Turn chicken curry into chicken noodle soup with this Thai chicken noodle soup recipe. Filled with rice noodles, chicken, and veggies, this quick and easy meal is perfect for a cozy lunch or dinner.
Curries are one of my favorite cold-weather meals because they are creamy, spicy, and full of flavor. I’ve shared lots of Thai-inspired curry recipes on my website before, so this is just another fun recipe to add to the repertoire.
The thing I love most about this particular recipe is that it’s so easy to make and yet it packs so much flavor. Not to mention, it’s super versatile. Once you’ve got the basics down you can mix and match the type of curry paste, noodles, and vegetables to create your own version of this Thai chicken noodle soup!
Why You’ll Love This Soup
- Cozy – Full of spices and warming flavors, this chicken noodle soup is a cozy and comforting meal.
- High in Protein – With 25 grams of protein per serving, it’s a protein-packed meal.
- Full of Veggies – This Thai chicken noodle soup is full of veggies making it a fiber-rich meal.
- Made in One Pot – This soup is made in one pot to ensure cleanup is quick and easy.
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup Ingredients
- Chicken – You can use raw chicken breasts, leftover chicken, or rotisserie chicken in this recipe. See the notes section in the recipe card for details.
- Noodles – While rice noodles work best in this recipe, you can also use egg noodles if desired.
- Veggies – A combination of onion, carrots, red bell pepper, and mushrooms adds color and fiber to the soup.
- Garlic and Ginger – To add flavor and fragrance to this chicken noodle soup.
- Curry Paste – You can use Thai red curry paste or Thai green curry paste.
- Chili – While optional, a red Thai chili will increase the heat level of the soup.
- Broth – You can use chicken stock, chicken broth, or vegetable broth.
- Coconut Milk – You can use light or full-fat coconut milk.
- Fish Sauce – While optional, a dash of fish sauce helps to season the soup.
- Cilantro – Some fresh cilantro to add some greens and brightness to the chicken noodle soup. If you’re not a fan of cilantro, you could use some baby spinach instead.
Dietary Adaptions
To Make it Gluten-Free: While most curry pastes are naturally gluten-free, read your curry paste label to be sure.
To Make it Dairy-Free: No adaptations are needed, this recipe is dairy-free.
To Make it Low-Sodium: Use low-sodium chicken broth.
To Make it Low-Fat: Use light coconut milk.
How to Make Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
- Sautée the veggies. Add the onion, carrots, red bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, and ginger to a large pot and cook until tender.
- Add the curry paste. Add the curry paste to the pot and stir to coat the vegetables.
- Add the broth and chicken. Pour the chicken broth into the pot and add the raw chicken, bring to a boil, and simmer until the chicken is cooked.
- Shred the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot, and shred it into bite-size pieces.
- Add the noodles. Add the rice noodles to the pot of broth and cook until partially cooked through.
- Add the coconut milk and shredded chicken. Pour the can of coconut milk into the pot, add the shredded chicken, and fresh cilantro, and continue cooking the soup until the noodles are tender.
- Serve and enjoy!
You can find the detailed instructions for this Thai chicken soup in the recipe card below.
Red’s Nutrition Tip
This Thai chicken soup is a balanced meal with protein, fiber, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fat. At 567 calories per serving is a hearty, healthy, and filling meal. If you’d like to reduce the calorie content of this soup, simply use light coconut milk instead of full-fat coconut milk.
Variations & Tips
Here are some simple variations and tips for making the best Thai chicken noodle soup recipe:
Add curry paste to taste. Different brands and types of Thai curry paste have different flavors and spice levels, so feel free to adjust the amount of curry paste to suit your personal taste. If you like things spicy, add more, if you prefer a more subtle flavor, add less.
Cook the noodles separately. Although I cooked the noodles directly in the soup, you can cook the noodles separately and add them to the soup once it’s cooked.
Mix up the vegetables. You can use a wide variety of vegetables in this Thai chicken noodle soup. Although I used carrots, bell peppers, and mushrooms in my recipe, green beans, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, snap peas, and snow peas would all work well. You can even use a frozen vegetable blend if you like.
Use shrimp or tofu. You can make this recipe pescatarian by swapping the chicken for shrimp, simply add the cooked shrimp to the soup when you add the noodles. You can make this recipe vegetarian by swapping the chicken for tofu, simply cook the tofu in a separate pan or roast it in the oven, then add it to the soup with the noodles.
More Thai-Inspired Recipes:
- Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs
- Tofu Coconut Curry
- Thai Red Prawn Curry
- Meal Prep Instant Noodle Cups
What are the best noodles to use?
I used pad Thai noodles in my recipes, however, you can use any style of rice noodles you enjoy. If using instant noodles, you will need to adjust the cooking time.
Can I cook the noodles in the soup?
Yes. This recipe cooks the noodles directly in the soup, for ease and convenience, however, you can cook the noodles separately if you prefer.
Can I make it in a slow cooker?
To make this Thai chicken noodle soup in a slow cooker, add all the ingredients, except the noodles, to a slow cooker and cook it on low for 5-6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the slow cooker, and shred it into pieces. Add the noodles to the slow cooker, turn it to high, and cook the noodles until tender. Then return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker, along with the coconut milk and cilantro, and stir it to combine.
Storage + Reheating
To Refrigerate: Once cooled, transfer the soup to an airtight container, or separate containers, and store them in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To Freeze: Transfer the cooled soup to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. To make grab-and-go meals and reheating easier, you can freeze the soup in individual portion-sized containers.
To Reheat: To reheat from the fridge, place the soup in a pot on the stovetop on medium heat and warm for 5 minutes or until heated through. To reheat from frozen, thaw the soup overnight in the fridge and then place the soup in a pot on the stovetop on medium heat and warm for 5 minutes or until heated through. To reheat the soup in the microwave, place thawed soup in a microwave-safe bowl and warm for 1-2 minutes, with 30 additional 30-second increments as needed depending on the strength of your microwave.
More Chicken Soup Recipes:
- Chicken and Rice Soup
- Mexican Corn Chicken Soup
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Chickpea Chicken Soup
Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
Author: Stephanie Kay
This cozy Thai chicken noodle soup is full of protein, veggies, and flavor and makes a healthy lunch or dinner.
- Author: Stephanie Kay
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Thai
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:Print Recipe
UnitsScale
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, or olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and julienned
- 1 red bell pepper, julienned
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1-inch fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 1 red Thai chili, minced (optional)
- 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
- 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
- Lime, cut into wedges, to serve
Instructions
- In a large pot on medium heat, melt the coconut oil, then add the onion and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes until tender.
- Add the red bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, and chili (optional), and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly tender. Then add the curry paste and stir to coat all the vegetables.
- Pour in the broth, stir to combine with the vegetables, and bring to a gentle boil. Add the raw chicken breasts to the pot, submerge them in the broth, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- After 20 minutes, turn down the heat, remove the chicken breasts from the pot, and place them on a cutting board. Using two forks, shred the chicken into fine strips or bite-size pieces and set aside.
- Bring the pot of broth back up to a boil, then add the rice noodles and cook for half of the recommended cooking time (e.g. if your noodles need to be cooked for 8 minutes, cook them for 4 minutes). As the noodles cook, stir the soup regularly to ensure the noodles do not stick together.
- Once the noodles have cooked halfway, pour in the coconut milk and fish sauce (optional), and return the shredded chicken to the pot. Stir to combine, and continue to cook for the remaining time or until the noodles are tender.
- Once the noodles are cooked, turn off the heat, add the chopped fresh cilantro, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt as needed.
- Once cooked, portion the chicken noodle soup into bowls and serve with additional cilantro and fresh lime juice as desired.
Notes
To Use Leftover Chicken or Rotisserie Chicken: Swap the chicken breasts for 4 cups of shredded chicken. Instead of adding the chicken breasts in step #3, simmer the soup on its own, and then add the shredded chicken as per instruction in step #6.
To Cook the Noodles Separately: Omit step #5. Cook the noodles in a separate pot of boiling water, then strain the noodles, and add them to the cooked soup once the chicken and coconut milk has been added.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 576 calories
- Sugar: 7 grams
- Fat: 27 grams
- Carbohydrates: 59 grams
- Fiber: 3 grams
- Protein: 25 grams
