Thai-Inspired Chicken & Rice Noodle Soup
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Cozy, comforting, and fragrant, this flavor-packed Thai chicken noodle soup will warm you right up.
This spicy, fragrant, slurpy noodle soup, inspired by some of my favorite Thai restaurant dishes, is like sunshine on a dreary day. What’s more, it’s made with rotisserie chicken and Thai pantry staples available in most supermarkets—such as green curry paste, fish sauce, coconut milk, and fresh ginger—so it’s almost instant gratification.
Whether I’m feeling worn down or just in need of a little comfort, there is nothing like a bowl of chicken noodle soup, and this is one of my favorite renditions. Be sure to keep the rice noodles separate from the soup until ready to serve. If you put them in the broth before serving, they will continue to cook and become too soft.
Table of Contents
“A wonderful melding of flavors, and it tastes truly authentic as Thai cuisine…My wife, a former restaurant reviewer, used words like ‘amazing’ and ‘delicious,’ so I knew I had a real winner.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken & Rice Noodle Soup
You’ll notice that the recipe calls for Thai green curry paste, an excellent substitute for hard-to-find Asian ingredients, like lemongrass and galangal. You can find it, along with the other Asian pantry staples, in the Asian section of most large supermarkets. Along with Thai red curry paste, green curry paste is a wonderfully versatile ingredient; I use it to make many Thai-style recipes, such as Thai shrimp curry and red chicken curry, butternut squash soup with coconut milk, and curry chicken skewers with coconut-peanut sauce.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by heating the oil in a medium soup pot. Add the shallots and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Next, add the green curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute more.
Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and turmeric; bring to a gentle simmer. Continue simmering for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles by dropping them in boiling water.
Let sit for a few minutes to soften.
Then drain.
When ready to serve, divide the noodles and chicken into serving bowls.
Ladle the broth over top and sprinkle with cilantro and scallions. Serve with Sriracha sauce and lime wedges.
“Thank you for an excellent recipe. This is one of those great under 30 minute dinners when I’m in a pinch but want a satisfying restaurant-quality soup without going out.”
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Thai-Inspired Chicken & Rice Noodle Soup
Cozy, comforting, and fragrant, this flavor-packed Thai chicken noodle soup will warm you right up.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ cup thinly sliced shallots, from 1-2 large shallots
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, from a 1-inch knob (see note)
- 2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (13.5 oz) can unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 packed teaspoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, from 1 lime
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
For Serving
- 4 oz thin rice noodles
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken, from a rotisserie chicken
- Handful chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 scallions, light and dark green parts, thinly sliced
- Sriracha sauce
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the shallots and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute more. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and turmeric; bring to a gentle simmer. Continue simmering, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions.
- When ready to serve, taste the soup and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Gently reheat the noodles in the microwave, if necessary. Divide the noodles and chicken into serving bowls. Ladle the broth over top and sprinkle with cilantro and scallions. Serve with Sriracha sauce and lime wedges.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
- Note: As the soup sits on the stove, some of the fat may rise to the surface; skim it, if necessary.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 530
- Fat: 31 g
- Saturated fat: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 28 g
- Sodium: 942 mg
- Cholesterol: 53 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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does it taste like coconut, its a flavor we don’t like
Hi Jeanne, it does have subtle undertones of coconut, but plenty of other deep flavors. I would encourage you to make it if you like the remainder of the recipe; I think you’ll enjoy it.
We just finished eating this soup. It was delicious!!!!!! I used red curry paste (the store must have been out of green). So simple to make, I normally don’t cook that much Asian food because of the hard to find ingredients. What a great idea to use curry paste containing the hard to find ingredients. Even my 2 & 5 year olds loved it! Not spicy at all (of course no sirracha for them). As my husband and I were eating/enjoying this we agreed that next time we will hard-boil some eggs and add to the soup.
I made this for my family, and they loved it! Definitely will be making it again. Thanksgiving!
This was awesome!!! I made a batch and a half. I did not have shallots, so I used onions and garlic, did not have lime so I used lemon. Jenn, you may not have a recipe for hot and sour soup. But this was a GREAT soup, as I am a soup freak!!! Thank you for all your recipes!!! Ginny bird :}
I love this soup so much that I make a double batch of the “base” (everything except the cilantro, chicken, rice noodles) and freeze it for future use. When we’re ready to eat, I simply warm it up, add chicken (and/or pan-seared shrimp) noodles (or cooked rice) and cilantro. Voila! Perfect dinner for a cold day. I’ve used both green and red curry paste and love both.
Oh, I forgot to say that sometimes I add vegetables and leafy greens (any combination of things like carrots, red bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, shredded bok choy) towards the end of cooking…gotta sneak in those veggies!
Thank you! Was thinking of a way to freeze ahead and there you are 🙂
Best recipe ever! One of my favourites!
Is the turmeric fresh or dried in the recipe?
Hi Janette, It’s dried – sorry for the confusion!
Excellent soup but used red curry paste as I had that on hand. Too spicy for us and we can take a lot of heat, so I am wondering if the green would have been milder. I would use only 1 Tbsp. next time of the red.
Hi Rochelle, sorry you found this a bit too spicy. Regarding the curry paste, while it varies by brand, red curry paste is generally not spicier than green; sometimes just the opposite, so next time I’d stick to 1 Tbsp. to be safe.
Thank you and no need to apologize. Everyone’s tastes are different and as you said, it may have been the brand. Always can adjust and we thought the soup was fantastic as all your recipes!
This is outstanding! Like many other reviewers, I used red curry paste, as I love the flavor and always have it on hand. I make a batch of this whenever my husband or I have a cold, and it works like magic. We swirl in some Sriracha to serve, and the combination of the hot soup and spicy Sriracha clears the sinuses up right away!
Hi Jennifer
I just made your Thai Chicken and Rice Noodle Soup. It was so good!
Your recipe was perfect!
Thanks once again!