Coconut Curry Soup with Chicken, Carrots, and Kale
Coconut curry soup with chicken, carrots, and kale is a rich and creamy low carb comfort food. What’s more, it can be made in 30 minutes or less – quick and easy enough for any weeknight dinner!
Simple soups are one of my favorite easy weeknight meals. And for a very long time, our go-to soup has been this Greek lemon chicken soup with orzo and kale. But my husband Mike has just deemed this coconut curry chicken soup his new favorite, and we’ve made it twice in the last week or so.
That’s fine with me, because it’s just as easy to make as the lemon chicken soup, and equally as pantry-friendly. The only fresh ingredients you need for this are carrots and kale. We always have kale on hand, and carrots last for-freaking-ever.
You could say the chicken is also a fresh ingredient, but I like to cook a large quantity of chicken, shred or dice it, and freeze it in one- and two-cup portions for easy use in recipes like this. This is how I pre-cook my chicken for shredding or dicing to be super juicy – it’s something you can do while you’re making another meal and not have to pay much attention to – the best kind of meal prep!
So about the soup.
I’ve mentioned how easy it is — just throw five things in a pot with some spices and let it simmer for a few minutes — but let me just talk about how delicious it is.
Full of chicken, carrots, and kale, this coconut curry soup is hearty enough to be a complete meal, but the broth is the star of the show.
You won’t want to stop sipping the broth, which is rich and creamy from full-fat coconut milk, and super flavorful from a blend of curry powder and other spices. Half a cup of lime juice is just enough to add some tang without overpowering the coconut curry flavor. Kale is a great addition to the soup because it gets tender after simmering but holds its own much better than spinach, so it feels like you’ve added a lot more substance.
I have to credit my sister Emily over at Joyful Abode with the brilliance of this recipe. I’ve made a couple minor tweaks to the recipe, including doubling the broth, insisting on using chicken broth rather than water, and adding kale, but this is really her invention.
I loved her soup so much that it was actually the inspiration for the first-ever recipe on my blog, which, albeit delicious, is much more complicated than throwing five things and some spices into a pot. It’s still a great variation on this soup, if you have the time to cut up a bunch of different vegetables and sauté them all before adding the broth ingredients.
But for a dinner you can throw together in a few minutes even if you’re tired from a long day, this simple coconut curry soup with chicken is a perfect option. You can even use pre-shredded carrots to save some time.
Is this Coconut Curry Soup paleo/keto/Whole30/gluten free?
If you’re following a low-carb diet, this soup is a great option since it’s all protein and veggies, without rice or pasta.
However, you may need to substitute a few ingredients if you are following one of the specific diets above. Here are the culprits:
- Soy sauce: Soy is not approved on paleo or Whole30, and soy sauce usually contains gluten. It’s okay for keto in small quantities, but does have some carbs. Tamari is a gluten-free alternative to soy sauce. However, it is also made from soy, so if you’re going paleo or Whole30, you’ll want to substitute coconut aminos.
- Oyster sauce: Oyster sauce is made with soy sauce, which contains gluten, and cornstarch. There are gluten-free oyster sauces made with tamari if you are avoiding gluten. If you are avoiding soy, substitute either more coconut aminos or use fish sauce (check the fish sauce to make sure there are no added sugars or MSG).
- Carrots: Carrots are a starchy vegetable, but to my knowledge are allowed in at least a limited amount in all the diets above. You can reduce or remove the carrots if you’d like to lower the carbs.
Do you like hearty soups like this Coconut Curry Soup with Chicken?
Try these recipes too!
Coconut Curry Soup with Chicken, Carrots, and Kale
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 3 cups shredded or grated carrots (3-4 large carrots)
- 6 cups loosely packed fresh kale stems removed and torn into bite-sized pieces
- parsley to garnish optional
For the broth
- 2 14-oz cans coconut milk full fat
- 2 14-oz cans chicken broth
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Add all broth ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer.
- Add chicken and carrots and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
- Stir in kale until wilted and tender. Serve, garnished with parsley, if desired!
Had some leftover of chicken kale and carrot . searched these 3 ingredients and this came up. What a great recipe ! Highly recommend it !
I’ve been on a soup kick lately, and that’s right up my alley. My go-to soup. I can never get enough of it. I make Thai coconut curry soup and use shrimps instead of chicken, or sometimes keep it completely meatless. I serve it over steamed brown rice, with fresh Thai basil and lime juice (I forgot to mention that we live in Thailand). Turns out silky-smooth, full of flavor, and filling. Sooo cozy and so good. And its color is wonderful. I wish I had a bowl of it right now. Thank you Caroline!
My first recipe on this site is a shrimp and veggie variation on this soup! You can find it here. https://www.pinchmeimeating.com/creamy-coconut-curry-soup/
It’s really so versatile! I think the Thai basil sounds like an absolutely perfect addition. I’ll have to try that next time I make this soup!
This was a great recipe. Our family thoroughly enjoyed it. I actually sautéed onions and the carrot salad period to making the broth. I’m enjoying my second bowl right now
So glad your family enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting!
I will be making this tonight! Thank Charise!
Loved this. I made half the recipe and have had it twice and there is still enough for a third round. Didnt have kale so i used basil from the garden and added some red pepper for color. Also used fresh garlic as I have a surplus. It is lusciously rich so I think I will serve over rice the next round. Veggies could easily be swapped for others. Very easy and fast. Thanks!
I bet it is great with the fresh basil in there! You might also like this variation of the soup with shrimp and other veggies, which happened to be the first thing I ever posted on this blog! https://www.pinchmeimeating.com/creamy-coconut-curry-soup/
This looks so good, I’m a huge fan of the Asian flavors you have used in this. Looking forward to trying it soon!
Let me know how you like it! The flavor is sooo good!
I can’t wait to try this, Caroline! We love all the flavors, and I think the kale would give it an incredible texture. I will, however, make it more difficult by sautéing onions first instead of using onion powder. It’s one of my pickiness things… I don’t like the metallic flavor that dried onion powder (or garlic powder) have.
Once again, a fantastic recipe! We could easily have eaten the entire pot in one sitting. I froze some to see how that works – fingers crossed. Also, the recipe for shredded chicken in brilliant. I used 4 skinless, boneless thighs and it was the perfect amount for this recipe. xo