This Shrimp Noodle Soup recipe features a flavorful broth and healthy vegetables. The broth can be made from fish, chicken, or vegetable stock, and it’s seasoned with ginger and garlic. Feel free to garnish with fresh herbs such as cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges.
This hearty soup makes a great meal any time of the year. I love soup and will eat it even during the summer months.
Key Ingredients for Broth
You can use any type of liquid broth you like. Here are options:
- Fish broth: This can be hard to find in stores. Many people make their own if they prefer it. It is flavorful and made from fish bones, vegetables and herbs.
- Chicken broth: It can be found anywhere and is milder that can be used as a base for shrimp soup.
- Vegetable broth: It can also be found anywhere and is made with a variety of vegetables such as carrots, celery, onions, and garlic.
I usually use chicken broth and add shrimp shells to it to lock in more shrimp flavor. See the recipe card below for details.
What Type of Noodles to Use
I recommend using noodles that are a good option for a hearty, comforting broth. Here are some options:
- Rice noodles: Thin, white noodles made from rice flour and water.
- Egg noodles: Made from wheat flour, eggs, and water. They are often used in soups like Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup.
- Udon noodles: Thick, chewy wheat-flour noodles from Japan.
- Soba noodles: Thin, brown noodles made from buckwheat flour.
I use rice noodles, banh pho noodles in size medium.
What Type of Shrimp to Use
Shrimp can be found at the grocery store in a few different ways. There is raw, pre-cooked, raw and frozen, deveined, tails on, tails off, etc.
I never use pre-cooked shrimp. There is an obvious difference in taste due to the lack of quality. The shrimp is cooked and then frozen and you have to cook it/warm it up again. This usually overcooks the shrimp. Raw shrimp only takes minutes to make, just buy it raw.
Always look for deveined, that’s my preference. The black vein that runs along the back of the shrimp is the digestive intestinal tract. Is this shrimp poop, yes.
You can buy it with the vein and remove it using a sharp paring knife to make a slit along the back and lift out the vein with the tip of the knife.
Can You Add Other Seafood?
You can use whatever you like. My favorites are shrimp, crab, and scallops.
How to Make Shrimp Noodle Soup
Full detailed instructions are below in the recipe card.
- Heat a Dutch oven or soup pot on medium-high heat.
- Add in broth, shrimp shells, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, star anise, brown sweetener, and cinnamon stick. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer.
- Cook the noodles in accordance with the instructions on the packaging.
- Strain the broth.
- Add in the shrimp.
- Serve the broth with the noodles.
What is Star Anise? How Does it Taste?
Star anise is the seed pod from the fruit of the Illicium verum plant and comes from Southwest China. The pod is shaped like a star and contains points, each containing a single pea-sized seed. Both the seeds and the pod are used in cooking.
Star anise is sold whole and ground. It’s used to make teas, roast duck, bake cookies and in Vietnamese cuisine, it’s used in pho dishes.
It has a distinct smell and taste that resembles black licorice and nutmeg. Because of this, I feel like a little bit goes a long way. I only use one star anise in the recipe.
Do what works best for your taste and omit it if you wish.
How to Make it Spicy
Usually, Sriracha is used. You can also add cayenne pepper or crushed chili flakes/crushed red pepper.
Additional Toppings and Ideas
- Lime Wedges
- Bean Sprouts
- Fresh Basil
- Cilantro
- Jalapeno
- Sriracha
How Long Will it Last in the Fridge and Leftovers
The texture of the noodles will change. I recommend making those fresh if you plan to eat leftovers. The broth will last for 3-4 days tightly sealed and refrigerated.
Freezer Tips
If you want to make this freezer-friendly, make the soup and exclude the noodles. Make those fresh when you defrost the frozen broth. I would also make the seafood fresh, though you can freeze it if you wish. Cooked noodles will turn to mush when frozen and defrosted.
More Shrimp Recipes
Easy BBQ Shrimp
Seafood Pasta Salad with Crab and Shrimp
Shrimp Egg Rolls
Shrimp Etouffee
Pan Seared Shrimp with Lemon Butter
Buffalo Shrimp
More Seafood Recipes
Maple Glazed Salmon
Lobster Grilled Cheese
Lobster Pizza
Seafood Boil in a Bag
This recipe pairs wonderfully with our Homemade Seafood Stock.
Shrimp Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 7 oz rice noodles See notes.
- 1/2 pound raw shrimp Deveined Remove the shells from the shrimp and reserve the shells for the broth.
- 6 cups broth Seafood, chicken, beef, or vegetable.
- 3 whole garlic cloves
- 1 piece fresh ginger Peeled and about 1/2 inch long. ¼ teaspoon if using ground
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 star anise
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar or sweetener
- 1 cinnamon stick
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 cups fresh bok choy Optional you can add any greens.
- 1/2 pound raw scallops Optional
Instructions
- Heat a Dutch oven or soup pot on medium-high heat.
- Add in the broth, shrimp shells, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, star anise, brown sweetener, and cinnamon stick. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Lower the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- While the broth cooks, cook the noodles in accordance with the instructions on the packaging. When cooked, remove the noodles from water, rinse with cold water, dry and set them aside in your serving bowls. Drying them is important. You don’t want them to become mushy.
- Open the pot and use a strainer to strain the contents of the broth.
- Add in salt and pepper to taste and taste the broth repeatedly to ensure it meets your taste.
- Add in the bok choy and stir. Cook until it wilts.
- Add in the shrimp and optional scallops. Cook for 1-2 minutes. I like to remove the seafood once cooked and add them to the serving bowls with the noodles. This ensures the seafood does not overcook.
- Pour about 1 1/2 cups of broth into each serving bowl with the noodles. Serve with toppings.
Notes
- The dish makes 4 servings. If you don’t plan to eat it all at once, I recommend cooking just the noodles you plan to eat. The noodles will get old and soggy if not fresh.
- You can use any seafood you like in the recipe.
- If you like lots of noodles in your soup, use more noodles.
- Using the shrimp shells to create a shrimp stock is optional and will enhance flavor.
- Cinnamon sticks offer a subtle flavor of cinnamon. You can also use ground cinnamon. Start with 1/4 teaspoon and add additional to taste as necessary.