Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (2024)

By Julia Moskin

Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (1)

Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(1,975)
Notes
Read community notes

This sweet, spicy and fragrant chicken soup, called curry mee, is a happy contrast of hot broth, springy noodles and a madness of garnishes. Coconut milk has a particular weighty creaminess, called lemak, that can make some curries and soups too rich. Here, a combination of coconut milk and half-and-half is used to balance the broth.

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Learn: How to Make Soup

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Ingredients

Yield:4 main-course servings

  • 2tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1small onion, minced
  • 1tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1tablespoon minced lemongrass or pale green cilantro roots
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • 1teaspoon dark red chili paste, such as sambal, more for serving
  • ¾pound boneless, skinless chicken thigh or breast meat, thinly sliced and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 3tablespoons curry powder, preferably Malaysian, Thai or Vietnamese
  • ½teaspoon paprika
  • 1(14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
  • ½cup half-and-half
  • 4cups chicken stock
  • ¼teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2tablespoons fish sauce
  • 1tablespoon sugar, more to taste
  • About 12 makrut lime leaves or curry leaves, fresh or frozen (optional)
  • 8ounces dried thin rice noodles (bun or vermicelli), or other Asian noodles such as udon or lai fun
  • Salt to taste
  • 1cup bean sprouts
  • 3tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 2scallions, cut into thin rings
  • 2shallots, thinly sliced and deep fried in vegetable oil until brown (optional)
  • Quartered limes for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

778 calories; 40 grams fat; 23 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 73 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 37 grams protein; 1486 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and lemon grass and cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Do not brown; reduce heat if necessary. Add garlic and chili paste and stir until fragrant. Raise heat, add chicken and stir-fry one minute. Add curry powder and paprika and stir to coat. Then add coconut milk, half-and-half, chicken stock, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar and lime or curry leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles in boiling water according to package directions (about 4 minutes). Rinse and drain.

  3. Step

    3

    Taste broth and adjust seasonings with salt and sugar. Divide noodles into large soup bowls. Bring broth to a boil, then ladle over noodles. Top with bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions and fried shallots, if using. Pass limes and sambal at the table.

Tip

  • To make this rich soup more substantial, boiled potatoes are sometimes added to the simmering broth and cooked until very soft.

Ratings

5

out of 5

1,975

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Jonathan

Can't ever find kaffir leaves so I just substituted some lime juice. In my opinion, extra lime juice is critical to this recipe. While it comes out much more like a soup and less like a heavy bowl of curry, I found that adding the half cup of half/half was largely unnecessary if you go with standard coconut milk (vs. low fat).

Margaret

What an amazing recipe! We have been making this since it first appeared in the Times-- in fact, it is ALWAYS the dish I request on my birthday. A flavor explosion in your mouth. I highly recommend adding the potatoes, though I prefer them firmer than the recipe recommends. It goes quite quickly once the ingredients are prepped.

pix

Excellent, but do have a few comments/suggestions. Mince lemon grass? No way. Hard work it never softens 1T not enough. Easy way. Cut off ends, hit stalk w/back of knife and tie stalk into bundle using coarse outer leaves. Remove before serving. Can use cooked chicken. Works fine. I used low fat coconut milk and no 1/2n1/2. Fewer calories lighter taste. Subbed sliced Bok Choy for bean sprouts. Used Massamam curry paste for darker color and tamarind taste. Upped turmeric for color. Lovely.

quaasam

excellent. I added some bok choy for a bitter kick. Great easy meal.

Susan

Was best next day, allowing flavors to blend. Defiantly add the potatoes and cook in broth before adding the chicken. A hardier noodle the rice noodles may make this a more substantial dish.

Ali Litts

Curry powder can vary. If you make your own, I found this online recipe for Thai curry powder. (This is half the original and I used all of these amounts in the curry.) I'm very interested in other recipes for Asian curries.Constantly stir in med-high dry cast iron pan. Don't burn: 1/2 T Tumeric 2 Bayleaves 1 1/2 T Coriander seeds 1 T Cumin seeds 1 T ground Ginger 1 T White pepper 1 t Chili flakes 1 Whole ClovesPound w/ mortar and pestle or grind in grinder.

SB

Great light Sunday lunch! Added 2 large boiled potatoes and a head of chopped bok choy. Made my own curry powder off a recipe I Googled, took like 5 mins (https://www.google.com/amp/s/ganga108.wordpress.com/2016/10/16/malay-cur... Fried shallots are a must! Might add a couple more of the traditional 'khao suey' garnishes next time: minced green chillies, red pepper flakes, peanuts, sliced hard boiled eggs...

Calandra

I always add sweet potatoes to this soup because they truly do steal the spotlight in this already excellent dish. As written and careful tasting, it's really good!

Jane

AMAZING ! my husband and I were blown away at how fabulous this is ! He had mouth surgery and I didn't add the chicken but it was still out of the ball park !

Alex C

Outstanding! I only used 3 cups of chicken stock to make a thicker soup. It's perfection

Lilly

This was amazing. I added a soft boiled egg.

Dottie

This is one of the most flavorful dishes I've ever tried! If you haven't tried this recipe yet, you're absolutely missing out on something very special!!!

FC

This was really great and fast. I didn't have any half-and-half, so used whole milk instead, which worked fine. I really like the idea of adding potatoes and will try that the next time I make this.

Michaela

I had trouble finding fresh lemongrass or lime leaves. I used about 1/2 tsp of lime zest instead as well as the juice of a full lime. I also was able to find a curry 'base' in a jar that was turmeric and lemongrass flavored, so I added this in place of the lemongrass! I chose to add snow peas for some additional heartiness. This was so fun to make and tasted delicious!

EAD

I put this together using leftover roasted chicken which I added at the end after the vermicelli. I started with the onion and a diced carrot, sadly had no fresh ginger but used plenty of garlic. I didn't use half & half, but put a dollop of sour cream on top when serving. My sambal was quite spicy so I'm glad I didn't use the full teaspoon. It worked as a somewhat improvised dish, and adding basil was great, and green veggies would also be delicious.

Iyassu

1.5 tablespoons curry powder3 cups chicken broth

Rosie

Didn’t change a thing. Didn’t have Thai curry, used a Caribbean mild on hand combined with Madras. Go to MilkStreet and buy their ginger confit. Saves that hassle of fresh ginger. Use in amount called for. Lemongrass hard to find for me so always keep a tube of the paste in frig. Prepped Pho noodles and added at end. This is a spicy, hearty flavor bomb. Do it!

Rosie

Bean sprout hack. Buy fresh crisp ones. Rinse and put in container with plenty of room with icy cold water in frig. Change water daily or every other day at least. Replace icy cold water. They will keep for weeks. No slime. No waste.

sarah notes

Double this recipe or at least double the liquid

johanna

Flavorful and warming on a chilly evening. Added snap peas which were perfect, and next time I'll add potatoes too.

ebourgau

I pre-made a chicken broth and boiled the chicken with roasted celery / carrots/ onion and lemongrass extra step but it makes the flavour so much more layered. I also replaced the onions with leeks which added a really great flavour. I used milk instead of half and half and it worked just great!

Faye

double garlic lemongrass and ginger and lime ! ended up much thinner than desired. added a cornstarch slurry and ended up with the perfect consistency

Camille

Really delicious. Great recipe if you want to make good curry, quickly and simply. I recommend skipping the half&half. Just make sure you use full fat coconut milk and it’ll be creamy enough.

Citizen Ken

I’ve been using this app for 3 years but, until now, haven’t felt compelled to leave a review. This recipe is absolutely fantastic. I added a diced carrot, tripled the garlic and added a half cup of ramen broth I happened to have on hand. Wow!

Amy C for Comfort Cook

Explosion of YUM! Yet the proportions were off. I thought there were too many noodles to broth, so I added more broth, as well as a red pepper and green beans. Next time I may add some carrot, baby bok choy, and/or mushrooms. Great base of flavors to experiment with.

kitchendesigner

Very nice recipe.

E

Had to riff a little bit based on what I had in the fridge, but wow this is a great base recipe. I just threw the rice noodles in for the last few minutes to cook with the soup-- one less dish to wash and no need to drain. I didn't add the half-and-half and didn't miss it.

Lisa T

Delicious!!!! Increased spices and aromatics per my sister’s recommendation.

Laura

Just made this soup (and answered my own question). I added the potatoes with the broth/coconut milk, boiled, and simmered for 25 minutes. I used chicken thighs and they didn’t dry out even with the added simmer time. I also added bok choy as some suggested and it definitely brought a brightness to the soup. Would highly recommend. I couldn’t find lemongrass so I used cilantro stems, lime juice, and lime zest. Overall, amazing soup, even with the substitutions. Will definitely make again!

Carol O.

This is a great base recipe. I didn't include the potatoes this round but would definitely add them next time. And I would also use half the amount of chicken broth and double the coconut milk for a thicker broth, although it's definitely good as is if you want something a lighter consistency. This recipe comes together quickly and is do-able on a weeknig for our busy family. And I agree that the lime juice is probably needed- glad I read that in the comments before making this.

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Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe (2024)
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