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This delicious chicken noodle soup with lemongrass and a hint of fragrant Thai spices is so quick and easy to make and delivers authentic flavours! Nothing too challenging here, just a fantastic tasting soup that is ready in just 30 minutes!
If you enjoy warming Thai flavours in soups, take a look at our Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup or Slow Cooker Thai Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.
Soup season is upon us, and I couldn’t be happier! There’s something extra comforting about a warm, flavoursome bowl of soup for lunch.
My family is pretty passionate about ramen, and so I wanted to create soup for them that would scratch this itch while adding a few different flavours. Although this soup is not ramen, it does draw on a similar concept. That is, egg noodles in a flavourful broth.
If you think chicken noodle soup is boring and reserved for sick days only, you will change your mind after trying this updated recipe.
My Thai Noodle Soup is a vibrant dish that tastes even better than your favourite restaurant can deliver. And the best news is you know all the wholesome ingredients that went into it, and it takes just 30 minutes!
Chicken Noodle Soup with a Twist
This Thai noodle soup is basically a chicken noodle soup with a Thai twist. It has all the comfort of a classic chicken noodle soup but with the added sweet, sour, spicy and salty flavours of the Thai cuisine. It’s a perfect match.
This noodle soup is also very easy. It takes less than half an hour to prepare, which is pretty incredible for a soup that tastes this good.
And it gets all its flavour from spices. Not MSG. If you are an Asian food lover, chances are you have all the ingredients in your fridge already.
Ingredients
The base of this soup is pretty standard. We start with onions, garlic and celery. Then we hit it with minced lemongrass, the only unusual ingredient in this soup.
Lemongrass is something I strongly urge you to find. It imparts a beautiful lemon flavour and a unique fragrance to the soup, which is hugely responsible for that authentic taste!
You can buy a prepared lemongrass paste, which usually comes in a tube. Or you can buy fresh stalks and finely mince them with a This is an affiliate link.knife. You can see the lemongrass stalks resting on top of diced onion and celery in the photo below.
- chicken breasts
- egg noodles
- crushed tomatoes
- spinach or bok choy
- cilantro leaves
The spices I used are chilli powder and chilli flakes, sesame oil, fresh lime juice and fish sauce. Adding both chilli powder and dried chilli flakes does make this soup spicy, so adjust the quantity according to your taste and tolerance.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- I’ll always prefer to use homemade broth if I can. I like that I know what’s in it, and the flavour just can’t be beat. If you want to give this a try, just follow my recipe, designed for turkey but it also works for chicken.
- Both chilli powder and chilli flakes are in the ingredients for this soup, which may make it a bit too spicy for some. If that’s not something you’d enjoy, adjust based on your preference.
- Adding sesame seeds, green onions and carrot strips to the soup after it is cooked may seem unnecessary, but it really does take this soup to the next level. The best way to cut the carrots into thin strips is to use a This is an affiliate link.julienne peeler!
Serving suggestions
I highly recommend serving this Thai noodle soup topped with sliced green onions, sesame seeds and thin carrot strips. Cut the carrot with a This is an affiliate link.julienne peeler to get them thin enough.
Although not necessary, the above toppings bring in freshness and a variety in texture. Plus they are absolutely a joy to look at!
Storage and leftovers
Make a pot of this soup, and you can have lunch sorted for days to come. It’ll keep in the fridge for 3-4 days, or can be frozen for up to 3 months, using an This is an affiliate link.airtight container.
Unfortunately the noodles become softer the longer they are kept. But if you can put up with that, the taste will still be there!
If you would rather not end up with soggy noodles, make the soup without the added noodles and them when reheating the soup. Warm the soup up in a This is an affiliate link.saucepan and cook the noodles to package instructions. Especially valuable if freezing the soup!
More Cold Weather Soup Favourites
Thai Noodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 onion, diced, medium
- 2 ribs celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp lemongrass or 1 lemongrass stalk, minced, I used a pre-made paste from a tube
- 1 tbsp chilli powder
- 1/8-1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes, to taste
- 1½ litre / 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth, pre-made or your own
- 250ml / 1 cup This is an affiliate link.canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 chicken breast, diced into bite size pieces
- 3 tbsp fish sauce, Nam Pla or Nuoc Mam
- 20g / 1 cup cilantro/coriander leaves
- 125g / 4oz chow mein noodles, or any other Asian noodles or even spaghettini
- 150g / 2/3 cup spinach
- 1 lime, juice only
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds, optional
- 2 green onions, sliced, optional
- 1/2 carrot, cut into thin strips, optional
Instructions
- In a large pot heat the vegetable oil and half the sesame oil, then add diced onions, celery, minced garlic, lemongrass paste, chilli powder and red chilli flakes and cook until soft over medium heat for 5 minutes. If you are using fresh lemongrass, remove the tough outer leaves from the stalk, lay it flat on a cutting board and bruise it with the flat side of a knife, then mince it finely.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, chicken, fish sauce, cilantro leaves and bring to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the noodles to the pot and cook according to package directions, mine took 5 minutes.
- Once the noodles are done, stir in spinach leaves and lime juice and take off the heat. Flavour with the remaining sesame oil. Serve topped with sliced green onions, julienned carrots and sesame seeds.
Video
Notes
- Soup is always best with homemade broth. Follow my recipe for turkey broth, which works for chicken as well, if you want to give this a try.
- I made this soup slightly spicy by adding both chilli powder and chilli flakes. If it’s a bit more spice than you like, simply leave some out.
- Use a julienne peeler to cut the carrots into long, thin strips.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this for myself when I was ill and it was so lovely and nourishing! I did change it a bit, reducing the spice and using a bit of lemon and ginger instead of lemongrass and I didn’t have any celery. I used a bit of cayenne pepper and I added rice noodles – will definitely be making this again, thank you!
Nice recipe ,lemon grass, easy to container grow ,seed is available online , but you can also buy powder lemongrass on amazon ” Good Eating ” As mi old associate Jimmy , James Beard ,would say …!!!
I had no idea it’s so easy to grow lemongrass! Thanks for the great info, Joseph.
Do you use toasted (brown) sesame oil or the regular clear sesame oil?
I use the toasted one. Love the smell! 😃
What is a red Chilli exactly there are many at the market does it have a name?
Hi Brenda, this recipe uses dry chilli powder and it’s exactly what it’s called in supermarkets.
Fish Sauce 380 mg per teaspoon. Not exactly Low Sodium. 9 teaspoons divided by 4 servings. Yields 2.5 tsp per serving or 760 mg per serving. I would have to juggle things to include in my sodium restriction. Plus some brands of Chili powder have salt in them. You would need Low or no sodium canned tomatoes as well. As an occasional, planned for treat this is OK. I miss Asian food too, so make my own.
This is the best noodle dish with the most authentic flavor!! Lemongrass is the freezer section at the store was perfect!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!