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!
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 is 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!
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.
Get the Recipe: Wicked Thai Chicken Soup
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
More Thai Soup Recipes to Love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
This soup is delicious!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Kate :) Thanks!
My husband cannot eat mushrooms. Can I just leave them out, or is there something else I could substitute for them? Would love to try it.
Hi Lezlie and yes, just leave them out. It will still be delicious :) Enjoy!
I could not get red curry paste. Can I leave it out and if so, should I up some other ingredient in its place?
Hi Susan, there really isn’t a substitute, unless you can find green or yellow Thai curry paste. It’s the curry paste that would give this soup the distinctive “Thai” flavour. You wouldn’t want to up the Sambal, as it is really spicy. Worst case, simply omit it. It won’t have that Thai flavour, but will still be a good soup, I think.
Hello! I’ve made this soup twice now and it has been very delicious. However, both times I had issues with adding the tomato paste/sambal/curry paste/cornstarch mixture. I mixed all the ingredients together and added to the soup as directed. Both times, the mixture turned into balls of goop dispersed throughout the soup. I ended up fishing them out and then approximating the ingredients and adding them to the soup again. Could you please advise on how to do this without the disastrous goop situation? Is there a reason behind making a mixture of the tomato paste, curry paste, cornstarch, and sambal? Soup still turned out delicious, but just hoping to troubleshoot this step! Thanks!
Glad you are enjoying the soup :) I have never had that issue, but my suggestion would be to stir the cornstarch with a bit of water first (to dissolve) and then stir in the tomato paste etc. That should take care of it!
Wow. Just wow. We erred on the generous side for flavour ingredients and let the soup sit overnight.
So glad you enjoyed it Jonathan :) Thanks!
I really love Thai flavors and this was good, but I added a lot more lemongrass, curry paste, and some ginger paste to hit the notes I was after. Lime wedges and cilantro did also give more punch.
I substituted cubed firm tofu instead of chicken, vegetable broth and a full can of coconut milk (omitted the half and half) and it turned out great! Will definitely be on my regular rotation.
Glad you enjoyed it, Jen :) Thanks!
This soup is so delicious! My husband and I both loved it! I followed the recipe exactly as written. I will definitely make this again and again!
So glad to hear, Katie! Thanks so much :)
Absolutely fabulous! I used all coconut milk & added some fresh ginger. It’s tough to find a perfect recipe, but you did it. Thanks!!!
So glad to hear, Lori :) Thanks so much!
This was delicious! We added more salam oblek at the table and a little Thai basil from the garden on top. It will become a regular at our house. Can you clarify one aspect please Jennifer – after adding the creams, I set the stove to low as directed, covered and waited for a simmer- this was taking way too long so eventually I set it back to medium and waited for the simmer before lowering the heat and simmering 2 minutes. Did I risk the cream curdling or something by using higher heat? Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sue :) And yes, it’s usually best not to heat too high after the cream goes in, but as long as you’re watching it, you can nudge it up a bit.
Love this soup! Not sure if the recipe was edited a bit, but I remember needing lemongrass in it. Been making it for a while now. At least 5 years, as when I met my now husband, it was the first thing I cooked for him.
So glad you are enjoying it, Genevieve and yes, I don’t recall editing it, but I always add a little lemongrass paste myself :) Thanks!
THis is the most amazing soup. I decided to skip the chili sauce and substituted white miso paste instead which I guess is not anywhere near the same but worked really well in it. Otherwise I followed recipe to a tee using all coconut milk so it is totally dairy free. I used canned chicken breast from Costco that I have had in my pantry and it is perfect for something like this.
I had 2 bowls of it and called that my supper. I could not have been more happy with it.
So glad you enjoyed it, Carol :) Thanks so much!
Delicious, thanks Jennifer, we really enjoyed this. I used green curry paste because I had it on hand and otherwise didn’t make any changes. It was not at all too spicy for us, just very flavourful and warming. A perfect winter soup.
Glad to hear, Sue :) Thanks so much!
Could I do this in the instant pot!?
Hi Allyson, probably, but I don’t have any more to offer than that, as I haven’t done it myself.
I haven’t been able to find Wicked Thai soup in years, and just stumbled upon this last night, and made it today. So true to the big soup makers version, but all the better when you see what goes into it. I went a bit beyond by making my own broth which definitely payed off, but did use some of the substitutions mentioned which I try not to do when using a recipe the first time, but fish sauce wasn’t available not the proper hot sauce. Still turned out amazing. Only real deviation I made was adding extra coconut milk which I find really added to the aroma and flavor, and I served the soup with a small wedge of lime along with the coriander.
Thank you so much for sharing, this will be my new cold day comfort food.
So glad you enjoyed it, Duane :) Thanks so much!
Can this soup be frozen? If so at what stage?
Hi Anna, I have never frozen it, but I don’t think it would freeze well with the rice in it. When you thaw it, I think it would be very stew-like. You could perhaps freeze the base soup and add the rice later.
I’m a wimp when it comes to spicy level. Would green curry paste be ok instead of red curry paste so that it’s less spicy?
Hi Cherry, I find green curry paste to be spicier myself. You’d probably be happier with just a bit less of the red. Maybe put in half the specified amount. Taste and add more, if you like.
Have you ever used all coconut milk to make it dairy free?
I haven’t Shelley, but I think it would be fine to use all coconut milk. A little more coconut-y, but no doubt still good :)
How important is the fish sauce? I can only find it in giant bottles and when you only use such a small amount I’m afraid the rest would get wasted or stay in my fridge forever
Hi Jen, it’s not a deal breaker :) It adds a flavour note, but the soup will still be good without it.
Hi Jen, I’d say try to get the fish sauce- not sure what country your in but I can find small ones in Safeway, no frills, and Walmart.
I also use it to make pad Thai, lettuce wraps, chilis and many more! It adds such an amazing taste.
Made a double batch of this today. Delicious. Don’t be afraid to add more veggies – makes the soup last longer. Followed recipe as is and it’s great. ‘Restaurant quality!’ – my husband
So glad you are enjoying it! Thanks so much :)
This is really good! It reminds me of a similar soup from a coffee shop by my house.
I added more thai curry and a little more sambal because I’m a bit of a heat-seeker. I also used re-constituted dried shiitakes that I blend up into a paste because I’m not a big fan of mushroom texture.
Great soup! It doesn’t last me very long at all!
So glad you enjoyed it, Matt! Thanks so much :)
Instead of rice could I sub cauliflower rice?
Hi Judy, First, I should say I have exactly zero experience with cauliflower rice, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Again, no experience trying this, but I feel like you could cook it to tender in the soup or you could cook separately and add in at the end, similar to how the regular rice is added. And while the rice soaks up the broth in leftovers, I suspect the cauliflower would kind of melt into the soup, changing the texture of the leftovers accordingly. Hope that helps. If you try it, let me know how you did it and how it worked out :)