I taught some workshops over the weekend at a local Women’s Conference for our church. We tackled a bunch of common challenges people face when it comes to getting meals on the table and some ideas for solutions. Two of the most common issues we hear are “I have no time!” and “I have a low budget!” So I set off to follow my own advice and create a quick and easy meal out of some really inexpensive ingredients. My aim was to demonstrate that inexpensive and easy doesn’t have to mean tasteless and boring!
I opened up my pantry in search of the most plain, cheap ingredient I could find, and my eyes immediately spotted these:
Ramen noodles! Twenty cents. I remember when I was in college (which wasn’t that long ago) they were a nickle a piece. If I ever have to pay more than a quarter for a pack of ramen I’m not sure I could do it. With a few simple, and relatively inexpensive ingredients that I already had on hand, I could take plain ol’ ramen and turn it into something amazing.
Ingredient Notes
- Basic Ingredients – I purposely kept this really simple and omitted a long list of ethnic ingredients often called for in similar recipes. You can certainly add other things like garlic, lemongrass, fish sauce, curry paste, chili paste, more veggies, etc. But the whole point of this recipe is to be quick, easy, and affordable! I’ll promise you’ll be impressed at what so few ingredients can do, this soup is really good.
- Ramen – Any brand of quick cook ramen noodles will do. You will be using the noodles only and discarding the seasoning packet, so avoid noodles in a cup where they are already coated in seasoning or have added freeze dried veggies.
- Jalapeno – The jalapeno doesn’t add any heat, just flavor- this isn’t a spicy soup at all.
- Ginger – I usually have fresh ginger in my freezer. Dried ginger would also work.
- Coconut Milk – Regular or light coconut milk works great, and remember you can buy coconut based non-dairy milk in cartons by the dairy milk as well, and it’s much cheaper per ounce there than it is for a can. At my store it was .05 cents per ounce, which would make the equivalent can about .67 cents. Generally a can of coconut milk $2- $3 a can so the carton is a great deal comparatively. The cartons are lower in calories and fat and have a consistency similar to the light coconut milk (which is thinner than full fat coconut milk). For some recipes I prefer real, canned coconut milk, but for this soup, either will work just fine.
Instructions
- Start with a little minced jalapeno and ginger. You could certainly add minced garlic in here too; I didn’t because I was going for super quick and easy and I didn’t feel like looking for my garlic press. True story.
- Give it a quick sauté to soften the texture and mellow the flavors and then add in some chicken broth.
- Add in some coconut milk, which will give the soup a creamy texture and a subtle sweetness.
- Once that mixture comes to a simmer, add in the ramen noodles. Don’t add in the seasoning packet that comes in the ramen- you can ditch that. I always break mine up because I think it’s easier to eat when the noodles aren’t 27 feet long.
- Just cook it for as long as it takes your noodles to cook, which is only about 3-5 minutes. If you like mushrooms, you can add some in now and simmer for a couple of minutes. Then add in a little diced chicken. I used leftover rotisserie chicken, which makes it even quicker and easier.
- Since the chicken is already cooked, it just needs to heat through, so just let it cook for a minute to do that and then remove the pan from heat. Finish it off with a big squeeze of fresh lime juice and some chopped cilantro. And then you can garnish it with more cilantro, a sprinkle of green onions and a lime wedge. Creamy, flavorful, and delicious. The best part is that it can be on the table in less than 20 minutes and it clocks in at only about $1.20 per serving. Not too shabby!
Serving Suggestions
This soup makes a great meal on it’s own, but here are some things you could pair it with:
- Leave out the chicken and serve as a side to these Orange Thai Beef Skewers or Tandoori Chicken
- Alongside Asian Cabbage Salad or Asian Wonton Salad
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this ahead of time? Ramen noodles soak up moisture very quickly, so they are best added right before you plan to eat this soup. You could definitely prepare the broth ahead of time and then heat and cook the noodles in the broth when you’re ready to eat. You could also make the soup as is if you don’t mind your noodles getting a bit mushy upon reheating.
- Can I make this vegan or gluten free? I have not personally made this soup vegan or gluten free, but it would be fairly simple to adapt to those needs. Ramen noodles themselves are vegan, so veggie broth instead of chicken broth and firm tofu instead of chicken would probably work really well. Thai rice noodles would probably be a great replacement for traditional ramen noodles.
Did You Make This?
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Quick and Easy Thai Coconut Soup
This quick and easy soup uses ramen noodles (without the seasoning packet) and fresh ingredients to create a flavorful coconut broth soup.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoon minced jalapeno pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh minced ginger or 1 ½ teaspoons ground dry ginger
- 2 14.5- ounce cans chicken broth
- 1 13.5 ounce can coconut milk or light coconut milk about 1 3/4 cups
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 packages ramen noodles discard seasoning packet
- optional: ¾ cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 cup diced or shredded cooked chicken
- toppings: additional chopped cilantro sliced green onions, and lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat medium sized pot to medium-high heat on stove top. Add olive oil, jalapeno, and ginger (if using fresh). Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until jalapeno and ginger are softened and fragrant. If using ground ginger, add now and stir.
- Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and salt and increase heat to bring mixture to a boil. Reduce to simmer and add noodles (note: you will discard seasoning packet that comes with noodles.) Simmer 3-5 minutes, until noodles are softened. If using mushrooms, add them in the final 2-3 minutes of cooking the noodles.
- Add chicken and simmer for about 30 seconds to heat through. Remove pot from heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with additional chopped cilantro, green onions, and lime wedges if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Note: This type of noodle absorbs liquid exceptionally fast, so you should serve the soup immediately. If you know you need to keep the soup warm for a while before serving, wait to add the noodles until a few minutes before you're ready to serve.
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Questions & Reviews
This was so good! And super easy! All of my kids gobbled it right up. We’ll make it again for sure!
Even though I have been making your recipes for 10+ years, I just discovered this one a couple months ago. It’s amazing!! My whole family loves it and it’s easy and cheap! It’s a hidden gem!
My whole family loved this!! Such wonderful flavor and perfect for a quick weeknight meal! What do you like to serve with it?
I usually default to some sort of carb (even though this is a noodle soup) because it fills up tummies, haha. Doesn’t seem like it “goes” but we often do grilled cheese! Or just a simple dinner roll and salad.
This was SO good! Made it tonight for dinner and my kids all gobbled it down. I’m trying to track calories on my fitness pal and wasn’t quite sure what to put in, so i just put in the ingredients kinda condensed down and it still came out to be pretty low calorie.
This was so good! I thought it needed a crunchy element to it as well? Got any suggestions like a macadamia nut or something along those lines?
I made this soup yesterday….AMAZING!!! I added 1/2 onion diced and 2 cloves of garlic diced to sautéed jalepeno & ginger. I also use Better than Bullion instead of canned chicken broth (4 cups boiling water to 4 t. Better than Bullion). I will be making this often!!
Just wondering how many this recipe serves?
It made 4 small bowls for our family.
Just made this and it was AMAZING! I’ve always loved Thai coconut soup, but its my husband who’s floored by how good this is! We added mushrooms, cilantro and lime juice, thanks for the awesome and EAsY recipe!!
This looks yummy! I’m going to use my leftover peanut noodles instead of ramen… I know it will muddy up the flavor a little, but hopefully it will still taste good.
It was even more delicious than I expected. Thank you Thank you Thank you!
I made this last night, and it was fantastic (and just as cheap per serving as promised). I was just cooking for two, and when I make it again, I think I will reserve half of the broth mixture and add just one packet of noodles. Then the next day for lunch leftovers, we could reheat the remaining broth with another packet of noodles…to avoid letting the noodles soak in the broth overnight and get too soggy, if that makes any sense. Like other commenters above, my husband also said it looked and tasted like it came from a restaurant – high praise! Thanks!
I made this last night and 6 of the 8 of us loved it, the other 2 thought it was okay. I doubled the recipe, but not the chicken broth, making it a little thicker (my family doesn’t love soup), and I also added about a TBSP of red curry paste. Delicious!! My husband, who LOVES curry at our local Thai place, had a couple bowls of it. 🙂 Thank you, this will be added to our regular recipe rotation.
I have a cold and this was just what I needed! So yummy and the slight heat from the jalapeno worked nicely to clear my head. I did sub in broken up whole wheat linguine for the Ramen, just cooked in a separate pot then dumped them in.
A friend just told me about your site, and this was the first recipe that I tried. The entire family LOVED this…even extremely picky daughter. My husband commented that the soup was like something you’d order at a restaurant and go back again just for the soup. Everyone wanted seconds! THANK YOU! Dinner was a success!
Made this tonight and my husband and I loved it!! We couldn’t get enough! My daughter liked it too. I added 2 fresh garlic cloves and used half the salt.
woohoo! fancy ramen!
Quick question: on your recipe card it calls for coconut milk and says “about – cups” How many cups is that? 😉
Nice catch Mimi! It’s about 1 3/4 cups.
Made this tonight and everyone loved it!! So creamy and yummy.
I made this tonight and it was soooo good. I will definitely make it again. Next time I will add a little bit less salt. I’m wondering how this would taste over rice? Or if there could be a simple change into making it more of a curry? Maybe I will experiment. Also any suggestions if I wanted to serve this an appetizer of what to pair it with?
See my comment above to make it into curry. Leave out the noodles. Pour it over fresh steamed jasmine rice.
You can definitely add some Thai Curry Paste- it’s super yummy! If serving as an appetizer, maybe make the main dish more of a protein based dish.
Coconut milk is not coconutty. What it does to your food, especially the whole stuff that’s not reduced fat, is add a semi sweet creamy richness to it. Unfortunately it is very fat, so one shouldn’t eat this often!
Also, the Thai really like to add a lot of things to their food. A more authentic version of this soup would involve nampla (fish sauce, it’s salty and savory), veggies such as mushrooms, carrot shreds, and onion; shrimp, lemongrass, a dash of sugar, and basil. Throw in some green curry paste and you’ve got yourself some curry!
I really want to make this, especially after all the wonderful reviews HOWEVER, the coconut milk scares me. I’m not a huge fan of coconut…can someone tell me if this is really coconut-y?? Thank you.
You are a magician!! I’m scared of jalapeño and don’t love cilantro … But I added it all in and the combination of flavors was delightful and fresh, and not spicy at all. Don’t know how you do it, but so glad you continue to put together these fabulous meals and post them for the rest of us to enjoy 🙂 thank you!!
I made this last night and it was soooo good. My husband told me it was in his top 5 meals and that I had to make it on a regular basis.
YUMMMM!!!!!!
Yum! Easy and flavorful!
I made this for dinner last night – absolutely delicious. even the husband enjoyed it – thanks for the idea 🙂
Let me start off by saying that I HATE ramen noodles!!! Detest them! Haven’t had any in probably 8 yrs and I haven’t missed them at all. BUT…for some reason, this looked good. I was skeptical but decided to make it for dinner tonight anyway. And it was YUMMY!! So good! My whole family loved it AND it was easy and inexpensive! Awesome!!
Another easy way to make a similar dish is to buy the Trader Joe’s brand Tom Yam Soup (frozen section) for like $3 for 1 (feeds one hungry adult as a meal or 2 adults as a starter once ‘beefed up’)…you take their kit, you add some protein and veggies to make it an actual meal…I usually add in rotisserie chicken (from Whole Foods) or the frozen New England scallops they sell….and then I also add in a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves, or frozen spinach (their brand)…..the soup pack comes with soft wontons and a spice pack, but it definitely needs more…..if you add protein and spinach, it’s like eating a huge bowl of Pho….very filling and a total meal…..I make this at least once a week….Tip: the lemongrass and spices they provide are tough to eat and ruin the soft texture, so I simmer them in the coconut broth, then strain it, and add that flavored broth to the wontons/spinach/chicken before eating….saves me from picking through the spinach to find the sharp lemongrass shards….Enjoy!!
This was absolutely delicious; I am thinking I could use it for a three month food storage dinner with canned chicken and dried spices. Not quite the same as fresh I know, but still really good for food storage. Thanks for your genius! 🙂
I just pinned this recipe – can’t wait to try it out! Love Thai coconut ANYTHING!