Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup

As soon as Ashley submitted this recipe for Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Noodle Soup for the recent soup recipe swap I was smitten. I love Thai soup and this sounded delicious. As always, I was hesitant to use my crockpot since I've never made anything in there that's come out right, but I wanted to make this soup and since I'm home all day I figured I could keep an eye on it.


As you can see from the recipe below, I ended up modifying this heavily after making it per the original recipe. I will say this - Baby Girl absolutely loved this soup in it's original form, complete with the squirt of lime juice. She gobbled up a bowl and was asking for more.

However, I felt like something was missing. I added red curry paste to the ingredient list because it definitely needed those spices to make a more complex soup. I also decreased the amount of chicken, rice noodles and bean sprouts. I felt like they overwhelmed the soup, which I preferred with more broth and less "filling." Unfortunately my cilantro had gone bad by the time I got around to making this soup, which was a shame because I know that flavor would have gone well with the soup.

All in all this soup has serious potential. Oh and how did the crockpot work out, you might be wondering. The answer is I think I've given up on it. The chicken was overcooked and since the cooking time is so minimal I think this would have worked better on the stovetop. Directions have been modified below.

Thai Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup
Modified from Cheesecurd in Paradise

2 frozen or thawed chicken breast halves
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons freshly minced ginger
2 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 heaping tablespoons red curry paste
2 oz thin rice noodles
1 large red bell pepper, diced
1 cup fresh beans sprouts
2 jalapenos, finely sliced
2 limes
Cilantro for garnish
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a large Dutch oven, add the chicken, garlic, ginger, coconut milk, soy sauce, red curry paste, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Stir occasionally for an hour.

Using tongs, remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks. Return to pot. Add the rice noodles, bell pepper and sprouts. Cook 30 more minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve each bowl garnished with sliced jalapeno, a good handful of cilantro and some gigantic squirts of lime.