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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!
Pretty good, though I think I am with the group that wants to add more carrots.
Yay team carrots! 🙂
This soup turned out so pretty and so fresh. I really like how light it was. – Yet filling. I saw someone else added a little basil on top and will try that next time.
Loved this soup! I accidentally bought an Asian Chili paste instead of curry paste when shopping, and didn’t realize until I had already started, so I just went with it, and it was delicious. Looking forward to trying it with curry paste next time as this will be on regular rotation. I added some home made bone broth as I am trying to incorporate that into my daily diet as much as possible. It cut the richness somewhat but left the flavor profile and win- it stretched the recipe so I had more wonderful soup. It is very satisfying and filling. I had it as a side to dinner, and ended up having a little more soup and saving the rest of my dinner fo another day!
That IS a total win Michelle! So glad to know that Asian Chili paste works well here too. Thanks for sharing!
My favorite of all the soups I’ve made. Definitely like green curry better than red.
The Best! Definitely my favourite so far!
I liked this but didn’t love it. I used 3 tbsps of green curry, which gave it just a little heat, but I could’ve used the entire ¼ cup. If I were to make this again, I would add another carrot. One carrot just sort of disappeared in the coconut milk. I really loved the spiralized zucchini, and the soup had good flavor.
I did not use coconut milk, nor did I add mushrooms, because my kid doesn’t like coconuts and mushrooms. Surprisingly, the soup tastes good. We used the leftover soup to make noodles. My child actually liked it very much.
This was a great surprise. I had never eaten coconut soup. It was delicious. Thank you for this great recipe.
This Thai coconut soup is AWESOME!!!
Totally agree Michelle!
Really bland
I would have liked more veggies in the soup. Next time I would add another carrot and more mushrooms. I found the soup was rich but not very filling. I added a thai chili pepper for some heat.
This soup is delicious. Not a fan of coconut milk or curry however it totally worked in this recipe. I would add more carrots next time. Also, I only used half the curry paste.
this is the best of the 10 day soup challenge so far and I loved the other recipes too It tastes so good I had to fight my husband off but he did not believe me when I said it is terrible how could when the smell was just heavenly 🙂
Finally made it. Dumped all the contents into a microwave safe bowl and five minutes later boom, amazing soup. Clearly changed it to a serving of one first. Children all forced to take a bite because I’m a horrible, horrible parent. They begrudgingly admitted it was tasty. Then they had tacos anyway. Works out well, leaves me alone with my delicious soup!
You’re totally parent of the year in our book!!! Way to rawk this busy mama! xoxo
This soup was just ok. I made as the recipe said but it was bland. I had to add way more salt, garlic powder, 3 times the curry and serve with siracha. It wasn’t that I wanted it spicy, even with all I added it was still mild. It just had no flavor. I agree with one of the comments, needed more veggies. If I make it again, I will add way more veggies.
Sounds like you have a solid plan for how to make this a winner for you next time! Thanks for rawkin this soup with us Amanda!
Good flavor but I prefer a heartier soup.