This Keto Thai Chicken Soup with zucchini noodles is the low carb ultimate comfort food. It’s so easy to make and only takes 30 minutes from start to finish. Dairy-free and Paleo too.
I first created this delicious and easy Thai Chicken Soup back in 2015 and it’s been a favorite ever since. It got really chilly here in Portland this past weekend so I made it yet again. I’d almost forgotten how good it is!
I really do love soup of all kinds. Rich and hearty soups like my Chile Relleno Chicken Soup, or vegetable soups like the Keto Cream of Mushroom. And don’t even get my started on chili, which may be the ultimate comfort food. Have you tried my Keto Short Rib Chili yet?
But this Thai Chicken Soup was the first soup I ever added zucchini noodles to, and I was blown away by the flavor and consistency of the soup itself. And the zoodles were utterly perfect. I have the ideal way for allowing them to cook without being too soggy in a soup like this.
Be sure to check it out below!
How to make zucchini noodles
Step 1: Purchase yourself a good spiral vegetable cutter. The hand-held ones are not worth your time and money, and the bigger ones are not particularly expensive. I have the Paderno spiralizer and it’s lasted me over 6 years now. Worth every penny.
Step 2: Grab a zucchini, chop of the ends, and start spiralizing!
I’d say that if any kitchen gadget could inspire a serious addiction, the Spiralizer would probably rank at the top of the list. You’ll know what I mean if you’ve ever stood there at your kitchen counter turning the crank and watching the fun noodle-shaped veggie slices that result.
You do one zucchini and get quite a giggle out of it, especially the somewhat phallic-looking zucchini core that results. Then you do another zuke, and another, and before you know it, you have a huge pile of spirally low carb zucchini noodles taking over your counter.
But you can’t stop, won’t stop, because it’s simply too much fun. You find yourself eyeing every fruit and vegetable in the house, wondering how that would fare on your spiral cutter. Really, it’s a sickness.
Can zucchini noodles be made ahead?
Surprisingly, they can. Not too far ahead, mind you. But I’ve had leftover zucchini noodles from recipes like this one and I’ve simply popped them in a tupperware and stored them in the fridge. They are fine for up to 3 days.
Don’t try freezing them, they become complete mush. I have heard of some people dehydrating them and then reconstituting them later but I have yet to try that myself.
How to make Easy Thai Chicken Soup
Deciding how to use your zucchini noodles is the fun part. Adding them to this Keto Thai Chicken Soup is a delicious way to cook and enjoy zoodles.
But you don’t want to just plop them into the soup the way you would with regular noodles. So bear with me here and I will give you my little trick for making them absolutely perfect and not the least bit soggy.
The soup itself is insanely easy to make. Simply sauté the onions in coconut oil, and add in the aromatics like jalapeño, Thai curry paste, and garlic. I love the green Thai curry paste for this but you could use red as well. And if you don’t like things as spicy as I do, skip the jalapeno and cut back on the curry paste.
Once you add the broth, you bring the soup to a boil and add the red pepper, sliced chicken, and fish sauce. The chicken is thinly sliced so it cooks quickly in the broth itself, and only takes about 5 minutes. A little chopped cilantro adds great flavor too.
Only now do you get to add the zucchini noodles. Except you don’t add them to the pot with the soup. You place them at the bottom of the soup bowl and pour the hot soup over top of each individual serving. The heat of the soup cooks the noodles perfectly, without making them soggy.
This Thai Chicken Soup is the perfect comfort food. One of my friends swears it cured her of the flu!
More Keto Thai Recipes
Paleo Thai Chicken Zoodle Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ¼ medium onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoon green curry paste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups chicken bone broth
- 13.5 ounces canned coconut milk (full fat)
- 1 medium red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 pound chicken breasts or thighs, thinly sliced against the grain
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce (use Red Boat for sugar free)
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 medium zucchini, spiralized
- 1 lime cut into 8 wedges
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat until melted and shimmering. Add the onions and sauté until just translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the jalapeño, curry paste and garlic, and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth and coconut milk, whisking until fully combined.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and add the red pepper, chicken and fish sauce. Let simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro.
- Divide the zoodles among 8 soup bowls and ladle the soup over; the heat of the soup will make the zoodles tender. (If you are not serving it all at once, only use enough zoodles for each bowl of soup you are serving. The rest will keep well in a covered container for a few days).
- Serve each with a squeeze of lime.
Jessica says
oh my gosh this looks amazing! Thank you so much!
Andie Thueson says
Thai food has become a fan favorite in our home. I will have to give this recipe a try!
Sabrina says
My kids are more motivated to eat veggies when they’re in spiral form so I use it as much as possible too! This soup sounds pretty amazing!
Lauren says
This looks so good! Can you make this in a crockpot?
Carolyn says
I am sure you can, but I haven’t tried it.
Maryana says
OMG! It is glorious!!! I just had to add celery and little ginger, also I made it without fish sauce or jalapeno, but it is still so close to the original Thai chicken soup! I loved it, and it will be my favorite this winter for sure! so fast, and so good!Thank you SO MUCH!!!
Carolyn says
So glad you liked it!
Jen says
This soup sounds delicious and I’m looking forward to trying it as I absolutely love Thai food but have been avoiding it while on the keto diet these past few months. One question – if I make a batch of this soup for lunchtime at work will the zoodles cook well enough if I just put them in before reheating it in the microwave each day?
Carolyn says
I think they should be okay as long as they aren’t sitting in the soup all day.
Jacky Pereira says
Delicious! My hubby said he could eat this every week forever… he is super picky, so thats a win!
Nancy says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made it today and it was delicious!!
Kind regards,
Nancy
gerry speirs says
Yum, i totally love this kind of meal at my local Thai!
Lauren @ HealthyDelish says
I’ve made something similar – zucchini noodles work so well in Asian inspired sous!
Jennifer Blake says
I have been on a MAJOR soup kick lately. This seems a bit spicy for my taste so I have to tone that down a little bit (suggestions welcome) but love the main ingredients.
Carolyn says
It really isn’t spicy at all! Give it a whirl.
Coleen says
This soup is soo full of umami flavor that it is a must try. It’s not spicy, really, so if you are looking for some heat you may need to alter a bit. I made it for lunch this week as the recipe calls for. I ended up making another batch of broth (green curry paste + chx broth + coconut milk) and cooked 2lb more of chicken to add to the remaining soup. We like our soups hearty in this house, and there’s NEVER enough broth when it tastes this good. Will definitely add this one to the rotation. Next time I will probably double up on the red pepper also, and figure out something to add to give it a little more of a kick. Maybe habanero as someone else suggested instead of the jalapeno.
Lisa says
This versatile soup was (is, and shall forever be) one of the most flavorful and amazing things I have ever eaten! So much so that I’ve chopped and frozen all of the ingredients in order to have them ready to cook up in my IP whenever I crave it. And crave it I will! Thank you!!! Out of sheer ignorance, I’d never even tried cooking with fish sauce. (I know…) I thought it just added a fishy flavor that many people actually enjoy, and I had always omitted it from any recipe’s. Recently I had been given a 2 Tb sample, and since your soup looked so pretty I tried it. Hello unami! Mind and taste buds blown! For my second batch we were out of zucchini so I used some shredded cabbage and a couple cups of chopped celery. Twas also outstanding. I think pretty much any green veggie would be fantastic. Win, win!
Carolyn says
So glad you tried it with the fish sauce.
Monique says
2 questions:
first, can I use regular coconut milk rather than canned?
second, would this freeze well? Its just me, and I try to make dishes I can eat a serving then freeze the rest into containers to eat at work or on other nights.
Thank you. I love your site, you make me dream about food all day too!
Carolyn says
Canned coconut milk is the regular kind. It’s thicker than carton versions and has more good fats. You can freeze this soup as long as you don’t add the zucchini noodles. Those will get completely soggy and gross.
Beth says
I am not a fan of Thai food, but thought I would try this anyway. It was delicious! My daughter is on chemo, and she also loved it.
Carolyn says
I am so glad to hear it hit the spot, especially for someone who is going through chemo.
Diana Hansberry says
Do you have a good quality small spiralizer that you recommend? I used to have the big one you linked to but it was just a hassle and bulk for my small house. I saw this one below but it seems kinda dangerous for kids..are they all that way? my kids always enjoyed using the big one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CA6R4RS?psc=1
Carolyn says
I do still use the Paderno one but I hear good things about this little one too http://amzn.to/2mFNngA
Isata says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’m new to cooking and found this very easy to follow. Also the ingredients weren’t hard to find. I devoured my bowl so fast and it made my sore throat (a bad cold I have) feel so much better. Next time I will add a bit more coconut milk since I only had 13.5 ounce can (it was still perfectly yummy). I also added baby mushrooms, green onions and 2tbsp of the curry paste instead of just 1 1/2 tbsp. I seasoned my chicken breast also before adding with poultry seasoning. Thank you so much. Can’t wait to make this with shrimp next time for my boyfriend.
Carolyn says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Keisha says
I made this yesterday and it came out great. I added a little more green curry than the recipe calls for and I added a little season salt. I also cooked the chicken separately (with a little salt and pepper) and added it to the mixture. I like food super flavorful so I modified it a bit. Thanks for the recipe. It was awesome.
Mary says
I just found this recipe this morning, and made it for lunch just now (after a trip to the store). I was craving soup, and this looked great. Plus, I had the zucchini noodler gadget, and I had only used it once, with disappointing results due to an “eh” recipe.
All ingredients for this soup were easy to get, and this recipe was easy to make. The “Red Boat” fish sauce was $14 at Whole Foods, and I wasn’t that committed. I bought a much smaller bottle for $2-3. I left out the cilantro due to my personal aversion, and I didn’t miss it. I’d probably chop some on the side for my husband, though.
I added a pinch of sea salt.
End result: This was really, really good! So glad I tried it. I like more of a kick to my food, and this recipe is incredibly mild. I’d probably add some red Thai peppers, or a solid habenero next time. I will be keeping this recipe and making it again!
Carolyn says
I am so glad you tried it too!
Shannon says
I just made this soup using chicken thighs and love it! Will use someone else’s idea and get a rotisserie for next time. Not a big deal, but my coconut milk seems to have separated. Any idea why? It just kinda sits on top until I mix it in but separates again pretty quickly.