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Weeknight Thai Chicken Meatball Khao Soi. This northern Thai inspired noodle soup is the simplest weeknight dinner. Made with flavorful Thai curry paste, coconut milk, and plenty of fresh herbs and lime juice. Toss in seared gingery chicken meatballs and plenty of delicious egg noodles, it’s hard to beat the easy Thai inspired soup. It’s the perfect any night of the week dinner that’s made in 30 minutes, hearty, cozy, and healthy too.
Say hello to my personal favorite recipe of the week. This soup is a combination of everything I love most. It’s colorful, hearty, full of so many vegetables, has crispy (flavorful) chicken meatballs, noodles, and truly the most delicious soup broth. If I wasn’t making a million other things every single week I would be making this soup on repeat. It’s one of my favorites…probably should have saved it for a possible future cookbook but I simply had to share.
Sooo, hopefully, that lets you know just how excited I am. I know this soup is different, but I beg you to try it.
The background + inspiration.
First, I want to share the background on Khao Soi, in case you’re unfamiliar with it. It’s a soup from Northern Thailand made with very specific Thai curry paste giving the soup its unique rich flavor. Additionally, it’s made with creamy coconut milk, which makes this more like a curry…but yet it’s still soup. Well actually, it’s somewhere in between the two!
After reading up on Khao Soi, I discovered there are actually a few variations throughout different parts of Thailand. Some parts of the country will use rice noodles, while others use egg noodles. However, the broth remains the same…curry paste and coconut milk. You can read up on the history here, if you’d like.
So the inspiration? Of course, it’s once again my brother, Brendan. He’s traveled to Thailand a few times now and each time he brings me curry paste and noodles. It’s like winning the lottery, I love him so much for it. Praying he and Lyn’s head back soon because my stash is currently gone.
Anyway, this is their favorite soup. I’ve made a couple versions of it now, one you can find in the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook. But I think today’s version might just be my favorite…
My point is, I just love the meatballs in this version, they’re such a fun twist.
Here is how you make Thai Khao Soy.
Going to put this right out there before getting into details, this is not an authentic Khao Soi. This is just my take, it’s similar but different.
Moving along, aside from cooking the noodles, this soup is made entirely in one pot. The meatballs are the exact same mix that I used for my ginger sesame meatballs…ground chicken, green onions, garlic, and ginger. Roll this all together, then pan-fry the meatballs in a bit of olive oil to get them nice and crispy on the outside. Toss in some baby bok choy, or other greens of your liking, and sear them until they are crisp. At this point, you’ll remove everything from the pot so that the meatballs and greens don’t overcook or lose their crispness.
Next, you’ll want to sauté the Thai red curry paste for a minute or two before adding in the liquids. This will activate the flavors in the curry paste and give you a richer tasting broth. Now, just add in all the liquid, stir back in the meatballs and bok choy, and simmer everything together for a few minutes. You want the meatballs to cook fully through and the flavors in the soup to meld together.
While that’s happening, boil some egg noodles (or use rice noodles if you are gluten free). By the time the noodles are ready, the soup will be too!
Let’s talk about the toppings.
Because they are the best part! Well, maybe not the best part, but they contribute so much to this soup.
I am not shy with my toppings, I really like to layer them on. Use ingredients you love most, but here are my recommendations…plenty of fresh Thai basil, a generous handful of thinly sliced green onions, some very thinly sliced shallots (bonus points if you fry the shallots in oil first), lots of fresh-squeezed lime juice, and lastly – chili oil…lots and lots of chili oil.
For the chili oil, I simply make up a quick homemade batch, but you can easily use store-bought too. And if you can’t find any Thai basil, regular Italian basil works as well.
And that’s it, simple, so much flavor, quick, easy, extra color, and insanely good!
I really can’t begin to express just how good. If you loved my Thai ramen or my coconut milk braised chicken, I think you’ll also greatly enjoy this. Similar(ish) flavors, but very different dishes.
The broth, the crispy meatballs, the noodles, the toppings…everything all together. It is the BEST. Creamy, hinted with ginger and garlic, a touch spicy, a touch sweet, herby, salty, so perfect. Yeah, I think that pretty much sums this up. So how about a cozy bowl of Khao Soi tonight? You only need thirty minutes.
You can do it!
If you make this Weeknight Thai Chicken Meatball Khao Soi, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Weeknight Thai Chicken Meatball Khao Soi.
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 636 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 green onions, finely, chopped, plus more for serving
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 baby bok choy or 1 bunch kale, chopped
- 1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
- 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce (or low sodium soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/4 cup each fresh cilantro and Thai or regular basil, chopped, plus more for serving
- 8 ounces egg or rice noodles
- sliced limes and thinly sliced shallots, for serving
- chili oil, for serving
Instructions
- 1. Add the chicken, green onions, ginger, garlic, and a pinch of pepper to a bowl. Mix until just combined. Coat your hands with a bit of oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-20 meatballs).2. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil shimmers, add the meatballs and sear until crisp, about 4-5 minutes, turning them 2-3 times. Toss in the bok choy and cook 2 minutes more, until just charred on the edges. Transfer everything to a plate.3. To the same pot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and the curry paste. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce, and honey. Slide the meatballs and bok choy back into the soup. Simmer over medium heat until the meatballs are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the herbs. 4. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.5. Divide the noodles between bowls and ladle the soup over. Top each bowl as desired with basil, green onions, shallots, lime juice, and chili oil.
Just needed a touch of salt in the meatballs and the soup. I also added some chopped chilli as we like our food spicy. Otherwise a really tasty recipe.
Yay!! So glad to hear this, Chris! Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment! xx
LOVE this! So easy, flavorful and perfect for weekend dinner or even lunch! Kids loved it too. Will be making it again:)
Weeknight dinner (not weekend):)
Made this and it was one of the best dishes I have served in a while. Definitely will be one of my new go-tos! I also added some salt to the meatballs and everything turned out great!!
Hey Emily,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed! Have a great autumn Friday! Xx
Hi Kadie,
Happy Monday! I am thrilled to hear this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and your feedback! xT
OK. I never comment on a recipe unless it’s amazing, and this one was! The only thing I changed was to add a little extra garlic and ginger to the meatballs, which really stood out! I also added the juice of two limes to the broth and some star anise. Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.
Hey Bon,
Fantastic! I appreciate you trying this recipe and your comment, so glad to hear it turned out nicely for you! xT
Winner over here with two teens. I use paksoi instead of bokchoi. Frying the white stalks with the meatballs and add the green leafy stuff the last minute. I always add a kaffir lime leaf to the soup.
Hey Karin,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week! xx
Lovely one pot Asian recipe. Definitely needs salt in the meatballs. A lot of reviews say this is bland, but the addition of salt and extra fish sauce to the broth takes care of it. There are so many fresh herbs and flavors in this that the salt brings those out. I used bok choy and believe this would work better than kale because the texture and flavor didn’t take away from the other flavors of ginger and the fresh herbs. Make sure to drain all oil out of the pot before adding the coconut milk and broth, or it could turn out a little greasy. I think it could use extra red curry paste if you like added spice, and don’t skip the chili oil when serving. I used Moroccan Fire Oil. Will definitely make this again.
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks for trying it! Have a great Sunday! xx
This has been a go-to of mine literally since T released it in early 2020. I make this on average about every other month! It’s just so easy and so delicious. I’ve used ground chicken, turkey, and pork. All variations are great! I’ve used bok choy and kale. I prefer kale but will use baby bok choy when available locally. V thankful for this delish recipe. Thank you, T!
Thanks so much Jasmine!! Love to hear that this dish always turns out well for you, thanks for making it so often! xT
I love, love, love this recipe. It’s also very good with ground pork instead of ground chicken. (Tofu, however, weakens the flavor.)
Thank you Deborah! Glad you’re enjoying this recipe! 🙂 xT
This soup was amazing! The lime freshens it up and makes the flavor shine through!
Hey! Thank you so so much! Love to hear that you’re enjoying this recipe 🙂 xT
For some reason, this came out super oily…
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! Sorry to hear this was oily for you, was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Please let me know how I can help! xx
This was SOOOO good!!!! We made it with Kale. Chili oil was a must and brought out the flavors so much more! We will definitely make this again! Thank you!
Thank you for trying out this recipe! Glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
I have made this a few times, and love it! Has anybody tried freezing this one? I wonder if the broth freezes well…..
Hey David,
Happy Monday!! So glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Sure, you could totally freeze this, I would just not freeze the noodles:) xx