One Pot Coconut Curry Shrimp
Homemade coconut curry shrimp is so easy anyone can make it. It’s just as good or better than take-out, and much cheaper. This absolutely delicious, healthy and easy Coconut Shrimp Curry is cooked in one pot for a weeknight meal in less than 30 minutes. 
Coconut Shrimp Curry Recipe
You may not think of One Pot Coconut Shrimp Curry as part of a balanced nutrient-rich meal, and still taste amazingly wonderful at the same time. Well, prepare to be amazed by this curry recipe made with fresh veggies, ginger, coconut milk, and Greek yogurt with red curried shrimp.
I’ve tried curry recipe such as Thai Coconut Curry Chicken before. Within this recipe post, you’ll make a flavorful curry dish, with just a few ingredients. Plus you’ll learn a simple trick to infuse stronger flavors of curry or other spices into your cooking.
Why this one pot curry is so yummy
It comes together in a snap (not talking about the peas here) and can be cooked in one pot. Curry powder is an ingredient that goes a long way to flavor dishes and is the star of this coconut shrimp curry. I have a tip to infuse the flavor into the food even more, so be sure to read the cooking tips section below.
It wouldn’t be coconut shrimp curry without coconut of course. Canned coconut milk adds a lovely creamy texture and flavor.
How to Make Coconut Curry Shrimp
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Heat coconut oil to medium-high heat in a large skillet, stir-fry pan or wok. Add garlic and onion, saute for 4-5 minutes until fragrant.
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Add the shrimp, curry powder, bell pepper, and carrots. Stir to evenly coat and cook 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is opaque white.
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Reduce to medium heat and add snow peas, ginger, yogurt, and coconut milk. Stir to combine and bring to a low boil.
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Remove from heat and serve.
Tips for Making this Recipe
- Make sure to add the spices to the oil and not the liquid. As I said before it makes a big difference to the flavor.
- If you’re serving this with rice or noodles, cook them ahead of time according to package instructions.
- Feel free to add extra heat in the form of fresh chilies or chili powder. Make sure to add them with the shrimp and veggies while cooking.
- You could use sugar snap peas or green peas instead or in addition to snow peas
- Use high-quality wild-caught shrimp (fresh or frozen) for best flavor and texture. Cheaper varieties often hold a lot of water and shrink when cooking.
Should I use curry powder or paste?
You can use dry either curry powder or curry paste when making curry recipes. I prefer the powder as it coats and incorporates better into other ingredients. The flavor of curry can vary by brand, but most likely you’ll have to use more paste to match the flavor of powder.
Ingredients for Shrimp Curry
- Shrimp: Lots of lean protein and seafood flavor. Use wild-caught for best quality.
- Red curry powder: The main flavor of this dish. Just a little bit is needed.
- Canned coconut milk, or coconut cream: The base for the curry sauce
- Greek yogurt: Adds creaminess to the sauce as well as extra protein
- Coconut oil: Used for pan frying veggies and shrimp, also adds coconut flavor
- Onion and garlic: A wonderful combination that adds flavor to almost any savory dish
- Bell pepper, carrot and snow peas: Veggies add wholesome flavor and color
- Fresh ginger: A common ingredient that punches up curries and Asian dishes such as Soy Sauce Glazed Steamed Fish.
The ingredients I used make this a Thai shrimp curry. With just a few different spices and ingredients you can make Indian curry shrimp or Jamaican curry shrimp.
How to Flavor Food with Curry
- A little bit of curry goes a long way. Usually, only 1 to 2 tablespoons are all you need for a curry recipe
- Heat it in a bit of oil to bring out more flavor
- It’s bests cooked with ingredients such as meat or veggies to infuse flavor, instead of added to a liquid or sauce
Certain spices and herbs are fat-soluble (instead of water-soluble). This means the flavors are stronger (bloom) depending on how you cook them. Cook the spices in some sort of oil first, instead of just adding it to the liquid after.
Pro Tip: To get the most curry flavor, add it to the shrimp and coconut oil as it cooks. In a test by America’s Test Kitchen, herb-infused oil had 10 times the amount of flavor compared to the same ratio of herbs in water.
Serving Suggestions
Try serving over cooked brown rice, jasmine rice, cauliflower rice (you may check my Beef Fried Rice (with Cauliflower Rice) recipe), pasta, rice noodles, or even served alongside baked or roasted sweet potatoes.
Alternately, double the sauce portion to make this a curry soup.
How to store leftovers: Store in a sealed container the fridge for 1 to 3 days. This recipe can easily be doubled and freezes well for longer storage. It’s best to freeze the curry without rice or pasta.
Dietary Options and Substitutions
- Gluten-free: Serve over rice or rice noodles
- Low-carb and keto curry: Serve over cauliflower rice
- Vegetarian or vegan: Substitute the shrimp with tofu. Check my Vegan Coconut Curry Tofu Stir-Fry recipe
- Dairy-free and Whole30: Replace Greek yogurt with extra coconut milk
- If allergic to shrimp: Use chicken breast to make this a chicken curry
Recipe at-a-glance
Flavor profiles: Sweet and rich flavors of curry and coconut milk paired with delicate shrimp
Texture: Soft, moist and super chewy.
More Recipes with Shrimp
- Mexican Shrimp Cocktail
- Tropical Shrimp Tacos
- Easy Shrimp Paella
- Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya
- Tropical Shrimp Stir Fry
- Shrimp Fajitas Skewers
- Coconut Shrimp Springrolls
- Shrimp Scampi Flatbread
- Mediterranean Shrimp Tacos
- Shrimp and Sausage Spaghetti
- Veracruz Shrimp with Green Olives
- Creamy Shrimp Pasta
You might also like these seafood recipes:
- Fish Soup Recipe
- Ahi Tuna Bites
- Tuna Nori Wraps
- Tuna Cakes
- Salmon Kabobs
- Baked Trout in Foil
- Beer Battered Fish Tacos
- Fish Burgers with Mango Guacamole
- Soy Sauce Glazed Whole Steamed Fish
One Pot Coconut Shrimp Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 pounds wild-caught shrimp defrosted (peeled and deveined)
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 1 large carrot shredded
- 2 cups snow peas
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- â…” cup Greek yogurt
- ½ cup canned coconut milk
- Cooked rice or noodles optional
Instructions
- Heat coconut oil to medium-high heat in a large skillet, stir-fry pan or wok. Add garlic and onion, saute for 4-5 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the shrimp, curry powder, bell pepper and carrots. Stir to evenly coat and cook 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shrimp is opaque white.
- Reduce to medium heat and add snow peas, ginger, yogurt and coconut milk. Stir to combine and bring to a low boil.
- Remove from heat and serve over cooked brown rice, cauliflower rice, or noodles.
Notes
- For dairy-free or Whole30, substitute yogurt with extra 1/4 cup of coconut milk
- Make sure to add the spices to the oil and not the liquid. As I said before it makes a big difference to the flavor!
- If you're serving this with rice or noodles cook them ahead of time according to packet instructions.
- Feel free to add extra heat in the form of fresh chilies or powder. Make sure to add them with the shrimp and veggies.
- You could use sugar snap peas or peas instead of snow peas
- Use high-quality wild-caught shrimp (fresh or frozen) for best flavor. Cheaper varieties often hold a lot of water and shrink a lot when cooking.
- How to store leftovers: Store in a sealed container the fridge for 1 to 3 days. This recipe can easily be doubled and freezes well for longer storage. It's best to freeze the curry without rice or pasta.
It was excellent and useful. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome and thanks!
Great recipe! I know this is probably a longshot but do you think there’s any way that this could be made ahead of time, possibly the day before or a week prior and freeze? It’s for a large group on an RV trip. It is too complicated to cook for that many people in an RV. I was hoping that maybe I could cook the vegetables prior and then use a crockpot? I know shrimp is touchy and you don’t want to overcook it. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Thanks Lori. Those are great questions. The main concern with freezing is that the yogurt may separate when defrosted. I suppose you can sub that with more coconut milk. Or you could prep and freeze the veggies ahead of time like you said. Then assemble everything else and slow cook. I’m curious to try that myself as I love slow cooking!
I love coconut curries, they’re always so full of flavour!
One pot dinner for the win! I see this getting made in the very near future.
What a fantastic flavor combination! Looks like my kind of dinner!
You had me at coconut and shrimp! I agree, wild shrimp are the best.
You can’t go wrong with shrimp and coconut curry! This looks beautiful and so full of flavor.
Could I substitute Thai red curry paste instead of curry powder?
Hi Amy, you totally could but not sure if it’s an equal substitution. I’d start with less and add more to taste.
I’ve gone to two grocery stores and can’t find Silk dairy free yogurt. Can I use Greek yogurt? Or will it have a curtling effect in the dish?
Hi Amy. Greek yogurt should be fine. I’ve cooked with sour cream before (which is somewhat close) without any issues.
my sister in law made this and it was delicious! everyone went back for second helpings.
now i want to try my own hand at it
Hi Kay. Thanks so much for the feedback! I always enjoy hearing when someone makes a recipe. Hope you get to make it soon!
nvm haha should have read the comments first!
Can regular dairy products be substituted for the same effect or would you change anything?
thanks!
I you can’t find the product then yes you could sub in regular or Greek yogurt. Thanks Marisa.
Hi Matt, Your ingredients call for coconut oil, but instructions say heat the olive oil. Typo?
Good catch! I swear I read these posts 20 times but things still slip through. Fixed it.
Can this be done with chicken too?
Hi Michelle! Absolutely you could. Cut it into small pieces and cook a bit longer than you would shrimp. Thanks!
Can’t wait to try this! Do you think I could sub plain Greek yogurt? I know the taste can be a little sour so not sure if that will work ?
Hi Cheyenne. I haven’t tried that but you probably could. The recipe is a bit sweet to counter the sour, or add a bit more honey if needed.
Made this tonight and it was amazing!! I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow! Love love love! Thank you Sao much for this recipe!
That’s awesome Yve! Thanks so much for the feedback and I’m honored you loved my recipe!
Made this tonight. To DIE for. Thanks!
Wow I’m so glad to hear that Carolyn! It’s nice getting feedback like that and appreciate the comment!
Oh, how I want to love this! I’m such a wuss when it comes to spices, but I think if I tone it back a little I can still (really) enjoy it 😀 This dish just looks so amazingly savory – and, of course, there’s shrimp involved, my one true weakness!
I’m not a huge fan of spicy but do like spices. If you like curry you’ll love it with the shrimp in this dish. Thanks Chrisy!
This looks fantastic! Love all shrimp dinners. Especially if it’s easy clean up!
Can’t beat a one pot cleanup. Thanks Jenn!
We make one pot meals all the time, but we never do anything with shrimp and I’m not sure why! I think I’ll definitely have to try making your one pot coconut curry shrimp dish–it looks incredible!
I like how shrimp cooks so quickly and if does work awesome in one pot dishes. Thanks Cathy!
Yum! I make a coconut curry shrimp on a regular basis and yours looks absolutely delicious! Love the added tips at the end about how to best infuse the spice flavors to the dish. So helpful!
I found a really good curry powder but don’t use it often enough. Thanks a glad the tips helped Marlynn!
This looks so good! I could go for some right now 🙂
Thanks Becky! Any time is good for curry.
You just made me so hungry. This is one of my all time favorite meals. Looks fabulous. #client
Glad to hear that Carolyn! It is filing and flavorful so makes a great dinner menu item. Thanks!
I love one pot meals! My husband and I are huge curry fans too. This sounds yummy!
Sounds like a win win. Thanks Emily!
You’re so good at using shrimp in your cooking. I really need to use it more often. I didn’t know silk had yogurt out. I’ll be checking that out. Love your recipes! 🙂
I’m the same way Becky and would like to cook it even more often. It’s so versatile. Thanks and that’s so nice of you to say!
I know just the person to make this for. Me!
Haha who better to serve it to? Thanks Candy!
Coconut and curry go so well together! This looks delicious!
Kari
Is sure does! Thanks Kari!