Coconut Curry Soup will keep you warm and cozy on chilly afternoons. Inspired by Tom Kha Gai, this Thai style soup is easy to make. It’s easy to customize to your liking, too! Serve it for lunch or as a light dinner. It’s vegan and gluten-free.
Tom Kha Gai
I love Thai food, and I’m often trying to recreate my favorites from restaurants at home. Tom Kha Gai is a restaurant favorite. It’s made with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, Thai chili, coriander, straw or shiitake mushrooms, and fish sauce. It’s usually made with chicken, but I’ve seen it served with shrimp, too. It’s not vegan, but there are a few vegan-friendly Thai eateries in my area that have meat-free versions.
I’m not going to pretend that this soup is Tom Kha Gai, because I’ve taken a lot of liberties with it. It was inspired by it, though. I’ve omitted some of the ingredients, because I know they can be hard to find in a lot of areas. I’ve added Thai red curry paste, simply because I love its flavor.
Thai Inspired Coconut Curry Soup
With warming ingredients like coconut, garlic, and red pepper flakes, this soup will really warm you up on cold winter nights. I recently had a cold, and it really helped clear out my stuffy nose.
I’ve used crimini mushrooms and red bell pepper in this recipe, but you can customize it to your liking but adding your favorite veggies. Try adding cubed sweet potato or chopped spinach.
I like to use my favorite homemade baked tofu in this recipe. If you’re pressed for time, go ahead and use store-bought instead.
Thai Red Curry Paste
Be sure to check the ingredients when you buy curry paste. A lot of Thai curry pastes are vegan, but occasionally you might come across one with fish lurking in the ingredients. I accidentally bought a jar that wasn’t vegan once, and I didn’t realize it until I got it home, opened it, and noticed a weird smell.
How to Make Coconut Curry Soup
This soup is soup-er easy to make!
- First you sauté the mushrooms and red pepper.
- Once the vegetables have softened, you add the baked tofu, vegetable stock, coconut milk, curry paste, tamari, and red pepper flakes to the pot.
- Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Next, you stir in the lime juice and cilantro and let it simmer for a few minutes.
- Finally, season your soup with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
You can serve your soup as is or with cooked rice. I like to serve it with extra red pepper flakes and lime wedges.
Thai Coconut Curry Soup
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoon neutral-flavored oil
- 5 ounces crimini or white button mushrooms chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1- inch piece fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 8 ounces baked tofu homemade or store-bought
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger, and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables have softened.
- Add the baked tofu, vegetable stock, coconut milk, curry paste, tamari, and red pepper flakes to the pot. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to medium. Stir in the cilantro and lime juice and allow the soup to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until heated throughout.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Other soup recipes you might enjoy include:
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