This easy 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) hails from Northern 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, you can add whatever you like. I really recommend doubling the broth!
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 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.
- Noodles: Khao soi is tradionally made with egg noodles but rice noodles, ramen noodles or even linguini will work here!
- Protein: chicken breast, tofu, shrimp (or sub our crispy tofu)
- Coconut oil, peanut oil or olive oil
- Shallot, garlic cloves, and lemon grass – for savory, punchy flavor.
- 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– or coconut cream- use full-fat
- Chicken stock or veggie broth – for rich flavor.
- kaffir lime leaves – fresh is best, but frozen or dried will work too.
- fish sauce– or sub vegan fish sauce or more salt.
- soy sauce or try shrimp paste
- Brown sugar, palm sugar or an alternative substitute
- Chili garlic sauce– or try Sambal Olek.
- Fresh limes– for a little acid, and serving.
- Optional Veggies: red bell pepper, snow peas, or any other quick-cooking veggies to drop in the broth.
- Optional Garnishes: fresh basil (Thai basil is best!) or cilantro, bean sprouts, lime wedge, pickled mustard greens, crunchy noodles, thinly sliced red onions or scallions.
How to make Khao Soi
Cook Noodles. Cook egg noodles according to package directions. If using rice noodles, place them in a large baking dish, pour boiling water over the noodles, and let them sit, stirring occasionally, until they are soft.
Make the Broth. In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add shallot, garlic, and lemongrass. Sauté until fragrant and golden, about 3-4 minutes. Add red curry paste, ad the spices, sauté for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, and lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering, add the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, and chili garlic paste.
Protein: Add the chicken or prawns ( or crispy tofu) and gently simmer covered, until cooked through. Chicken breasts will take about 10 minutes, prawns about 3 minutes. At this point, you can drop in quick-cooking veggies too.
If adding whole chicken breasts, shred with two forks and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Taste and Season. Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/pepper/ red curry paste if necessary. Find the balance between salty, sweet, acidic, and spicy. ***You want the broth to be punchy and flavorful to hold up the noodles. If the broth lacks depth, more fish sauce, salt, or even a boullion cube will help. Heat it up, so it’s hot.
Serve. Divide noodles into the bowls and ladle the hot, flavorful soup over top this way it is a bit easier to handle.
Garnish with fresh basil, fermented mustard greens (chopped small), crispy noodles, bean sprouts, thinly sliced red onion, lime wedges, or chopped scallions.
Variations of Khao Soi
- Vegan. 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.
- Shrimp: Drop in peeled and deveined shrimp into the broth.
- Veggies: Simmer quick-cooking veggies into the broth- bell pepper, snow peas, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.
Serve Khao Soi with These Traditional Toppings
- Pickled mustard greens or stems, finely chopped- these truly add to the dish; find them at your local Asian market. I have linked them here, but honestly, I don’t like this brand- just want to show you.
- Crunchy noodles
- Fresh herbs: cilantro or Thai basil
- Lime wedges
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
- Thai Fried Rice
Watch How to Make Khao Soi! | 30-sec video
more favorites from feasting at home
Khao Soi (Thai Coconut Noodle Soup)
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Main, soup, seafood
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Thai, northern Thao
Description
A flavorful and very addictive 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. I highly recommend doubling the broth for extra brothy.
Ingredients
- 6–8 ounces dry rice noodles or egg noodles (or sub ramen noodles, or linguini). This dish is typically made with Chinese egg noodles.
Coconut Broth
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, (or peanut oil or olive oil)
- 1 large shallot, finely diced (or sub half an onion)
- 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste (store-bought, I like Maseri brand), add more for spicier
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or use grated turmeric)
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom powder
- 14-ounce can of coconut milk, full-fat
- 1 cup chicken broth (or veggie broth, or use water and one chicken bouillon cube)
- 6 fresh 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)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lime, more for serving
Protein
- 8–16 ounces protein: raw chicken breast (see notes), prawns, crispy tofu, or leftover baked chicken or rotisserie chicken)
Garnish with pickled mustard greens, crunchy noodles, cilantro, or Thai basil (or both) and more lime wedges.
Instructions
- Cook Noodles. Cook egg noodles according to package directions. If using rice noodles, place them in a large baking dish, pour boiling water over the noodles, and let them sit, stirring occasionally, until they are al dente.
- Make the Broth. 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. Sauté for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, and kaffir lime leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring. Once gently simmering, add the fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, and chili garlic paste.
- Protein: Add the chicken breasts (or prawns) and any quick-cooking veggies, and gently simmer covered, until cooked through. Chicken will take roughly 10-12 minutes, and prawns will take 3-4 minutes. If adding whole chicken breasts, shred and return to the soup, simmer two minutes. See notes for Crispy Tofu.
- Taste and Season. Give a generous squeeze of lime. Taste, adding more lime/salt/pepper/ red curry paste if necessary. Find the balance between salty, sweet, acidic, and spicy. You want the broth to have flavor and depth to hold up to the noodles. Fish sauce really helps here. Heat up the broth so it is nice and hot.
- Serve. Divide cooked noodles into the bowls and ladle the hot, flavorful soup over top- this way it is a bit easier to handle.
- Garnish the bowls with pickled mustard greens (chopped up small), crispy noodles, fresh herbs ( basil and cilantro) and lime wedges.
Equipment
Notes
Thai Red Chili paste: The quality of the red chili paste makes all the difference here. I like Mae ploy or Masseri! The “Thai Kitchen” brand will lack flavor!
Chicken: You can simmer small chicken breasts “whole” in the broth (10-12 minutes), then once tender and cooked through, shred with two forks.
Crispy Tofu: Add it to the broth, right at the end. I like adding a little curry powder to the crispy tofu at the end.
Make Ahead: 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 a few thinly sliced fresh chilies (as a garnish). A few slices of galangal are a nice addition too.
If the soup lacks depth, more salt, fish sauce, or even a bouillon cube will work.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 bowls – with chicken breast
- Calories: 428
- Sugar: 10.3 g
- Sodium: 1075.7 mg
- Fat: 17.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 13.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 50.3 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
- Protein: 18.3 g
- Cholesterol: 41.4 mg
This is some of the greatest Thai Food I’ve ever had – and I made it! This is my boyfriend and I’s favorite recipe. We both agreed that when we’re craving curry now, we don’t need to worry about ordering out. We served it over brown jasmine rice the second time we made it and I think it worked beautifully. I really can’t say just how much we love this meal!
Great to hear!
dear Sylvia, i love the recipe but i dont get one thing (sorry for stupid question) but while i cook the lemon grass and shallots in a pot with oil, i am boiling the noodles in a different one? and than add water of nuddles to my pot with other ingredients?
thanks hope my question was clear .
Yes, you cook the noodles separately. Just pour hot water over them and set them aside, drain them later. In a separate pot, make the soup.
thank you so much, so the soup main liquid is coconut milk right? no water added
Yes, not water, just coconut milk and the cup of broth. 🙂
Hi! I’m going to make this tomorrow. Could I use egg noodles?
You can….. but not traditional? It would still work though.
Holy Moly! You ever cook something and you cant beleive YOU made it becuase its just that good?? That’s how I felt about this recipe! SO good… made it along with the crispy tofu 🙂 so glad I found your blog, I cant wait to try more of the recipes! Making the Pad-Thai for dinner tonight!
Thanks so much Kayla! Glad you liked this!
I have made several of your recipes and the whole family has LOVED every one of them! I am wondering if I can can use this recipe as a “regular” curry dish where I can pour it over rice? I am so excited to try this! (you are the only website I have been willing to give my email to as I love love love your wide range of recipes that are so well thought out) p.s. could I omit or lessen the amount of fish sauce?
Yes, you could try! It is more of a soup, so would be a little “thinner”, maybe decrease the broth to thicken. The fish sauce adds depth. You could add to taste, and use less. Or try it without first. It does enhance this though!
We used to live in SE Asia, and Thai cuisine is our favorite. Eating this felt like traveling back to Thailand. I really can’t say enough about how much my husband and I loved it. The broth will now be the base for many recipes! Thank you so much!
Jennifer and Jason
thanks so much!
I have just made this curry noodle soup for Hubby and I on a Friday night in Auckland NZ and in the middle of lockdown! And its super delicious, easy recipe to follow and what I really loved the most was that it was authentic. Thank you Sylvia, outstanding!!
Thanks so much, happy you enjoyed it!
This is 5 stars the best khao soi we’ve had outside of N. Thailand. Thank you! This will be included in our monthly rotation of recipes. I’m so excited to have found your blog. This week alone we made 4 recipes: portabello tacos, pad thai, spring rolls and khao soi. All have been restaurant quality delicious and not overly complicated. We can’t wait to try more!
Thanks so much Lindsay- really appreciate this!
This is fantastic. My husband and I loved it. I didn’t change a thing. I added ginger. It was perfect. It tasted better than a restaurant!!
Thank you.
What type of chicken should you use? Does chicken breast cut up into smaller pieces work?
You can use breasts or thighs. I would pan-sear or cook it first, or if cut very thin, I guess you can drop into the broth.
So delicious!! I am just experimenting with Thai cooking, don’t’ have much experience with lemongrass. I don’t think I minced it enough, but that is my fault! Otherwise, so, so good!! I’m wondering if it would give the same flavor if you put in larger pieces of lemongrass while cooking, then remove it? Either that, or I really need to get my knives sharpened! #covidissues
You could try that, smash them really good and maybe add a few extra!
This looks great! What vegetable would you recommend substituting for the red bell pepper?
You really could sub any quick-cooking veggie or more of the others. 🙂
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!
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!
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?
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.