This Khao Soi recipe is rich, fragrant and delicious! It’s a Coconut Curry Noodle Soup that hails from Northern Thailand and can be made with chicken, shrimp, tofu, or our crispy tofu. Vegan-adaptable, GF. Watch the Video!
No Matter how hard the past, you can always begin again. ~Buddha
This Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup recipe (called Khao Soi) and hails from the Northern part of Thailand (Chiang Mai) 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, rich and spicy.
The coconut broth is fragrant and rich, coating the noodles well. And once the flavorful coconut soup base is made, what you put in the soup is up to you!
Why this recipe works!
- It is fast and easy! This simple recipe comes together in under 30 minutes!
- Adaptable. Use chicken, shrimp or tofu, or a a combo. Vegan adaptable!
- Cozy and warming! A rich soup, perfect for chilly nights.
Ingredients in Khao Soi
This simple version of Khao Soi is made even easier with store-bought red curry paste.
- Rice noodles, or Chinese egg noodles, or ramen noodles
- Protein: chicken, tofu, shrimp or prawns (or sub our crispy tofu)
- Coconut oil, peanut oil or olive oil
- Shallot, garlic cloves and lemon grass
- Thai Red Curry Paste (store-bought, I like this brand), more for spicier
- Spices: Ground turmeric or fresh turmeric root, yellow curry powder, ground cardamom
- Coconut milk– full-fat
- Chicken stock or veggie broth
- kaffir lime leaves
- Optional Veggies: red bell pepper, snow peas, or other quick-cooking veggies
- fish sauce– or make our vegan fish sauce
- soy sauce (perhaps reduce if using vegan fish sauce, or use to taste) or shrimp paste
- Brown sugar, palm sugar or an alternative substitute
- Chili garlic sauce (Sambal Olek)
- Fresh limes
- Optional Garnishes: fresh basil (Thai basil is best!) or cilantro, pickled mustard Greens (traditional), crispy noodles, bean sprouts, lime wedge, thinly sliced red onions or scallions.
How to make Khao Soi
- Place rice noodles in a large baking dish, pour boiling water over the noodles and let them sit until they are softened, drain. Toss with a little oil to prevent sticking.
- In a large dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat, saute shallot, garlic and lemongrass. until golden, about 3-4 minutes, then add the red curry paste, turmeric, curry powder, and cardamom, stirring for one minute.
- Add the coconut milk, chicken broth and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering add the bell pepper, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic paste.
- Add the prawns (or chicken or crispy tofu) and gently simmer until cooked.
- Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/ red curry paste if necessary. Find the balance between salty, sweet, acid and heat.
- Divide the rice noodles into the bowls and ladle the flavorful soup over top- a bit easier to handle. Garnish with fresh basil, pickled mustard greens, crispy noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onion, lime wedges, or chopped scallions.
Variations of Khao Soi
- You can make this Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup vegan by using crispy tofu and vegan fish sauce, and swap in veggie stock for the chicken stock. You can add more veggies to the broth.
- You can make this with chicken breast, chicken thighs or with shrimp.
- Traditional Khao Soi is often topped with crispy noodles and pickled mustard greens, a garnish, which you can pick up at Asian Markets. The pickled mustard greens are especially nice here.
Serve Khao Soi with These Toppings!
- pickled mustard greens or stems (traditional)
- crispy ramen noodles (traditional)
- cilantro or Thai basil
- Lime wedges
- Bean sprouts
More Thai recipes you may like:
- 33+Easy Thai Recipes!
- Thai Green Curry Noodle Soup
- Easy to Make Pad Thai with Chicken Shrimp or Tofu
- Authentic Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)
- Thai Green Curry with Vegetables
- Instant Pot Thai Curry Chicken
- Thai Burrito with Peanut Sauce
How to Make Khao Soi! | 30-sec video
Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Noodle Soup)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: Main, soup, seafood
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
A flavorful and very addicting Northern Style Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Soup, called Khao Soi. Easy and fast, and so yummy. This simplified version uses store-bought red chili paste. Watch the video.
Ingredients
- 4–6 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
- 4 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste (store-bought, I like this brand), more for spicier
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or use grated turmeric)
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 14-ounce can coconut milk, full-fat
- 1 cup chicken broth (or veggie broth, or use water and one chicken bouillon cube)
- 4–6 kaffir 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 an alternative substitute
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (Sambal Olek)
- 8–12 ounces protein: raw, peeled prawns, or crispy tofu, or raw, thinly sliced chicken breast- or leftover baked chicken or rotisserie chicken)
- salt and pepper to taste,
- 1 lime
Garnish with fresh basil (Thai basil is best!), pickled mustard greens (traditional), cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedge, crispy noodles, thinly sliced red onions or scallions.
Instructions
- Place noodles in a large baking dish, pour boiling water over the noodles and let them sit, stirring occasionally until they are al dente. Drain. Toss with little oil to coat to prevent sticking.
- While the water is boiling, prep the protein, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, and red bell pepper, then get all other ingredients ready by the stove.
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic and lemongrass. Saute until fragrant and golden, about 3-4 minutes. Add red curry paste, turmeric, yellow curry powder and cardamom. Saute for 1 minute.
- Add the coconut milk, chicken broth and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering add the bell pepper, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce and chili garlic paste.
- Add the prawns (or chicken or crispy tofu) and gently simmer until cooked. Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/pepper/ red curry paste if necessary. Find the balance between salty, sweet, acid and heat.
- Divide noodles into the bowls and ladle the flavorful soup over top- a bit easier to handle.
- Garnish with fresh basil, pickled mustard greens, crispy noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onion, lime wedges, or chopped scallions.
Notes
The quality of the red chili paste makes all the difference here. I like Mae ploy or Masseri! “Thai kitchen” brand will be lacking in flavor!
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)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 bowls
- Calories: 348
- Sugar: 10.3 g
- Sodium: 1345 mg
- Fat: 16.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 13.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.4 g
- Fiber: 1.9 g
- Protein: 12.5 g
- Cholesterol: 71.4 mg
Loved this recipe and easy though it took me longer then 15 minutes :-)… reminds me of dish I loved and ate all the time at a friends house when I was younger. Happy happy memories!
yay! Im so happy it brought you good memories. It will go faster the second time around. 🙂
Looks excellent! Really love the construction of this dish; will try it out as soon as poss.
Not only did I LOVE this recipe…….my picky 13 year old who doesn’t like anything, LOVED this recipe!
I will make this numerous times over the next fall/winter months! I did add an additional 2 cups broth. ( I used chicken bone broth to add extra nutrients) I added rotisserie chicken for my 9 year old, tofu for my 13 year old while my spouse and I enjoyed the addition of shrimp. By the way, it’s the first time I have ever felt compelled to leave a review…..this was AWESOME and EASY! I’m already looking forward to making it again and plan to have it as our winter staple go to meal!
Delicious! Perfect!
Deeelicious! Perfect!
Every single thing I try on this website works out!!! This soup was simple, completely filling and satisfying and my family loved it!!!
This is the best comment ever- makes me so happy!!! thanks and glad they are working out!!!
Je suis toujours d’accord pour du thaï . Chris 06
To quote my husband, “this may be the best thing you’ve ever made.” (Bar is low for Asian food). I couldn’t find samaba oleke at my Whole Foods, but the dish was fine without it. Added tofu that I pan fried and sweet potato that I quickly cooked up in the microwave. Definitely a keeper!!
Made this tonight and I swear I could feel it healing our sick family on this rainy fall day- it was so perfect! Took my husband and I right back to our honeymoon in Thailand. My 3 year old kept asking for more, blew me away!
Yay Katie! Glad you and your family enjoyed!!!
are the noodles precooked if so for how long ?
They are dry, uncooked noodles. Pour the boiling water over them.
Delicious! Next time might add lime leaves to pot, but will be making this again ?
A great addition, indeed!
It’s so delicious… but I found it took longer for me to prep. Just gathering everything out of the fridge and cupboard took over 5 minutes and then chopping and getting it all ready took longer than 10. But cooking was right on and the extra time was certainly worth it, as it turned out just like you’d get at a Thai restaurant. I added the lemon grass, lime leafs, and the cardamon and turmeric! Topped with sprouts, cilantro, and green onions. It’s on the spicy side so I might take down the Sambal Olek to half. But we ate it all up!! Thanks, Sylvia. I just love everything I’ve made from your site. And I only found it a few weeks ago!
Made these tonight for dinner with half the amount of soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar, and it still tasted great! I used light coconut milk though, so I find it doesn’t need as much added salt as full fat coconut milk to balance out its richness.
Definitely a keeper recipe to make again!
This looks so yummy! As it’s colder now where I am and I always lack time I think I’m gonna have to make this soon!
Made it this afternoon. Awesome and so simple. This. Is definitely a keeper.
Yay! So Happy you liked it!
This looks delicious! I’ve been pinning some of your older recipes this morning to make soon. Wondering if I can sub in soy milk for the coconut? I’m not a fan of the taste.
I’m not sure? Give it a try…and report back…I’m really curious. I think that soy milk may not feel “thick” enough in the mouth, it lacks the fat content and the sweetness….so it may not translate well….I guess these are my concerns. You never know until you try though. 😉
This meal looks great! I added it to my to make list.
great! Let us know what you think!
Tried this recipe today and it was just perfect! Made it with chicken and my boyfriend and I loved it! It’s tasty, it’s flavourful and most importantly – it’s super quick!
Thanks for sharing. Will cook it again!
I’m happy you liked it! thanks!
Can’t believe that things that tasty can be that quick and easy to make! My husband and I LOVED this soup, and I can’t wait to make it again (and finish the leftovers!). A life-saver for a busy day. Thank you so much!
Oh that is great!! Glad you guys enjoyed!
Have to try this one as well! (:
Wow this looks so amazing, and I can’t believe it’s so quick and easy to make!!
Yum! Will definitely be trying this out soon. Thanks so much for sharing!
xx, R @ The Girl in Polka Dots
http://www.thegirlinpolkadots.com
This looks so delicious and simple! I love your photos too 🙂
Thanks so much Natasha!
Absolutely fabulous!!! Because fresh lemon grass wasn’t available, I used the tube lemon grass. You need triple the fresh. But oh so yummy!
Perfect!
Awesome recipe – I added a chunk of galanga and a few lime leaves and it was perfection. Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Such a great idea…love that you added it. I will adjust the recipe to include. 🙂