Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
by Chungah
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
An easy one pot dinner! Thai red curry noodles deliver on flavor and convenience. With tender chicken, rice noodles, cilantro, basil + lime!
Featured Comment
Why you’ll love this thai red curry noodle soup recipe
- Restaurant-quality. Now you can make your favorite takeout dish right at home for half the cost with better quality ingredients using your favorite protein.
- Packed with flavor. This noodle soup is simply downright fragrant, flavorful, cold weather comfort food, full of bold Thai flavors.
- One pot dinner. This no-fuss, one pot dinner means less dishes, less clean up, making it so effortless for busy weeknights, but also fancy enough for weekend company.
- Clean-out-the-fridge meal. And of course this makes for the best clean-out-the-fridge dinner, adding in any lingering veggies that need to be used up.
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).
How to make thai red curry noodle soup
- Sear the chicken. First, season the chicken with salt and pepper, searing until golden brown in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Cook the aromatics. Cook the garlic, bell pepper, and onion until tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the red curry paste. Stir in the red curry paste, adjusting the amount of curry paste to your (or your family’s) spice levels.
- Deglaze the pan. Add the chicken broth and coconut milk, deglazing by scraping the prized caramelized brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot (fond).
- Simmer. Simmer until slightly reduced and the flavors have blended, about 10 minutes. The longer it simmers, the more it reduces.
- Cook the noodles. Stir in the rice noodles (or desired noodles), fish sauce, and brown sugar. Rice noodles will cook quickly, about 5 minutes.
- Add the finishing touches. Add the green onions, cilantro, basil and lime juice, seasoning with salt and pepper, if needed.
- Serve. Serve warm, keeping the noodles and broth separately if preparing for leftovers.
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.
I personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). But Thai Kitchen is also great with mild heat and more readily available at most grocery stores.
Rice noodles are my go-to, coming in various sizes (wide, medium and thin). Rice vermicelli is used here, the thinnest rice noodles. But udon or soba noodles are also solid options.
Fish sauce has a strong, pungent “fishy” smell but when cooked, it brings in savory, salty, umami goodness.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days, separating the rice noodles from the broth.
Unfortunately freezing is not recommended as coconut milk tends to separate when frozen.
Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
Video
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
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.
Equipment
Notes
- Use your favorite protein. This recipe will work well with chicken thighs, chicken breasts, shrimp or tofu.
- Full fat coconut milk will be more rich. 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 out 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.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
SO good! I realized I had no ginger, but with all the other flavors, I didn’t miss it.
DON’T skip the lime juice, basil and cilantro!
Delicious!!
Okay YUM! Needed a new fun recipe and after reading the reviews headed straight to the store. This was phenomenal! My husband and I couldn’t stop eating it. I couldn’t find fish sauce so substituted soy sauce and it was great! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. It’s added to our rotation. Go get the ingredients now! You won’t regret it!
Thank you for this recipe. It’s very easy to make. I have only used fish with this recipe and kept everything else the same and I absolutely love it!
Very flavorful, had to add fish sauce to individual bowls due to allergy. Will make again
This came out AMAZING! thank you so much. The flavor, the colours, the spice ( extra black pepper for me lol!). SO SO GOOD, highly recommend 🙂
This was really good. I followed the recipe as written. The only thing I added was a little sriracha to my bowl of soup for a little heat. Delicious!
I have made it for the 2nd time 8 days later. I love this meal so much I want to share it with my neighbors, I made a double batch to share with them. A few tweeks that I have done, I sauteed my chicken and vegetables using coconut oil, I added a 7th cup of chicken broth, and added fresh diced jalapeno, and red pepper flakes to this dish. I like a little more kick. This meal is my favorite dish I have made in a long time. Thank you for sharing.
I want to make this for my family, but just checking the spice level. My husband and I love spice- but my kids are huge fans if it’s too spicy!
Just made this! I don’t think it’s too spicey ! It’s delicious; you can always add less of the paste.
WOW! This dish was so tasty. Seriously. So many levels of flavors and well balanced. I stuck to the recipe this time, but may add more curry next time. (There will be a next time) I may also add a few more veggies. This is incredible and I can’t wait to make it for my husband to try!
Wow! I am literally taking my first spoonful of this amazing soup! Quick, easy and yummy. I used thai basil because I already had some in my kitchen, I don’t use cilantro (sadly since I have had covid it tastes like garbage) and I garnished my meal with fresh mini diced jalapeno. This meal is incredible, I am excited to eat this for the next few days.
Love this recipe! I double the curry paste and sometimes use Panang curry paste too, but I find myself making this every other week now. Love it!
This was fantastic. I did use more red curry sauce and used a bit of garlic to fry up the chicken.
I have made this 4 times and we LOVE It!!! It is crazy flavorful, better than our favorite Thai restaurant dishes. I just add a pinch of red pepper flakes to add some more heat. Otherwise perfect!!!!
FANTASTIC! Extremely flavorful and healthy! Definitely a new family favorite!
Can I substitute coconut milk for almond milk? Will it work do you think?
I love this recipe – I’ve made it a bunch of times and have tweaked it slightly to add spice and a little more depth. I use the entire jar of red curry sauce and I grate and use ginger until I can’t grate anymore. I also add roasted red chili paste, and I swap the steps where you cook the aromatics and the onions and bell peppers so the aromatics cook with the oil from the chicken.
Thank you for this recipe – it’s awesome and a crowd pleaser!!
Such an amazing recipe, I love making it for my weekly lunches! Super easy way to get that thai curry taste when you’re craving it haha!
One thing I recommend is, if you’re making a large quantity to put in the fridge: the liquid will get soaked up a lot by the noodles so when you heat it up on the stove, add a bit of water and salt. That will give you more liquid without watering down the taste too much.
What can I sub for fish sauce?
Was very delicious. Will cook noodles separately next time as it made the broth too thick. Also kids prefer without.
Excellent! This will definitely be added to our dinner rotation.
Satisfies all your Thai cravings. Already sent it to a friend to make
Looks really delish, but it’s kind of hard to get a hold of Thai basil here. If I do, can I freeze the leaves?
You can freeze Thai basil
I’ve made this soup many times. The flavors are absolutely A.MA.ZING!!! My husband says that this is his very favorite soup. Thanks for such a great recipe.
Made it vegetarian/vegan by substituting veggie broth and soy chicken. A+, everyone enjoyed it (even the meat eaters in the house). Will make again. Thanks!