This Thai Chicken Soup with zucchini noodles is the ultimate low carb comfort food. It has a rich, coconut-scented broth with plenty of chicken and vegetables. And it takes only 30 minutes to make!
I first created this delicious Thai Chicken Soup back in 2015 and it’s been a favorite ever since. When the chilly rains creep over the Pacific Northwest, we make this easy keto soup frequently.
I really do love soup of all kinds. Rich and hearty soups like my Chile Relleno Chicken Soup, or vegetable soups like Instant Pot Cauliflower Soup. And you will often find a pot of Keto Chili bubbling away in my kitchen.
I made this Thai-style coconut chicken soup recently for a friend when she was under the weather. And she swears it cured her of the flu. Now that’s a healthy bowl of deliciousness!
Why we love it
This recipe is lighter than a lot of keto soups, so it’s great when you don’t want a heavy meal. While the coconut milk does lend some creaminess to the broth, it doesn’t have any dairy. It also has a bright fresh flavor from the green curry paste.
And the zucchini noodles stay nice and firm, without become a soggy mess. The trick is to add them to each bowl before ladling the hot soup overtop. That way, they cook just enough to combine perfectly with the other ingredients.
With all the chicken and low carb vegetables, it’s a healthy high protein recipe. And it takes only 15 minutes to make, start to finish. Easy enough for a busy weeknight!
Reader reviews
“Delicious! My hubby said he could eat this every week forever… he is super picky, so thats a win.” — Jacky P.
“We had this for dinner tonight and honestly we all agreed it was one of the best soups we have ever had! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.” — Kitty
“This was so good! I loved the flavor, but I loved even more that my girls loved it. They are so picky sometimes!” — Julie B.
Ingredients you need
- Onion: You can use white or yellow onions.
- Jalapeño: Skip this if you don’t like spicy food.
- Green curry paste: You can also use red curry paste, but I think green has the right flavor for this recipe.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is a must for the best flavor.
- Canned coconut milk: This is the base of the soup and gives it flavor and creaminess. Use full fat coconut milk.
- Red bell pepper: This adds some color and flavor.
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs: By cutting the chicken into thin strips, they will cook quickly in the soup. You can also use any leftover cooked chicken you have. Just add to the soup and it’s ready when heated through.
- Fish sauce: There really is no substitute for fish sauce, so don’t skip it. I use Red Boat for a sugar free fish sauce.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro offers such vibrant and wonderful flavor. You can use parsley or basil if you can’t tolerate cilantro.
- Zucchini: You will need to spiralize the zucchini noodles prior to making the soup.
- Lime: Again, fresh lime offers more bright and wonderful flavor and a little acid to balance the soup.
- Staples: Chicken broth, avocado oil.
Step by Step Directions
1. Sauté the onions: In a large sauce pan, heat the avocado oil over medium heat until melted and shimmering. Add the onions and sauté until just translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the aromatics: 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.
3. Add the chicken: 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.
4. Add zoodles and serve: 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.
Tips for Success
Purchase 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 for years.
Don’t add the zucchini noodles to the pot. By placing the zucchini noodles in your soup bowl and ladling the hot soup over it, the heat of the broth cooks the noodles perfectly, without making them soggy.
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.
Slice the chicken relatively thinly so it cooks quickly and evenly. No need to cook it before adding it to the soup!
Frequently Asked Questions
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, as they become complete mush.
You can freeze this Thai soup as long as you don’t include the zucchini noodles. The soup will freeze well for up to 3 months. Once reheated, add the zoodles and enjoy!
This Keto Thai Chicken Soup recipe has 6g of carbs and 1g of fiber per serving. That comes to 5g net carbs per serving.
More keto Thai-style recipes
Thai Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil can also use coconut or olive oil
- ¼ medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium 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 ½ 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 (about 10 ounces each) 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.
Notes
Eileen says
Do you think I could use the red curry paste instead of the green?
Carolyn says
Sure!
Wendy says
Made this soup today and tried out my new spiralizer. The soup is yummy and I LOVE my new spiralizer!!
LeAnne says
Thai always intrigues me but have been afraid that it would be too spicy. Finally dove in with this recipe and LOVE it! The green curry is mild and love all the other ingredients as well, using rotisserie chicken and homemade broth.
Erica says
This soup is so yummy! I made it for dinner tonight. My husband and I had multiple bowls. It wasn’t too spicy for my kids, either. I will definitely be keeping this in my Paleo recipe arsenal!
Kitty says
We had this for dinner tonight and honestly we all agreed it was one of the best soups we have ever had! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Megan says
I love this recipe. I’ve made it twice in 2 weeks. Addicted.
KalynsKitchen says
Hi there,
Just letting you know that I featured this recipe in my Deliciously Healthy Low-Carb Recipes round-up from last month. (Also your slow cooker meatloaf!) I hope a lot of my readers will come over here and check it out, great recipe!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Kalyn!
linda says
Hi Carolyn, Just made this today – we’re getting buried in snow here in Southern Ontario – and it was absolutely delicious! One small modification: since I follow a ketogenic diet I wanted to reduce the carb load. I substituted Shirataki/Miracle Noodles (Fettucini) for the zucchini and cut the carbs down to 3 (ECC) per serving. Bonus is that these will never get soggy so I froze the other servings.
Apologies to all those who are hoping to use their spiralizer….
Linda
Julie says
Mmmm… This was so good!
Though maybe I’m not so good at portion control – we ate it in about 4-5 servings. I would’ve been really hungry still with half the amount. I used light coconut milk because that’s what I had on hand, so maybe that balanced it out a bit 🙂
Carolyn says
Light coconut milk would be a lot less satisfying and filling so yes, I can see that!
Shelley says
I made this soup on Friday after viewing it on Pinterest. Very easy to follow recipe! I was able to make it even more simple by using pre-cut rotisserie chicken from my local supermarket. Thank you for sharing and curbing my Thai food cravings!
Carolyn says
Glad to hear it!
dreeza says
I must chime in here because turnip is my friend. You just have to treat it first and then it’s close to a potato. Parboil the turnip in water and milk ( I use cream ) for a few minutes. continue cooking in your recipe and it is wonderful low carb eating – lower than rutabaga I think.
Beth.H says
I just ordered a spiral vegi slicer from amazon on Friday. This soup sounds wonderful can’t wait to try it, I love spicy. Thanks for your inspiration.
tiffany says
Do you think this would freeze well?
Carolyn says
Yes, but I wouldn’t put the zucchini noodles in until you’ve rewarmed it. They are best put in fresh or they will get soggy.
Catherine says
Great and healthy recipes. xo Catherine
Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says
Carolyn, I love my spiralizer!!! and love your paleo/low carb spin on one of my favorite Asian soups!! love the green curry paste!
Susan says
Shoveled about 8 inches of snow off my driveway today & was thinking about a nice hot soup for supper. Anything Thai or anything curry is always a winner!
KalynsKitchen says
Great recipe! I love everything about this.
lisa says
This looks great – I have a spiraler I have not used yet (sigh) – perfect initiation! I assume the serving size if 1 cup approx? With 8 cups yield?
Carolyn says
Yep, 1 cup.
Hannah R. says
Looks delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Also FYI: the serving size says ‘1 cupcake’! 😉
Carolyn says
Must have been auto-correct. Off to fix it!
Lori says
I just made zucchini noodles last night! I am addicted to my spiral cutter too, so I’m thrilled to see another recipe where I can use them. FYI – I tried “noodling” eggplant and it didn’t work at all with the tool I have – too fibrous, I think.
Carolyn says
Good to know. Have you tried rutabaga or turnip? I did a small rutabaga once and then fried the noodles. They were tasty…not exactly crisp but really tasty!
Lori says
I have not tried those – I’ll consider rutabaga, but turnip and I are no longer on speaking terms. 🙂
Carolyn says
Uh oh! What did turnip do to you???
Lori says
It tricked me into eating it then gave me acid reflux. Bad turnip.
Carolyn says
Ah…nasty sneaky turnip!
Nichol says
What cutter do u have? I got one and it didn’t wk at all:(
Carolyn says
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KOWGZJE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00KOWGZJE&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=TRKRGBJIZ4U3JYNJ