Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
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So much better than takeout! Packed with bites of tender chicken, rice noodles, cilantro, basil and lime juice!
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reasons to make thai red curry noodle soup
- Restaurant-quality made right at home for half the cost (and even tastier IMO)
- Fragrant, flavorful, cold weather comfort food, full of bold Thai flavors
- No-fuss one pot dinner which means less dishes, less clean up
- Great clean-out-the-fridge meal, adding in any lingering veggies that needs to be used up
- Quick and easy for busy weeknights but also fancy enough for company
what is red curry paste and where can i find it
Commonly used in Thai dishes, red curry paste is made from a blend of red chili pepper, garlic, lemongrass, Thai ginger and various spices.
Red curry paste is typically used for stir-fry, soups or mixed with coconut milk for curry. It is readily available in most grocery store chains, particularly the Thai Kitchen brand, and online, with some brands containing shellfish (shrimp paste).
tips and tricks for success
- Use your favorite protein. This recipe will work well with chicken thighs, chicken breasts, shrimp or tofu.
- Use full fat coconut milk. Although lite coconut milk can certainly be used, full fat coconut milk will yield a much more rich and creamy broth.
- Fish sauce is a hero. Fish sauce is a key ingredient here, balancing out the flavors, and adding saltiness and umami without overpowering it. A little bit goes a long way.
- Mix it up. Swap the red curry paste for green, add in more veggies (cabbage, zucchini, mushrooms or bok choy) or use your favorite noodles (vermicelli, udon or soba noodles).
- Divide and conquer. When storing leftovers, separate the noodles and broth. This will help the noodles retain its texture.
what to serve with thai red curry noodle soup
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup: Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Shrimp or tofu are both great options.
We personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great with mild heat, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
Fish sauce has a strong, pungent “fishy” smell but when cooked, it brings in savory, salty, umami goodness.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days, separating the rice noodles from the broth.
We do not recommend freezing this as coconut milk tends to separate when frozen.
Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 6 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
- 4 ounces rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Equipment
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
- Add garlic, bell pepper and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in red curry paste and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken broth and coconut milk, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in chicken. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in rice noodles, fish sauce and brown sugar until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat; stir in green onions, cilantro, basil and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately.
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Did you make this recipe?
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Excellent recipe! Used about 1 lb of fresh ramen noodles that our grocery store sells in the refrigerator section and it was the perfect ratio. Will definitely be making again, thanks so much!
Love this recipe! Made the following changes/additions:
-I like thick soups so instead of olive oil I used 4 tbsp of butter. Cook veggies then added 1/4 cup of flour to make a roux. Cook for a few then added liquids
-used 2 cans coconut milk instead of one (we LOVE coconut everything in my house!)
-used 1.5 large onions and two large red peppers (we also love vegetables)
-7 tablespoons of red curry
-6 tsp brown sugar
-added 2- 3 tablespoons red chili paste to give it some heat
-we don’t do fish so I left the fish sauce out
-added about a tablespoon of garlic powder
-added 1 tsp onion powder
-added two chicken bouillon cubes and left out the salt completely
-poured over a hot bed of rice with all the listed garnishes.
WOW!! Sooo good!!!
Spicy!!! Not sure if there are different red curry pastes but apparently by the recipe, this is too spicy for me and my kids. Adding more coconut milk to see if that helps. But would have been helpful to know not to add so much if we need mild spice!
This was so delish! Read directions wrong and added full box of noodles so it was more of a noodle dish than a soup but still great! Added only 4 cups broths, extra curry paste, serrano pepper, double ginger and some chili crunch oil- we like it with some heat! Had a bunch of extra fresh herbs to add add while eating and lots of lime! Used unsweetened light coconut milk and turned out good if wanting it to be lighter than full fat. Will definitely be making again and cant wait to try new additions each time!
This sounds amazing! Just wondering a. If I can use something other than coconut / does it taste like coconut? I’m not a huge fan of coconut 🙁
No- it does not taste like coconut! No one in my family likes coconut (besides me) and they love curries with coconut milk.
This was a hit in my house! I doubled the amount of coconut milk, substituted tofu for the chicken, and added turmeric, curry powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and garam masala to taste. Sadly, I had to omit the green onion and basil because the store didn’t have them in stock.
Mine was not very liquidy, most of the broth was soaked up by the noodles. It had good flavor though! I did add a little chili paste to give it a kick. Next time I will add more chicken broth.
My family really enjoyed this recipe. We added 12 Oz of edamame for more protein and fiber. Delicious!
This was a very good flavorful soup! Next time I will add some more veggies like mushrooms or sprouts.
Delicious! Comes together quickly for a fast dinner. Since I don’t eat chicken, I left it out and added some sliced shiitake mushrooms and diced carrots. This is a soup that you can really customize to your liking. Definitely will make again, maybe with tofu next time.
Can the soup itself be frozen? Without the noodles obviously
It actually freezes super well! I was shocked when I heated it back up, I kept the rice noodles in it and the noodles did not get mushy or fall apart at all. I make this all the time and always freeze the left overs with no problems!
Same question as above… has anyone tried freezing this soup?
Delicious! Made this tonight and it did not disappoint!
I loved this! Making it for the first time was interesting lol but it came out so delicious. I didn’t add cilantro because I’m not a fan and I didn’t have fish sauce (only oyster) but it still was a hit! I also added bok choy.
I also used plant based cellophane noodles.
This was delicious. I added mushrooms and bean sprouts. Next time will add thin slices of jalapeno
Awesome recipe, top restaurant quality prepared exactly as presented in recipe. Full of favor and easy to make. Be sure to use Thai sweet Basil for authentic Thai favor. And only 1/2 of the 8oz package of noodles. Thanks!
This was so easy and so so so yummy. In fact, it was *damn delicous*!!
I make this soup all the time. I absolutely love it! I even make it without the red curry paste when I run out (just add thinly sliced jalapeño for added spice). I also like it extra tart so in addition to extra line juice, I also use lime zest.
To.Die.For!
Absolutely perfect recipe. Added some peanuts to make it more khou-suey like. Too too good.
Excellent
Delish! Thank you!
So easy and yummy! (: