Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Soup

My latest obsession in life is all things curry. Growing up my mom never cooked any type of curry dish and so I just never really cooked with it either, that is until recently. I love it! It’s unique flavor always leaves me wanting more. Here the flavor of it is rather mild (in my opinion) but definitely add more as you wish. The strength of the curry powder (I’ve heard) varies from brand to brand so start small and add more as you go.



Recently my husband and I ate at a Thai restaurant we’ve been wanting to try for a while now and it was a total let down. So I decided to try making what I’d for it to be at home to make up for it.  This Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Soup is definitely going to be a new favorite soup in our house! All of us loved it! Despite it’s rather long list of ingredients it was easy to make and the bit of extra time made it so worth it (mostly it’s a lot of chopping and gathering and adding different spices and flavorings). I do love the shortcut of using store-bought rotisserie chicken here but you can just use shredded chicken breasts or thighs you’ve cooked up yourself. Either way you’ll end with a delicious soup you’ll want to make again and again!

Ingredients

  • 6 oz. pad thai rice noodles
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil or canola oil, divided
  • 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (4 cloves)
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 2 tsp red curry paste
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 red bell pepper, sliced into small, thin strips
  • 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 (13.5 oz) can regular or light coconut milk
  • 3 cups shredded cooked rotisserie chicken
  • 8 oz. snow peas, trimed and sliced in half crosswise
  • 2 Tbsp packed light-brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • Salt
  • 5 oz. fresh spinach (4 packed cups)
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice


For serving

  • Chopped peanuts
  • 1 red chili pepper, seeded and chopped or sriracha


Directions
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Once boiling add rice noodles and boil according to directions on package (usually about 3 - 6 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes then add another 1/2 Tbsp oil, garlic, curry powder, curry paste, turmeric, and coriander. Saute 1 minute then add last 1/2 Tbsp oil and bell pepper and saute 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir in coconut milk, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in chicken, snow peas, brown sugar, fish sauce and green onions. Season with salt to taste and cook 2 minutes. Stir in spinach, cilantro and lime juice and cook until spinach wilts. Toss in noodles. Serve warm with peanuts and red peppers.