Chicken Khao Soi Recipe

Chicken Khao Soi, a dish hailing from Chiang Mai Thailand, is the perfect mix of creamy coconut curry, chewy noodles, and tender meat. 

By making a few tweaks to the recipe, we can craft a lighter version of Khao Soi that seamlessly fits into a weight loss diet without compromising on its delicious flavors.

Jump to:

• ✅  Why Make This Recipe
• 💭 What is Khao Soi?
• 🍎Calories and Nutrition – Make It Healthy 
• 📋 Ingredient Notes
• 📖 Substitutions and Variations
• 🔪 Step by Step Instructions 
• 💭 Recipe FAQs
• 💭 Expert Tips
• 🍽 Related Recipes
• 🍳 Recipe

✅  Why Make This Recipe

Ultimate Comfort Food – Khao Soi earns its title as the ultimate comfort food with its warm embrace of aromatic spices, velvety coconut broth, and comforting noodles, providing a soul-soothing meal.

Spicy and flavorful – This dish has a deep and complex flavor made from the fresh curry paste. Using key techniques I learned from Grandma’s Cooking School in Chiang Mai, you can learn how to make an authentic khao soi from the comfort of your home.

Balanced and healthy – This khao soi recipe has been modified to reduce calories through mindful ingredient choices, offering a healthy and nutritious take on this Northern Thailand classic.

💭 What is Khao Soi?

Khao Soi, a beloved Thai dish originating from the northern city of Chiang Mai, is a tantalizing bowl of comfort and flavor. At its core, Khao Soi is a rich and aromatic coconut curry soup, distinguished by its unique combination of fragrant spices. The dish typically features tender egg noodles accompanied by a variety of toppings, such as succulent meat (often chicken or beef), crispy noodles, and fresh herbs.

In this recipe, I used a couple of recipe tweaks and mindful ingredient choices to make a lower-calorie version that tastes exactly the same. This would be a great dish to pair with a Thai steamed fish or Tom Yum soup.

🍎Calories and Nutrition – Make It Healthy 

Khao soi can typically be quite high in calories due to the coconut milk and meat choices. However, In this chicken khao soi recipe, I’ve portioned the ingredients to make the dish only 442 calories with 33 grams of protein, 17 grams of fat, and 53 grams of carbs.

Here’s what I did to make this healthy:

• Use a lean protein such as chicken – I used 4 ounces of chicken thigh, which gives a sizeable amount of lean protein. Other typical protein options for this dish are fried chicken and/or beef, which are typically much higher in calories. 
• Portion the egg noodles – I used 1 serving of egg noodles, which only add about 195 calories. 
• Use light coconut milk – A serving of light milk is 45 calories vs 120 calories from normal coconut milk due to less fat content as the light version has less coconut cream. 
• Portion sugar and seasonings mindfully – Used 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. Both are essential to the curry flavor and 1 teaspoon of sugar is only 15 calories of sugar. 
• Omitted the crispy noodles – Typically, khao soi comes with a crispy noodle. I chose to omit the in this recipe with the goal of limiting calories, as the crispy noodle is deep fried and would add a significant amount of calories from fat.

For a detailed breakdown of each ingredient, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of this chicken khao soi recipe, you may refer to the table below:

📋 Ingredient Notes

To make the chicken khao soi recipe, you’ll need the following key ingredients:

• Boneless chicken thigh – I prefer to use boneless chicken thigh as it is juicy but still packed with protein, and easy to work with (no deboning necessary). You can also use chicken breast if desired.
• Egg Noodles – Traditionally used in khao soi recipes. You can find these at your local Asian grocery store.
• Mild Dried Red Chili – Use a mild red dried red chili. Some options include guajillo, puya, or ancho chilies. If you want to add some kick, you can also add a Thai chili or two.
• Red Curry Paste – I made my own curry paste from scratch using a mortar and pestle. Khao Soi curry paste is a mixture of lemongrass, coriander, cardamom, galangal, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, red chilis, and turmeric.
• Light Coconut Milk – Used 1 serving of light coconut milk. This gives the curry its signature flavor at a fraction of the calories.
• Seasonings – The curry sauce is often seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice to give it a balanced flavor. Palm sugar is what's traditionally used but both brown sugar and white sugar also work.

See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements.

📖 Substitutions and Variations

Use a blender to make curry paste – If you don't have a mortar and pestle, you can also use a blender. You may need to add a bit of water or stock to help the paste form.

Use store-bought curry paste – If you want to make it easier, you can use a store-bought Thai curry paste as a shortcut – the Mae Ploy brand is a favorite among home cooks.

Galangal sub – Galangal is a relatively harder-to-find herb. I was able to find it at HMart as well as my local Asian markets. You can order dried galangal online or substitute by using ginger and a spritz of lemon juice.

Kaffir Lime Leaves – Kaffir lime leaves are also a harder-to-find herb. I've also been able to find it at HMart as well as my local Vietnamese grocery store or find dried kaffir lime leaves online. If you cannot find it, you can just omit it.

Adjust spiciness – If you prefer a more intense spice, you can add 1-3 Thai chilis.

🔪 Step by Step Instructions 

Rehydrate the red chilies – Start by rehydrating the red chilies. I typically leave them in water for about 30-45 minutes before cooking.

Prepare the curry paste ingredients – Gather the curry paste ingredients together. Slice the lower half of the lemongrass into small slices until the purple rings disappear. De-stem the kaffir lime leaf. Mince all the ingredients into small pieces so that the curry paste is formed more easily.

Pound the curry paste – Put all the ingredients in a granite mortar and pestle until a thick paste forms.

Prep the Ingredients – Cut the chicken thigh into small, bite-sized pieces. Mince the shallots.

Cook the noodles – In a pot of boiling water, cook your egg noodles according to the time on the package directions.

Sauté the curry paste – Use cooking spray and spray a skillet, then sauté the curry paste along with the garlic and onions.

Make the coconut broth – Turn the stove to low heat and add in the broth and coconut milk. High heat will make the milk evaporate very fast. If that happens, you can deglaze the sauce with water or stock. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.

Season to taste – Season the curry sauce with fish sauce, sugar, and lime. Taste and adjust if needed.

Assemble your khao soi bowl – Add your noodles and coconut broth to a bowl. Garnish with shallots and cilantro and enjoy!

💭 Recipe FAQs

💭 Expert Tips

Add Water or Stock to Help Form Paste – Making curry paste in a blender can be harder without a liquid agent - add water while making it to help form the paste. I added about ¼ cup.

Kaffir Lime Leaf Stem – Be sure to destem the kaffir lime leaves - the stem has a bitter flavor that can be unpleasant. To destem, fold the leaves in half and cut off the stem. 

How to use lemongrass – For the curry paste, we will use the lower white half of the lemongrass stalk. Slice the lemongrass widthwise, until the purple rings begin to disappear.

🍽 Related Recipes

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🍳 Recipe