Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
So much better than takeout! Packed with bites of tender chicken, rice noodles, cilantro, basil and lime juice!
Featured Comment
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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Awesome! I doubled the coconut milk, curry, and spices. I didn’t want chicken so I added a pound of mushrooms instead. The only thing I would add next time is a jalapeno. I bought some and forgot to add it. I think I would like the extra spice it would add.
Made this for my dad’s birthday and we both love!!
Fabulous! I added shredded carrot, extra coconut milk, and a little chili oil for some heat. I made the noodles separately so I could keep the leftovers as well. I’ll definitely make this again!
Tastes great,
easy to make,
easy to acquire ingredients,
terrific recipe
I’m always a fan of Damn Delicious soup recipes and this one did not disappoint! I added some thinly sliced carrots along with the onion, pepper and garlic, as well as some turmeric and curry powder with the spices. So good!
Which brand of curry paste do you recommend? I love your recipes so much so that I trust your opinion on brand!
I love Thai Kitchen but if you can get to an Asian market, Mae Ploy is also really great.
Can we say it’s 10 star!?! This is the best homemade anything I have ever made! Everyone wants the recipe. I also doubled the coconut milk and all the spices. I even doubled the chicken – not the broth though. I admit I also overdid the package of noodles, even for a big pot half the package was plenty. MAKE THIS SOUP ALREADY! It’s amazing!
Wow! I honestly didn’t even know I could make something that tastes this good… I feel like a real chef!
What a lovey soup!! I saw the pin on Pinterest and my mouth was watering. I had to improvise using the ingredients on hand, namely the veggies. I also have an alium allergy: so no onions or garlic for me :(. Thankfully all of the other flavors more than make up for the loss of garlic and onions. Anyway, my little kids (ages 4 and 2) loved this soup. They were literally drinking from the bowl. I will definitely make this for my fam again.
That’s wonderful! Glad this worked out for you with the changes you made, Katie.
Just made this for #soupsunday. Big fan! Can’t wait to check out some other recipes 🙂 thanks!
Really good and fresh tasting soup. Question: 1/2 of 80z package or 8oz 1/2 of a full package of noodles..I used 8oz and it seems like noodle overkill.
1/2 (8-ounce) package rice noodles = 4 ounces. 🙂
thanks!
I forgot to spell-check and threw down a couple words in my review. Oops. : (
We embarked on a plant-based diet recently so I modified this by using vegetable stock and shitake mushrooms instead of chicken. I also used fresh fettuchinie width noodles from our Chinese market. This is possible the best soup I have ever made. It was pretty spicy, if I make it for other people I might tone it down a little but for me it was perfect. Thank you so much! I”ll make this soup for many year to come.
This soup!!! I can not even begin to describe how delicious it is. Comfort food and so amazing. I have made this soup twice now and will make it again and again! I am never hesitant to try any of your recipes because I know they will all be delicious. Thank you for sharing your talent with us.
I just want to say… I have been making this recipe every week for at least a month now. It is my boyfriend and my FAVORITE meal now. Thank you for this recipe!!
I want to make this tonight for 4 people! I’m a little worried about getting the proportions right when modifying the recipe, but I’m so excited to try. I looked at cook time and it said it should be around 35 minutes, but when adding together everything in the actual recipe it only seemed to be about 24 minutes, is the rest of the time used for just cooking the soup all together? Just want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Absolutely loved this recipe!! I also doubled the spices as well as the coconut milk and curry, came out perfect with so much flavor!! Topped off with a dash of hot chili oil for a kick * I used a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking raw chicken, taste before adding salt since the chicken is salty. Cut the cooking time in half
This ended up being really good! Also with lots of left overs for the next couple of days.
I did change some things after reading the comments though, I added a second can of coconut milk, and I’m really happy I did! I also added a little extra curry paste and ginger. Along with some minced garlic, and I cooked the noodles separately.
So easy and delicious! I added more curry paste than the recipe called for and it was amazing. My all time favorite red curry soup recipe.
Great taste and pretty easy to make. My husband thought it could have used more curry flavor but I thought it was enough.