This slow cooker Thai soup with chicken is packed with flavor thanks to the combination of curry paste, coconut milk, fresh ginger, and lime.
Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Soup Recipe
Here’s the thing about cooking with slow cookers. It’s convenient. But only if you’re creating a recipe where you don’t have to dirty more than the slow cooker. Like this slow cooker Thai chicken soup.
I’m all about time management. I eat breakfast while I do the dishes, I brush my teeth while I tie on my running shoes. In other words, I’m a multi-tasker who isn’t terribly efficient at getting much of any of my laundry list of daily to-dos completed because my mind thinks I have to do more than six things at at time. Why? Oh why?
So these days, unless its a lazy day weekend, my to-do list doesn’t always necessitate spending an hour and a half making dinner. I don’t mean letting it cook, I mean MAKING dinner.
Enter the genius invention that has been on every wedding registry since 1973: The slow cooker. And this slow cooker Thai coconut chicken soup. If I’m going to use a slow cooker, I want to make a recipe where I don’t have to brown this, sauté that, and dirty one single other pan to make my dream dinner come true.
Prepare yourself, you will need to dirty a cutting board and a knife to make this Thai coconut chicken soup. And maybe a whisk or big spoon. But other than that? You can put that fancy dish washing scrubbie away my friend, this is a one stop shop recipe I’m happy to make. Just so long as someone else does the dishes dish.
What’s in This Thai Soup?
In the spirit of no-fuss cooking, I tried to keep the ingredients list for this Thai coconut chicken soup as minimal as the prep work. Here’s what I used in this Thai chicken soup:
- Red curry paste
- Coconut milk
- Chicken Broth
- Fish sauce
- Brown sugar
- Peanut butter
- Chicken breasts
- Red bell pepper
- Onion
- Fresh ginger
- Frozen peas
- Lime juice
- Cooked white rice
- Fresh cilantro
How to Make Slow Cooker Thai Soup
Add all the ingredients but the lime juice, cilantro, rice, and peas to your slow cooker. Pop the lid on, turn the slow cooker to High, and let the Thai soup cook for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, stir in the peas and let the crockpot chicken soup cook for another 30 minutes.
I like serving this Thai coconut chicken soup over white rice with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top.
Can I Omit the Fish Sauce?
Technically, yes. But that small amount of fish sauce adds so much umami flavor to this Thai soup. There’s really no substitute for fish sauce, so I highly recommend using it in this recipe. You should be able to find it in the Asian section of your grocery store or online.
Can I Make Thai Soup in an Instant Pot?
You likely can. However, I’ve only ever made this Thai coconut curry soup in a regular slow cooker so I can’t give any tips on adapting this recipe for the Instant Pot.
Tips for Making Slow Cooker Thai Soup
This Thai chicken soup recipe is easily adaptable when it comes to the veggies. Sub in or add carrots, potatoes, or leeks. Or for a purely veg version, change up the chicken broth for vegetable broth and omit the chicken. Just be sure to keep the lime and the peanut buttery taste to complement the spiciness of the curry and you’re in business.
For the best flavor, I recommend using freshly grated ginger and freshly squeezed lime juice. Ground ginger won’t give you the same flavor as fresh, and pre-bottled lime juice doesn’t compare to freshly squeezed limes.
A few readers have said their soup has split near the end of the cook time. That’s just the coconut milk and broth separating from each other — your Thai soup hasn’t gone bad. Just give the soup a stir to bring everything back together. To avoid this separation, I recommend using full-fat coconut milk in this recipe.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Bookmark this recipe and leave a comment below, or take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Slow Cooker Chicken Thai Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 2-12 ounce cans of coconut milk
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts , cut into 1 ½ inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper , seeded and sliced into ¼ inch slices
- 1 onion , thinly sliced
- 1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger , minced
- 1 cup frozen peas , thawed
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- cilantro , (for garnish)
- cooked white rice
Instructions
- Mix the curry paste, coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, brown sugar and peanut butter in a 4-½ to 6-quart slow-cooker bowl. Then, place the chicken breast, red bell pepper, onion and ginger in the slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
- Add in the peas and cook for 30 minutes longer.
- Stir in lime juice and serve with cilantro and white rice.
Nutrition
More Crockpot Soups to Try
- Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna Soup
- Slow Cooker Corn Chowder
- Slow Cooker Hatch Green Chili Verde
- Slow Cooker Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Kale
- Slow Cooker Healthy Turkey and Sweet Potato Chili with Quinoa
- Slow Cooker Turkey Meatball Soup
More Thai-Inspired Recipes You’ll Love
- Thai Quinoa Salad
- Thai Basil Chicken (Pad Krapow Gai)
- Shrimp in Thai Coconut Sauce
- Thai Coconut Chicken and Rice
- Thai Coconut Noodle Salad
Craving more life balance, less stress, and better health? Check out my Nourished Planner, the daily planner to help create simplicity and under-schedule your life.
We send good emails. Subscribe to FoodieCrush and have each post plus exclusive content only for our subscribers delivered straight to your e-mail box.
Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest for more FoodieCrush inspiration.
As always, thank you for reading and supporting companies I partner with, which allows me to create more unique content and recipes for you. There are affiliate links in this post of which I receive a small commission. All opinions are always my own.
Jackie
I found this really watery. Did no one else? Two cups of stock is too much. Mine also curdled on high. Will try on low with less stock next time, will also add more veg.
mayli
I made this last night on the stove per others’ advice.It was excellent!It is restaurant quality :) I did add freshly chopped ginger, green onions & cayenne for some kick. I didn’t add the brown sugar or peas (didn’t have any), but it didn’t need anything else. It was perfect the way it was.Thanks!
Chirssy
ALSO I SHOULD ADD, once it’s done cooking, it does look like the milk curdled. We actually almost didn’t eat it because it looked bad. But I promise, it’s fine! :)
OH, and I cooked it on low for 7 1/2 hours. PERFECT. :)
Did you use low-fat coconut milk? I think that may be the culprit?
Chrissy
I did not. :)
It taste incredible, just looks a little funky. haha
Chirssy
This soup is INCREDIBLE. I made it exactly how you said to. I made it for my husband and two best friends and this is now their favorite meal. It’s been 2 months since I’ve last made it and they are STILL talking about it and telling everybody about this soup. amazing!
Mimi
LOVED the soup! I made a few adaptations to make it a little healthier for me (used light coconut milk, increased the chicken, used PB2). So, so good . . . and so, so easy! I threw my adapted version up on my blog today (www.mimisfitfoods.com) with a link back to yours, of course! I even included some nutritional information Thank you for the inspiration and such a lovely recipe!
Ann
Just wondering if anyone has tried freezing this? Its in the crock pot can’t wait for it to be ready!!
Kristi
I thought this was a great recipe! Since I was using light coconut milk I only used 1/2 C. of chicken broth. I work all day and often can’t make it home for lunch so I set the crock pot on low and cooked for appx 8 hours adding the veggies in the last hour. Thank you for a great recipe!
Danielle
Just made this and it will definitely be a regular soup in our house. It was kind of bland, just missing something that I can’t put my finger on but I’m looking forward to experimenting with it. It’s a good starting base and I love the other commenters ideas of adding mushrooms, potatoes and lemongrass. And btw, my soup separated too but I just stirred it back together. I think next time I won’t cook it as long and maybe just add the coconut milk for the last hour. Thanks for the recipe!
Melissa
I’m making this right now. I was so excited to find this recipe. I did add more veggies and went light on the chicken. Can’t wait to have it for dinner. Thanks!
Randi Lynne
Got this going in the Crock Pot right now. I added the juice of one lime, one extra spoon of red curry, green onion, cilantro and I used chicken thighs. Tasted it before adding the chicken and it tastes wonderful. I can’t wait for lunch!
Randi Lynne
OH, I also added two garlic cloves, a jalapeno, a Poblano pepper and am going to throw in the red peppers I roasted yesterday when I put in the peas.
JP
So can I do it on low for 8 hours?
Kate
Curdled. So sad. Wonder why it happens to some and not others?
Karen G
The lime juice and cilantro really helped to balance out the dish. Too much coconut milk for my taste. Next time I will do one can of coconut milk (or maybe less) and a couple extra cups of chicken stock.
Glad you made it to your liking, the best part of cooking is we can all adapt to our own tastes!
Jessica
Made this tonight and was a little underwhelmed. Some alterations I would make next time: less coconut milk and more stock to decrease the sweetness of the base, waaay more lime juice (there was a definite lack of acid), and add the red peppers with the peas near the end (mine turned to slimy mush and were inedible). Good luck!
Emmanuel Hessler
Well that looks delicious.
It looks a little bit like the Malaysian Laksa soup and I seemed to recognize a few of those ingredients in the comments (lemongrass, galangal, etc…).
Nice picture too!
Rash
Yes it does look like the Malaysian laksa soup(I’m Malaysian) :)
Amanda Z
This was delicious! There was a lot of flavor, the coconut milk and peanut butter came through the most. I don’t know if the red curry paste I bought just isn’t very spicy but I wanted some kick so I added a squirt of siracha to my bowl and it tasted great. I forgot to add the frozen peas at the end, so it has the potential to be even better next time when I remember. Thanks for a great recipe!
Lauren
Thank you for this recipe! I didn’t have every ingredient, but I took a few liberties, and our soup turned out divine! I love the fact that there was no work to do before putting it in the cooker. This is going to be a family favorite for sure.
JeanieS
We made this last Friday and it was AWESOME!! Super easy and we had most of the ingredients on hand (just had to get coconut milk and curry paste) and just “threw” it in the slow cooker and boom, a few hours later we were done. I made some jasmine rice to really fill us up and that was perfect. I doubled it and we now have a ton in the freezer to enjoy again and again. Thanks for the recipe!!
PS – I rarely comment on food blogs, so you know I liked it!!! :)
Roxy
This looks delicious! Especially since it doesn’t contain any of the foods I’ve recently been told I’m allergic to: Gluten, Dairy, eggs and soy! The only problem is I don’t have a slow cooker. I’m assuming I can do this in a regular pot. Do you have any idea how long that may take? Thanks!
Kate
Where are y’all finding red curry paste? I’ve tried 3 grocery stores this week to no avail.
Randi Lynne
I shop at a City Market/Kroger and it is on the Asian aisle in a very small, round glass jar.
Emily
If I’m doubling the recipe, should I cook longer than suggested? I’m making it for a family of 7. Thanks!
Jen
Very disappointed :( the coconut milk curdled so I have had to drain off the chicken/onions/pepper and remake the soup on the stove. I followed instructions to the letter. Now i have created too much washing up for myself. Any tips?
Linda Sher
The soup appeared curdled at the end of slow-cooking for 4 hours, but it smoothed out with stirring. It has a nice flavor, but I could not taste the ginger. I would add Thai Basil, Thai Lime Leaves and Lemon Grass and more ginger to give it more of a Thai flavor.
Kate
So it’s ok to eat it even with the curdled cocunut milk?
thriftysoul
yes, the fat has just separated, nothing has spoiled
Ingrid
I recommend using full fat coconut milk, not light. I’ve made this soup (a family favorite!) at least 10 times, and I find Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk works really well. Stirring at the end helps. My kids have to negotiate to decide who gets to take leftovers the next day (if they left any from the night before).
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Thanks for sharing your tips!
Betsy
I made this soup today and will be making again and again!!! Thankbyou for sharing.
joanni
this is gorgeous, just what is needed on cold wintery days.
Theresa @aloveafare
I can’t wait to try this soup. Looks so delicious and I’ve been craving Thai food lately. Thanks for posting.