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
As I “accidentally” made it the first time only with chickpeas and tofu.. we were blown away.. what an amazing taste.. fantastic… absolutely brillant. Next time I made it according to the recipe .. what shall I say.. I think it is even better to cook/prep the veggies seperately as the sauce is out of this world and taste even better when not “mixed” in the process of cooking. Anyway, thank you sooo much for this recipe, never tasted anything like that outside of Thailand. Marvellous!! Ten out of ten!!
I am so happy you are enjoying this Christoph!
OMG! If I could give a dish more than 5 stars, this is it! This dish is so warm and delicious that my wife asks me to make a double batch every time! I also add mushrooms, as well as some baby spinach at the end. It takes me back to my first experinece of Khao Soi in Chiang Mai and brings a smile to my face.
So great to hear this Paul!
I only have access to the “Thai Kitchen” brand curry paste. What could I add to the recipe to amp up the flavour?
Thanks!
You may just need to add more then the 2 tablespoons of curry paste.
Loved it!
Great to hear Eveline!
Sooooo delicious and warming! I made as written except forgot to get lime leaves, so I just used a little lime zest with the juice. I topped with thinly sliced pork loin slathered in garlic chili. I will probably try it with tofu next time. The spice level was just right. This is a winner!
Perfect Lisa! So happy you enjoyed.
Surprised that this recipe uses red curry paste instead of yellow, but I followed the seasonings as written and it was spot on! Going to add it to my noodle soup rotation.
Hi Victoria, so happy you liked this! I’ve use yellow curry too with great results too but I opted for red curry here because it is what most people have on hand!
Making it now, can’t wait! I’m bummed I only have light coconut milk…hope it’s still as delicious as the comments say!
Curious how it turned out with the lite coconut milk?
I ended up making a slurry and thickening the coconut milk first.
This was FANTASTIC! What a delicious recipe and my husband preferred it over one of our fave Thai restaurants in Toronto.
Will definitely make this again and again!
Oh great idea Amy! So happy you enjoyed. 🙂
I made it vegan with crispy baked tofu. I think I’ll omit the vegan fish sauce next time bc I think it made the broth a little funky.
This was quite spicy due to the lemongrass, curry powder, and Sriracha that I used. Will be a great warning soup for winter.
Glad you gave this a go Barbarba!
Oh shoot, glad you were able to make it work? And know what to adjust next time.
So much flavor, but still light and fresh! I followed exactly – except I did not include a protein, just doubled up on vegetables. Thank you for this recipe, absolutely perfect.
Glad you enjoyed Beth! Thanks for letting us know. 🙂
I have a huge lemongrass plant in my garden. I haven’t harvested any yet! I’m not sure how to harvest it or how to prepare it. Do you use the bulby part or the leafy part or both? I wonder if you have to dig it up to harvest it. I would love to learn how to do it, especially for this recipe. It sounds delicious!
Thats awesome Anita! You use the bulby part and I am pretty sure you can dig out a few stalks at a time, cutting off at the roots so the rest of the plant stays intact. Hope you give this soup a try!
I made it a few days ago and followed the recipe to the T. Taste was just like the Khao Soi we eat on the streets or night markets when in Chiang Mai.
All other recipes I looked at were much more complicated and tedious. This was easy.
Thanks!
Neelima
Awesome to hear this Neelima! Thanks so much for the review!
I had almost everything for the soup and it was absolutely delish! I used spaghetti with black squid ink which was very fun – since I didn’t have any other noodles you mentioned. So so good! Love your recipes!!
That sounds so pretty!
This curry is fantastic! A big hit at my dinner party. Just the right amount of “kick”!
Wonderful Karen! Thanks for reviewing!
The recipe card is at the bottom of the post. You can also click “jump to post” at the top of the blog. All the details are there!
Absolutely Fantastic. Perfect recipe. Our lemongrass wasn’t as fresh as it should be, so it was a little tough, but honestly, I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe. I didn’t use the peppers though – personal taste. It tastes just like a very authentic thai restaurant where we’ve had it before. SO great.
Thanks Monica! So glad to hear this!
It happens [with the lemongrass] but grab a “Y” peeler and a fresh lemon and pull a 2 1/2- to 3 inch peel and toss it into the mix and works great as the lemon oil mimics the lemongrass enough to make it acceptable in a pinch. Done it many times making a curry.
Or grating the with a fine grater to make a fine zest.
Could be me but I am in need of the measurements per ingredient
Hi Lisa- scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom!
I was confused too, but all the measurements are at the bottom part of the recipe.
What a great recipe! I upped the amount of curry paste and lime and added some powdered coconut for more coconut flavour. Added a thinly sliced Thai chili pepper for more heat and topped off with crispy noodles for some crunch and texture. Fabulous! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Sounds delicious Kay!
Delicious. Had to pack it away to stop myself from eating it. One of the most addictive dishes I’ve ever made.
I hear you Rylea! So glad you liked it.:)
Fabulous recipe and super easy to follow. Thank you so much!!!
Glad to hear Meg!
Love this recipe! After having khao soi in Thailand I have been searching for a restaurant or recipe that comes close, and this one is incredible! Do make sure you get a good curry paste it makes all the difference. We also added Thai red chilis for some extra heat and loved it.
Thanks Kaitlyn! Really appreciate the review.
Amazing flavors! Left out the cardamom and added entire package of 8oz rice noodles. Otherwise followed the recipe to the T and so happy with results!
Glad you enjoyed!
I love this recipe! So easy and sooo delicious!!
Thanks Jenna! Really appreciate the review.:)
Just absolutely delicious. I had half of a red bell pepper so I thinly sliced some broccoli to increase the veggies. Definitely going in the regular rotation.
Wonderful Gina!
Winner-Winner Khao Soi Dinner! Quick, easy and off the charts flavor!!
Great Carolyn, so happy you enjoyed!
This is my favorite Thai Soup recipe now! I made it just as written but added some extra veggies! I have been so happy with so many of your recipes Sylvia! So happy I found you!!!!
Thanks Darlene, so nice to hear!