I have to give full credit for this photo of Thai Chicken Soup to my boys. They helped me stage the shot and then sat with me at the computer to crop and size the photo. They are becoming such little artists, having far surpassed me in this arena.
The delicious Thai soup above is based on a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. My friend Deb got me hooked on this magazine last year when she gave me a subscription. The recipes in Cook’s Illustrated use fresh interesting combination of ingredients and often are not overly complicated.
We ate this soup for dinner tonight; I downed the bowl in the photo above as soon as I finished snapping the pictures; it is sweet, rather spicy and very comforting. After he finished his, my younger son said, “it was good; this is a happy, happy, happy soup.” That is a direct quote!
I am hoping that with more soup we can build more community. Many people have been leaving comments over here of late which is wonderful. I also want to take a moment to encourage people to respond to each others comments.
Jeanne, one of my regular readers, asked a question here. I hope that any of you who have experience in figuring out which foods work best for you will feel free to jump in and respond to her comment, it’s great when we can support one another…Now, back to soup!
Thai Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or coconut oil
- 3 shallots, chopped
- 8 sprigs cilantro, chopped
- 4 cups Chicken Stock or Kettle & Fire Bone Broth
- 28 ounces full fat coconut milk
- ½ pound crimini mushrooms
- 1 head broccoli
- 1 pound chicken breasts skinless-boneless, halved lengthwise, sliced on bias, cut into ⅛ inch thick pieces
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 teaspoons red curry paste
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- ½ cup cilantro, minced
- 2 serrano chilies, thinly sliced
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Instructions
- Warm oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
- Add shallots and cilantro, stirring frequently until softened 2 to 5 minutes
- Stir in stock and coconut milk and bring to a simmer
- Pour broth through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids (shallot and cilantro)
- Return broth to saucepan
- Reduce heat to medium, add mushrooms and broccoli and cook until tender 2 to 3 minutes
- Add chicken and cook, stirring constantly, until no longer pink 1 to 3 minutes
- Combine lime juice, curry paste, and fish sauce in a small bowl then stir into soup
- ladle soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro, chilies, and scallions
- Serve with wedges of lime
Equipment
This soup also works very well with leftover chicken. Leftovers are a great thing in so many ways. They save us trips to the store as well as time in the kitchen.
Other uses for leftover chicken? I use it to make a simple Mexican salad for dinner (salad greens with black beans, guacamole and salsa) and to add an extra hit of protein to this sesame noodle dish.
As you can see from the recipes on this blog, while I don’t eat the SAD (Standard American Diet), I do not feel deprived. I focus on the foods I can eat, create as much variety as possible and savor every morsel I put into my mouth! All in all, I feel happy and grateful to have access to the beautiful fresh foods that nourish me day in and day out.
Nancy says
Needs galangal and lemon grass! And leave out the broccoli…ugh, that’s not Thai!
Elana says
Hi Nancy, thanks for your comment. Feel free to adapt the recipe as much as you like, this is my personal interpretation :-)
Shauna says
Made this soup last night. Husband and I loved it! We added extra carrots and beans and omitted the chillies. Thanks for such a great recipe Elana.
Alex says
Made this soup and it was outstanding. Just wondering what the nutritional facts are?
claudine says
Hi Elana!
I just found your website! I have scrolled through many of them and cant wait to try the list I have bookmarked! I am eager to get started eating healthier, because for some odd reason I have detoured away and stepped on the scale to be alarmed of my eating habits! Thank you for inspiring me!
Nancy says
I made this soup today and it was awesome. My husband loved it too. I am looking forward to trying many other recipes on this site.
Sabina says
This soup is soooo tasty! I plan on making it again tonight! I’ve subbed in kale, red peppers and broccoli for the mushrooms as my husband doesn’t like them…it’s officially my favorite comfort soup now, thank you for the recipe!
Ruth Campbell says
I am excited to try the Thai Chicken Soup. I just bought Almond Flour and making Monster cookies with it. A friend brought some over and they were yummy. They have raisins, cocunut, and nuts in them. I felt like I was eating REAL cookies before my GF world.
Johanna says
This was great! Turned out the chicken I’d bought was bad (!) so, no chicken, but we didn’t miss it! I also added a bit of minced ginger and a little Chinese garlic-chili paste – my husband has a head cold and wanted to make sure he could taste it. Also, simply because we had it, I put some cooked white rice in the bowls first, then ladled the soup on top – maybe this, too, helped us not miss the chicken so much.
Thanks for the recipe!
Jan says
This looks really great.
Anissa R. says
I tried your soup, I left the cilantro and shallots in and added sriracha, which gave it the spicy taste I was looking for. Thanks!!!