Chicken Yellow Curry Soup

Chicken Yellow Curry Soup with vegetables is a hearty, filling soup recipe that will quench that craving for Thai food every time! Mix it up with your favorite veggies (and protein) for a delicious soup recipe you’ll want to put on repeat!

I recently went through a stint where I was craving Thai curry every day. 

Like an absolute fiend. 

I indulged with Thai takeout a few times, but then put a pause on my habit. I told myself I could still have curry but I would need to make it at home. 

Because: discipline. 

I wanted to ensure I took in as much curry flavor volume as possible without overdoing it on fat or carbs. Because if I didn’t perform some sort of intervention, I was bound to gain 30 pounds of peanut sauce on my Thai obsession alone. It’s a me problem, not a you problem, don’t worry about it.

And so, chicken yellow curry soup was born.

This super simple yet wildly enticing soup recipe is positively packed with Thai flavor to tickle your tastebuds, plenty of protein and fiber to get you full, and boasts a pretty great macronutrient breakdown if I do say so myself.

Feeling like you just need more carbs? Serve it up with steamed brown rice, white rice, or rice noodles my friend! 

The best part about this simple recipe is it’s so easy to make. Even if this is your first time making Thai-inspired food, you’ll have no problem making this goof-proof meal.

It’s my new favorite soup across the board.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients for Thai coconut curry soup. They are super customizable!

Ingredients for Chicken Yellow Curry Soup:

Avocado Oil: Used to sauté the vegetables. You can also use coconut oil, olive oil, or full fat coconut milk in place of the avocado oil.

Onion, Garlic, and Fresh Ginger: These aromatics pack a powerful flavor punch that is customary in Thai cuisine. Scale the amount of each ingredient up or down according to your personal taste.

Yellow Curry Paste: This is what makes this recipe so easy! Traditional Thai curry requires a great deal of leg work to toast a plethora of spices to maximize the curry flavor. A quality curry paste eliminates all of that work and you’re still left with authentic flavor. You can also use green curry paste or red curry paste. Use 2 tablespoons of curry powder instead of yellow curry paste if you’d like.

Vegetables: Carrots, zucchini, red bell pepper. These are just the veggies I typically always enjoy in curries, but you can choose your favorites.

Chicken: Two boneless skinless chicken breasts get chopped up into bite sized bits for this yummy chicken curry soup. If you prefer using chicken thighs, feel free to make the swap. If you have leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken, both are great options too.

Soup Base: Full-fat canned coconut milk, chicken broth (or vegetable broth), fish sauce, and pure maple syrup (or coconut sugar or cane sugar) are the ingredients that make up the delicious broth. Be sure to use full-fat coconut milk for the silkiest texture and the most flavor rather than going with light coconut milk. 

Thai Basil: For me, curry is always improved by fresh Thai basil. If your local grocery store only carries regular sweet basil, feel free to use it, or omit the basil altogether.

Salt: Add sea salt to your personal taste for flavor.

Let’s discuss a fun trick to make this soup an absolute cinch to prepare.

Tips and Tricks:

With a couple simple techniques, this easy soup recipe will be ready in less than 40 minutes. Ready?

I use the chop-as-I-go method for this recipe. 

First, I chop the onion and saute it. While the onion is sauteing, I chop the garlic, carrots, and bell pepper. Once those ingredients are in the pot, I chop the chicken and zucchini.

In this sense, we’re multi-tasking by cooking the ingredients that take the longest first, then chopping the ingredients that are next in line.

Now that we’re familiar with the basics, let’s make this coconut curry soup recipe!

How to Make Chicken Curry Soup:

Heat the avocado oil in a thick-bottomed large pot (I use my Dutch oven) over medium heat. Add the yellow onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften.

Stir in the curry paste, garlic, and ginger and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant.

Add the carrots and bell pepper to the pot. Cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the vegetables are beginning to soften.

Stir in the chopped chicken breasts and zucchini.

Pour the coconut milk, chicken stock, pure maple syrup, fish sauce, and sea salt into the pot and bring everything to a full boil. 

Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables reach your desired level of doneness and the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the fresh basil just before serving.

Serve the chicken curry soup in big bowls, and enjoy!

If you’d like, you can serve it with steamed brown rice, white rice, or coconut rice. Top the curry soup with fresh cilantro, Thai basil, green onion, Greek yogurt, or any other toppings you like. I like serving with lime wedges so you can add in a drizzle of fresh lime juice.

Store any leftover Thai curry soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Recipe Adaptations:

Just think of all the variety you can throw into this soup! 

• Change up the type of curry from yellow to green or red curry by swapping out the curry paste accordingly.
• Pick your favorite protein. Use steak, shrimp, salmon, ground turkey, firm tofu, etc.
• Swap out the vegetables with your favorite in-season veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, snap peas, bamboo shoots, lemon grass, a leafy green like spinach or chard, and bok choy are all great options.
• This recipe is mild as written. You can make it spicy by adding Thai chilis, red pepper flakes, or sriracha to your personal taste.
• If you don’t have fish sauce on hand, or if you don’t like the flavor, you can skip it. It is there to provide umami flavor, but the soup is great without it. You can also swap it out for liquid aminos or soy sauce.
• Add 8 ounces of rice noodles to make a curry noodle soup. For a low-carb version, add zucchini noodles.

If you love this chicken curry soup recipe, also try my Coconut Curry Vegetable Soup and my Green Curry Thai Noodle Soup. 

Also try these tried and true Thai curry favorites!

More Delicious Healthy Thai Recipes:

• Red Curry Salmon and Vegetables
• Green Curry with Fish 
• 15-Minute Thai Curry for One 
• One Skillet Chicken Green Curry with Rice 
• Thai Paleo Panang Curry 
• Chicken Massaman Curry

The next time you’re in the mood to destroy a significant amount of curry.

*You can also use regular basil if you can’t find Thai basil. If adding, stir the basil into the curry soup just before serving it.