Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup

Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup combines the comforting flavors of homemade chicken soup with the zesty aromatic ingredients of Thai cuisine. It starts with the familiar base of chicken, mirepoix, and leeks, and then takes a delicious turn with red curry paste, lemongrass, ginger, and creamy coconut milk. With a generous helping of noodles stirred in, this delicious mash-up is everything you want in a cozy, craveworthy bowl of soup.

Sometimes mash-ups were just meant to be

Sometimes I get soup ideas stuck in my head that I pause over for one reason or another. Maybe it’ll be too many steps, or sometimes it’s just because I already have a sort-of-similar recipe on the blog. When it’s too flimsy a thought, it fades. But the ideas that persist, I pay attention to. And that’s today’s recipe.

I’m pretty fond of my Cold-Fighting Couscous Chicken Soup, and a lot of soup lovers are as well: It’s been one of my most popular soups for over a decade.

But earlier in the fall, I couldn’t get it out of my head to make a Thai twist on it. Take the core soup — a solid, flavorful chicken soup — and season it up with Thai-inspired ingredients, such as red curry paste and coconut milk.

I finally gave in, and this is the delicious result. I’m so glad I listen to my quirky brain sometimes lol.

When winter stretches on and you start getting bored with chicken soup, keep this Thai fusion version in your back pocket. Or, don’t wait, and dig right in! I think you’ll love the flavor twist.

Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup is —

• A winning combination of two comfort food worlds: classic chicken soup and Thai curry.
• The cozy comfort of chicken noodle soup with turbocharged flavors.
• A great way to change up your chicken soup routine with minimal effort.
• Creamy, aromatic, and gently spicy without being overpowering.
• A meal-level soup in one pot with protein, vegetables, and carbs.

Thai red curry paste is always a favorite soup seasoning here at Casa SoupAddict. If you love it, too, you might enjoy my Thai Red Curry Dumpling Soup and my Thai Curry Shrimp Soup.

Key Ingredients

Chicken — My preferred cut for this soup is thighs, but of course you can use what you prefer, white or dark meat (or both). I started from raw in this soup because it was more budget-friendly and adds a lot of flavor to the oil it’s cooking in. But, don’t hesitate to use a rotisserie chicken. Simply skip the steps for cooking the chicken, and add the shredded meat per the recipe.

Pasta — What you see in the photos in this post is a durum wheat pasta called trofie, which is a short, very thin roll. Egg noodles also work well, as do fideo noodles (or broken spaghetti). Long, splashy noodles have their place, but for this soup, I like to stick to shapes that sit well on a spoon. You can substitute rice noodles to lean more Thai. But I like the durum wheat pasta for this fusion soup.

Thai Red Curry Paste — This super flavorful paste is the main attraction here. In the US, it’s usually sold in small jars or cans, or if you’re lucky, big tubs, like cottage cheese. Spicy heat levels can vary wildly by brand, which is why I give a range of quantities in the recipe. Taste the paste first to gauge how much to use. The Thai Kitchen brand is very mild, and I almost always use the whole jar in a recipe. Maesri and Mae Ploy are spicier by a good degree, with Mae Ploy usually being the hottest. Note that curry paste is not necessarily vegetarian, as it might contain shrimp, shrimp flakes, or fish sauce.

Mirepoix — Like most classic chicken soups, this soup’s aromatic base starts with mirepoix: onions, celery, and carrots. I also love leeks in chicken soups, so I add a generous amount of this sweet, oniony vegetable.

Seasonings — Leaning into Thai flavors, there’s lots of ginger, garlic, and lemongrass. Conserving physical energy is tops on my list these days, so I don’t hesitate to use ginger paste and lemongrass paste. It solves two problems, actually. First, ginger and especially lemongrass can be difficult to find in my regular grocery stores. So, I stock up on the refrigeratable pastes. And second, while ginger isn’t too bad to deal with, lemongrass stalks sometimes send me right over the edge lol. Their outer layers dry so quickly, and it seems like I’m peeling forever before getting to the good part.

How to Make Thai Fusion Chicken 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 of making the soup.

Prep notes

Here’s a quick guide for preparing the ingredients, if you need it (excluding items that can be measured directly from a container, such as dried herbs and liquids).

• Trim the chicken of excess fat and cartilage.
• Peel the onion and slice off and discard the stem and root ends. Chop into small dice.
• Chop off the dark green leaves of the leek stalk and discard (or freeze for making soup stock). Slice the remaining white and light green parts in half and rinse the layers well under running water. Dry, cut off and discard the root end, and chop.
• Clean, and cut off the rough ends of the celery ribs. Chop into small dice.
• Scrub the carrot (peel, if desired) and cut off the stem end. Chop into small dice.
• Peel the garlic cloves and mince.
• Rinse the parsley leaves under running water and pat dry. Pluck the leaves off the thick stems, and mince.
• Rinse the green onion stalks, pat dry, cut off and discard the root end, and slice thinly.

Step 1: Cook the chicken

Sear seasoned chicken thighs in the soup pot, flipping once, for 10-15 minutes, or until they read the safe temperature on a meat thermometer. Move to a bowl and set aside.

Step 2: Sauté the aromatic vegetables

Add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot and saute until softened.

Add the seasonings

Add the ginger, lemongrass, garlic, salt, pepper, and Thai red curry paste, stirring well.

Add the liquids

Pour in the broth and bring to a simmer. Shred the chicken and return to the pot, and add the coconut milk.

Add the pasta

When the pasta has finished cooking, drain and aside. Stir in after the coconut milk.

Finish the soup

Top the soup with cilantro and green onions, and serve!

If you love both chicken noodle soup and Thai flavors, this mash-up will absolutely hit the spot. When you make Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup, I’d love to hear how it turned out — leave a comment below or tag @SoupAddict on Instagram with your cozy bowl!

Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup

by Karen Gibson

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Thai Fusion Chicken Noodle Soup blends classic comfort with Thai-inspired flavors like ginger, lemongrass, red curry, and coconut milk for a cozy, craveworthy meal.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

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• 8 ounces your favorite dried pasta noodles (egg noodles are nice)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or avocado oil
• 1 pound chicken boneless , skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat
• 1 leek , chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 1 small onion , diced
• 2 ribs celery , diced
• 1 medium carrot , diced
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste*
• 1 tablespoon lemongrass paste*
• 4 cloves of garlic , peeled and minced
• 2-4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste**
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk (canned, not the boxes meant for drinking)
• 1 lime , sliced in half
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves
• 3 green onions , sliced thinly
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

 

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• Set a medium pot of water over high heat and let it come to a boil while you start the chicken. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.
• Heat the oil in a 4-quart soup pot or Dutch oven over medium until the surface starts to shimmer.
• Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Arrange the them flat in the pot and let sear for 5 minutes, or until they release easily from the pot (they might stick while cooking; that’s okay).
• Don’t forget to check the pasta! When the cooking time is up, drain off the water and set the pasta aside.
• Flip the chicken and cook on the other side and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest piece reads 165ºF. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and set aside.
• Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and saute until softened, about 8 minutes.
• Spoon the ginger, lemongrass, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper over the vegetables and mix well. Then stir in the Thai red curry paste.
• Pour in the chicken broth, and let it come up to a gentle simmer, adjusting the heat higher or lower as needed. Let simmer for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to low.
• Stir in the coconut milk, plus the juice from one lime half. Taste, and add salt and/or the rest of the lime juice to suit your tastes.
• When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred, and return to the pot.
• Finish with the cilantro leaves and green onions.

Video

https://youtube.com/shorts/t8lHmWV-9f8

Notes

* I keep ginger and lemongrass paste in my fridge at all times because their fresh counterparts are sometimes difficult to find in my neighborhood. You can substitute their fresh versions, peeled and minced, at a 1:1 ratio.

** Spice levels can vary widely by brand. You’ll want to taste the curry paste first to determine how much you want to use. Thai Kitchen’s paste is mild, while Maesri and Maeploy are more on the medium scale.

Keyword thai fusion chicken noodle soup

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