This nourishing Thai chicken noodle soup is our new go-to comfort food meal on a cool fall or winter evening. It’s exploding with flavour, takes less than 15 minutes to throw together, is dietitian-approved and kid-approved. You can’t go wrong!
Ever since we first tasted it, this soup has been a staple in our house. The combo of sweet and savoury in the Thai red curry paste gives this dish its amazing flavour. It has a bit of a kick, but you control the spice level by determining how much paste to use. It’s so much easier than adding individual seasoning ingredients and spices, although if I had to do that to get this flavour, hand me the list!
Why make this Thai chicken noodle soup?
It’s SO flavourful
Chicken soup is the traditional comfort food for many of us, but comforting doesn’t have to equal boring. This version is made with an aromatic curry paste, which contains ingredients like lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, red chillies, onion, tomato, Kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil, and cilantro. It’s honestly bursting with flavour. My favourite red curry paste to use is the Blue Dragon brand (by far). Its aroma and flavour will have you sighing with delight.
It’s incredibly convenient
I’m all for convenient foods like a good canned soup when I am short on time (or it’s grocery day and I don’t have much in the house). But this soup is ready just as fast as any canned soup is and is SO much better (see the recipe tip to make it in 15 minutes or less!), uses only one pot and I generally have the ingredients on hand as it’s such a short list. Sometimes, it’s all about quick and convenient and this soup fits the bill.
It cuts down on food waste
We are using leftover cooked chicken (rotisserie chicken quickly grabbed at the store works too), to make it even faster and easier, and it prevents us from throwing away that chicken! We love this soup all on its own but will often add some roasted veggies if we have any in the fridge. I just throw them into the soup for a few minutes, until heated through. Broccoli, kale, celery, mushrooms and cauliflower are my favourite veggies to add.
It’s so nourishing!
This soup is not only nourishing for our bodies, with lots of protein, fibre and vitamins and minerals, but it’s also nourishing for the soul. You can customize the veggies depending on what you like, or leave them out and serve raw veggies or a salad on the side (my kids prefer this).
How to make this soup
You’ll simply add the oil, onion and garlic to a pan and saute 5 minutes or so. Then add the ginger, Thai red curry paste, and cooked chicken.
Stir to coat.
Now, you’ll stir in the coconut milk and broth, and bring to a boil.
Add the noodles, cook according to package directions, and serve!
How to enjoy this Quick and Easy Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
We eat this soup all year around but I have to say, it truly is the ultimate comfort soup for cool fall and chilly winter days. It especially makes the perfect, quick supper for those days when the kids have after-school activities or sports and we’re going in a thousand directions. I’ll sometimes add leftover roasted veggies, top the bowls with green onion and cilantro, or serve garlic bread alongside but we find it satisfying all on its own. It makes a great lunch and my kids are always happy to find it in their thermoses on school days.
More Soup Recipes to Try:
15 Minute Coconut Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
This nourishing Thai chicken noodle soup is our new go-to comfort food meal on a cool fall or winter evening. It’s exploding with flavour, takes less than 15 minutes to throw together, is dietitian- and kid-approved. You can’t go wrong! See my tip at the bottom of the recipe if using raw chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1/3 white onion, diced (1/2 cup)
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoons minced ginger
- 3 tablespoon Thai red curry paste (my favourite is Blue Dragon)
- 2 cooked chicken breasts, diced (2 to 3 cups)
- 1/2 -3/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 3 1/2 ounces dry vermicelli noodles
- 2 cups roasted or stir-fried veggies of choice, optional
- Cilantro, green onion and lime, to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Add the oil, onion and garlic to a large pot or pan, and sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
- Add the ginger, Thai red curry paste, and the cooked chicken, and stir to coat. Cook for less than a minute, until fragrant.
- Pour in the coconut milk, chicken broth, and water. Increase the heat to high, and bring the soup to a boil.
- Add the vermicelli noodles, and cook according to the package directions (generally 1 to 3 minutes), reducing the heat, if necessary.
- Remove from heat and garnish bowls with cilantro, sliced green onion and a wedge of lime on the side, if desired. Serve immediately: Add the noodles to the bottom of a soup bowl, then spoon the chicken and broth overtop. If you have young children, you can roughly chop the noodles or cut them to a smaller length using kitchen scissors.
Notes
To use raw chicken, simply cut it into cubes and add it in with the onions to cook, increasing that cook time to 7 to 9 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and proceed with the recipe as written.
Comments
This was so good and exactly what I felt like on a low energy weeknight…I used chicken thighs as didn’t have breasts, reduced curry paste but increased garlic and ginger and added grated carrots, diced spinach and chopped snap peas. Didn’t have cilantro so used mint. So good and my kids declared it a “make again”
This makes my heart so happy to hear! Great modifications :).
This was a great recipe that arrived in my inbox right when i needed it! I used shrimp instead of chicken, and added a bit of fish sauce at the end. It was a bit spicy for our family so I’ll use slightlt less curry paste next time. Thanks Sarah!
Aww thank you so much, Julie! I’m so glad you all loved it!