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This Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup is guaranteed to be your new favorite noodle soup recipe! Creamy, spicy, broth loaded with chewy ramen noodles, fresh vegetables, and Thai aromatics for the ultimate umami-packed soup. All you need is a few fresh ingredients and 30 minutes to make this cozy, comforting recipe you won’t be able to stop eating.
Table of Contents
The first time Chris and I made this Thai Noodle Soup recipe, we we’re blown away by the flavor. Even though it’s simmered for less than 30 minutes, the depth of flavor is out of this world. And since adding it to the blog, it’s quickly become one of our most popular Soup Recipes. So grab your favorite soup pot and get ready to dive in to a bowl of this Thai-inspired chicken noodle soup!
Ingredients You’ll Need + Substitutions
For the Broth
- Aromatics: Garlic cloves, fresh ginger, and sliced green onions enhance the Thai flavors in the soup broth and help build a complex, foundation for the Thai noodle soup broth.
- Broth: Vegetable broth or vegan chicken broth will work great! We personally used Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base mixed with water.
- Red Curry Paste: To make this recipe quick and easy, we opted for store-bought red curry paste. Depending on the brand you purchase, you may need to adjust the amount used. To start, we recommend using 1 tablespoon and increasing as needed as the broth simmers. If you don’t have access to red curry paste at your local grocery store, check your local Asian market or make your own Easy Thai Red Curry Paste from scratch.
- Coconut milk: The richness and creaminess of creamy coconut milk helps balance the spiciness of red curry paste and makes this Thai noodle soup broth silky smooth! Avoid replacing with a thinner, plant-based milk, such as almond milk. You need full fat coconut milk for the right richness!
- Peanut butter: Natural, runny peanut butter adds additional creaminess, nuttiness, and plant-based fat to the soup. Make sure the peanut butter you use doesn’t contain any added sugars or your soup will be oddly sweet!
- Soy Sauce: Adds an essential umami-packed flavor to the soup broth. If gluten-free, substitute with tamari. Coconut aminos may also work, but it is much lower in sodium and additional salt may be needed.
- Sweetener: Agave is very neutral in flavor, but feel free to opt for an alternate sweetener such as maple syrup, brown sugar, or granulated cane sugar.
Add-ins
- Tofu: We used a brick of extra firm tofu, but if you don’t have any on hand you could skip it or even opt for another plant-based protein like vegan chicken strips or vegan beef. To speed up the prep work of this recipe, purchase super firm tofu. It is slightly firmer than extra firm tofu and has been pressed in advance.
- Vegetables: We made our Thai noodle soup recipe with chopped bok choy and baby Bella mushrooms, but feel free to replace these veggies with any fresh vegetables you have on hand. When substituting, keep it around 3 cups for the right balance of vegetables and spicy coconut broth.
- Noodles: Our go-to noodles in this Thai noodle soup recipe is ramen! If desired, opt for rice noodles, chewy, thick soba noodles or even just plain old spaghetti noodles. If making substitutions, cook the noodles in a separate pot according to package directions, then add them in at the end for the best results.
Equipment Needed
How to Make Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup
- Brown the tofu. In a large pot over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Once hot, add the pressed tofu and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Cook the aromatics. Add in the remaining sesame oil along with the minced garlic, onions, and ginger. Cook until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 1 minute.
- Toast the red curry paste. Add in the red curry paste and cook for an additional minute or so, or until the curry paste is fragrant and coats all of the veggies.
- Sauté the veggies. Next, add in the bok choy and mushrooms. Mix to combine and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the veggies begin to soften.
- Add liquids. Pour in the vegetable broth, coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, and agave. Mix until everything is well combined and as smooth as possible. Taste, and add additional red curry paste as needed.
- Bring to a boil. Cover the Thai noodle soup and allow the soup broth to come to a boil. Once boiling, remove the lid and add the ramen noodles. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, or until tender.
- Season and serve. Remove the Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup from the heat and stir in the fresh lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then adjust any other ingredients as needed. Ladle into soup bowls and serve Thai noodle soup while hot with fresh lime wedges and chopped cilantro, or as desired. Enjoy!
What can I serve with Thai Red Curry Soup?
This Thai soup is a flavorful and filling dish that can be served on it’s own or alongside a few simple side dishes. Here are a few ideas to inspire you:
- Jasmine rice
- Fresh herbs – Thai basil, fresh cilantro, or Kaffir lime leaves would be delicious
- Bean sprouts
- Thai Papaya Salad
- Spring Rolls – for a Thai-Filipino fusion try our Easy Vegan Filipino Spring Rolls
- Naan or flatbread
- Crunchy Thai Peanut Salad
For dessert, try this Thai Mango Sticky Rice!
Recipe FAQs
There are many traditional soups in Thai cuisine, but one of the most well-known is Tom Yum soup. Tom Yum noodle soup is a hot and sour soup made with staple Thai food ingredients, including lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and chili peppers. It’s often served as a starter or main dish and is loved for its spicy, tangy flavor profile. This Thai noodle soup, while made with alternate Thai flavors, has a similar sweet and spicy flavor profile that you’ll quickly become addicted to.
Green curry paste would also be very tasty in this! You could even try making your own Homemade Thai Green Curry Paste to use.
When made with tamari and gluten-free, rice-based ramen noodles, this spicy soup is naturally gluten-free.
Great question! Thai curry paste is commonly vegan, but it can contain non-vegan ingredients such as shrimp paste or fish sauce. When shopping for a red curry paste in stores, make sure to read the ingredients label.
Storage Instructions
Leftover Thai noodle soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Freezing this noodle dish is not recommended.
Reheat leftover Thai noodle soup on the stovetop or in the microwave until warmed through. Garnish with additional fresh toppings, then dig in!
More Vegan Thai Recipes You May Enjoy:
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
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Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup is guaranteed to be your new favorite noodle soup recipe! Creamy, spicy, broth loaded with chewy ramen noodles, fresh vegetables, and Thai aromatics for the ultimate umami-packed soup. All you need is a few fresh ingredients and 30 minutes to make this cozy, comforting recipe you won’t be able to stop eating.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
- 1 block extra firm tofu, pressed and cubed* (see notes)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1-inch fresh ginger, grated
- 1 to 4 tablespoons red curry paste* (see notes)
- 4 large bok choy, chopped
- 4-ounces baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
- 4 cups vegetable broth (we used this one)
- 1 (14-ounce/400ml) can coconut milk
- 1/3 cup unsweetened smooth peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari if gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon agave nectar (or liquid sweetener of choice, see notes)
- 8.5-ounces uncooked ramen noodles* (see notes)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Juice of 1 large lime (about 2 tablespoons), or to taste
Top with
- 2 medium carrots, julienned
- Toasted sesame seeds and/or chopped peanuts
- Cilantro, roughly chopped
- Green onions, chopped
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, add in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Once heated, add in the pressed tofu and and cook until golden (or as brown as you would like it). I cooked mine for about 7 minutes. Remove the tofu and set aside in a bowl.
- Add in the remaining sesame oil along with the garlic, onions and ginger. Cook until fragrant, or about 1 minute.
- Add in the red curry paste and cook for an additional minute or so, until it becomes fragrant and evenly coats the veggies.
- Next add in the box choy and mushrooms and mix through and cook for about 1-2 minutes, or until the begin to soften.
- Pour in the vegetable broth, coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, and agave, and mix until everything is well combined and as smooth as you can get it. If you have a few chunks of peanut butter, no worries! As it heats, the peanut butter will begin to “melt” into the broth. Taste the broth and add additional curry paste if desired.
- Cover the pot and allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Once boiling, remove the lid and add in the ramen noodles. Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package, stirring often.
- Remove the pot from heat and stir in the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and adjust any other ingredients as needed. If the end result is too spicy for your taste, you can add more liquid sweetener to balance it out. If it is not spicy enough, you can add more.
- Serve hot with more lime wedges and cilantro, if using.
Notes
- This recipe was adapted from The Omnivore Cookbook.
- To speed up the cooking time, we recommend purchasing pre-pressed tofu! If you are not able to, you can check out our easy tutorial here.
- Keep in mind that some liquid sweeteners like maple syrup may alter the flavor of the recipe.
- The amount of red curry paste may depend on the brand that you use since some are spicer than others. If you want to be safe, you can start with just 1 tablespoon and add more as needed later on when you taste the broth.
- Green curry paste would also be very tasty in this! You could even try making one of your own.
- Since this is a one-pot recipe, the recipe will thicken over time, especially when stored as leftovers in the refrigerator. Don’t worry though, it turns into creamy noodles instead of soup and it is still so delicious!!
- If you don’t have tofu, you could skip it or even opt for another plant based protein like vegan chicken or vegan beef.
- You can change up the vegetables based on your preference–just use at least 3 cups total to keep this recipe hearty.
- Soy sauce could be replaced with tamari for a gluten-free alternative or even coconut aminos or liquid aminos. These may vary in sodium so you can just add more or less to your taste!
- If you don’t have ramen noodles, no worries! You can totally make this recipe with rice noodles, soba noodles or even just plain old spaghetti noodles. We have not personally tested these options in this recipe so we think it would be best to cook them separately according to their packaging directions and then add them in at the end for the best results.
- The nutrition facts do not take into consideration salt and pepper to taste as well as the sesame seeds and/or chopped peanuts, cilantro, and green onions.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Entree, Lunch, Soup
- Method: Stovetop, One Pot
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
I have made several of your recipes and I LOVE them – so flavorful!! Thank you for publishing!!
This was delicious! I love the peanut curry taste of the broth and the heartiness of the noodles. Next time I may squeeze a couple of limes right into the broth. I ended up adding a little bit more peanut butter but might just lessen the broth as you noted. Thank you. This is a keeper!
Such a wonderful meal, total comfort food! Definitely takes more than 30 minutes, though not by much.
Super yummy! I had a jar of green curry paste to use up so I used that instead and it was great. Very cozy and comforting!
Absolutely delicious! Thank you!
Really really good! We doubled the amount of tofu and added a bit more noodles and curry paste in order to make it a bit “healthier” and heavier on the protein. Was still absolutely full of flavor, will become one of our staple dishes!
Highly recommend making this recipe! It was so easy to make and turned out delicious! I used soba noodles and boiled for 8 minutes in the pot with everything and it turned out great. Creamy and very flavorful.
7/19/20 – We made this tonight. It was simple and tasty. We added marinaded soft boiled egg as a finishing touch. This recipe is a definite keeper. Thank you.
So easy to make and yummy!
Fantastic, comfort food. I ate this for 3 days . Delicious!
We made this last week and have it planned for this weekend again. So easy and so delicious! Right up there with your hamburger helper as one of our favorite recipes.
Amazing flavor, best comfort food!
I love that all your recipes have different
options & throughly explained.
Another one that im bookmarking & tweaking with different veggies in future!
I loved the recipe. It tasted awesome. Thanks
It was delicious! I added celery and valida onion to the base. Definitely one of my favorite things I made recently. It was much more filling than regular ramen! Loved the creamy base. Super easy, and not time consuming either.
Great recipe, sustainable, vegan, and tasty option.