Thai Red Curry Chicken Soup – A hearty soup made with chicken broth and coconut milk and loaded with chicken, rice noodles, red pepper, and cilantro.
As it gets colder this time of year, I love to make soups to keep us all warm. I started making this Thai Red Curry Chicken Soup last year when I was experimenting with Thai cuisine. It quickly became one of my favorites. I love the flavors and the rice noodles just make it delightful. Even my toddler loves it!
Before we get into the recipe, let’s drool over some more pics, huh?
Layering the ingredients
The key to a great soup is layering the ingredients to develop the flavor. To do this, the ingredients are added a little at a time and then simmered together before serving. Here are the layers:
- Chicken – the chicken is cooked first to leave a layer of browned bits at the bottom of the pan that becomes the base flavor of the soup. It is removed and chopped before adding back later.
- Vegetables – the red pepper and onion is added and cooked until softened.
- Spices – the red curry paste are added with minced ginger and cooked with the vegetable for 5 minutes. This step is critical for developing the flavor so don’t skimp on time here!
- Fish sauce and brown sugar – before we set the soup to simmer, sugar and fish sauce are added.
- Herbs and lime juice – the final layer of this soup is the fresh herbs and juice. These are added after the soup has simmered to give it a fresh flavor.
Tips & Tricks
- It’s important to let the red curry and ginger flavors develop. So make sure to cook them with the vegetables for the entire 5 minutes stated in the recipe.
- Rice noodles have a great texture in this soup, but they can get gummy over time. Therefore, if you’re making this to eat multiple times throughout week, I recommend using spaghetti or vermicelli noodles instead of rice noodles.
- Many recipes will label herb additions at the end of a soup as “optional”. In this case, the green onions and cilantro are very much necessary. You NEED to have these in the soup to make the soup taste incredible.
Thai Red Curry Chicken Soup
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon canola or coconut oil
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 6 ounces dried rice noodles or vermichelli noodles
- 3 green onions sliced
- ½ cup cilantro leaves chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Place Dutch oven or stock pot over medium heat. Add oil. Once hot, add chicken and season with salt and pepper. Cook until done. Remove and set aside.
- Add onion and pepper to same hot pot. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add in curry paste and ginger and stir together. Cook for 5 minutes. The bottom of the pan will probably start to brown. That's okay!
- Add in 2 cups of chicken broth. Scrape off the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add rest of the chicken broth and coconut milk. Bring mixture to a boil. While waiting for it to boil, chop the cooked chicken and add to the soup. Once the soup is boiling, reduce to simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add fish sauce, brown sugar, and rice noodles. Let noodles soften in the hot broth for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in chopped green onions, cilantro, and fresh lime juice. Taste and season, if necessary. Serve immediately.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Damn Delicious
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The Easiest Thai Chicken Curry
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I had a soup just like this in Thailand a few years ago and was craving it. This totally hit the spot and tasted just like I remembered!
I am running out to get the ingredients I need for this soup tomorrow so I can make it for dinner. Looks incredible with some amazing flavors!
This was so flavorful and satisfying! All the spices warmed us right up during a cold day like today. We’ll definitely make again!
The coconut milk and the thai curry paste makes this so tasty! Very typical of thai cuisine. Yum.
I absolutely adore red curry! The hit of spice makes this soup perfect for those cold winter nights.
I have always loved red curry when I go to Thai restaurants. Now, I am so glad I have a recipe that I can make at home. Your recipe looks very easy to make and so colorful
This soup was absolutely delicious and full of flavor. I’m already thinking about when I can make it again! 🙂
Girl…. the flavors in this soup…. red curry, lime, fish sauce…so good! I love it. It is a big bowl of comfort on a cold day.
My family loved your red curry chicken soup! I’ll be making it again soon
I can’t wait to try this! What can I substitute the coconut milk with? I am not a fan of coconut. Would almond milk work?
This is absolutely delicious! I love that it’s such a crowd pleaser for the whole family
This is so flavorful and satisfying for dinner! My family loved it especially with the noodles!
This sounds like the ideal soup for the season, especially with the very cold temperatures we have been getting. Making this over the weekend, thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
This chicken soup is loaded with flavors and so fragrant too! It pairs perfectly with rice or noodles.
One of my favorites that I love to order at the restaurant. Now, I rather make my own thanks to your thai red curry chicken soup recipe!
I haven’t had curry in a long time This looks so yummy!
This sounds great for the winter months, we love thai food and dishes so I am excited to try this recipe.
I soooo love curry and this one is just perfect!! Anything with coconut is just so satisfying and homey!
This is the perfect soup to warm up with. I cannot wait to give this a try.
I was just saying that I was craving curry the other day! I can’t wait to try this.