Easy Tom Kha Soup
“When you taste the soup while it’s simmering to check the seasonings, it turns into eating the soup out of the pot. This is delicious! Thank you for this amazing and easy recipe!” – Emily
This Tom Kha Soup is a classic Thai coconut soup made easy! Flavorful, lightly tangy, and deliciously creamy, all without any dairy.
Why You’ll Love This Tom Kha Soup
I love soup season, especially with Asian-inspired soups! I have recipes for classics like hot & sour soup and egg roll soup, as well as Asian-inspired chicken noodle soup. Tom Kha soup is a delicious Thai classic, that’s essentially a coconut soup. It’s made with broth, coconut milk, vegetables, seasonings like curry paste, and often a protein like chicken or shrimp. I love the chicken soup version of this soup, Tom Kha Gai, but you can easily make this soup with or without a protein! Here’s why you’re going to love it…
- Rich and flavor-packed. The richness of the coconut, the umami of the mushroom, and the tang of the lime make this an incredibly flavorful soup.
- Veggie dense. This is a veggie-based soup that will definitely help you hit your veggie goals!
- Fits any dietary needs! This Tom Kha recipe is paleo-friendly, Whole30-compliant, vegetarian, and gluten- and soy-free.
Recipe Ingredients
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
| Ingredient | What it does | Potential swap |
| Canned coconut milk | Adds creaminess and coconut flavor! | You can try to use a boxed coconut milk, but the flavor isn’t as rich. |
| Chicken broth | Adds flavor and liquidity | Veggie broth to keep it vegetarian |
| Shitake Mushrooms | Flavor and texture | You can use other varieties of mushrooms, but shiitake mushrooms are best! |
| Shredded carrots, onion, garlic, ginger, curry paste, and lemongrass | This adds the flavor | To keep it nightshade-free, swap curry paste for turmeric, or leave it out altogether for a more coconut flavored soup. |
| Fish sauce | Adds umami flavor | Omit or sub coconut aminos for vegetarian. |
| Coconut aminos | This is the soy sauce substitute in the recipe! | You can also use a low sodium tamari. |
| Coconut oil | Fat for sauteing | Avocado oil |
How to make this Easy Tom Kha Soup
Here are the simple steps, with photos, to make this recipe. Find full instructions in the recipe card.
Step one. Sauté the onion, then the garlic and ginger.
Step two. Add the rest of the veggie and saute.
Step three. Pour in the broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, coconut aminos, lime juice, and seasonings and mix well to combine.
Step four. Bring to a low simmer and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Remove the lemongrass and serve!
Customizing Tom Kha Soup
- Add Protein. You can easily add protein like shredded chicken, cubed chicken, or even shrimp.
- Make it vegan or vegetarian. To make this soup totally plant-based, omit the fish sauce and use a veggie broth.
Recipe FAQS
“Healthy” is always subjective, but considering this recipe is packed with vegetables, we think it’s pretty wholesome!
This recipe is a vegan/vegetarian soup, but to keep it that way, make sure to use a vegetable broth and omit the fish sauce! I like to use chicken broth, but veggie broth works just fine.
Chicken is the classic pairing to this recipe, but you can also use shrimp! All you have to do is precook the chicken until cooked through, and re-add it back to the soup as it simmers for flavor. To add shrimp, you can cook the shrimp while the soup simmers.
Yes! I have a totally AIP version with chicken in my cookbook, but you can also make this version nightshade-free by omitting the curry paste. It will change the color of the soup, but it will still have lots of flavor!
Other Gluten-Free Asian-Inspired Recipes to Try…
If you tried these Easy Tom Kha Soup or any other recipe on my blog please leave a rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Easy Tom Kha Soup
Want to save this for later?
Just drop your name and email below. Then we’ll email right to your inbox. ✉️
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumb ginger, grated
- 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth, sub veggie broth for vegetarian
- 2 cups canned coconut milk
- Juice of one lime
- 2 tsp fish sauce, omit or sub coconut aminos for vegetarian
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- ¾ tsp curry paste, season to taste, sub 3/4 tsp turmeric for AIP
- 1 small stalk lemongrass, thick outer layers removed
- ¾ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper, omit for AIP
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, to serve
- Lime wedges, to serve
Instructions
- Using a medium stock pot, melt the coconut oil over medium heat.
- Add the onion and saute for 3-5 minutes, or until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the carrots and shitake mushrooms and saute for 3-4 minutes or until lightly soft.
- Pour in the broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, coconut aminos, lime juice, and seasonings (reserving the cilantro) and mix well to combine.
- Bring to a low simmer and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Serve topped with cilantro and additonal lime wedges to serve.
Absolutely tasty and easy to prepare – I wouldn’t change a thing! Do not hesitate to try this!!
thank you!!
I’m planning to make this tonight for a guest, but can you tell me if this is gluten free? I’m not experienced with that particular dietary restriction, but my guest is gluten free!
Literally can’t wait….I love tom kha soup!
All the recipes on Unbound Wellness are gluten-free, so this soup definitely is! Enjoy!!
This recipe is on repeat in our house, so delish! Quick tip to save time: I use my mini chopper to dice the carrots, onions, garlic and ginger. Boom! 🙂 I love using scissors to cut the cilantro over the top of bowls too. Also zucchini or other mild veggies also are a great addition.
Thank you!!
What type of curry paste is being used here? Is it Thai curry paste? If so what kind? Red or yellow?
TIA!
I use red curry paste!
Super fast and easy recipe but very delicious! I put extra lime in mine 🙂 I usually use paleorunningmomma recipes, but I think I have converted! These recipes are easier, accurate, and more delish!
YAY! So glad you are enjoying my recipes!!
What type of curry paste is used here? Do you recommend a particular brand?
TIA
Sorry, I’m super confused. You said this recipe is vegetarian/vegan, but are using fish sauce. Is it a vegan substitute? I really want to try this recipe true to how it’s written, but need clarification since one of the people I’d be making it for is vegan.
You can omit the fish sauce or use coconut aminos instead!
Easy and delicious! This is one of my favorite soups to get at Thai-now I can make it myself!!
This was delicious. Thank you so much for sharing. It will feature as a regular on my menu rotation.
So glad you enjoyed!!
This is sooooo good and easy!! The only thing I would do is double or triple!
So glad you enjoyed!!
I loved this recipe! I made some easy subs like adding chopped bok choy, adding more fish sauce, using ground ginger (realized I was out of fresh once I started cooking), and using baby portobellos. It was SO good! It was good because I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything even though I made it AIP. Thank you for this!
So glad you enjoyed!
It looks amazing. I love tom kha soup but it is often way to spicy for me. This sounds like it would be heavenly!
When did you add the bok choy, shrimp and chicken? Do you sauté them with the carrots and mushrooms?
All you have to do is precook the chicken until cooked through, and re-add it back to the soup as it simmers for flavor. To add shrimp, you can cook the shrimp while the soup simmers.
What are we supposed to do with the lemongrass?? It doesn’t mention it at all in the instructions.
The lemongrass is one of the “seasonings” mentioned in step 4. I usually substitute lemongrass paste.
Wondering the same thing!
It should be included in the seasonings in step 4!
This soup is sooo good! And pretty easy to make especially when you already have some broth left. I love all of your recipes but this one is one of my favourite
What kind of coconut milk do you use?
I like native forest “simple” coconut milk in a can 🙂
This soup was absolutely amazing!!!!! I just added bok choy, chicken, shrimp and Thai chili peppers to give it a kick! Honestly wayyyy better then getting it at a restaurant . This will definitely be a keep!!!
This looks really yummy. Is there a good substitute for the fish sauce?
You can do more coconut aminos 🙂