This soup is dedicated to a very special reader named Courtney. Courtney was a winner of an AK contest a few months ago, and the prize resulted in a recipe dedicated and inspired by her!
Courtney and I chatted a bit and I came to learn that she is quite the world traveler — she’s done everything from traveling through Europe for a year to volunteering in Africa and even teaching English in Thailand. While speaking with her, we of course talked about some of her favorite foods. One that came up was Panang curry and a Northern Thailand noodle dish called Koi Soi. We decided that I’d come up with a curry chicken noodle soup with Thai-inspired flavors to take her back to one of her favorite places with her most loved foods.
Chicken noodle soup reinvented
Inspiration: this warming curry chicken noodle soup is a delicious, globally-inspired take on chicken noodle soup and dang, IT IS GOOD. It’s actually inspired by my very favorite Nourishing Asian Chicken Soup and is equally as amazing.
Good for you: It’s filled with flavor thanks to a few special ingredients and plenty of nourishing, immune-boosting properties thanks to fresh garlic, ginger & lemongrass. Garlic has anti-inflammatory properties, ginger is wonderful for digestion, and lemongrass includes incredible flavonoids. All of them together just make the dish incredibly tasty.
Friendly for all types of eaters: This soup is gluten & dairy free and easily made paleo by simply omitting the noodles! Though I highly recommend keeping them because they help to thicken the broth and… well, because noodles = love. Options to spice it up and make it your own below!
What you’ll need to make curry chicken noodle soup
This curry chicken noodle soup is packing all of the nourishing ingredients and tons of fresh, savory flavors. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Chicken: I like to use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe for extra flavor, but feel free to use chicken breasts if you’d like. FYI: chicken thighs will be easier to pull apart once cooked and stay nice and tender.
- Veggies: we’re adding carrots, green onions and bok choy for a boost of veggies and texture.
- Broth: the broth for this curry chicken noodle soup is made from light coconut milk and low sodium chicken broth.
- Flavor boosters and nourishing spices: these extras give the soup an amazing, unique flavor — garlic, freshly grated ginger, curry powder, Thai chili paste, gluten free soy sauce, lemongrass and fish sauce.
- Noodles: you’ll add rice noodles to the soup to make it a true chicken noodle soup!
- Fresh herbs & toppings: I love topping my bowl with fresh cilantro, mint leaves, Thai basil, more green onion, a Thai chile and lime wedges. It makes all the difference and you can stir it right into each bowl. SO DAMN GOOD.
Easy ingredient swaps
Missing a few things? Here are some swaps I can recommend:
- If you don’t have toasted or dark sesame oil, feel free to use coconut oil or olive oil.
- You can use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.
- Sriracha will work well in place of the Thai chili paste.
- If you don’t have any fish sauce you can leave it out, but I highly recommend adding it for a deep umami flavor — it really does make all the difference!
- For the toppings, regular basil and a jalapeño are great swaps for Thai basil and Thai chiles.
How to make curry chicken noodle soup
- Brown your chicken. To give the chicken as much flavor as possible you’ll want to first brown it in the sesame oil.
- Sauté the veggies. Give your veggies, garlic and ginger a quick sauté in some more oil before adding the liquid ingredients, spices and chili paste.
- Simmer the soup. You’ll then add your chicken and the lemongrass stalks directly to the soup pot and simmer everything until the chicken is cooked.
- Finish it off. Once the chicken is cooked you’ll shred it and stir it back into the soup along with the rice noodles, bok choy and fish sauce. Remember to also remove the lemongrass stalks!
- Top with freshness. Add the soup to serving bowls and top with all the fresh goods: cilantro, mint, Thai basil, scallions, Thai chile & lime. YUM. DO NOT SKIP the toppings!
Go ahead, make this soup your own
The best part about this curry chicken noodle soup? It’s super easy to customize!
- Keep it vegan or vegetarian by swapping the chicken for a can of chickpeas or cubed tofu!
- Make a paleo version by simply omitting the rice noodles
- OR add ramen noodles instead!
- Spice it up with extra Thai chili paste or sriracha
- Add extra umami flavor with mushrooms
Storing & freezing tips
- In the fridge. This curry chicken noodle soup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. The broth will thicken up a lot, so you may need to add a splash of chicken broth.
- To freeze. Leave the noodles out if you’re planning to freeze this. Allow the soup to cool completely before placing it into airtight, freezer-friendly bags or containers. Place in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply allow the soup to thaw in the refrigerator before re-heating on the stovetop or in the microwave. If you’re adding noodles, cook them separately and add them to your reheated soup when you’re ready to serve, or stir them into your hot soup (they cook very quickly).
More soup recipes to try
Vegan Curried Pumpkin Lentil Soup
Golden Coconut Chicken Lentil Soup
Paleo Coconut Chicken Sweet Potato Noodle Soup
I hope you love this cozy curry chicken noodle soup! If you make it be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Enjoy, xo!
Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
Cozy and nourishing curry chicken noodle soup filled with veggies and simmered in a flavorful coconut milk broth. This one pot curry chicken noodle soup is packed with protein and immune-boosting ingredients for a wonderful lunch or dinner during colder months!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons toasted or dark sesame oil, divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bunches of green onions, white and green parts divided
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 1 tablespoon freshly minced or grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
- 1 (15 ounce) can light coconut milk
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon thai chili paste (or ½ tablespoon sriracha works too)
- ¼ cup gluten free low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and outer layers discarded, halved lengthwise
- 6 bok choy ribs with leaves, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- For serving:
- ½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
- ½ cup torn Thai bail (regular basil will also work)
- 1/3 cup mint leaves, torn
- Green onion (just the green part of the onion)
- 1 thai chile, to garnish (can also sub jalapeno)
- Lime wedges, for garnishing
Instructions
- Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil to a large dutch oven or large pot and place over medium high heat. Add in chicken thighs and generously season with salt and pepper. Brown chicken on both sides. You don’t need to cook the chicken all the way, just get it nice and golden brown for flavor purposes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining ½ tablespoon sesame oil. Immediately add in minced garlic, white part only of the green onions, sliced carrot and ginger. Saute for 3-5 minutes, then add in the curry powder, coconut milk, chicken broth, thai chili paste and soy sauce. Add the chicken thighs back to the pot and place two lemongrass stalks in. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove chicken from the pot and transfer to a cutting board. Use two forks to shred chicken. Before adding chicken back to the pot, remove the lemongrass stalks and discard. If you'd like to add rice noodles, now is the time to do so; add them to the pot along with the shredded chicken, bok choy and fish sauce and simmer for 10 more minutes or until rice noodles are nice and tender.
- Pour into bowls, then garnish with a few cilantro, mint, thai green basil, green scallions, thai chile and a fresh squeeze of lime.
Recipe Notes
To store: store this soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. Simply reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
To freeze: leave the noodles out if you're planning to freeze this. Allow the soup to cool completely before placing it into airtight, freezer-friendly bags or containers. Place in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat, simply allow the soup to thaw in the refrigerator before re-heating on the stovetop or in the microwave. If you’re adding noodles, cook them separately and add them to your reheated soup when you’re ready to serve, or stir them into your hot soup (they cook very quickly).
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
65 comments
We love Khao Soi!! I’m so excited to try this one. It sounds delicious!
Amazing! Yes, let me know how you like it!
Cannot wait to make this for dinner tonight. AK has the best recipes! Even my 12YO son is a fan. AK chocolate chip banana bread is a family favorite recipe, along with honey mustard curry sheet pan chicken. 🙌🥰😋
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
I have been making a Thai coconut curry soup for years, based on the Thai soup Tom Kha Gai. It’s one of my family’s favorites; my mom always wants me to make it when we go home for Christmas. Yours seems to be somewhat similar. I usually do a surf and turf with it, like chicken and fish for example, or bacon and shrimp. But since my vegetarian son is living with us now, we keep the meat out til we serve, and add some grilled tofu to his.
Love that! Sounds delicious 🙂
This is delicious. I made it today with some lemongrass paste bc I couldn’t find fresh and it was great. Also couldn’t find bok choy recently so I used green Swiss chard. Yummmmm
Perfect! Love it!
This was delicious! Thank you for another great recipe. I used ramen style noodles and only 4 cups of broth, so it was like a really saucy noodle dish rather than soup. My husband said it was “slamming”. Definitely making this one again and can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow
Love it! So glad it was a hit!
I am not a big fan of bok choy. Any suggestions for substitutions?
Feel free to omit or stir in some fresh spinach at the end!
Loved this! So mine came out more like a noodle dish, which was my fault because I pretty much eye-balled the broth and rice noodles. But we weren’t even mad as it’s SO GOOD, and the next-day leftovers were even tastier. The squeeze of lime on top is *chef’s kiss*. My store was out of bok choy so I threw in a couple handfuls of spinach. Thanks for another great recipe!
Still delicious! The lime is essential 🙂 glad you enjoyed!
This soup is so amazing! Super flavourful and easy to make. The flavour combo with the ginger, curry powder and lemongrass is out of this world. Will definitely make again, and soon!
Absolutely! So glad you loved it!
I made this last night and it was incredible. So many layers of flavor! I made the noodles separately because everyone eats at different times around here, which worked well as the leftovers today were even better. Will be doubling the recipe next time to freeze some for my sick day chicken soup craving. Thanks for the recipe!
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
I’m having a hard time finding lemongrass at my local stores, what would be a good alternative? Thanks!
Feel free to omit!
Can you cook this in a crock pot?
Yes, that should work, just leave the noodles out until the last 15 minutes of cooking, then add them with the bok choy, cover and cook for 15 more minutes or until noodles are tender.
OUTSTANDING! My husband and I couldn’t get enough! I added broccolini since I didn’t have quite enough bok choy. Also added three VERY hot dried peppers chopped to the soup. Tingling lips and full bellies ensued. Thank you for a killer recipe. We will be making it again soon.
Love that! So glad you both enjoyed!
This is such a delicious soup! My 3yo helped me make it midmorning (for later in the day) but insisted on eating a bowl at 10am. I added frozen lemongrass stalks and dried peppermint, cilantro, and basil from our garden. I did use half the fish sauce but that’s because I like the depth it adds but it quickly becomes overpowering for me. A winner!
Perfect! So happy it was a hit 🙂
One of the best soups I’ve made in awhile- so much flavor! I followed the recipe exactly and threw in some extra noodles for good measure and it was perfect. Hit the spot on this cold winter night!
Love it! So happy to hear that 🙂
I never make soups and I never leave comments, however this time I had to.
I’ve just made it and this soup is INCREDIBLE. The combination of flavours takes you somewhere far far away from a rainy day in San Francisco where I am now, to I don’t know, a hot a humid day in Ko Samui, Thailand. I’ve substituted spinach for bok choi as recommended above and used sriracha instead of chili sauce.
Thank you, Monique! Awesome job!
Amazing! So happy to hear that!
So tasty! The flavors come together beautifully. Next time I would cook the rice noodles on the side and rinse them before adding —found that the noodles cooked in the soup made it too starchy and thickened things more than we prefer.
Glad you enjoyed! And let me know how that goes with the noodles next time 🙂
So very good! Curry is now my fave!
So glad you loved it!
This recipe was posted a month ago and I just made it for the fourth time. It’s safe to say we are OBSESSED. Anyone that loves Asian flavors will absolutely love this recipe! It’s also so easy and the soup base calls for ingredients we tend to keep on hand…score! My husband and I are mushroom lovers so adding some shrooms is the only alteration we make. Also, our Trader Joe’s has been hit or miss with the bok choy lately so I’ll sub broccoli instead and it works but we both prefer the bok choy.
Amazing! So happy to hear that. And love adding mushrooms!
This is amazing! I made a few modifications (regular onion instead of green onion as I didn’t have any, omitted fish sauce) and it was still delicious! My husband said “you are a really good cook” after eating this soup. My favorite AK recipe so far.
Really great soup. Made ahead for meal prep and it reheated well. Also, left out the soy and fish sauce for my 9 month old, and he loved it too!
This recipe is delicious! I used a few too many noodles so it didn’t end up being much of a soup but the flavour was outstanding and I am making this again this weekend! Thank you 🙂
All I have been making these days are recipes from Monique and telling my friends to check out her site. Everything has simple, whole ingredients and is so easy to make. This soup was incredible. It filled up my soul as much as it did my belly. Thank you!
The flavour of this soup is unreal, that lemongrass makes a world of difference in the stock. My one learning after making this recipe is you really cannot leave the noodles any longer than suggested. I didn’t serve right away and by the time I did, they had sucked up a lot of my broth. Oh well, I’ll time it out better next time!
Noted on the noodles! Depending on the kind you use feel free to put them in at the very, very end 🙂
okay, I am a big fan of Asian food/cuisine, and I could not stop eating this delicious, spicy soup! There are no authentic Asian restaurants near us, so I love that this recipe enables us to make it at home!
So tasty! The perfect amount of spice. A must make when the weather is cold!
This soup was very good. Kind of an umami take on traditional chicken noodle.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Delicious! So easy to cook and we both went back for seconds. Thank you for all the healthy and amazing recipes!!
Love that! Such a great dinner.
This meal was WAY more delicious then I expected. The chicken turned out so tender, moist, and flavourful. I substituted larger noodles for thin brown rice noodles (that needed only 2-3 minutes to cook) and it was still filling. I also had oat milk instead of coconut milk and it was also delicious. I had a lot of fun making this one-pot dish and highly recommend it! Super healthy, super flavourful, and super nourishing.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed!
holy amazzzzz-balls! this dish is SO easy and packed with flavor. I added zucchini and parsnips (because I had them and needed to use them). I think the only thing I would do different next time is double the amount of chicken (just preference but def not needed).
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂 and yes, this one’s great for customizing!
The perfect combination of curry and chicken noodle soup!! Thanks for another amazing recipe!!
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed!
So flavourful and delicious! My 7 year old son loved it, he doesn’t usually like the curry dishes I make, and he slurped the broth right up!
I subbed using lemon grass pasted instead of the stick. I just put it in a tea fob, removed it afterwards.
Amazing! Love that 🙂
My husband esp loved this recipe and said that it’s a “respect.” Very nutritious, flavorful and filling. I meal prepped the soup, and when I reheated it on the stove I had problems with the noodles breaking apart. It didn’t affect the taste…just the experience of eating a noodle soup haha! Would you suggest that I wait to add the noodles in until the day that I reheat and eat it?
So glad it was a hit! And hmmm sounds like the noodles may have been a bit overcooked? You can always add them separately!
This recipe was delicious. I omitted all spicy things for my little one and added it into my own bowl after. Couldn’t find any lemongrass, so I threw a little bit of lemon zest in there. It was still so good! We ate it again the next day.
Perfect! Glad it was a hit 🙂
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this soup. It is like pho mixed with curry mixed with chicken noodle soup. The only thing I’ve changed since the first time is cooking the noodles separately and pouring the soup over them individually in bowls—the first time I tried to save leftovers and the noodles soaked up all the broth. It’s still super good, just a better option if you plan to have leftovers. And as stated in the recipe, do not skip the toppings!!!! The mint & lime is my favorite part. Another 10/10 from AK!
Great tip on the noodles! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
This was SO good!! I had some leftover rotisserie chicken I threw in instead of cooking the chicken. I also didn’t have lemon grass so we left that out. The flavors all melded together and were so vibrant! Repeat on our menu for sure!
Easy and delicious! Glad you enjoyed!
This soup is absolutely delicious, and I didn’t even have all the ingredients (didn’t have the lemongrass and white part of the green onion). I reduced the broth to 4 cups as I like thicker texture for the soup. Thank you for the recipe.