Thai Red Curry Coconut Chicken Soup

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One night when I had no idea what I wanted to make (like most nights actually) I was excited I had all the ingredients on hand for this Thai red curry soup and threw it together. The 4-year-old wanted a smoothie with coconut milk, which he didn’t even drink of course, so I needed to use the rest of the carton up before it went bad. That’s the only reason I used more than a standard-sized can. If you only have canned that is perfectly fine, it shouldn’t change the flavor much. Plus this was a large batch, you can always half the recipe. I had a lot of leftovers.

I make a lot of curry variations and I’ll post more eventually. It’s on my comfort food list. Thai red curry soup with butternut squash is probably my favorite. The little bit of sweetness compliments the chicken and the spiciness so well.

For this version I use Taste of Thai red curry paste which you can find at most grocery stores. Taste the soup broth before you add any honey, it might not be necessary depending on your tastes. Sometimes the coconut milk is sweet enough. Make sure you get unsweetened though.

Garnish is always optional of course. Mine was fire-breathing hot with the jalapeños, just how I like it. I’m on team cilantro and put a ton in my bowl. You can skip this too if you don’t like it.

It’s worth mentioning that this recipe is also full of some of my favorite foods to fight a cold or flu which you can read more about in this article I wrote.

Oh yeah and as far as the pressure cooker goes I know most people have an Instant Pot but I have a Power pressure cooker which I don’t even see for sale, but you can see the settings here just to compare. My instructions should work for both. If you don’t have one at all just use a pot, simmer covered instead of pressure cooking and up the cooking for the chicken and squash.

If there’s anything I forgot I will edit to add. I’m trying not to write a novel! Please feel free to comment with questions. Thank you and enjoy.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Butternut Squash Soup –

A creamy red curry coconut soup with shredded chicken, butternut squash, and red bell peppers over vermicelli noodles

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine Asian, Thai

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 electric pressure cooker Instant Pot or other brand
• 1 Cutting Board
• 1 Knife

Ingredients

  

• 2 lbs chicken thighs boneless, skinless
• 2.5 cups butternut squash cubed
• 1 whole small red bell pepper cut into strips
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated or minced
• 2 tbsp thai red curry paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil
• 2.5 cups coconut milk full fat or light
• 4 cups chicken broth bone broth or stock
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 package vermicelli rice noodles
• 1 handful cilantro (optional garnish)
• green onion, chopped (optional garnish)
• serrano or jalepeno slices (optional garnish)
• salt and pepper

Instructions

 

To prep

• trim excess fat from chicken
  2 lbs chicken thighs
• peel, deseed and cut butternut squash into about 1" sized cubes and deseed and slice red bell pepper into strips
  2.5 cups butternut squash
• mince up garlic cloves and grate ginger
  4 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh ginger

To cook

• Turn pressure cooker on and select sautee. Once it's hot add 1 tbsp of coconut oil to the pot
  2-3 tbsp coconut oil
• cook bell peppers stirring often for about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside
  1 whole small red bell pepper
• add another tbsp of coconut oil. Once it's hot and ready brown chicken thighs flipping once, a few minutes on each side. add more coconut oil if the chicken sticks to the pan
  2-3 tbsp coconut oil, 2 lbs chicken thighs
• add garlic and ginger, and curry paste. stir it around with the chicken for about a minute
  4 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp fresh ginger, 2 tbsp thai red curry paste
• add the chicken broth and fish sauce, close and lock lid and set to high pressure, soup setting, or meat setting (depending on your brand of pressure cooker) for 15 minutes. When done let it naturally release for 5-10 minutes. When you're ready you can quick release the rest of the steam
  4 cups chicken broth, 1 tbsp fish sauce
• while chicken is cooking, soak noodles in hot water for atleast 10 minutes or refer to package instructions
  1 package vermicelli rice noodles
• when it's safe to release the lid, shred chicken right in the pot with 2 forks. Add butternut squash and set for 2 more minutes. Usually a veggie steam option. Release the steam when time is done. Squash should be fork tender.
  2.5 cups butternut squash
• Add your coconut milk, honey, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well to combine and lastly add your bell pepper strips back in. Drain your vermicelli and serve soup in bowls over the noodles.
  1 whole small red bell pepper, 2.5 cups coconut milk, 1 tbsp honey, salt and pepper
• add garnishes of your choice to bowls
  1 handful cilantro, serrano or jalepeno slices, green onion, chopped

Notes

• I had a large carton of coconut milk on hand that I was trying to use up, but if you only have canned that’s totally fine. Just use 1 can of full fat coconut milk and some extra broth if needed. 
• Use bone broth for the richest flavor. 
• For a vegan option, skip the fish sauce, and substitute chicken and broth. Greens like spinach and kale go very well with this. Chickpeas or tofu work well for a meat substitute. 
• Different pressure cookers can be used or a stock pot if you don’t have one, just up the cooking time. 

Keyword butternut squash, chicken, coconut, curry, noodles, rice noodles, soup, spicy, thai, vermicelli