It’s self care Saturday over here at the Budget Bytes house and I’m eating this super cozy Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup. With chilly temps outside I knew I wanted to make a pot of chicken soup, but decided to change up my classic version by combining it with my favorite aspects of my Golden Coconut Lentil Soup. The combo is absolutely FANTASTIC! Warm, cozy, creamy, and aaaahmazing.
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How to Serve Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup
This soup itself is awesome, but I topped mine with a small scoop of jasmine rice, a little fresh cilantro, and wedge of lime. You could also serve it up with a piece of naan bread for dipping into the delicious broth.
Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup
Servings 6 1.3 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger ($0.15)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil (or coconut oil) ($0.32)
- 1/2 Tbsp turmeric ($0.15)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 1/2 lb. carrots (about 3) ($0.45)
- 1/2 bunch celery (about 4 stalks) ($0.65)
- 1 skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.)* ($2.97)
- 3 cups chicken broth** ($0.39)
- 1 13oz. can coconut milk ($1.99)
- 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) ($0.02)
Optional for Serving
- 3 cups cooked jasmine rice ($0.53)
- 1 handful fresh cilantro ($0.25)
- 1 lime ($0.22)
Instructions
- Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to a large soup pot with the olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
- While the onion, garlic, and ginger are sautéing, peel and chop the carrots, and chop the celery.
- Once the onions are soft, add the turmeric, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about minute more to toast the spices. Add the carrots and celery and sauté for a few minutes more, or just until they begin to soften.
- Add the chicken breast to the pot along with the chicken broth. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, and let the broth simmer for 30 minutes.
- Once the chicken and vegetables have simmered in the broth for 30 minutes, remove the chicken breast and shred it with two forks. Return the shredded meat to the soup and add the coconut milk. Stir to combine and heat through over medium-low heat. Taste the soup and add salt to taste (I added 1/2 tsp).
- To serve, ladle about 1 1/3 cups soup into a bowl and top with 1/2 cup cooked rice, a few fresh cilantro leaves, and a wedge of lime.
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Notes
Nutrition
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You can find this red 6-quart Amazon Basics Dutch Oven in the “cookware” section of my Amazon Shop.
How to Make Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup – Step by Step Photos
Begin by dicing one onion, mincing two cloves of garlic, and grating about 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic to a large soup pot with 2 Tbsp olive oil and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Once soft, add 1/2 Tbsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Sauté for about one minute more to toast the spices.
While the onion, garlic, and ginger are sautéing, peel and chop 1/2 lb. carrots (about 3 medium carrots), and chop 1/2 bunch celery (about four large stalks). Add them to the pot and continue to sauté for a few minutes more, or just until they begin to soften.
Add one chicken breast to the pot along with 3 cups chicken broth. It’s okay if the chicken broth doesn’t completely cover the chicken. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the broth to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low and let the pot simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes of simmering, remove the chicken breast and use two forks to shred it.
Return the shredded chicken to the pot and add one 13oz. can of coconut milk. Stir to combine and heat through over medium-low. The fat from the coconut milk will look a little clumpy until it heats up and melts into the soup.
Once heated through, give it a taste and add salt as needed. I added 1/2 tsp, but this amount will depend largely on the salt content of the broth you used.
Serve the Coconut Turmeric Chicken Soup with a small scoop of cooked jasmine rice, a few fresh cilantro sprigs, and a wedge of lime.
Mmm!!! This is one of my favorite recipes you’ve ever done! So so yummy! I made mine in my pressure cooker instead and it came out really well! Sauteed everything just like your recipe then set for 20 minutes at medium high pressure with the chicken fully submerged. I also subbed extra carrots for the celery since I don’t care for it and added lime zest just because I hate using a lime without zesting it first 😂
Outstanding. So good I’m literally still eating my first bowl while writing this review.
Only change I made was kicking up the heat with some cayenne at the end. If you like spicy, don’t be afraid to try it!
I will most definitely be making this again! And again. And again…
Everyone in my house loved this. I used leftover chicken from a roasted chicken I made the other night. The rest of the ingredients I had on hand, and it made almost zero mess in the prep! A keeper!
Delicious and so easy to make! I love budgets bytes recipes!
This looks so good, and I’ve really been wanting to try a turmeric-based recipe! I’m allergic to coconut, though. Can you think of any substitutions that would work with this? Dairy milk? Almond milk, maybe?
I would probably add a thicker dairy milk such as evaporated milk or half and half.
Perhaps some heavy cream, but personally I’m a fan of the way the flavor of the coconut in particular matches with the turmeric and ginger.
I made this for meal prep this week and absolutely loved it! Standard chicken soup is pretty boring to my tastes, but adding coconut milk, lime, cilantro, and spice turned this into something I looked forward to eating. I wanted to bulk it up a little bit so I used two chicken breasts and it turned out great. Kept the rice separate for leftovers and just added it in right before heating. Next time I might add some red bell pepper to the veggies – think that would work well with these flavors. Thanks for another winner, Beth!
Holy cow this is good. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat plain chicken and rice soup again. It’s easy to make and delicious. I will definitely be making this again.
This was soooo good! I subbed bok choy because I didn’t have celery (I added the green part at the end with the coconut) and we absolutely loved this. A keeper for sure.
This recipe is the best option to make at the end of the month when one has low budget. I tried this recipe without any amendment & it was superb, perfect for the chilly nights. I made it for a friend who hated coconut, so I replaced coconut milk with plain milk & used curry powder instead of turmeric powder. The soup turned out just awesome!
This was sensational. I used frozen garlic cubes and frozen ginger cubes for expediency. It’s probably even more amazing if using freshly grated ginger but, even with the shortcut, this was DELICIOUS.
Very tasty on a cold winter night! Great twist on chicken soup. Next time I might use two chicken breasts so it’s a little meatier.
I made this yesterday ! Today it is even better. This is wonderful, so full of flavor 😋 The hardest part is chopping the veggies 👍
MY NEW FAVORITE.
I want everyone to taste this. 💜
Delicious! Made this for my husband, who is under the weather with a bad cold. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts, and added grated galangal in addition to the ginger. We like it spicy, so I also added diced Thai chiles. I hope the turmeric and other aromatics will help kick his cold! Thanks for the recipe, Beth :) Another Budget Bytes winner.
Made this for dinner yesterday and it was delicious! I had never used these spices and coconut milk before so I had no idea how it would taste, but I really loved it with rice :)
Made this today for lunch on a rainy Saturday and my husband and I just finished practically licking our bowls clean! This was the first time I’ve used turmeric and I’m a big fan now! Yet another amazing recipe from you!