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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I have made this about 4 times now in less than 3 weeks!! I hope you don’t mind but I had to make changes here and there due to what I had in my kitchen.
1st time – 2 cans of chunk chicken instead of rotisserie. I loved it.
2nd time – I had eaten the whole bag of rice noodles the first time so I made a pot of rice and poured the soup on top. Loved it.
3rd time – crockpot chicken with broccoli. I also cut chunks of avocado and added that with the cilantro/shallots
4th time – 1 can chicken and 1 package firm tofu. I chopped brussel sprouts and used celery instead of shallots. Rice again, avocado chunks, and since I had no cilantro, I got brave and sprinkled some finely chopped fresh mint leaves on top.
I would strongly suggest that people make a double batch because the original recipe is THAT good!! The next day all you have to do is reheat the soup and the noodles take less than 5 minutes to make and you have a fantastic instant meal.
This was so yummy! My husband had seconds and was eyeing for thirds. It was pretty easy to put together since I had roasted a full bone-in chicken breasts the night before. I used pad thai rice noodles since I had those on hand. PERFECT weekday meal on a cold day!
This is absolutely amazing. My mother makes a red curry soup dish that’s very similar to your recipe but my mother’s recipe takes a lot longer to make. I love easy, quick dinners that are full of flavors. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. It was a hit with friends this past Sunday. 🙂
Hi Jen,
Made this recipe for saturday easy dinner. Loved it, shared it with some collegues from work and they are enthusiasts too. Your recipes are getting more and more international 🙂
Thank you so much for this and a lot of other recipes too. Kudos from the Netherlands.
This soup is amazing. My husband loved it. I omitted the fish sauce to cut down a little on the sodium and the taste was still great. Using rotisserie chicken makes this a filling but quick recipe. Thank you!
What an easy weeknight recipe that will be used again! I did substitute the same amount of shrimp (raw, peeled, and deveined) for the chicken and added three cups of chopped kale for the last three minutes of simmering and it was perfect. It was spicy enough that we did not need the sriracha. Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
With the leftover green curry paste, I added some mayonnaise, sour cream, and lime juice to use as a dressing on tomorrow night’s dinner.
This is probably my favorite soup ever! The taste is fresh, comforting and simply delicious a complete meal in a bowl. This will be my new winter staple for a fast soup on a cold day. Thank you!
The broth for this is awesome! I made it Jenn’s way and added a bunch of veggies (bell pepper, broccoli, edamame, onion) because I didn’t have chicken.
My familyLOVED this soup! Super easy and quick to make. Great flavor. It could be easily modified to a vegetarian version, which would be good also. Can’t wait to make it again.
We LOVED this soup and it is so quick & easy! I followed the recipe exactly and added more lime juice at the end. We like spicy so we used quite a bit of Sriracha sauce. Have made it twice and will make it many more times!