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. This is typically used for stir-fry, soups or mixed with coconut milk for curry. Red curry paste 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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Can I freeze the soup?
This is damn delicious! I had to do a modification due to not having the red curry paste available. I used 2 tbsp of yellow curry paste and 1.5 tbsp of spicy red pepper paste. I also used mung bean vermicelli for the noodles. I topped each bowl with additional fresh cilantro. My husband and I loved this and I’ll definitely make it again.
This soup is so delicious! My husband is not a soup person but he can have 2 huge bowls of this!! It’s soooo good.
Excellent- really easy and very tasty
This is a regular in our house! After I cook the veggies, I toss the chicken breast in along with the chicken broth and cook it for 20-30 minutes. Then I shred the chicken, toss it back in, add the coconut milk and follow the rest of the directions. I cook my noodles separately, only as much as I need for one meal. Once cooked, I put them in the bowls, pour the soup over and garnish. This prevents soggy noodles in your leftover soup.
3 tablespoons of red curry paste seem a lot. I use Mae Poly brand. I guess it depends how spicy you want. Thank you for this recipe.
This was so good!
This was a delicious dish! I cooked the noodles separately and decreased the amount of cilantro to taste but I highly recommend this.
Soo good .. I used mushrooms instead of peppers and left out the onions and garlic ..but it was still delicious! thank you for sharing
Love the depth of flavor! The only minor thing I changed, used 4c of pho broth and 2c unsalted chx stock, because I had it on hand. Honestly, this is one of the best soups I’ve made, thanks to your recipe! Damn deelish!
I made this tonight. No chicken, added a ton of veggies, used veg broth so it was all vegan. Soooo delicious. I cooked up some ramen noodles to eat with it, for individual servings, didn’t add it to the soup in general. Very easy, versatile and delicious dish. Even my picky 9 year old said ‘it’s ACTUALLY good’ yaaayyy preteen attitude! I will make this again.
Delicious! I love the spice and creaminess of this soup. I added some bok choy that I needed to us up. So good.
So delicious! I made it vegan by adding lots more veggies & chickpeas. I couldn’t stop eating this soup!
Love it!
I added cauliflower and lemon grass to mine. Felt like it was missing a vegetable.
I also cut the amount of fish oil as I found it overwhelming the first time I made it.
My husband and I aren’t red curry fans so I just excluded that but it is phenomenal easy to make quick and a wonderful week night dinner when it’s cold out thanks for the recipes they’re always great
If you’re not a red curry fan don’t leave a review on a recipe where you leave out the main ingredient.
I thought the same thing!!! LOL That’s like saying you like chocolate milk, but I don’t like milk so I’m just going to omit that.
Exceptional!
This is my go to comfort soup! So so good! I do add mushrooms and make the noodles separately (because they soak up so much soup, I just ladle soup over the noodles in the bowl) This is such an easy recipe, you cannot go wrong!
Good tip regarding the noodles!
This was excellent! I added one cup of frozen green peas toward the end to increase the veggies in the soup. It was perfect!
All I can say is – this soup is really good!
Sooo good…
Didn’t have fresh chicken breasts so used 2 cans of chicken breasts from Costco.
Have made twice and is a favorite.