This Tom Kha Soup recipe (Thai coconut soup) is pure comfort in a bowl! Rich and creamy, tangy and salty, it’s completely delicious! Make it with chicken, shrimp or tofu, on the stovetop or in your instant pot! Video.
I would say that there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of us and everything else, and that our dignity and our chances are one. The farthest star and the mud at our feet are a family; and there is no decency or sense in honoring one thing, or a few things, and then closing the list. ~Mary Oliver
When feeling under the weather, one of my favorite meals is Tom Kha Soup. This Thai coconut soup is made with a rich, fragrant coconut broth infused with Thai flavor- especially comforting during cold and flu season. The coconut milk gently coats the throat and soothes, while the mild heat clears up the sinuses. It’s one of my all-time favorite Thai soup recipes!
Why You’ll Love This!
- Authentic flavor. This Tom Kha soup uses galangal root, the star of the dish! Kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass add delicious brightness.
- Quick and easy. Can be made in 30 minutes on the stovetop or in an Instant Pot.
- Vegan–Adaptable. This recipe is paleo and gluten-free, but can also be made vegan -using cubes of tofu (or crispy tofu) and this vegan fish sauce (or sub soy sauce).
Tom Kha soup | 60-sec video
What is Galangal Root?
Tom Kha means Galalgal Soup. Galangal root is the star of the recipe here and looks very much like ginger but tastes very very different. It has an exotic pine flavor, which, in my opinion, totally makes the soup. Galangal is shown on the top (in the photo below) while ginger root is on the bottom.
Tom kha Ingredients
- Protein: chicken breasts or thighs, or sub one pound shrimp or one block tofu.
- Mushrooms: Oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, or straw mushrooms.
- Coconut milk: Use canned full-fat coconut milk.
- Galangal root: Buy at your local Asian market in the produce section or freezer section. Buy extra to freeze!
- Ginger: Slice a 2-inch piece into ⅛ inch thick disks, skins ok.
- Shallots: Diced. You can use onion if it’s all you have.
- Lemongrass: Use whole lemongrass stalks, or chopped, or use lemongrass paste. All work.
- Kaffir lime leaves: You will find these at the Asian market, either fresh or in freezer section.
- Chicken broth: Or use vegetable broth.
- Fresh Thai Chilies: or add Thai red curry paste to taste at the end.
- Fish sauce: Or sub vegan fish sauce.
- Fresh lime juice: From 1-2 small limes, to taste.
- Palm sugar: Or use coconut sugar or brown sugar.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro or green onions.
How to Make Tom Kha Soup
Tom Kha Soup can be made in an instant pot (especially easy if using whole chicken breasts) or cooked on the stovetop. Here are instructions for both.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Place everything in the instant pot except lime juice, coconut milk and sugar – leaving the chicken thighs or breasts whole. Don’t forget the salt. Give a stir. 🙂
- If using chicken breasts, pressure cook on high pressure for 7 minutes, or 10 minutes for chicken thighs. If using tofu, pressure cook 4 minutes.
- Naturally, release for 10-15 minutes. Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces using two forks and add the coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice. Taste- adjust salt, lime and spicy heat. Serve with a lime wedge.
Stove Top Cooking instructions:
- Slice the chicken into thin bite-sized pieces (across the grain) and season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, saute shallot in a little oil over medium heat. Add ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves, and galangal, and 2 cups broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes, letting the broth infuse.
- Add the chicken (or tofu) and mushrooms and gently poach, simmering for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through and mushrooms wilt.
- Stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, chilies, and salt and bring to a simmer. Turn off heat. Add the lime juice and sugar. Taste. Adjust salt and lime and the spice level by adding more chili paste.
Serve this on its own, or over rice or rice noodles! Garnish with cilantro, green onions, or lime zest if desired. Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Expert Tips
- When making the trip to the Asian market, buy extra galangal root, kaffir lime leaves, and lemongrass to freeze for later. Slice the galangal root before freezing, then just drop the frozen slices into your soup. You can find chopped lemongrass in the freezer section- that way you always have some on hand for Thai cooking.
- Tom Kha is a lovely balance of salty, sour, and spice. Find the balance! Adjust these at the end to your taste by adding more fish sauce (depth and salt), lime juice, sweetness, or heat( chili paste).
- Do not boil the coconut milk. This will make it less sweet; just bring it to a simmer and turn off the heat.
FAQs
Make the Tom Kha Gai in an Instant Pot with chicken breast or chicken thighs, or cook it more authentically on the stovetop. Your choice! The instant pot version is very quick and easy- just put it all in the pot and set. When it’s done squeeze with fresh lime and serve in bowls.
Yes, Tom Kha Gai freezes well. Make a big batch and freeze for busy nights. Freeze for up to 3 months.
The primary difference between Tom Yum Soup and Tom Kha is that Tom Kha is richer and creamier by adding coconut milk. Tom Yum Soup is brothy, spicy and much more sour. Because it is made with a clear broth, without the addition of coconut milk, it is lighter, low in calories and saturated fat. Tom Kha is rich and creamy, with sweeter notes.
Gai means “chicken” in the Thai language, so Tom Kha Gai translates to Galangal Soup with Chicken.
Enjoy this Tom Kha Gai – a warming Coconut Chicken soup that is full of amazing Thai flavor.
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Tom Kha Soup ( Thai coconut soup)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups ( 4 servings) 1x
- Category: soup, gluten-free, vegan-adaptable
- Method: instant pot, stove top, pressure cooker
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
This Tom Kha Recipe (Thai Coconut Soup) is authentic and delicious! Make it with chicken, tofu, or shrimp on the stovetop or Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- 1 –2 shallots, diced
- 1/4 cup ginger, sliced into 1/8 inch thick disks, skins ok ( 2 inch piece)
- 1/4 cup galangal root, sliced into 1/8 thick disks, skins ok ( 2 inch piece)
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped lemongrass– or use lemongrass paste.
- 8 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 cups chicken broth or veggie broth
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken- whole breasts or thighs (or sub 1 pound crispy Tofu or shrimp)
- 8 ounces mushrooms (oyster, shiitake, cremini, or straw mushrooms) or sub other veggies like bell pepper, snow peas, etc.
- 2–4 fresh Thai Chilies, or add chili paste to taste at the end
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or sub vegan fish sauce)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
————–
- 2 x 14–ounce cans of coconut milk (full fat)
- 3 tablespoons lime juice ( 1–2 small limes) to taste
- 2 teaspoons palm, coconut or brown sugar
Serve this on its own, over rice or rice noodles!
Instructions
Stovetop Cooking instructions:
- Slice the chicken into thin bite-sized pieces (across the grain) and season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- In large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven, saute shallot in a little oil over medium heat. Add ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves and galalagal and 2 cups broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes, letting the broth infuse. Add the chicken (or tofu) and mushrooms and gently poach, simmering for 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through.
- Stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, chilies, and salt and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the lime juice and sugar. Taste. Adjust salt and lime and the spice level by adding more chili paste.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Place everything in the instant pot except lime juice, coconut milk and sugar – leaving the chicken thighs or breasts whole. Don’t forget the salt. Give a stir.
- If using chicken breasts, pressure cook on high pressure for 7 minutes, or 10 minutes for thighs. If using tofu, pressure cook 4 minutes.
- Naturally, release for 10-15 minutes. Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces using two forks and add the coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice. Taste- adjust salt, lime and spicy heat. Serve with a lime wedge.
Notes
When making the stove top version, sometimes I’ll poach whole chicken breasts in the infused broth (covered) then shred with 2 forks- a little longer cooking time, but no pre-cutting required. Then add the remaining ingredients. 🙂
Boiling coconut milk will take some it’s lovely sweetness away, so don’t over boil it or over cook it, just simmer gently and not for too long. 🙂
To make a vegan version, sub veggie broth for the chicken broth. Add cubes of raw tofu or crispy tofu ( pan- sear cubes of tofu in a skillet first, with olive oil, salt and pepper). Add other veggies if you like! Sub vegan fish sauce for regular fish sauce.
If using shrimp, peel and devein, and drop into the simmering soup, cooking until tails curl.
Feel free to serve over rice or rice noodles.
The soup freezes well!
RECIPE UPDATE: I changed the Instant Pot version, to add the 2 cans of coconut milk AFTER pressure cooking. Some folks had issues with the coconut milk curdling during the pressure cooking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups using chicken breast
- Calories: 461
- Sugar: 3.4 g
- Sodium: 1123.7 mg
- Fat: 33.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 28.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 9.5 g
- Fiber: 0.7 g
- Protein: 25.6 g
- Cholesterol: 66.2 mg
Excellent!
I am an avid Feasting at Home follower – I absolutely love your recipes! I was thrilled with the flavor of this soup of which I followed the recipe making no tweaks. My family wasn’t a fan of all the galangal, lemongrass, and ginger pieces but loved the flavor so I’m wondering if I might put most of them in a cheesecloth bag?or at what point might I remove them? Thanks so
Much!
Yes you could do that,or just use a slotted spoon to remove right before serving.
AMAZING ❤️
Great to hear Stian!
I have been wishing for years that I could make a copy-cat version of the *AMAZING* Thai Coconut Chicken Soup at a local Thai restaurant. THIS IS IT! I could cry! This is so so so delicious… Thank you for sharing this fantastic recipe! Looks like I’m going to be a regular at our Asian supermarket…
Yay Alex! So happy to hear this!
This was such a hit!! The flavour was so complex and delicious. I will definitely be making this again. A few modifications: I made the broth in the instant pot as directed but steamed the various veggies and pan seared the tofu separately- then composed the bowls with steamed jasmine rice on the side. I used dried ganagal root, lemon root paste and dried lime leaves. Thanks for another amazing recipe! Everything I make from your site is so good!!
Glad you enjoyed this Rebecca, and thanks for sharing how you adapted it!
All four of us loved it. Will definitely make it again. I added rice noodles and a bit more chicken to make it a main course for the family.
Thanks Jana! Sounds super tasty!
Absolutely delicious soup! The Galanga root is even better made in the instant pot – so much more tender! A new favorite for sure!
Awesome Jill- happy you liked this!
Only time I’ve ever left a recipe review. It’s that good, I felt I needed to.
I couldn’t find kaffir lime leaves and subbed coconut aminos for the fish sauce and left out the sugar but it was still fantastic
10/10
Awesome Dani, thanks so much 🙂
Hi Dani, I order Kaffir leaves online and keep them in the freezer to use when needed.
Absolutely delicious! This may be my new fave! As far as freezing goes… I froze a small portion the fist night and when both were reheated there was no difference in taste or texture. Thanks so much!
Thanks so much Jodie- very helpful!
Is there a lemongrass paste that you recommend? Most options when I search are pastes blended with lemongrass.
In the refrigerated section of the grocery store, there is a brand called Gourmet Garden that I think is good? In a tube. 🙂
Thank you so much for your quick reply! I appreciate your time. I’m excited to try this out. I have made a few of your other recipes before and they have all been fantastic.
Thanks so much!
Perfect! Delicious!
Great to hear!
I was planning on making this today. With most soup recipes, I end up freezing half. I’m guessing with the water content of the mushrooms and tofu this wouldn’t freeze well. Has anybody tried?
I haven’t tried Jodie, but my guess is it would be ok. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! This may be my new fave! As far as the freezing goes…I had put a small portion in the freezer the first night and when both were heated there was no difference in taste or texture. Thanks for the great recipe!
Ok good to know- I will note the recipe, thanks so much!