Thai Coconut Chicken Noodle Soup

Thick and slurpy Thai coconut chicken noodle soup is a mouthful in more ways than one! This Thai yellow curry-inspired bowl of noodle soup is full-on fragrant, spicy, rich with coconut milk and brimming with nutritious chicken, spinach and mushrooms. And for the Bangkok bonus- only one pan to wash up.

Brothy with a hint of sour tomato, rather than sweet coconut milk, this Thai noodle soup recipe has fewer cals and you can boast you made it from scratch. 

Let’s talk cutlery. Did you know that in Thailand meals are primarily eaten with a spoon and fork? Not a knife and fork? OK, that feels kind of obvious. But also, not chopsticks?

This is a fact I discovered, to my relief, in my twenties in the Philippines- where they also use a spoon and fork rather than chopsticks. Back then, chopsticks were not utensils I was accustomed to!

Thai-style, and throughout most of Southeast Asia, the spoon is held in the weaker hand (which is my fork hand), and the fork, tines up, in the right (my knife hand). The fork is used to push food on to the spoon, and the spoon delivers the food to the mouth. It actually makes so much sense for sauce-heavy dishes that it’s a practice my family have adopted too!

So, how is anything cut up? Well, have you ever noticed that Thai food tends to come in bitesize pieces and with easily spoonable rice? Like this Thai fish curry, for example.

However, if any morsels need trimming down, like bone-in chicken thighs, they are torn by the spoon whilst being held down by the fork.

All that said, there is one type of meal that Thais use chopsticks for and that is… you guessed it: noodle soup. For soup, chopsticks are used to lift the noodles on to the spoon, which is the only utensil to go in your mouth. 

So, how will you approach your Thai noodle soup?

Thai chicken noodle soup

Imagine your go-to, tissues-at-the-ready, bowl-of-comfort chicken noodle soup recipe… then attach a rocket to it. Now you have Thai coconut curry chicken noodle soup!

To be clear, I don’t mean that this is an astronomically chilli-fuelled recipe. Not at all. I just mean that it is packed full of firework flavours. 

Let’s compare the two chicken noodle dishes: 

The ‘soffritto’, or base, for traditional chicken noodle soup is your down-to-earth onion, carrots and celery sautéed in butter. My Thai chicken noodle soup is onion, celery and garlic fried in oil. So far, so veg patch.

Bay leaves and peppercorns are the aromatics in a classic Eastern European chicken noodle soup, but Thai chicken noodle is blasted with exotic lemongrass and galangal for a sharp and sour lemon and gingery edge.

I normally advocate for bone-in chicken in soups, and certainly for chicken noodle which I reach for when we’re ill. However, for this Thai-inspired version, boneless is better. You want a good shred in the soup mix- you’ll be using your chopsticks after all!

Lastly, herbs. Closer to home, parsley, thyme or even dill are garden-grown and used in regular chicken noodle. In Thailand, limey kaffir leaves or fragrant and liquorishy holy basil are the most common choices. 

I’ve boosted the curry soup recipe further with 2 tablespoons of Thai yellow curry paste. If you don’t stock all the less common aromatics and spices needed for Thai cooking, this is a simple and accessible way to inject the soup with a shot of Thai flavours. 

Yellow curry paste ingredients are a pungent, not too fiery, mix of cumin, turmeric, ginger, coriander, chilli, galangal and lemongrass. Unmistakeably Thai.

Lastly, as opposed to the clear broth of Western chicken noodle, it’s This is an affiliate link.coconut milk that adds the final flavour flourish. A Southeast Asian signature, it brings a smooth, silky and luxurious finish to the dish. 

Serving suggestions

Thais love toppings. A roadside soup stand will throw anything from fresh, chopped bird’s eye chillies, crushed peanuts, raw green beans or the cheeks of mini limes in your bowl. And then you’ll find an array of condiments on the table for you to add yourself; fish sauce, vinegar, chilli flakes and sugar!!

I’m keeping mine simple and topping with thinly sliced red chillies for a flash of colour and fire, a garnish of basil leaves, and one lime wedge.

Storage and leftovers

Bold flavoured soups like this Thai curry soup will improve with a night or two in the fridge. It can be stored for up to 4 days in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container.

The noodles will likely absorb some of the liquid during that time, thickening the soup. To thin it back down to your preferred consistency, add a cup of water or chicken stock when reheating on the hob.

More soup recipes to try

• Lentil and Bacon Soup
• Peanut Miso Chicken Ramen
• Chorizo Beans and Vegetable Soup
• Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup