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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 soup is interesting. The taste is similar to “opor” and “terik” in indonesian food, eventhough the ingredients are different.
I substitute the zucchini with eggplant because it’s difficult to find it here. Overall, I enjoy eating this soup.
We love soup & I am exited to try this one!
I really loved this soup. Normally when I make a coconut milk soup I double it with water, but this one was so much creamier. I added some lime juice and think the maple syrup isn’t necessary. Next time I’ll add some more veggies though. Even hubby didn’t miss the chicken 😉
This is def one of my favs as well! So glad you and your hubby enjoyed it.
I was really excited to make this soup but it was too sweet for me. I ended up adding a bit of chicken bouillon, fish sauce, soy sauce, fresh ginger and garlic and let it simmer for quite some time. This tasted much more authentic to me.
Love the upgrades to make it your own, Akemi!
What a beautiful recipe , straight from the ❤️
Delicious soup. The lime really does take the flavour to more complex levels!
When I reheated leftovers, I added more mushrooms and some cooked chicken. The result: a rival with the yummiest restaurant standard thai soups! Will most definitely make again
Easy, healthy and really great flavour. A winning combination!
Excellent recipe and easy to make. Very filling and satisfying. Who knew I could make curry? Thank you!
One of the reasons I visit Thai Restaurants is to get one of the coconut soups. After making and loving this version, I will no long need to go buy it when instead I can make it at home or at a friends home if they have a decent blender, you know Jen, the kind that costs more than $100 (LOL). From the 10-day soup challenge I learned a bunch of ways to vary this recipe and additional ingredients to use. This is one of my all time favorites. I believe I had already rated this soup, but I’m going thru them all again, because I have benefited so much in many ways from participating in this, like you said Jen, its so much more about making and eating soup.
Fantastic! Used the zucchini noodles (and a bit of rice) fr a delicious soup dinner that my Husband slurped down in a minute. The ingredients blend to make a SUPER flavor-fulled soup. As always, with Jen’s recipes, it will be a make again for sure.
Loved this one! We added all the garnishes and thought they added a lot to the soup. Loved the zucchini noodles but will definitely cut them into shorter pieces next time!
Tom Ka is on of my favorites of all time and this one….wow! Really love it!!
I loved it, my family did not. I will definitely make this again for myself.
Loved the exotic flavors of this soup but felt it needed more vegetables to counteract the richness of so much coconut milk.
What a wonderful combination of flavors. I really enjoyed this recipe!
This soup was a bit disappointing to me–I guess I wanted the coconut flavor to be sweeter and more dominant. The base of the soup (canned coconut milk) provided a lot of calories with little taste. Maybe it was the fact I used the light version of the coconut milk, or maybe it was the brand, but I couldn’t really recommend it. On the other hand. I absolutely loved the vegetables, especially the zucchini strips (I don’t have a spiralizer, so I used the peeler method)! They took on a texture that had great “mouth feel”. And, I added some shredded cooked chicken breast. Once I drained off most of the coconut milk, I really enjoyed the chicken and veggies. I doubt I’ll make this again, but I will be adding zucchini strips to future soups.
Glad you loved the veggies in this one! We’d def go for the full-fat coconut milk next time for that amazing robust flavor you’re looking for.
I was a little nervous about the spicy heat so I halved the Red curry spice. I should have used the whole amount. I used red onion instead of green onion and red pepper diced instead of the poblano pepper. I poured the soup over brown rice to make it a main dish. I didn’t have a spiralizer so used a peeler and it worked fine with the zucchini.
Really delicious flavor.