Yum Nua)
- 30-Minute Thai Red Chicken Curry
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Melinda B
Fast, easy and tasty! Easily adaptable too.
We hate bell peppers so I subbed in a little poblano from our garden instead and added oyster mushrooms.
It wasn’t too salty as others mentioned. I used Thai Kitchen fish sauce and curry paste.
I also added some fresh garlic.
We’re also not big fans of cilantro so we added fresh Thai basil and green onion stems at the end.
Love that this is gluten free, dairy free, and it could easily be made without the brown sugar to be sugar free too. Thanks for great inspiration!
Hayley
We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed this, Melinda! Love the adjustments you made. Thanks for sharing with us and taking the time to comment! :)
Brad Kreutzkamp
I make this recipe on the regular and it is very good! However, I do have to say I’m not sure the picture matches the recipe. The picture is clearly yellow curry, and mine always turn out much more red. Which is completely fine, but not sure how they’re getting that yellow color?
Hey Brad, it’s probably a different type of curry. Look for yellow curry instead of red.
Carolina Rosado
Fantastic recipe! I made it today, with some extra Pak Choi that I happened to have in the fridge. Thank you!
Hayley
Thank you, Carolina! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Frank M.
I love this recipe! I have made it 3 times in the past 2 months. I like it spicy, so I add 2 jalapeños and 2 serrano peppers to the vegetables. I also add 2 cloves of diced fresh garlic at the end of the vegetable sautéing.
Hey Frank, thanks so much for letting me know and for continuing to make it! Your comment and the 5-star rating mean everything to me! Happy cooking!
Susan
I used the 2 Tbs of red curry as written and it was too spicy for us. Otherwise a great recipe. It was easy and I loved the peanut butter taste. Next time I will decrease the red curry amount or use green curry.
Hayley
Thank you for sharing, Susan! Yes, definitely feel free to adjust the amount of curry paste if you like. If you do try it with green curry, let us know how it works out for you!
Jenn
I have tried to make many Thai Coconut Curry recipes along the way – and this is officially the best one I’ve found! It’s something about the peanut butter and lime juice.. whatever it is – the sauce makes it {chef’s kiss }. I also like to throw in some spinach in right at the end – like many other commenters. Will try mushrooms next.
Hayley
Thanks for sharing, Jenn—we’re so happy you loved this and we bet mushrooms would be a super tasty addition!
Psalmon
Awesome recipe…I used chunky peanut butter and it gave the sauce this nutty/crunchy thing…very delicious after a night in the fridge for next day also … flavors meld so well…an option if you are doing a dinner and overloaded…just need the shrimp and the fresh garnishes.
Yes, chunky or smooth peanut butter works for the recipe. Glad you enjoyed it!
Joe
My first try at a Thai dish and it was awesome! Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Hayley
Thanks, Joe, so happy you liked it!
Sissy Perry
Used chicken instead of shrimp and it was SO good!! Husband said to remind him just how much he liked this dish, in case he forgot!!
Happy to hear you could adjust to your liking!
Pat
I did find that even 4 Tbsp of fish sauce was too much. Will cut it by half next time. Also would increase peanut butter. It’s flavour was lost in all the spices. We like a more pronounced pesnutty flavour. But it was good.
Jane Bates
This looks amazing…..will really have to try it, thank you
Debra Wood
Place the shrimp in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the oil, garlic, kosher salt and red chili flakes. Toss to coat and let marinate for 10 minutes. Poor instructions; suggests 1 tbs of each; which kills the recipe
Kira
I thought this tasted delicious! I followed the recipe as is. However, in your printable instructions it does not say to peel and devein the shrimp. I don’t cook shrimp often (ever?) so I didn’t know to do that. It would be helpful to update that in the recipe instructions :)
Hayley
Hi Kira, thanks for this feedback – you make an excellent point! Also, we’re so glad you enjoyed this!
Joseph J Niati
It was delicious! my sauce came out darker and greener but it qas still very good and healthy tasting
I’m glad you enjoyed Joseph!
Michelle
We loved the flavors even though we sadly had to go with chicken due to my daughter’s hatred of seafood :(
I used sesame oil, fresh ginger (ran it over a zester/grater), and since I didn’t have a yellow onion on hand I added more green onions on the back end. Served it over jasmine rice. It was all good. Yum.
I plan to make it with shrimp in the near future. Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
f
Hello,
Superb recipe for my family of 10. Doubled it and leftovers for lunch tomorrow Trying to get more veg into our recipes so added snap peas and book choy. Sugar is sugar and oil is oil so one is not really getting a healthier option by changing them out. Just use less.
Thanks again.
I’m glad you enjoyed!
Diane
My fish sauce must be really salty. I read the comments too late. Good flavour though, after I had adjusted.
I will try again because this is fairly easy and add the fish sauce in the end, little by little, to my taste.
Thanks for sharing.
Hayley
We’re sorry this came out too salty for you Diane – we appreciate the feedback!
Randi
For those using frozen shrimp who found the dish too salty, check to see if your frozen fish ingredients included salt. If so, eliminate the salt in the recipe or you will find your dish too salty.
Patti
This curry is so yummy.
Michelle
Just made this tonight and hubs and son raved and said to put this on “The List”. I used the whole can of unsweetened coconut milk and 4 tbls fish sauce and wasn’t salty at all. Wondering if those that found too salty maybe didn’t use enough lime juice, just a thought. We put over rice and thought it was delicious. Thanks for a great recipe!
I’m glad you enjoyed!
Julie
excellent !!! can’t wait to make it again.
i also added about 2 cup fresh spinach and i used olive oil
Shazskb
A friend made this recipe and dropped off a serving for me to sample. I intended to take a quick taste but ended up savoring the whole bowl. It is, quite simply, outstanding, better than fine dining quality. The authentic Thai flavors came through as did the taste of the shrimp. The only Thai dish I have tasted that is better than this was at a highly rated resort in Barbados. I am salt sensitive and this did not taste at all salty. It is spicy but just enough. Confession: I absolutely HATE peanut butter. I was the only kid in the neighborhood who refused a PBJ sandwich. If I would have known in advance this dish contained peanut butter, I would have said ‘no thank you’ and passed. I did not detect the dreaded peanut butter at all. I only learned of it when I added this outstanding recipe to my files.
Jennifer
This recipe is amazing!! I make it once a month and serve over riced cauliflower to up the nutrition even more!!! Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Anthony
Yummmeeeee!
Delicious and fast to make – Circa 20 Minutes.
Kian
My first time to ever cook Thai, or even use coconut milk in cooking. Turned out delicious and perfect!
Thank you!
Samantha
We loved this meal! After reading the comments, only used 1 tbsp of fish sauce and it was perfect. In the future will double the sauce and add more vegetables – I want leftovers for the next day!
Jessie Georges
Delicious! I served this over jasmine rice. I used 4 tablespoons of fish sauce, and highly recommend a high quality fish saurce like Red Boat. You can order it on Amazon. Will definitely make this again!