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) 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, 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
- Chili garlic sauce
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
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
- 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
I haven’t put it all together yet, but I’ve prepared the broth and the noodles separately for the Khao Soi. It’s for a dinner party in two days. Should I put the crispy tofu in broth now or in the morning of party? Thanks! Can’t wait for my guests to drool over this yummy soup! (And Thai Springs Rolls and Pad Thai.)
Hi Lila, love your Thai feast! I would drop the tofu into the broth, right before serving. 🙂
Thank you so much!!! I’m so excited to share all this wonderful food with my friends! Thai food is so delicious and I think you’ve done a beautiful job in your explanations, descriptions and photos (I haven’t watched the videos, but I’m sure they’re just as great!). I cook a lot but have not tried Thai food (although I visited Thailand 2 years ago and am still licking my chops from all the absolutely delicious food there! I even took an absolutely fabulous cooking class one day!). Thank you so much for your reply and I can’t wait to continue to march through your website and fabulous recipes. It also gets me going to our great Asian Market–which is a treat to visit. Oh! Also: I LOVE WHAT YOU WROTE AT THE END, the P.S. ABOUT OUR LIVING TOGETHER AND RESPECTING ONE ANOTHER AND LEARNING FROM ONE ANOTHER. Beautiful!!! (And sad that we need to articulate this necessary, important sentiment.). Thank you!!!!
Awwwwww, thanks so much Lila, appreciate this so much. Good luck with your gathering!
Thank you sooooo much! And continued success with all your endeavors. We bring people together through yummy food! Thank you for all you do.
Thanks Lila!
(I’m not stalking you, I promise but….) I’m making this dinner for 20 people and have prepped all that I can prep for the Pad Thai — your recipe x10. Any suggestions/ideas regarding cooking before guests arrive? Can I prepare all the Pad Thai and put finished product in oven in a serving dish? Thank you and sorry to keep bothering….
No worries Lila! So Pad Thai is one of those recipes that is best served right away and made in small batches. Not the best for big groups, because as it sits it can get soggy or dry. Also, smaller batches at a time are best. I think it would be really frustrating to make for it that many people honestly! And I am used to cooking for big groups. But up to you. 🙂 You could test it, make a small batch and put it in the oven for a while and see what you think? That is what I would do. Good luck!
With this post, I have finally found a set of recipes that ticks all the boxes: uses everyday ingredients, easy to prepare, family-pleasing, nutritious and adaptably plant-based or not depending on one’s family’s preferences. Bravo!
Our first time making this and we felt like we had went out to a restaurant for dinner! We added mushroom to the broth and then chopped cashews. Otherwise, we followed pretty closely. Thank you!
This is one of my favorites! Ours turned out a bit salty (probably the curry paste – Mae Ploy) but we didn’t mind that. Added some extra chicken broth and slurped away!
Great with bean sprouts too if you hate bell peppers as much as I do, haha.
This is such an easy and adaptable recipe. I used Rebecca Katz’s Thai coconut broth in lieu of the coconut milk and chicken broth (her broth recipes are amazing). I also added broccoli and threw in some spinach at the end. The balance of salty, sweet, sour, and umami from the fish sauce is just right.
So delicious! My husband actually stood up and applauded after eating and my 1-year old joined the clean plate club! So delicious and this will definitely become a go-to on cold nights. We made with chicken but will try the shrimp next. Thank you!
Love your recipes!!! thank you for all the hard work and love you put into it! Quick question, I can’t find kefir lime leaves in my neck of the woods, any other item I could substitute it for? ❤️
It is kind of unreplaceable- maybe add another tablespoon of lemongrass, or leave it out. 🙂
Excellent! Reminded us of our amazing time in Thailand, and eating this soup in Sukothai at a local festival.
I will definitely be making this recipe again.
Thank you!
Aweseome!
Your photographs are absolutely beautiful and this truly inspired me to make this dish for dinner tonight.
Sumptuous! We really enjoyed this recipe. I will certainly make it again, especially for guests.
Made this recipe yesterday using King Prawns. Didn’t have any lemongrass so left it out and used dried keffir lime leaves. It was literally the best thai recipe I’ve ever made! And really tasted like Thailand. Will definitely be making this again!
If using chicken, do you put the chicken in raw for step 5? Or should it be cooked before hand?
yes, thinly slice it first.
Do you use fresh or dried kefir lime leaves? Thank you!
I use fresh or frozen. I haven’t seen dried?
I used dried Keffir lime leaves and it tasted amazing
This soup is very good, but there were some inconsistencies in the recipe that prevent me from giving it 5 stars. I didn’t notice until after I left the grocery store that the final step in the instructions mention to add red onion, but red onion isn’t on the ingredients list. I reserved some of my shallots (sliced) to top it because that is an essential part of khao soi. It also doesn’t mention when to add the turmeric & cardamom, so I threw it in with the shrimp once I realized. And doesn’t specify how long to let the noodles sit for with the boiling water. I let them sit the whole time I was cooking, so they ended up sticking together but I’ve never cooked with rice noodles so that could be normal, not sure. I added shitake mushrooms for more veg. Not traditional, but worked very well. I sautéed those first before adding the shallots & lemongrass. The sauce is VERY flavorful so I would definitely make this again but would try frying some noodles to top if off like a traditional khao soi.
I updated the recipe and thanks for letting me know.
Took about an hour but absolutely delicious and absolutely worth it. We followed the recipe to a tee and no taste adjustments necessary! This is one of our favorite dishes we’ve ever made so I will definitely be trying other recipes from feasting at home. We added tofu and thai eggplant which was great. We also used mae ploy for thai curry paste. Thanks for the great recipe!!
This is my go-to winter soup and it never disappoints. I do not modify anything, this recipe is spot on. The perfect balance of flavours, so comforting, and quite hearty.
Thanks Annelise!
Wow so tasty and easy. Me and my partner agreed it is definitely going in the rotation. Love all the options for customizing too.
This soup is amazing. Quick and super easy to make but still has a deep flavor. Tank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Magic in a bowl. Just made this tonight – this was absolutely AMAZING.
I never usually follow recipes because usually the food in my opinion comes out bland. This is one of the first recipes that I didn’t have to add or alter in anyway. I did add an extra tablespoon of the chili garlic sauce because I like extra heat, but this was a delicious recipe. Definitely will make again and definitely will be looking at more recipes on your website.
My goodness, this soup is so amazingly delicious! I’ve made it three times using vegetables I have on hand and without the lemongrass because it’s impossible to find here in Geneva, Switzerland and sometimes without lime. Yet, even without some ingredients, it comes out so smooth and tastey. Thank you so much for a great recipe!
Hi Adela,
I also live in Geneva and Lemongrass is available in many Migros and most Coops and all Asia stores. Hope you are able to find it for next time 🙂
Thank you! I looked in Migros and Coop, but to no avail. Sometimes they have it, sometimes not, I suppose. But I’ll check again. I also found a cool Asian food store, so I will definitely check there. Thanks again!
This recipe is amazing and has become one of the staples in our house because it’s so good! We add bok choy to include some green in the soup. I’m wondering if it’s possible to make this in the instant pot with the noodles. Any thoughts on this?
I bet you could, but not sure of the timing with the noodles- I will give it a try!
the recipe was delicious but…… The noodles were not soft enough, I think not soaked long enough nor cooked through enough I think. And there were several ingredients that were not part of the directions – cardamon and turmeric. I will definitely make this again
Spot on delicious.
Fantastic recipe! This was so simple but the most flavorful thing i’ve had in a long time.