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
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
I cooked this last night and it was superb. I used the crispy tofu option for the protein.
Glad you enjoyed Steve!
This dish is crazy tasty and flavorful!!! Not to mention the color is out of this world!! I will make this again and again. Do you throw the yellow curry powder in with the turmeric and cardamom? I did that but I didn’t see it in the recipe card 😇 thank you for another amazing recipe!!!
Yes Angeli- So happy you liked htis one! And opps, sorry I’ll update that.
Very good and very adjustable, when this was running out, I added more coconut milk and lime juice softened and made it richer and added tons of veggies and rice for balance in nutrients. This dish actually evolved for me. Great meal(s)! We just didn’t want it to end lol
Glad you enjoyed Megan!
I didn’t have the lemon grass or lime leaves but still loved the flavor of this soup. I only use a fraction of the chili paste in recipes because otherwise it’s just too hot for my tastes. (Can’t figure out how others tolerate it 2 tablespoons. Lol). This broth is delicious and so versatile. I also added edamame at the end. Yummy! Thanks so much for this easy and tasty soup.
Glad you enjoyed Marci! The level of spice varies from each different chili paste.
So delicious and easy! To make it even easier on for a weeknight meal, I plan to prep in advance and keep measured ingredients in the fridge. I used the fresh Thai basil and cilantro and fresh bean sprouts to garnish, and left out the chili garlic sauce to keep the spice level in check. I love the regional flavors!
Love that Tina, so organized!
This was both easy (and I’m not a natural chef) and absolutely delicious so it definitely gets my vote! Thank you!
So glad to hear this Kate!
So gooooood. Tasty, flavorful, not too spicy, yuuuum.
Phenomenal pairing with a Viñàtigo wine from the canary Islands
Sounds perfect Manda!
I love this recipe!
So glad to hear this Chynna!
Great!
Great to see Mae Ploy red curry paste in play here. My fave by a mile, just remembering to “bloom” the paste in some oil as you would doing the recipe to release the aromatics, especially the fermented shrimp paste and cook the raw heat out just a touch. I use this red [and the green] in all my Thai dishes with excellent results.
Tip for the larger MP “tub”— after opening—cut the bag inside evenly across the top [or a corner cut], take what you need, twist the bag and seal with a bread tie, and replace bag upside down into the container, preventing any level of air getting to the paste or having the strong odor in fridge. Storage for the large tub is important because it has a high yield and don’t need it drying out or spoling before you can use it all.
This is really helpful, thank you!
Should the chicken be precooked before going in the soup?
No need to precook, sliced thinly the chicken will cook quickly in the broth.
Delish!
“A” rated recipes but confusing language: “and swapping out veggie stock for the chicken stock”. I suspect that you want to swap ‘in’ veggie stock and swap ‘out’ chicken stock?
I see what you mean Liz. I changed the wording to make it more clear.
We love it. Wife and I.
Awesome Joseph- thanks so much!
This Khao Soi recipe is my new comfort food and will be making it all year round! What a great recipe, easy instructions and loved how adaptable it is! Thank you for being so thoughtful with different diet preference! You’re simply the best!
thanks Donna- so happy you liked it!
I’ve always been intimidated by the thought of making my onw Kao Soi, but your recipe made it so easy to follow! And the flavors are incredible! thank you!!
I’m so glad you gave it a go, Amy!
The flavors of your Khao Soi are so deep and rich, just mouthwatering. So easy to make too, thank you for sharing!!
So glad you are enjoying this!
Are you supposed to use sweetened or un-sweetened coconut milk
Unsweetened
The perfect Khao Soi right here. Loved it so much, it was perfect. Everyone was raving and it’s on the menu again for this coming week!
Thanks Briana! Glad you enjoyed this!
Forgot the 5 stars!!!
Thank you!!!
Fun to make! Wonderful to smell!
Beautiful to eat!
I encourage a try, you will not be disappointed!!
Thank you again. Your recipes are so dependable!
Thanks so much Jeanette!
Amazing flavor and pretty easy to make. Better than any Thai takeout I’ve had. Another wonderful recipe from FAH!
Glad you liked this Jenna!
Thank you for this gorgeous recipe! The flavour is spectacular and my husband loved it!!!
Great to hear Anna!
This was delicious. And fairly easy! I had some kefir lime leaves and lemongrass in the freezer, used panang curry paste, added the cardamom. It came together quickly and was even more delicious the next day!
Glad you enjoyed Amanda!
Love this recipe! Love it even more because my husband can make it!!
Yes!!…so nice to be cooked for.
Sylvia,
This is delicious, really enjoyed, did not change a thing except omitted the cardamon. Thanks for another ‘to die for’ recipe. This will be enjoyed regularly in our house!
Annette
Thanks Annette, so happy you enjoyed!