A delicious Thai chicken soup, with rice and mushrooms, all in a lightly creamy Thai flavoured red curry broth. A deliciously different chicken and rice soup!

wicked Thai chicken soup in bowl
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Why you’ll love this Wicked Thai Chicken Soup

  • This Thai chicken soup is chock full of flavour, with the wonderful Thai flavours of red curry paste, fish sauce, lemongrass and coconut milk.
  • Thai soup with chicken and rice means this soup is also hearty enough to satisfy as a dinner soup.
  • Customize this Thai chicken soup recipe to your own taste preferences, making it as wicked (or not) as you like!

Key Ingredients and Substitutions

Chicken – I generally use boneless chicken breasts, though boneless skinless chicken thighs are fine here, too. If you happen to have left-over cooked chicken, you can certainly use that and skip the step of cooking the chicken ahead. Finally, make it super easy by using shredded rotisserie chicken.

Mushrooms – Regular white or cremini mushrooms are best here.

Red Bell Pepper – use fresh bell pepper if you have it. Jarred roasted red peppers will also work here.

Fish Sauce – Ideal if you have it. If you don’t have fish sauce, you can substitute soy sauce.

Worcestershire Sauce – again, ideal if you have it. If not, simply omit.

Lemongrass Paste – look for this in a tube, generally in the produce section. You can also use lemongrass stalks, if you have easy access to them. While the flavour is a lovely addition, you can omit.

Half and Half Cream – this is 10% b.f. cream. You can substitute milk, but your soup will be less creamy. For a non-dairy soup, replace the cream with more coconut milk.

Coconut Milk – I like to use regular coconut milk for the creaminess and thickness, but lite will work here as well.

Thai Red Curry Paste – I prefer red curry paste in this soup. If you only have green or yellow, you can use, though the flavour profile will be a bit different.

Sambal Oelek – this is the spicy Asian Chili sauce that is largely responsible for the “Wicked” part of this soup. It packs a punch, so use to taste or omit if you don’t want any heat. Asian Chili Garlic Sauce is a good substitute or even Sriracha.

Rice – any cooked rice is fine here, but I find classic long-grain rice tends to work best. Basmati or Jasmine should also work well.

For thickening the soup – cornstarch or arrowroot starch, mixed with cold water.

Cook’s Notes

  • One important note about this soup! You don’t want to combine the soup with the rice until right before you will be eating it. If you’re cooking rice at the same time you are making the soup, simply spoon some warm rice into a bowl and spoon the hot soup overtop. If you are starting with leftover rice, simply warm slightly before adding to bowl and spooning the hot soup over top.
  • Likewise, if you have leftover soup and rice, refrigerate separately. To reheat, you can add the rice to the soup to reheat, as long as you will be consuming right away.
  • The reason for this? The rice soaks up the soup as it sits, quickly resulting in a bowl of rice instead of a bowl of soup.
  • Start with leftover cooked chicken (or chicken from a rotisserie chicken) and/or leftover cooked rice to make this soup even more quickly!
wicked Thai chicken soup in bowl

Top Tip!

Change it Up! Use Asian rice noodles instead of rice. Simply soak or cook any Asian rice noodle and add some to the bowl before spooning over the hot soup.

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wicked Thai chicken soup in bowl

Get the Recipe: Wicked Thai Chicken Soup

A delicious Thai chicken soup, with rice and mushrooms, all in a lightly creamy Thai flavoured red curry broth. A deliciously different chicken and rice soup!
4.98 stars from 38 ratings
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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 Tablespoons cooking oil, such as vegetable or canola oil
  • 1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper, cored and seeded then sliced into thin 2-inch strips
  • 8 oz mushrooms, white or cremini recommended
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 6 oz chicken breast, diced or cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste, or 1-2 stalks lemongrass, optional
  • 1 cup half and half (10%) cream, or use 1 cup more coconut milk instead
  • 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1 small can or if using a large can stir coconut milk first, then measure out
  • 2 teaspoons red curry paste
  • 1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek chili paste, or Asian Garlic Chili Paste/Sriracha
  • 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

To finish soup:

  • 2 cups cooked rice, long grain white, basmati or brown rice or try a mix of long grain with wild rice for some added texture
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

For garnish:

  • Fresh cilantro, parsley or basil, chopped
  • Lime wedges, for drizzling

Instructions
 

  • Make this soup as Wicked (or not), as you like! If you love bold flavours, go ahead and add more of the lemongrass, curry paste and Sambal etc., to your taste preference.
    If you don't want any heat, simply omit the Sambal altogether. Don't forget to taste and add salt at the end of cooking, as needed, to really bring out all the great flavours.
  • Start the rice cooking. *You can cook the rice ahead and refrigerate or you can use left-over cooked rice.
  • Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. oil. When hot, add mushrooms and cook until golden and tender. Remove to a plate. In the same pot, add another 1 Tbsp. oil and heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring, until no longer pink. Remove chicken to the plate with the mushrooms. Add a splash more oil, if needed. Add the onion and red pepper, and cook, stirring, just until softened. Return the mushrooms and chicken to the pot. Add the broth and heat through. Add the fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce and lemongrass paste (if using) and simmer 5 minutes. Add cream and coconut milk, turn heat to low, then cover and simmer 2 minutes.
  • In a small bowl, combine curry paste, Sambal Oelek, tomato paste and cornstarch and mix until incorporated. Stir into soup until combined and heat until soup simmers, thickens slightly and has a velvety appearance. Taste the soup and season with salt and pepper, as needed. 
  • To serve, spoon some hot rice into a bowl, then spoon hot soup over-top. Serve immediately garnished with cilantro, parsley or basil leaves and lime wedges to add a drizzle of fresh lime juice to the soup.
  • Store any leftover rice and soup separately, as the rice will soak up all the soup broth if store together. 

Notes

If making the soup ahead, don’t add the rice until you re-warm the soup for serving, as it will begin to absorb the broth and thicken the soup. For left-overs, if you’d like to thin, you can add a bit more chicken broth and/or milk.
Change up this soup by using cooked rice noodles instead of rice.
Be sure to read the information above this Recipe Card, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
Cuisine: American, Canadian
Course: Soup
Author: Jennifer Maloney
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 265kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 32mg, Sodium: 277mg, Potassium: 565mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 847IU, Vitamin C: 17mg, Calcium: 68mg, Iron: 1mg
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