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.
This is so yummy!! Thank you for such great recipes!
Thank you Brittany!
Made this in the instant pot and it’s a hit! I do recommend doubling up the spices if you like a kick. 12 minutes in the IP and quick release after 10 minutes. Sautéing before hand per insructuons. Thanks Beth!
Thanks for sharing W!
This was delicious. I did add 2 cans of coconut milk, cooked my chicken in advance and didn’t serve with rice but that is all personal preference. Thank you for this recipe, we will add it to our rotation for sure!
Good to know! Thanks Lesley!
What is in the thick layer of solid fat on top after refrigerating this—all chicken fat or is it partly coconut milk too? If it’s only chicken fat I’ll scrape it off but if there’s coconut in there too I don’t want to lose that!
It’s definitely mostly coconut oil. :)
I have made this twice — once the way it was written (yeah, I added some hot sauce to my bowl, but I am *almost* one of those people who carries a little Tabasco bottle in my bag) and once the “well, crap, I have 5 grains of rice left” way. I had rice noodles and green curry paste, so we shifted it into Thai gear. Great soup as is, also great vehicle for using up other stuff you have on hand. Yum.
This is one of my favourites that I’ve come back to again and again :) Chicken noodle soup can get a little boring, I feel this recipe takes it to the next level of comfort. Thank you!
I made this for a dinner I hosted last week and it was a hit! Since I made a larger pot, I obviously had to add more spices and herbs. I also added some black pepper because I add it to nearly everything. Other than that, I skipped the rice and added both lime zest and lime juice — nice flavors! I had several servings last week and froze the rest, so I can enjoy it again, probably this weekend. Thank you, Beth, for another awesome recipe! I included it in my blog too.
https://alongthecamelride.com/2019/03/25/meal-prep-monday-back-to-reality-and-meal-prepping/
I make soup each week and freeze in mason jars to take to work each day. Budget friendly, yummy and healthy – the best of all worlds! This soup looks amazing! Would it freeze well? Should I freeze the rice separately or could I place on top of the cooled soup and then pop in the freezer?
I think this would freeze great. :) I usually freeze my rice right in my soup when I freeze things like this, but you can do it either way.
This is my go to soup now! Absolute favorite! What I’ve been doing is placing the soup in mason jars and leave enough room that I can add the rice at the top. When I dump it into my bowl, it mixes beautifully. Also was wondering how to adapt for an Instant Pot (my new toy). I was wondering if it could go on high pressure for 10 minutes since there’s only one piece of chicken?
That’s a great idea Deb!
The entire family loves this, even my picky eating son came back for seconds. Finding a dish we can all agree on is a rarity, and this recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you for the creative recipe, it is now on our repeat meal list!
This is officially one of my favourite soups! It’s also honestly a really great hangover food. I often make a big batch of it and have it for leftovers with my boyfriend and friends for the next couple of nights, but how long does this usually last in the fridge?
Probably about 4-5 days. :)
Fabulous! I made it vegan substituting canned cannelini beans for the chicken and I used vegetable broth and a whole lot of crushed red pepper because we’re spicy people.
Thanks Beth for another winner!
This recipe was originally based off of her vegan Red Lentil Coconut Turmeric Soup. She linked to it in the description of this recipe. You should try it! Very tasty!
Thanks! Will do!
This recipe has become an instant favorite in my house but I’ve been reading the new research showing much of the turmeric marketed to US consumers contains lead ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5415259/ ) and I have little kids. Can you recommend a substitute for the tumeric in this recipe (and–another fave!– in your curried beef and peas recipe?) Thanks!
You could definitely do a curry powder instead, but many of those probably have turmeric as well.
You can buy fresh turmeric root and grate it as you would ginger. Then you can be sure it’s the real deal. You will want to use more fresh turmeric than dried to make it equivalent., though. https://www.healwithfood.org/substitute/fresh-turmeric-root-convert-dried-powder.php
My daughter is sick so I made this soup. My kids were raised overseas so these flavors tasted much like home to them. I will make this soup every time a member of my family is sick, from now on. I didn’t have celery, but it was just fine without it. I also completely forgot the lime. Delicious!!
Delicious!! Made it tonight and it turned out AMAZING. We made a few small tweaks to it and still turned out great. We substituted the one chicken breast with four smaller chicken thighs (based on what was already in the fridge) and then cooked it in our InstaPot using the “Saute” and “Soup” settings. Definitely plan to make this again and bring to potlucks. A very well done twist to the classic chicken soup.
I made this tonight and loved it! I used two chicken breasts instead of one to bulk it up and added some leftover kale I had at the end which was a great addition. Next time I’ll add more red pepper flakes or a jalapeño to make it spicier. Delicious!