Coconut Curry Chicken Soup with Quinoa

This Coconut Curry Chicken Soup with Quinoa is easy to make, healthy and ready under 30 minutes. King of the Thai comfort foods, this delicious red curry soup is full of veggies, gluten-free, dairy-free and can easily be made paleo, vegan and low-carb with a few simple ingredient swaps. 

Enough with Mac n Cheese. No, seriously. I mean it.

Look. I know you’re busy on weekdays.

We all know how it goes: You get up early, grab a coffee and a pair of toast, drop the kids to school/daycare, trying not to be late for work.

Then you work hard all day and often times the only thing you had the chance to eat is a less-than-decent “sandwich” you bought from a vending machine because you “checked-out” after making the kids’ lunches the night before.

When you get home from work “that night”, exhausted, the last thing you want to do is cook.

You want it done FAST, so you grab that instant mac n cheese box from the pantry and BOOM, done.

But if you look back at what you ate that day… Might as well eat cardboard, maybe you’d get more nutritional value from it. No. Seriously…

(You should never, ever eat cardboard.)

So I’m saying it again: Enough with Mac n Cheese! If you have 30 minutes, there is no reason not to eat properly.

This restaurant-style coconut curry soup is one of my favorite weeknight meals. It is pretty quick to make and only requires one pot.

(Plus is it SO much more tasty than Mac n Cheese!)

No more excuses!

Like I said earlier, this soup can be made compliant with most diets.

For a low-carb and paleo version, replace quinoa with cauliflower rice or zoodles.

For a vegan version, replace chicken with tofu and fish sauce with soy sauce.

This recipe is inspired by the traditional Thai Tom Kha soup but I have simplified it by swapping/removing a few ingredients to make it more “weeknight-friendly”.

Bon Apétit!

4 from 1 vote

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Coconut Curry Chicken Soup with Quinoa

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 6

Calories 362 kcal

Author One Clever Chef

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp sambal oelek
• 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 cup cooked chicken shredded
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 13.5 oz 400ml cans full-fat coconut milk
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup quinoa uncooked
• juice of 1 lime
• 8 leaves Thai basil torn
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup mushroom sliced
• 1 red bell pepper sliced
• 1 large carrot shredded
• 1 large onion sliced

Toppings

• 3 green onion stalks chopped
• 3 tbsp Thai basil torn

Instructions

1. Melt 2 tbsp coconut oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Sauté onion, garlic, red curry paste and sambal oelek together for 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth and quinoa, bring to a boil.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until bell pepper is soft.

Recipe Notes

For a more traditional version of this soup, you may add 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger and 1 lemongrass stalk to the broth (Remove the lemongrass before serving).

Nutrition Facts

Coconut Curry Chicken Soup with Quinoa

Amount Per Serving (1 Serving)

Calories 362 Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Fat 23g35%

Saturated Fat 17g106%

Cholesterol 17mg6%

Sodium 939mg41%

Potassium 629mg18%

Carbohydrates 27g9%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 12g24%

Vitamin A 3290IU66%

Vitamin C 42.2mg51%

Calcium 70mg7%

Iron 4.3mg24%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.