15 Minute- Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup from Northern Thailand called Khao Soi! This FAST, FLAVORFUL & EASY soup has rich fragrant broth and can be made with w/ either shrimp, crispy tofu or chicken! Vegan adaptable!
No Matter how hard the past, you can always begin again. ~Buddha
This 15 Minute Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup is called Khao Soi, and hails from the Northern part of Thailand where the weather stays a bit cooler. It’s a godsend when time is short, or you are feeling a bit lazy, yet you crave something warm and spicy.
The coconut broth is fragrant and rich, coating the noodles well. And once the flavorful base is made, what you put in the soup is very adaptable. Today I’ve added prawns – but it’s delicious with tofu or chicken too, or even just veggies.
How to Make Khao Soi! | a 30-second video
Spring showers have been here, making everything exceptionally bright and green and lush. On rainy spring days like we’ve had these past few weeks, all I want to do is wrap myself up in a cozy blanket, curl up with a good book and slurp soup. Preferably with a little heat and some kind of noodle.
THAI COCONUT CURRY NOODLE SOUP (Khao Soi)
A flavorful and very addicting Northern Style Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup, called Khao Soi. Easy and fast, and so yummy.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Main, soup, seafood
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Northern Thailand
Ingredients
- 4 ounces dry rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon coconut, peanut or olive oil
- 1 large shallot finely diced ( or sub half an onion)
- 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
- 2 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste (store-bought, I like this brand), more for more spicy
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric – optional
- pinch cardamom– optional
- 14-ounce can coconut milk
- 1 cup chicken broth (or use water and one chicken bouillon cube)
- 4–6 kefir lime leaves (optional, but delicious!)
- 1 thinly sliced red bell pepper (optional- sub other veggies)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce– or vegan fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce ( perhaps reduce if using vegan fish sauce, or use to taste)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, palm sugar or alternative substitute
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (Sambal Olek)
- 8–12 ounces raw, peeled and deveined prawns (or crispy tofu, or raw chicken- or leftover baked chicken or rotisserie chicken)
- 1 lime
- Garnish with fresh basil (Thai basil is best!), Pickled Mustard Greens ( tradional), cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedge, or scallions.
Instructions
- Place noodles in a shallow baking dish and boil enough water to just cover them. While water is boiling, prep the shallot, garlic, lemongrass, red bell pepper, then get all other ingredients ready by the stove.
- In a medium pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot and lemongrass. Saute until fragrant and golden, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, saute 1-2 mintues. Add red curry paste. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the coconut milk , chicken broth and kefir lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering add the bell pepper, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic sauce.
- Add the prawns ( or chicken or tofu) and gently simmer until cooked. Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/ red curry paste if necessary.
- Drain the noodles. If serving the soup immediately, toss the noodles right into the pot and then serve.
- Alternatively, divide noodles into the bowls and ladel the flavorful soup over top.
- Garnish with fresh basil, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onion and chopped scallions.
Notes
To bump up the flavorful coconut broth even more, add few slices of galangal!
Feel free to make the soup broth the day before and keep in the fridge, keeping the noodles separate ( they will swell in the soup) and simply reheat.
To bump up the heat, add more red chili paste or chili sauce, or a few thinly sliced fresh chilies ( as a garnish)
Keywords: curry noodles, thai noodle soup, thai curry noodles, THAI COCONUT CURRY NOODLE SOUP, Khao Soi, thai curry noodles
This transported me back to Thailand in an instant, my belly was very happy! Making it again this week with the intention of making enough for leftovers.
Do you think it will last for 2 days in the fridge once made and cooked (without noodles in)?
★★★★★
Yes, totally! I’d say it would last 3-4 days in the fridge. Great call to leave the noodles out.
Wow — just… wow! We spent quite a bit of time in northern Thailand, and one of our favorite things to eat there was the khao soi from a tiny little shop on an out-of-the-way street. Since returning to the US, we’ve tried to find kaho soi at Thai restaurants here but very few serve it, and the ones we’ve tried were terrible! Your recipe was spot-on like the one we used to love in Thailand. This is going to be our new treat when we’re needing comfort food!
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OMG, this recipe is fantastic and very very authentic! My fave soup that transfers me to Thailand in a few minutes it takes to make it. Highly recommended, thanks again Sylvia for another brilliant recipe!
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Thanks Alex!
I made Khao Soi today. My husband and son really enjoyed it. It took me over an hour to prepare it and boy were they hungry! But worth the wait… yummy!
★★★★★
It was excellent!! I added a bit of cilantro and chopped basil at the end and served yummy! Followed instructions super easy will make again 😊
★★★★★
This soup was amazing! My picky 2 year old devoured it. Thank you so much! I will be trying some more recipes.
Hi I was wondering how many the x1 measurements cook for is that for 2 people or does it literally mean just 1. We are a family of 6 and I was just wondering what measurements I should use. It looks delicious! Thanks
1 recipe serves 3-4, so I would double the recipe in your case. 😉
I used chicken in this recipe and it is the best soup I have ever made. Brought me right back to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Delicious!
★★★★★
Glad you liked it Kim!
Delicious recipe! While I was cooking I was wondering where I could find that beautiful white pot with a handle in the photos?
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It’s Danske – available online.
This was divine! I didn’t have lemongrass, fish sauce or the kefir lime leaves at hand, but it was still absolutely delicious. Added a big squeeze of fresh lemon when I sautéed the shallot, and lots of fresh lime juice when I added the soy sauce. Thank you for this great recipe!
★★★★★
Great to hear Maddi!
Just made this. Absolutely delicious and so easy. Had everything on hand except red bell pepper, so subbed thinly sliced carrots and frozen peas. I prefer the flavour profile of green curry paste, so used that instead of the red. Topped with basil, lime wedges, scallions and as per your notes added fresh ginger (didn’t have galangal) to the broth and fresh red chillis to the garnish. Also added crushed peanuts on top. Thank you!
★★★★★
I enjoyed making this recipe. My family loved it. I used chicken and Thai chili paste in the recipe. I was out of the red curry paste so used the yellow curry paste instead. Same company. My husband does not care for noodles so I made both white rice and noodles. We loved it.
★★★★★
Perfect- sounds great! Like how you adapted to your needs, thanks for sharing!
This was my third recepie from feastingathome and I am so impressed. This was easy, quick, and so flavorful. I didn’t use any of the optional seasoning and used rotisserie chicken leftovers. This was my first time using red curry paste, and not being afraid of heat I eyeballed those 2tbl and it was HOT. But still so good!! I will definatly make this again.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Jennifer, thanks for the comment- helpful! Do you happen to know the brand of red curry paste you were using? For other readers?
This was amazing! I used rotisserie chicken and the optional turmeric, lime leaves and subbed a roasted jalapeno for the chili paste and roasted anaheim pepper for the bell since I can’t eat bells. I had bought the fresh lime leaves for another recipe and froze the remaining leaves which I thawed before using. I removed the rib before tearing leaves into small pieces but leaves were still not able to be chewed. I guess I should not have torn leaves into pieces but left whole and removed before eating?
★★★★★
Thanks Beth, Yes, add the leaves whole. You can just pick around them or remove.