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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Did you make this recipe?
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I think I’m going to try making this on Friday – just had a question. I’m a vegetarian, so replacing the chicken with tofu – but I haven’t actually cooked with fofu before. Do you think it would make sense to season and cook the tofu a little bit like the chicken to add flavor, or just add directly to the soup?
I personally like to add tofu without any kind of seasoning but this really depends on personal preference. Hope that helps!
I just made this for dinner! I added shitake mushrooms and shrimp.
Turned out perfect! Thank you…I was soooo good!
Yum, I bet shrimp was great with this!
Made this last night – loved it!!! (I even ate it for breakfast!)
Oh awesome! That’s some yummy breakfast 🙂
Another HUGE HIT. Thank you, Chunga! The recipe is easy to follow and it tastes better than takeout.
I didn’t have enough of the Gourmet Garden brand red Chile paste I like, so I substituted sriracha sauce for the rest. It gives a nice kick of heat at the end.
It’s a beautiful dish – colorful and appetizing. The rice noodles make this soup satisfying and gluten free.
Now how about a yellow curry?
So happy you liked this one. A yellow curry is a great idea, we’ll keep it in mind 🙂
Made this soup tonight with shrimp instead of chicken and it was AMAZING! I think next time I will add some peppers to it to spice it up a bit. Thanks for the recipe.
Shrimp is a great substitute! Yum!
Do you think this would freeze okay? Cooking for one over here but I want to make it all…. because everyone is raving.
It’s the best, right?! 🙂 But unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
I just made this and loved the taste but I used pad Thai rice noodles which are a little thicker, don’t know if that makes a difference. It did get thick so I was wondering what I did wrong?
Also, is there anything I can add to make it less thick?
Thank you
Hi Vanessa! Thanks for trying my recipe! Pad thai noodles will soak up the liquid so it will tend to thicken up as it sits. It is best to use the thin rice noodles as pictured here. Hope that helps!
I made the same mistake now its made like a spaghetti instead of a soup it is still delicious though
Can this be frozen? My boyfriend is away for the next month and I wouldn’t be able to eat all of this myself in one go.
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself. Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
This is wonderful!! My boys, 9 and 10, ate a ton and so did we! Thank you. Our only problem was which utensil to use. The sauce was so good you wanted to use a spoon which was merely impossible with the noodles!!
Yeah, that calls for utensil improvising haha! Glad your whole family enjoyed it!
Thanks Denise. You confirmed what I suspected in the flavor.
I made this and it was so delicious! Would shrimp be a good substitute?? We are huge shrimp lovers in my house.
Shrimp would be an excellent substitute!
Thanks for answering. I tried it with shrimp. I actually.. Surprisingly prefer the chicken. The chicken bits really soak up the flavor of the soup. But My son loves the shrimp version.
I’m so glad you tried the shrimp version. I’ll have to try it myself next time!
I have a summer cold (the worst!) and this was a perfect comfort meal! It was delicious, and the spice is definitely breaking up congestion and making my nose run. I added broccoli, and used the whole package of noodles because, well, I love noodles!! It didn’t overwhelm the soup. I didn’t have a lime, so I tried using lemon, and it wasn’t quite the same, so I added a drop of DoTerra lime essential oil to my bowl. Oh MY deliciousness! (If you try this, make SURE it is food-grade EO!) Thanks for hitting out of the park yet again! I will be making this addictive soup all the time now.
Thank you so much for your feedback Serene! Get well soon!
Made this yesterday and LOVED IT! My first time cooking with Rice Noodles, so that was exciting too. Any idea if we could freeze it?
That’s great Diana, so happy to hear you enjoyed it. We haven’t tried freezing this ourselves, so I can’t answer with certainty. Please use your best judgement when freezing and reheating.
Just made this and followed the directions to a “t”. FANTASTIC Chungah, again GIRL!! We LOVED It!!! Thank you and keep ’em comin’!
We love that you’re so happy Jaru!! Awesome!
We made this for dinner tonight and it was delightful! So flavorful and delicious! Only change was we cut out the fish sauce . Will be making this again for sure!!
Awesome Rachel, thank you for sharing with us!
If leaving out fish sauce you can substitute with soya sauce.
This is a repeat performer in my house! Amazingly delicious! My daughter did a study abroad program in Thailand and when she returned she cooked many meals for us – this reminds me so much of her and the taste of Thailand she brought back with her.
Use the freshest ingredients possible – this dish absolutely won’t disappoint! We love it!
Thank you Kelli! What a great story. Glad to hear this dish makes you happy!
It is in the Dutch oven right now. Smells wonderful. It’s what’s for dinner.
Thank you!!
Great! I hope you enjoyed it!
Just made this, and it’s a hit with the roommates!
I’m not a big fan of bell peppers (a problem that arises frequently when I go out for Thai… As you can imagine) so I used half of one. Oh—and I used brown rice noodles (it was that or a 14oz pack of plain ones that I was going to have to measure) and cooked them just a little longer.
I think I’ll definitely do shrimp next time though, but frankly I could do just the broth and be totally happy with this recipe—amazing flavours!
Thanks for sharing Alex! Happy to hear you made it your own and liked it.
How would you cook the shrimp before adding to the soup? Would you sautee or boil? Thanks! I want to make this today!
This was delicious! I went to bed coughing and woke with a cold and wanted a nice chicken soup recipe to make me feel better: this was it! Because I love the soft texture the chicken gets, I cooked up everything up to the coconut milk (so veggies, curry paste, chicken breasts and chicken stock) in my Instant Pot for 13 minutes on high pressure. After releasing the pressure, I added the can of coconut milk and the rest. It turned out so well! Chicken just fell apart and the broth was so flavorful. The best part was the mei fun noodles and all of those fresh herbs. I feel so much better now. 🙂 Thank you for posting this recipe!
Thank you for your feedback! Feel better soon!
I made this last night, it’s truly amazing and hits the spot! I am not of any other origin that plain ol’ American, but my taste buds constantly crave Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Indian — basically any cuisine with complex and yummy flavors! So, it’s fun to make it and then well, I am having it for breakfast today! SO GOOD, thanks for a great recipe!
Awesome Denise! So happy to hear you loved it. Thanks for sharing!