Instant Pot Thai Green Curry Shrimp get's ready under 30 minutes, beginner friendly recipe for busy weeknights! Make this creamy Instant Pot Thai green curry shrimp with store bought green curry paste, coconut milk, veggies & juicy Colossal Shrimp.
Instant Pot Green Curry Shrimp
This creamy Instant Pot Green Curry Shrimp requires less effort and is extremely comforting. Feel free to add veggies of your choice to add more heft.
Also, to instantly boost the flavors of the dish, add lemon grass and a few snapped kéfir lime leaves if you can (I didn't use any as they are not readily available, you'll find a great sub in this post).
And do not skip using the best full fat coconut milk you can afford. It's the base of the recipe and the best you use the best your dish will be 🙂
Ingredients
Find the Ingredients with actual measurements at the bottom of the post. The list below is just a reference.
- Shrimp: Use de-shelled and de-veined shrimp. Tiger, colossal, jumbo or extra large shrimp works best for this recipe. Do not use small shrimp and cooked shrimp.
- Veggies: We picked thinly sliced zucchini, snap peas, baby corn, bamboo shoots & bell peppers for today's recipe. You can also swap these veggies with small thai egg plant (brinjal/aubergine), green bean and snap peas.
- Coconut Milk: Full fat coconut milk works best. Do not use low fat.
- Fish Sauce: Regular Soy Sauce or light soy sauce or tamari are great subs.
- Thai Green Curry Paste: We picked "A Taste of Thai's" green curry paste. You can buy it from any supermarket in the USA (Asian section).
- Lemon zest: It's a great sub for kéfir lime leaves and to some extent lemon grass. However, if you Kéfir lime leaves and lemon grass are readily available in your area use them by all means. You can also use lemon grass paste from the tube. We used lemon zest & mixed it in the green curry paste.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil. We picked avocado oil.
- Garnish: We used Thai Basil, Serrano peppers & Thai red chilies. You can use cilantro instead of basil.
Tips & Tricks
- Best Shrimp: Tiger, colossal or Jumbo shrimp (fresh or frozen and thawed) would work great. Do not use cooked shrimp or small shrimp. They would taste bland.
- Shrimp cook time: 0 minute pressure cook time is appropriate to perfectly cook down shrimp without making them stiff & rubbery. By the time the Instant Pot would come to pressure the Shrimp will be cooked through.
- Veggies cook time: We prefer crisp tender veggies, hence we chose to add the veggies except the baby corn & the bamboo shoots after the pressure cooking cycle. The residual heat is enough to cook them down. If you prefer tender veggies pressure cook them along with the shrimp.
- Secret to the best sauce: Saute the green Thai curry paste in hot oil. This will help release all the great flavors. As a result you'll have an outstanding creamy sauce. Also, simmer the coconut milk along with the curry paste for 1-2 mins before pressure cooking.
- Extra creamy sauce secret: Add a 3-4 tablespoons coconut milk fat in the coconut milk. You'll have a richer, creamier thicker sauce.
- Sauce consistency: Thai curries are meant to be runny, soupy. If you prefer slightly thicker sauce, do cook down the coconut milk for 2-3 mins before pressure cooking. The sauce thickens further as it cools down.
- Boost the flavor profile: Now, you can add lemon grass and few snapped fresh kéfir lime leaves to the sauce. This will certainly boost the flavor instantly. However, as they are not readily available we skipped using them. Instead we added lemon zest in the green curry paste. It's a fabulous handy sub for lime leaves.
- Basil: We used Thai Basil (it has a distinct aniseed flavor). You can use regular basil or fresh cilantro.
- Spicy Sauce: If you prefer spicy food add the Thai red chilies into the coconut milk & pressure cook and vice versa. Cooking down the chilies will increase the spice level. We prefer adding the chilies as a garnish.
How to make Thai Green Curry Shrimp?
Find the detailed step by step recipe along with measurements + Video at the bottom of the post.
Step #1 Prep the Curry Sauce
Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE function set at NORMAL heat setting. Add oil, allow the oil to become moderately hot but not super hot, otherwise the curry paste will burn. Saute the green curry paste for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
Pour in the full fat coconut milk, stir briskly to fully incorporate the Thai green curry paste. Add the fish sauce.
De-glaze the pot very well by scraping the sides and the bottom of the pot with the help of a spatula, this will help loosen the stuck food particles from the bottom of the pot. In return it’ll prevent the BURN error from popping up. Simmer the coconut milk for about 1-2 minutes.
Note: If you prefer a mildly sweet curry add about 1 tbsp palm sugar or regular sugar or ½ tbsp honey.
Step #2 Pressure cook curry
Add the shrimp, babycorns and bamboo shoots, mix, cover and PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 0 minute. Yes, it's not a typo! By the time the Instant Pot will build pressure the shrimp will be perfectly cooked.
After a quick pressure release add the rest of the veggies, give everything a good mix and cover the Instant Pot with a glass lid and allow the Thai Green Curry Shrimp for 5-10 mins for crisp tender veggies.
Garnish with Thai Basil or regular basil or fresh cilantro and chopped Thai chilies and enjoy with a bowl of white rice.
Note: If you prefer softer or well cooked veggies than do pressure cook them along with the shrimp.
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry Shrimp
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Ingredients
- 15 Shrimp (**Use uncooked shrimp, de-shelled, de-veined. We used frozen thawed uncooked shrimp. Tiger, colossal or Jumbo shrimp.)
- 3 tbsp Thai Green Curry Paste (**Store bought. We used "A Taste of Thai" brand.)
- 13.5 oz Coconut Milk (**use full fat. 400 ml.)
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce (**Read NOTES for sub.)
- 1 lime (**zested, Zests mixed in the green curry paste.)
- 2 tbsp Avocado oil (**or any neutral oil.)
- Salt (to taste) (**use according to your taste)
Veggies
- 10 snap peas
- 4 baby corn (**Halved. Canned Baby corn.)
- ¼ cup bamboo shoots (**Canned Bamboo shoots.)
- ½ cup zucchini (**thinly diced into half moons)
- ½ green bell pepper (**sliced thinly. Use small bell pepper)
- ½ yellow bell pepper (**thinly sliced. Use small bell pepper.)
- ½ red bell pepper (**thinly sliced. Use small bell pepper.)
Garnish
- ½ cup Thai Basil (**or use regular Basil or Cilantro)
- 1 Thai Chili (**optional. Use chopped.)
- 1 Serrano Pepper (**Chopped. Optional.)
Equipment Used
Instructions
- Set the Instant Pot on SAUTE function & set it on NORMAL heat setting.
- Add oil & when the oil becomes moderately hot gently release the green curry paste and saute it for 30 seconds stirring frequently.
- Now, pour the full fat coconut milk. Stir briskly to evenly incorporate the green curry paste into the coconut milk. Also add the fish sauce and check for seasoning, add salt accordingly.
- De-glaze the pot with the help of a spatula scraping the sides and the bottom of the pot. This will help loosen any stuck food particles & hence, shall prevent the BURN error.
- Bring the coconut milk to a gently simmer. Add the baby corns and the bamboo shoots. Give everything a quick stir. Add the de-shelled, de-veined shrimp/prawns.
- CANCEL the SAUTE function. Close the lid of the Instant Pot and SEAL the valve. PRESSURE COOK on HIGH for just 0 minute.
- Once the cooking cycle is over the Instant Pot will begin to beep. Immediately perform a quick pressure release (QPR) by manually moving the valve from the SEALING to the VENTING position. Once the metal pin drops open the lid of the Instant Pot.
- Add the rest of the veggies. Give everything a good mix.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and Cover and allow the veggies to rest for 5-10 mins. The residual heat will help cook the veggies slightly keeping them crisp tender.
- Garnish with chopped Thai chilies and Serrano pepper (optional) and Thai basil which is also optional. Read NOTES below for more details. Enjoy!
Notes
- Palm Sugar/sugar/honey: If you would like a slight touch of sweetness add 1 tbsp palm sugar or sugar or ½ tbsp honey. The recipe contains no sugar, we prefer a savory dish.
- Crisp Tender Veggies: Today's recipe.
- Softer Veggies: If you prefer softer well cooked veggies do pressure the veggies along with the shrimp.
- Fish Sauce Sub: Regular soy sauce/ light soy sauce/ tamari are good choices.
- For a spicy curry: Add the chopped chilies into the pot before pressure cooking the dish. You'll have a spicy Thai Green Curry Shrimp!
- Thai Basil: It doesn't have to be Thai Basil. You can use regular basil or even cilantro.
- Shrimp: Never ever use cooked shrimp or small shrimp. They will taste bland in the recipe.
- Serving Ideas: Honestly this Thai Green Curry Shrimp tastes best when served with white rice. If you are cutting down on carbs cauliflower rice is also a great option.
- Storing Tips: The dish shall keep good for 4 days in the fridge when stored in air tight containers. Skip the garnishes, you can always add them later while serving.
- Re-heating Tips: The curry sauce thickens further as it cools down and it thickens a lot in the fridge. The coconut milk fat solidifies. However, you can bring back the consistency while re-heating the dish in a saucepan or in the microwave oven. If you want a little more creaminess you can always add a few splashes of coconut milk while re-heating, otherwise add water. Always use medium low heat for re-heating. The veggies will cook down further as you re-heat the dish.
KG says
I made this for dinner tonight and even my kids loved it. I used baby corn, snap peas, a bell pepper, and onion for my veg. I would have liked the sauce to be a bit thicker and a little stronger in flavor (but my green curry paste was a bit old so that may be remedied next time when I use a fresher jar) but otherwise it was great. I served it over brown rice because that's what we had left, but next time I think I'll use white so the sauce is hopefully more pronounced.
Foodies Terminal says
So glad you enjoyed this recipe. I would recommend using fresh green curry paste, speaking from experience the green curry paste looses flavor and turns bland quickly as compared to the red curry paste when stored in the fridge. Let me know how you like it the next time you make it with a fresh jar. Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback, appreciate it. - Meghna.
Sue says
The instructions on the printable recipe doesn't say when to add the shrimp. Are they added in Step 5 with the baby corn & bamboo shoots?
Foodies Terminal says
Hey Sue huge apologies, thank you for pointing it out...I updated the recipe:) You need to add the shrimp in step 5 along with the baby corn and the bamboo shoots and than, pressure cook. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂 Take care Sue. - Meghna.