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!
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.
The soup season is undeniably here and, as much as I am a salad enthusiast, lately I find myself craving a warm bowl of soup instead.
My entire family is on a ramen bender at the moment. Our pantry is filled with packets of instant ramen of various flavours.
And although this soup is not exactly that, it draws on a similar concept. Egg noodles in a flavourful broth. I thought it would be a good idea to make a homemade version for my kids.
What is even better…this noodle soup uses all natural ingredients, and is super quick to make. 20 minutes and the dinner is served!
Chicken Noodle Soup with a Twist
This Thai noodle soup is basically a chicken noodle soup with a Thai twist. All the comfort of a classic chicken noodle soup plus 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, 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.
The 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 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. I have to warn you chilli powder and dried chilli flakes make this soup spicy, so adjust the quantity according to your taste and tolerance.
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.
How to Serve It
I highly recommend serving this Thai noodle soup topped with sliced green onions, sesame seeds and thin carrot strips.
Although not necessary, the above toppings bring in freshness and a variety in texture. Plus they are absolutely a joy to look at!
More Cold Weather Soup Favourites:
This recipe was originally published in 09/2013 and was updated with new photos, video and text and republished in 10/2020.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp 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
- ⅛-1/4 tsp Dried Chilli flakes to taste
- 1.5 litre/6 cups Low-sodium Chicken Broth pre-made or your own
- 250ml/1 cup 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
- ½ 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
