Oh man is this the perfect recipe for getting back into the swing of things after the holidays! I think that we’re all ready for some deeply nourishing, veggie-heavy meals right about now. I recently made something similar to this noodle soup for dinner and shared it on IG Stories, and got so many inquiries about the recipe. So here it is but a little more intentional and less off the cuff (directly inspired by the Thai soup Tom Kha Gai). It’s seriously my favorite thing to eat right now – the balance of coziness from the noodles and coconut milk and the healthfulness from all the ginger, garlic, mushrooms, and veggies gets me every time.
Don’t let the list of ingredients deter you, this soup is very easy to make. It’s all about building flavor in the broth, which starts with the power combo of onion, chili, garlic, and ginger. The broth gets finished off with a touch of coconut milk, which really rounds out its gingery and garlicky intensity and makes it perfectly creamy. It is SO GOOD – I could seriously drink it for every meal this January. We then cook some veggies and mushrooms directly in the broth and serve everything over noodles, garnished with tons of cilantro, scallions, squeezes of lime juice, and crushed nuts. We hope that you’ll give this a try, it’s a real winner!
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or avocado oil
- 1 yellow onion - diced
- 1 small chili pepper - sliced and seeded if preferred
- sea salt
- 2" piece of ginger - minced or grated
- 6 garlic cloves - minced
- 4-5 kaffir lime leaves (optional but highly recommended)
- zest from 2 limes
- 4 cups (1 quart) low-sodium vegetable broth + 1 cup purified water (or 5 cups broth)
- 1 medium sweet potato or winter squash, or 2 medium carrots - cut in medium chunks
- 3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms - stemmed and sliced
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1 13.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk
- juice from 1 lime, plus more lime slices for garnishing
- 8 oz vermicelli rice noodles or other noodles of choice
- green onion - sliced, for serving
- cilantro - for serving
- crushed cashews or peanuts - for serving (optional)
- chili flakes - for serving (optional)
- Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, chili, and a pinch of salt, sauté for 8-10 minutes, until soft. Add the ginger and garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the kaffir lime leaves, if using, lemon zest, vegetable broth, and water. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Add the sweet potato/squash/carrots and shiitake mushrooms, bring back up to a simmer and simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until the sweet potato/squash/carrots are cooked through. Add the sugar and coconut milk. Bring back up to a boil and turn off the heat. Stir in the lime juice. Discard the kaffir lime leaves, if using. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
- Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Distribute the noodles among bowls. Ladle the broth over the noodles, making sure to catch some vegetables and mushrooms when ladling. Garnish generously with green onion, cilantro, lime slices, crushed nuts and chili flakes, if using. Enjoy!
- Kaffir lime leaves are a life-changingly delicious ingredient, and we really recommend seeking them out. Look for them at Asian/Indian markets - they are often sold frozen. You can also find them dried.
- This recipe is highly customizable! You can add all kinds of veggies. Here are some ideas:
-baby bok choy or spinach
-zucchini
-spiralized daikon radish
-bell pepper
-basil
-other mushrooms like maitake or crimini, etc.
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Looks great! Is that 3.5 oz mushrooms before stemmed or after? Is there any possible substitute for kaffir leaves?
Lastly I’m unable to print it using your link. Is anyone else having this problem?
Thanks!
Hi Debbie,
3.5 oz mushrooms before stemming but you don’t have to be exact with this recipe at all. Mushrooms are often sold in 3.5 oz containers so that’s why we call for that in the recipe, but you could add more and it would still be great. Kaffir lime leaves are optional, the lime zest and juice in the recipe are there to give more of that limey flavor if you’re not using kaffir.
Just checked the printing and it works for me. Could you describe more of what the issue is? When you press print, you should be taken to a page with just the recipe, then go to file>print and you should be able to do it. Please let us know if it works
I had it for dinner tonight! I adapted it since I did not have any sweet potatoes nor any other interesting veggies so in the end it was a shitake-butternut squash soup. So yummy tho! I will make it again. Even my usually-puzzled father liked it (once I removed the noodles from his bowl. He doesn’t care for rice noodles). One more vegan dinner I can make him. >:D
So glad you and your dad enjoyed it!! Thanks so much for reporting back.
This was so great!!! I can’t imagine making it without the kaffir leaves. I may add tofu to the leftovers. Thanks Anya!
Yay, so glad you loved it! Isn’t kaffir AMAZING?! Tofu would be delicious, great idea :)
wow,awesome coconut noodle soup.this looks is very delicious.