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Craving something warm, creamy, and full of flavor but don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen? This 30-minute vegan Thai coconut soup is my gift to you. It’s a quick and cozy take on the classic Tom Kha, made with tender mushrooms, sweet carrots, and creamy cashews for a satisfying, plant-based soup.
The rich coconut broth is infused with bright notes of lime, lemongrass, and a hint of heat—comfort food with a Thai-inspired twist. I’ve made this soup more times than I can count and I never get tired of it. I love it so much that I included it in my cookbook, Simple Green Meals.
Thailand Origins
Thai Coconut Soup, often called Tom Kha Gai, traditionally includes chicken and hails from northern Thailand, usually served with rice. My plant-based version swaps the meat for cashews and keeps it grain-free with zucchini noodles. Classic ingredients like ginger, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves add bold, aromatic flavor—feel free to include them!
Why This Thai Coconut Soup Rawks
- It’s a one-pot wonder. Simmer fresh veggies right in creamy coconut milk, soaking up every drop of Thai-inspired flavor. It’s got a cozy, spicy kick—just enough to warm you up without setting your mouth on fire. Not into heat? No problem. Simply dial back the curry paste and skip the serrano peppers to keep things milder.
- This soup actually gets better with time. Make it a day ahead and let those bold flavors mingle overnight. Just hold off on adding the zucchini noodles until you reheat—it keeps them from getting mushy and makes the whole bowl taste fresh and vibrant.
- It’s packed with plant-based nutrients. Between the mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, and creamy coconut milk, you’re getting fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats in every spoonful—aka fuel that tastes amazing.
- It’s ridiculously fast. This soup comes together in about 20 minutes, making it perfect for busy weeknights when you want something warm, nourishing, and not boring.
Storage Tips (Without the Mess)
One of my favorite things about soup? You can make a big batch and enjoy it all week—or freeze it for future “I-don’t-want-to-cook” nights. Thai coconut soup stores beautifully, but here’s a few pro tips:
- Skip adding the zucchini noodles if you plan to freeze it. Zoodles tend to turn mushy and slimy after thawing, and they’re super quick to toss in fresh when you reheat.
- Store your soup in a freezer-safe container or bag. I love Souper Cubes (use code Jen10 to get 10% off!)
- If you’re using glass jars, leave some space at the top for the soup to expand as it freezes (learned this the hard way with a shattered mason jar—zero stars, do not recommend).
Vegan Thai Coconut Soup (Tom Kha)
Ingredients
- 7 cups coconut milk light or full-fat canned
- ¼ cup Thai curry paste red or green
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp sea salt, unrefined
- 1 carrot very thinly sliced
- 1 cup baby bella mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2 zucchini spiralized
For Serving
- ¼ cup raw cashews chopped
- ¼ cup green onions chopped
- 1 serrano pepper thinly sliced
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, whisk together the coconut milk and curry paste.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the maple syrup and salt.
- Add the carrots and mushrooms and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender.
- Add the zucchini noodles. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
- Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with cashews, scallions, chile pepper, and lime wedges.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- If zucchini ‘noodles’ aren’t your thing, then swap for brown rice or millet ramen
- You can use a vegetable peeler to create zucchini strips if you don’t have a spiralizer.
- Use full fat canned coconut milk for the richest flavor, use light canned coconut milk for less fat
- The nutrition facts are based on full-fat canned coconut milk. Use light canned coconut milk for fewer calories and fat.
- Omit the chili pepper and halve the amount of Thai curry paste for a less spicy meal
Nutrition
More Vegan Soup Recipes You’ll Love
After making this Thai coconut soup, try my other vegan soups —you won’t miss the meat for a second.
- My light and creamy celery soup takes 30 minutes and it’s easy to prepare a big batch and enjoy throughout the week to get in lots of fiber, nutrients and plant-based protein.
- This spicy black bean soup is bold, hearty, and bursting with flavor thanks to the smoky chili powder, warm cumin, and fragrant oregano.
- Experience the rich, smoky flavors of fire-roasted tomato soup. This hearty blend of roasted tomatoes, herbs, and spices delivers warmth and comfort in every spoonful.
Food shouldn’t be boring, and it should be easily shared. Grab one of these recipes today and help your family try something new!
This is a lovely, mild soup. I used 1/2 light coconut milk and 1/2 full fat coconut milk and thought the texture was very good. It’s got a mild flavor, so next time I will heat it up a bit more with more curry paste or some siracha. My husband likes this one too!
It was such fun to make a soup different from the usual. And ingredients were still simple and steps quick and easy! I only added a bit more pepper for an extra kick. Delicious!
Really loved this Thai coconut soup. I did omit the curry paste. It was to spicy for us. Everything else was delicious. Will definitely make this recipe again.
I didn’t get a chance to make this one yet but I can tell from the ingredients I’m gonna love it! Tonight took us to the last fair of the season in Maine so this will be on the menu tomorrow night!
This soup is all about the toppings. The coconut thai base is simple and delicious, but you can load it with whatever toppings you can dream up. A favorite for sure.
Loved this recipe! I was so excited to try it once it was ready that I forgot to photograph it! So far, this is my favorite and it was so easy!
You know it’s good when you forget to grab that pic for IG! Kale yeah!
Me and my family enjoyed the soup very much. I made with less with coconut milk to keep it liter with calories.
Better than I expected… I used the lower fat coconut milk as I thought the full fat would be too rich for me… and it was really good.
This one was okay. Needs a little bit more something, not sure what. I used Thai red curry paste, not sure the difference between red and green I’ve only used red curry paste once before this. I did use Trader Joe’s organic coconut milk and have to say it’s the best canned coconut I’ve ever used. So many of them separate where the fat is so hard it’s difficult to incorporate. Because of that I researched coconut milks and found Trader Joe’s was rated high because of the consistency. Just wish there was one closer to my home. I’ll try this one again but maybe adding more mushrooms, Thai curry paste, and maybe some cilantro.
My favorite soup so far! I didn’t change a thing!
Confession – I have never cooked with coconut milk. It’s embarrassing I know. Imagine my surprise when I tasted this devine (yes a holy experience) soup tonight, mind blowing! This was amazing and I don’t even feel bad having used full-fat coconut milk. I added a little brown rice that I had left-over from last night’s dinner and this was a perfect meal. Can’t wait for lunch leftovers tomorrow! Thank you!
Great flavors. A little to spicy for me. I would add the peppers if you like it spicy. Adding the basil, lime juice and cashews help tame the heat. This soup definitely fills you up.
Feel free to back off on the curry paste a bit if that helps as well, Sombra. So glad you tried it!
I made this last night to have for dinner tonight. Such an easy thing to make!! When I tasted it before putting it away I was kinda like, “eh, not sure.” BUT! I’m having for dinner tonight and it’s amayyyyzing! Will definitely make again and again!! Thankful to have enough for leftovers and lunch!! Yum!!
Todays soup was definitely interesting. I love Thai food and so does my husband so we were very anxious today. It was interesting. It was very simple to make. I made 2 pots more or less… I cut the ingredients in 1/2 because I wanted to try two different variations. As it was printed and then without the maple syrup. I am not a sugar person, so I just wanted to see. I found that the maple syrup one was too sweet for me. My husband loves maple syrup so he didn’t complain at all. :-). I also liked the flavor of the full fledged recipe without the syrup but was thinking it needed something more to be a complete meal. So, I defrosted some shrimp in cold water and quickly sautéed them then threw them in my soup. I think Kale and tofu would have also been a wonderful … thank you for the recipe !!
Absolutely Shannon! We’re not anti-meat here, so if tossing those shrimp in made this soup for you, then we say go for it! Love that you lowered the sugar content by omitting the maple syrup. Rawkstar move!
This was fantastic! I was so surprised how easy it was to make. Both of my kids really liked it too. We used leftover rice instead of the zoodles, and I didn’t have lemongrass, but it still turned out good. Next time I’m going to follow the recipe exactly. It’s very filling.
I usually make curry from scratch. This is my first time using a store bought paste and I have to say, I will never do that again. It came out really bland spice-wise but really sweet because of the added sweetener. I ended up adding some ginger, coriander, a dash of cayenne and that made it edible. I wish I had had some lemongrass I feel like that’s almost a requirement for this dish.
Also, I feel like there wasn’t enough substance. It was mostly liquid. I even used two carrots and more than a cup of sliced mushrooms.