Thai Chicken Coconut Curry Soup — An EASY one-pot soup that’s ready in 20 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous Thai flavors!! Tastes BETTER than from a Thai restaurant!! It’s hearty yet HEALTHY comfort food that tastes AMAZING!!
Thai Coconut Curry Soup … with Chicken!
This easy coconut curry soup is a spinoff of this Thai Chicken Coconut Curry, which has been in the top 5 most popular recipes on my entire website for the past year and it has nearly one hundred 5-star reviews.
Since you all love that recipe so much, I made you a soup version, essentially just doubling the coconut milk and adding some chicken stock.
The soup tastes as good – or better – than you’d find in a Thai restaurant. Big statement, but I stand behind it.
With cold weather upon us, nothing is better than diving into a bowl of this hearty yet healthy comfort food soup that’s layered with flavors. I could drink the coconut milk-based broth every single day.
This chicken coconut curry soup is ready in 20 minutes, is made in one pot, is naturally gluten-free, and is healthy overall (coconut milk and oil have fat but they’re ‘good fats’),
The curry soup is savory, salty, there’s natural sweetness from the sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and coconut milk. There’s perfect acid balance from lime juice and a very gentle heat from the Thai red curry paste.
There’s plenty of vegetables for texture and the chicken is so tender.
Thai Chicken Coconut Curry Soup Ingredients
To make the richly flavored chicken curry soup with coconut milk, you’ll need to gather the following ingredients:
- Coconut oil (or olive oil)
- Onion
- Chicken
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Coriander
- Coconut milk
- Chicken stock
- Thai red curry paste
- Shredded carrots
- Fresh spinach
- Cilantro
- Lime juice
How to Make Coconut Chicken Curry Soup
Making scratch Thai coconut curry soup is SO easy! Full instructions are provided in the recipe card below, but here’s an overview of the cooking process:
- Start by sautéing an onion in coconut oil.
- Add boneless skinless chicken breast pieces, and cook until the chicken is cooked through.
- Add garlic, ginger, coriander, coconut milk, chicken stock, Thai red curry paste, carrots, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Finish with fresh spinach, cilantro, lime juice, and you’re ready to start slurping. It’s such an easy soup that comes together effortlessly!
FAQs
Absolutely! The great thing about curries in general — which is totally different in this context than ‘curry powder,’ and here I mean of mixture of vegetables and protein in a sauce or broth — is that you can add vegetables or legumes to your liking.
For example, feel free to add cauliflower, zucchini, stewed tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, edamame, frozen peas, fresh spinach, kale, or whatever you have lurking in your produce drawer or freezer.
I think of curries as a stir-fry-meets-soup, and there are no rules with what to add to either those in my book. Enjoy all the wonderful flavors and dive in.
As for the spices, I really wouldn’t deviate too much with the garlic, coriander, and ginger.
I used one can of full-fat and one can of light coconut milk. For extra creaminess, use all full-fat coconut milk. I wouldn’t use two cans of light coconut milk unless you’re aware that the broth won’t have as much body and will be more watery tasting.
I don’t consider the soup to be spicy because the jar of curry paste is diluted by approximately 45 ounces of liquid (two cans of coconut milk, one can of chicken stock) but it definitely has the rich Thai flavor profile you’d find in a Thai restaurant.
For me, using less than the full jar of curry paste would result in lackluster soup.
NO! The Thai red curry paste is essential in this recipe. It adds a richer and smoother flavor profile than curry powder (Indian) does and you cannot substitute curry powder for curry paste.
If your grocery store doesn’t stock curry paste, order from Amazon (affiliate link).
I use the Thai Kitchen brand because I’ve had good luck with it, I can find it at my local grocery stores, and I know what I’m getting into in terms of spice and heat level and the overall flavor profile.
There are other brands that of course you can experiment with.
I used an entire 4-ounce jar of Thai red curry paste for the soup. If you’re not used to working with it or eating things made with it, I suggest starting with one-third to one-half of the jar and working up from there, to taste.
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Thai Chicken Coconut Curry Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil, olive oil may be substituted
- 1 medium/large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 to 5 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 2 to 3 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- two 14-ounce can coconut milk, I used one can full-fat, one lite; I don't recommend using two cans of lite - too watery
- one 15-ounce can chicken stock, I used reduced sodium
- 1 to 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
- one 4-ounce jar Thai red curry paste, added to taste (read blog post for more details; I use the whole jar. Start with 1/3 to 1/2 of the jar if you're new to Thai red curry paste or are very sensitive to spicy food)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- about 3 cups fresh spinach leaves, loosely packed
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar, optional and to taste
- naan, optional for serving
Instructions
- To a large pot or Dutch oven, add the oil, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion begins to soften about 5 minutes; stir intermittently.
- Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through; flip and stir often to ensure even cooking.
- Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir frequently.
- Add the coconut milk, chicken stock, carrots, Thai curry paste, salt, pepper, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, and allow mixture to gently boil for about 5 minutes and carrots are soft.
- Turn the heat off and add the spinach, cilantro, lime juice, and stir to combine. Stir until spinach has wilted and is tender, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Taste the soup and optionally add brown sugar (does not make it sweet in my opinion but rather rounds out the flavor profile and marries things together), additional curry paste, salt, pepper, etc. to taste. Soup will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
- Adapted from Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Favorite Thai Curry Recipes:
Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors!! Low-cal, low-carb, and HEALTHY but tastes like comfort food!!
Green Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than from a Thai restaurant!! It’s healthy comfort food that tastes AMAZING!!
Sweet Potato and Chickpea Coconut Curry – An easy one-skillet curry that’s ready in 30 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors! Healthy comfort food that tastes amazing!
Chickpea and Kale Thai Coconut Curry – An easy one-skillet vegan curry that’s ready in 15 minutes and has amazing Thai-inspired flavors! Low-cal, low-carb, and healthy but tastes like hearty comfort food!
Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than a restaurant!! The Thai-inspired coconut milk broth makes this healthy comfort food taste AMAZING!!
Absolutely delicious!!! My husband & I love it! Great recipe, thank you!
Thanks for the 5 star review, Susan, and I am glad you and your husband both love the recipe!