This delicious Thai tom kha gai soup recipe is made with 10 ingredients only plus a few optional extras for serving. We are using chicken and mushrooms to make this, along with typical Thai ingredients like galangal, lemongrass, lime, coriander, coconut, fish sauce and palm sugar to make it.
This is a tasty, filling Thai chicken soup recipe and it’s also therapeutic if you’re under the weather or suffering from a cold or the flu. The chicken and vegetables are nourishing while the steam from the soup helps with decongestion.
As for the garnish, we like to present this traditional tom kha gai soup recipe with cilantro, chilies, lime leaves and lemongrass but feel free to omit one or all of those, as you prefer.
How to Serve a Tom Kha Gai Soup Recipe
This makes a great lunch or evening meal, perhaps served with something crunchy as an appetizer. Egg rolls or spring rolls would be fine, or you might like to have something seafood-based to begin the meal instead.
Because this is a spicy soup, consider following up with something creamy to cool the mouth, perhaps mousse or ice cream.
While the Spice is Nice in Thai Chicken Soup… Tweak as Needed
Feel free to alter the amount of spice in this tom kha gai soup recipe. Not everyone likes the chilies although they are popular in many Asian cuisines so those cultures are more accustomed to them.
A lot of traditional Thai recipes are quite spicy but when making your own you are in charge of what goes in there, so alter the recipe as you see fit. If you are a fan of Thai recipes, try this Thai fried rice or Pad Thai dishes.
PrintTom Kha Gai Soup Recipe | Quick and Easy
This authentic tom kha gai soup recipe is one of the tastiest Thai dishes. It’s easy to get the ingredients and make it yourself at home. This is an aromatic chicken soup with a touch of spice.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients
- 2 sticks fresh lemongrass, in 2-inch (5cm) pieces
- ¾ oz (20g) peeled, thick-sliced fresh galangal
- 3 cups (750ml) chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons cilantro (fresh coriander) roots, and stems
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 7oz (200g) rinsed straw mushrooms
- 1lb 1oz (500g) thinly sliced chicken thigh or breast
- 4 teaspoons fish sauce
- 4 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar or grated palm sugar
- 1 cup (250ml) coconut milk
To Add Just Before Serving:
- 2 shredded fresh kaffir lime leaves
- 2 thinly sliced, de-seeded, small fresh Thai red chilies
- 1 thinly sliced stick fresh lemongrass
- ¼ cup (15g) cilantro (fresh coriander) leaves
Instructions
- Pound the lemongrass sticks with the side of a kitchen knife to bruise them.
- This helps release the taste into the soup.
- Put the lemongrass, galangal, stock, cilantro and lime leaves in a pan.
- Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer 5 minutes.
- Take the pot off the heat and let the soup stand for 10 minutes.
- Now strain it through a fine strainer or muslin cloth into a heatproof bowl.
- Discard the solids.
- Rinse out the pan and put the soup back in there.
- Add the mushrooms and chicken.
- Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer uncovered until the chicken is cooked.
- This should take about 5 minutes.
- Now stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and coconut milk.
- Cook until warmed through but don’t boil.
- Take the pan off the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients (lime leaves, chilies, lemongrass and cilantro).
- Serve the tom kha gai soup hot.
