This Spicy Peanut Chili Crisp Ramen Noodle Soup is what happens when a cozy ramen soup meets a creamy peanut sauce and decides to team up for dinner. The broth is silky and rich thanks to coconut milk and peanut butter, then gets a serious kick from chili crisp and Thai red curry paste. Crispy tofu marinated in Thai BBQ sauce brings the protein, and a big tangle of ramen noodles makes the whole bowl feel like comfort food with a spicy twist. It comes together in about half an hour, so it’s an easy pick for a weeknight when you’re in the mood for something out of the ordinary.
Recipe Highlights
- Skill level: Easy!
- Cook time: 35 minutes. Prep time is about 5 minutes.
- Servings: Makes about 1-1/2 quarts of soup, or six 1-cup servings.
- Flavor profile: A creamy, peanutty soup base seasoned with red curry paste, ginger, and garlic coats ramen noodles in rich, spicy flavors from the chili crisp. Shredded tofu gets a crispy fried treatment, tossed with a fragrant Thai-style BBQ sauce for a richly satisfying noodle soup.
- Why I think you’ll love this soup: There’s just nothing quite so crave-able and uniquely enjoyable for my soup tastes as Thai-inspired flavors. Here, Thai red curry paste, ginger, and garlic start a soup that will end in a smooth coconut milk and peanut butter broth with a kick of chili crisp. Ramen noodles are always a fun soup twist, and because I’m extra attentive to protein these days, crispy Thai BBQ-marinated tofu adds the right stuff. This soup is filling and zesty with loads of character, and a little river of chili crisp running through it.
I’ll be a little candid here: Peanut butter in soup was a complete SoupAddict eye-opener when I first tried it. In the best way possible, though. Growing up with a family tradition of Eastern European cuisine meant peanut butter was a spread for PB&Js, and nothing more.
Trying Thai food as an adult changed all that. Now, American peanut butter is not an authentic ingredient in Thai cuisine, but peanuts and ground peanuts are. A product such as peanut butter is simply a shortcut for making sauces and soups. If you use a natural peanut butter with one ingredient — peanuts — you’re closer to the legit thing without the inconvenience of chopping and grinding peanuts at home.
Anyway. I went off on that little PB tangent because when it comes to soup, peanut butter and a spicy condiment, such as chili crisp or even sriracha, is an irresistible combination in my book, especially with creamy coconut milk. This is really a dream soup for me: The smooth sweetness of peanuts counterbalances the sharp bite of chile peppers, leaving plenty of chile pepper flavor without too much heat.
If you love peanutty soups and stews, be sure to try my reader favorite and insanely delicious West African Peanut Soup, my noodley Vegetarian Thai Peanut Soup, and my thick and hearty Chickpea Peanut Stew. All irresistibly rich and flavorful, just in time for soup season!
Key Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients that make this soup special. The full list with quantities appears in the recipe card below.
Tofu — Super firm, or briefly pressed extra firm, tofu is the way to go here for easy shredding.
Seasonings — Just a few Thai-leaning ingredients create incredible flavor: Thai red curry paste, ginger, and garlic.
Peanut butter — A natural stir-in peanut butter with no added sugars or oils is best here. Don’t forget to temper the peanut butter for easier incorporation into the soup.
Coconut milk — Creamy coconut milk is always a welcome combination in soups like this one. It thins the broth while retaining its richness, and tamps down any fiery notes from the chilies in the chili crisp.
Ramen Noodles — The noodle from my youth, twisty ramen is an easy and quick-cooking addition to soups (discard the seasoning packet!). Of course, you don’t have to use the budget-friendly blocks if you’d rather use a higher-end ramen. Simply cook according to the package directions in a separate pot and add to the soup at the end.
Crispy Tofu: Two Ways
The recipe as I’ve written it below assumes cooking the tofu right in the soup pot for ease of prep. You have choices, though, depending on how crispy you want to get with your tofu.
On the stovetop
A soup pot or Dutch oven does not have much surface area to manage the shredded tofu. This means that the shredded tofu is likely to be a little more steamed than crispy-crunchy fried and requires a little more patience at the stove to crisp up. Plan on a good 15 minutes of stirring the tofu to get it where you want to be.
In the air fryer
If you happen to have an air fryer — probably the best small appliance I’ve ever owned — you can crisp up your tofu with a lot less hassle. It will take about the same time as in a soup pot, but will come out actually crispy with caramelized bits from the Thai sauce.
Preheat the unit, and then cook at 380ºF for 12 to 15 minutes. Shake or stir the basket every 5 minutes to ensure even cooking. Once you hit the 12-minute mark, keep a close eye on the tofu to make sure it doesn’t start to burn.
Another advantage of the air fryer is the overall time-savings: You can start cooking the soup while the tofu does its thing in the air fryer at the same time — saves about 10 minutes!
Controlling the Heat
The heat from my Spicy Peanut Chili Crisp Ramen Noodle Soup comes from two sources: Thai red curry paste and chili crisp. For each, you have options for picking the right amount of kick for you. Keep in mind that my recipe contains coconut milk, which is a natural spicy heat tamer.
Thai red curry paste
Thai red curry paste is one of my very favorite cooking ingredients, getting its deep red color from flavor-packed chiles. Most pastes also contain lemongrass, Kaffir lime zest or leaves, cilantro, garlic, and shallots. Some brands add shrimp paste or flakes for an extra umami boost. It’s an ingredient that’s like nothing else.
The heat in Thai red curry paste varies from brand to brand, from mild to quite hot. We each perceive the heat in chile peppers differently, but generally speaking, you can move through the spicy scale by starting with the mild Thai Kitchen brand, followed by the medium Maesri and medium-hot Mae Ploy brands.
You can taste the pastes right out of their containers, so if you’re new to this ingredient, try a pea-sized blob. Also, don’t hesitate to use a tablespoon more or less of the paste as another way to control the heat in this soup.
Chili crisp
Chili crisp is a fragrant, umami-heavy condiment made of crushed or powdered dried chile peppers that have been rehydrated in oil (which is why it’s sometimes called chili oil) and other ingredients such as fermented soybeans, onions, shallots, garlic, and more.
Like the Thai red curry paste, the amount of spicy kick contained in chili crisp depends on the type and quantity of chile peppers and seeds included in the mixture. I almost always use the Lao Gan Ma brand, which is easily found at big-box grocery stores. I would say the heat level of this brand is just below medium. I love it on everything, from sushi rolls to burrito bowls to cottage cheese on toast.
There’s also the popular Fly by Jing brand, which is slightly hotter than Lao Gan Ma, plus so many artisan brands I can’t begin to list them here. Chili crisp is such a hot (*ahem*) item that most brands even offer flavor variations in their product lines, such as different chile peppers from jalapeños to habaneros, extra hot versions, crunchy, sweet and spicy, black truffle, and even salsa macha. I could easily go broke trying them all!
How to Make Spicy Peanut Chili Crisp Ramen Noodle Soup
Ready to make the recipe? Skip to the recipe card now to see the full ingredient list, quantities, prep/cooking times, and printable, detailed instructions. Or, keep scrolling for a visual walk-through and summary of making the dish.
Crisp up the tofu
Pan-fry the tofu in some oil until it starts to get crispy. Stir in the Thai BBQ sauce to coat the shreds, letting the sweet marinade caramelize in the hot pan. Transfer the tofu to a plate.
Simmer the aromatics and start the soup
Bloom the Thai red curry paste, ginger, and garlic in the pot until fragrant. Pour in the broth and coconut milk.
Temper the peanut butter
Spoon in the chili crisp and let it infuse the soup. The oils will look broken at first but no worries — the peanut butter will fix that. Loosen the peanut butter by placing it in a small bowl or ramekin and stirring in some of the hot soup. Once creamy, pour it into the soup and mix well.
Cook the ramen and finish the soup
Cook the ramen noodles in a separate pot according to package directions. Drain and add to the soup, along with the crispy tofu. Finish the soup with your favorite toppings and serve.
Recipe FAQs
I hope this Spicy Peanut Chili Crisp Ramen Noodle Soup is one you’ll want to make soon. The soup is a simple canvas — ramen noodles in a creamy, spicy peanutty broth with crispy tofu — that’s just built for toppings (go with the jammy egg — it’s heaven!). If you try it, come back and let me know what you think in the comments. I’d love to hear how it worked out.
Spicy Peanut Chili Crisp Ramen Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Tofu:
- 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil
- 8 ounces super firm tofu , grated on the large holes of a shredder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup Thai BBQ sauce (I used Kinder’s brand, or try Bachan Japanese BBQ sauce)
Soup Base:
- 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 can unsweetened whole-fat coconut milk, well-shaken (about 14 oz)
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chili crisp
- 4 tablespoons natural peanut butter
Ramen:
- 9 ounces ramen noodles
Suggested Toppings:
- Minced cilantro
- Sliced green onions
- Jammy egg , one per bowl, sliced in half
- Chili crisp
- Roasted peanuts
- Toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Crisp the tofu:
- Heat the oil in a 4 to 5-quart soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high until the oil shimmers.
- Toss the shredded tofu with the cornstarch and add to the hot oil, spreading it out in a single layer. Let the tofu sizzle for a bit, until it releases easily with a spatula. Flip sections of the tofu to the other side and cook for a few minutes more. Once the initial crisping has started, you can move the shreds around the pot to cook all sides. Be patient. It will take about 15 minutes for the tofu to reach the desired doneness — golden and very firm, lightly crispy.
- Pour the BBQ sauce over the tofu and stir, letting the heat of the pot caramelize the sauce’s sugars. Transfer the tofu to a plate.
Make the soup base:
- In the same pot, stir in the Thai red curry paste, ginger paste, and garlic paste, mixing well.
- Pour in the chicken broth, coconut milk, and soy sauce, and increase the heat to high to bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a light simmer (barely bubbling).
- Stir in the chili crisp. The chili oil will look broken at this point; that’s okay. It won’t for long, once the peanut butter and noodles are mixed in.
- Spoon the peanut butter into a small bowl or ramekin and add several tablespoons of the hot soup. Stir until completely creamy and then add to the soup.
Cook the ramen noodles:
- Open the ramen noodle packages and discard any seasoning packets. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to the packaging directions. Drain completely.
Finish the soup:
- Add the cooked ramen noodles to the soup, stirring well. You can add all of the tofu back to the soup at once, or keep it on the side and let your guests spoon the tofu over the top of the soup. Serve with your preferred toppings.