A steaming bowl of Thai Chicken Noodle Soup infused with lemongrass and ginger. A healthy, low fat, gluten-free meal, full of amazing Thai flavors that will warm you to your bones!
Fall seven times and stand up eight.
Japanese Saying
Here’s a warming bowl of soup infused with the flavors of Thailand- a nice little break from the chill of winter. Thai Chicken Noodle Soup – healthy, low fat, gluten-free and full of amazing Thai flavors – is just what the doctor ordered on these frigid days.
It’s like mom’s chicken soup, with a twist. Here the chicken stock is infused with Thai ingredients like lemongrass, ginger, lime leaves and galangal, to create a flavorful base for the soup. You can keep this mild, or make it spicy, up to you!
If you are looking for more authentic Thai soups try our Tom Yum Soup, Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup) or our Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Noodle Soup)!
If you are unfamiliar with Thai ingredients, don’t fret, the crucial ones for this recipe are available at most grocery stores. But if you are feeling a little curious and adventurous, and would like to venture out to your local Asian market, this would be a great opportunity to explore all the wonderful things they have to offer.
There are a couple of ingredients in the recipe that are found mostly in Asian markets, which are optional in the recipe ( galanga and kefir lime leaves) but really elevate the soup if you are so inclined to go. It’s good to familiarize yourself with new ingredients, so when they do show up in recipes, you won’t be too scared off.
When making a trip to the Asian Market …go on a day that you have time to meander down every aisle and get familiar. Don’t let the smells bother you, just take in the whole experience.
You will find that ingredients are usually less expensive than purchasing at the grocery store. Some Asian stores also have a bulk section, which is perfect for our catering business.
What to buy at an Asian Market:
Here is a list of ingredients that I always take with me personally, when I go to the Asian Market– that way I don’t forget because it’s very easy to get distracted there. Of course, you probably won’t need ALL of these… (we use these in our catering business) but if you were interested in establishing an Asian pantry at home, some of thee are quite useful!
And back to the Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. The basic idea is to create a flavorful broth and then add the chicken, mushrooms and noodles. You could make the flavorful broth up to 2 days ahead, letting the flavors infuse, leaving the noodles out until serving time.
This recipe for Thai Noodle Soup makes for an extra-large bowl of soup- perfect for gatherings! The leftovers can be frozen for later use.
I hope you enjoy this Thai Chicken Noodle Soup as much as we have!
More recipes you May like!
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Thai Chicken Noodle Soup
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
A flavorful Bowl of Thai chicken Noodle soup, scented with lemongrass and kefir lime. Gluten-free and low fat. (updated recipe 2019)
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 onion, finely diced (or use 2 large shallots)
- 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- ¼ cup lemongrass, white parts only, very finely chopped (or use lemongrass paste)
- ¼ cup, thinly sliced galanga root (peels ok) (or use 3 tablespoons paste)
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 8 cups chicken stock or chicken broth
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 lime leaves ( check the frozen section of the Asian market, if not fresh)
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast (or thigh) sliced into uniform ½ inch thick, bite-size pieces
- 4 oz sliced mushrooms (optional)
- 4–6 oz. vermicelli rice stick noodles, kelp noodles or angel hair pasta
- 2–3 teaspoons fish sauce, more to taste
- lime juice to taste (start with 1/2 a small lime)
- 2–3 teaspoons chili sauce (optional)
Garnishes:
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat oil, over med-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until golden and tender. Turn heat to medium, add ginger, and saute a few more minutes. Add lemongrass and garlic and galanga (optional). Keep stirring occasionally for about 3-5 minutes until fragrant. Then add Chicken stock, water, salt and lime leaves. Bring to a boil and turn the heat down so stock is simmering gently uncovered for about 10-15 minutes. (Don’t be tempted to add chilies to the simmering stock, it will end up too spicy.)
- After the stock has simmered and add the chicken, simmer 5 minutes, add the noodles (see notes) and mushrooms (optional), keeping stock at low simmer, stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked through and noodles are cooked, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add fish sauce and a generous squeeze of lime.
- Taste for salt, acid and heat, adjusting all with fish sauce, lime and chili paste. Right before serving, stir in ½ the scallions.
- Serve immediately and top bowls of soup with cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts (optional, but give a great crunch), a few red slice chilies and serve with a lime wedge and little hot sriracha sauce, sambal, or even hot chili oil on the side.
Notes
You can cook the noodles separately, and add them to the bowls before ladling the hot soup over top. This is specially nice if you plan on having leftovers- that way the noodles won’t swell up in the broth. 😉
Some folks opt to strain the broth- I do not- I love all the bits!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 436
- Sugar: 14.8 g
- Sodium: 1804.3 mg
- Fat: 10.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 64.3 g
- Fiber: 3.1 g
- Protein: 16.6 g
- Cholesterol: 16.1 mg
This was soooooo good. I followed the recipe except I cooked the noodles separately and then mixed them in each bowl individually. Will definitely make this again.
Great idea Peggy, glad you enjoyed!
I’ve prepped all the ingredients and completed the soup through the broth stage. Would you please clarify a few things (for next time)? 1) For the lime leaf, do you consider the double leaf (which is how they typically come) or a single leaf when determing the quantity? 2) The comments mention straining the soup, but I don’t see this step in the instructions. Should the lime leaf, lemon grass, onions, ginger, garlic and galangal be strained before serving (or before adding the chicken and other ingredients)? The recipe calls for optional chili PASTE, but the link in the recipe routes to chili garlic SAUCE. Which is correct? Thanks, and look forward to your reply.
Hi Susan- I count double leaves as one. I don’t strain the soup.The Chili paste that is linked is correct, yes it is called garlic chili sauce. Other brands say paste, but the one linked is what I use. 🙂
Appreciate the detailed information you provide.
This is truly the BEST chicken noodle soup I have EVER prepared! We are Covid-miserable in our house right now, and our taste buds are not working very well. THIS soup woke them up! Thank you!
Oh no Deborah! I’m so sorry to hear that and hope you all feel better soon. Glad the soup is helping. 😉
This was the best chicken soup I have had, possibly ever! The flavors were so light and delicate and extremely well balanced. My kids, who are quite picky and unadventurous even enjoyed it! We served it to dear friends on New Years Day and it was the perfect thing to come home to after a walk along the river. I made the broth the day before and then added the chicken and noodles at the very end. Thank you for a great recipe!
Wonderful Julie, so great to hear!
Delicious! Tried it today! Loved it! What do you call this soup in Thai?
It’s a Thai-inspired soup – not traditional. 😉
Hi,
Would love to make this! I can not get galangal anywhere here. I do, however, have the paste. Would that be acceptable? If so, how much should i use.
Alternatively, do you have anything else you recommend substituting it for?
Thank you.
Absolutely use the paste Susan- 2-3 tablespoons!
Thank you so much!
Going to make the chicken noodle soup tonight.
Looking good and can’t wait to try
Delicious! We are vegan and made some alterations to make this work – I cannot believe the flavors of this soup – amazing and the recipe was really easy to follow – thank you!
For anyone interested in vegan sub – I used a plant based ‘chicken stock’ and used a link online to make a vegan ‘fish sauce’, I added tofu into the soup instead of the suggested chicken just followed the original directions.