Get my Cookbooks! Thai Chicken Soup
This Thai Chicken Soup is an easy, flavor-packed meal with tender chicken, fresh vegetables, and rice noodles in a creamy coconut milk broth with red curry, ginger, and lime. It’s cozy, vibrant, and loaded with restaurant-quality flavor!
Thai Chicken Soup
When I’m in the mood for a soothing soup that’s also packed with flavor, I go for this Thai Chicken Soup every time! It has the ultimate flavor profile, with ingredients ranging from sweet honey and tangy lime to bold red curry and savory peanut butter. Creamy coconut milk provides a cooling balance to the hints of heat, while flavorful chicken broth, juicy chicken, colorful vegetables, and tender rice noodles bring it all together.
Every spoonful is creamy, savory, a little sweet, a little spicy, and incredibly satisfying! It’s the perfect way to switch up soup night, and it tastes just like something you’d order from your favorite Thai restaurant!
How to Make It
Note: This is an overview. See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Season and sear the outside of the chicken and set aside. Melt butter in the same pot and soften onions, carrots, and bell peppers in a skillet. Add the garlic, ginger, and red curry paste followed by broth and coconut milk. Add peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, and sriracha. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer.
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Add the chicken back. Cover partially and allow it to cook through. Remove, dice, and add it back. Taste the broth and add 1/2 chicken bouillon cube if desired. Add the bok choy and let it soften. Stir in the sesame oil, lime juice, and cilantro.
Add cooked rice noodles directly to serving bowls and ladle the soup on top. (You can also add the noodles directly to the soup pot if you don’t anticipate leftovers.) Garnish with green onions, lime wedges, and roughly chopped peanuts if desired. Serve!
Pro Tips
- Heat Level: As written, this soup isn’t very spicy. (My 10 year old gives it a 1 out of 10 for heat.) Feel free to take the heat up a notch by adding more sriracha, some cayenne, or using a spicier red curry paste.
- Red Curry Paste: I use Thai Kitchen brand, it adds a lot of restaurant-quality flavor to the soup and can typically be found in the Asian/international aisle at the grocery store. Note that different brands have different levels of heat, Thai Kitchen is generally a more mild variety. If you’re unable to use it, there isn’t a direct substitute, but you can omit it and increase the garlic and ginger to taste, along with a little extra sriracha for heat. A pinch of ground coriander and/or cumin can also be added for more depth of flavor.
- Chicken: Bone-in chicken breast or chicken thighs will add the most flavor to the broth, boneless also works well and is usually what I have on hand. 2½ to 3 cups of leftover/rotisserie chicken can be used instead if needed, add it when the chicken is added back to the soup at the end.
- Noodles: Rice noodles are my preferred choice for this soup, but ramen noodles or thin egg noodles can also be used. Be sure to cook the noodles separately and add them directly to serving bowls. This ensures that they don’t absorb the broth and helps them maintain their texture without becoming overly soft.
- Bok Choy: Regular or baby bok choy can be used. Chop the leafy green portions and the white stalks into bite-sized pieces.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This soup freezes and reheats well!
- Store the noodles separately from the soup to prevent them from absorbing all of the broth and becoming overly soft.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links*)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 4.5 quart Dutch oven– This is a great size for this recipe.
- Food Storage Containers– These are what I use to freeze soup, they are leak proof, microwave safe, stackable, and BPA free.
- Silicone Spatulas– I have these, they’re so gentle on your cookware and are the perfect tool for making the roux and stirring the soup throughout this recipe.
- Spice Rack–This is the one I have, it’s a snap to measure out your seasonings quickly and easily. (Big time saver.)
- Pinch Bowls– For measuring out seasonings ahead of time.
- Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth.
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Try These Next
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- Lemon Shrimp Pasta
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- Orange Chicken
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- Chicken Pomodoro
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- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
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- Chicken Meatball Soup
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- Pork Noodles
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Thai Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 ¼ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, see notes
- Salt/pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil, can sub olive oil
Soup
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 cup carrots, julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste, see notes
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 13.5 oz. unsweetened full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- 4 oz. rice noodles
- 3 cups bok choy, roughly chopped
- ½ chicken bouillon cube, to taste at the end if desired
- ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus more to taste
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, roughly chopped
For Finishing
- 3 green onions, sliced
- Optional: Lime wedges & roughly chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Place saran wrap over the chicken and tenderize each side with a meat mallet. Pat the chicken dry and season each side with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Rub each side with a little oil, then heat the remaining oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sear for 3-4 minutes per side, until a golden crust has developed. (It’s okay if it’s not cooked all the way through yet, it will finish cooking in later steps. Don’t dice/shred yet.)
- Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook for 5 minutes. Add the sliced bell peppers and cook for 3-4 minutes, until slightly softened.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and red curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add a splash of broth and use a silicone spatula to ‘clean’ the bottom and sides of the pot, which will add more flavor to the broth. Stir in the remaining broth along with the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, honey, and sriracha. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the chicken breasts back along with any juices from the plate. Cover partially and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. (Don’t let it boil or the chicken will become tough.)
- While the soup simmers, boil the rice noodles in a separate pot according to package instructions. Drain once cooked and transfer to serving bowls.
- Remove the chicken, dice/shred it, then add it back to the soup.
- Taste the broth. If a slightly more savory flavor is desired, stir in ½ chicken bouillon cube. (I always do!) Add additional sriracha or hot sauce if more heat is desired as well.
- Stir in the chopped Bok choy and simmer for 2 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil, lime juice, and cilantro.
- Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish with green onions, lime wedges, and roughly chopped peanuts if desired. Serve!
Notes
- Heat Level: As written, this soup isn’t very spicy. (My 10 year old gives it a 1 out of 10 for heat.) Feel free to take the heat up a notch by adding more sriracha, some cayenne, or using a spicier red curry paste.
- Red Curry Paste: I use Thai Kitchen brand, it adds a lot of restaurant-quality flavor to the soup and can typically be found in the Asian/international aisle at the grocery store. Note that different brands have different levels of heat, Thai Kitchen is generally a more mild variety. If you’re unable to use it, there isn’t a direct substitute, but you can omit it and increase the garlic and ginger to taste, along with a little extra sriracha for heat. A pinch of ground coriander and/or cumin can also be added for more depth of flavor.
- Chicken: Bone-in chicken breast or chicken thighs will add the most flavor to the broth, boneless also works well and is usually what I have on hand. 2½ to 3 cups of leftover/rotisserie chicken can be used instead if needed, add it when the chicken is added back to the soup at the end.
- Noodles: Rice noodles are my preferred choice for this soup, but ramen noodles or thin egg noodles can also be used. Be sure to cook the noodles separately and add them directly to serving bowls. This ensures that they don't absorb the broth and helps them maintain their texture without becoming overly soft.
- Bok Choy: Regular or baby bok choy can be used. Chop the leafy green portions and the white stalks into bite-sized pieces.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This soup freezes and reheats well!
- Store the noodles separately from the soup to prevent them from absorbing all of the broth and becoming overly soft.
