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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 the first time I had Tom Kha soup with zucchini. It was surprisingly good. I had red curry paste so used that. I was hesitant about adding the maple syrup but found that it really enhanced the flavor. The toppings were fun to add as well since everyone just picked what they liked so each dish was personalized to taste.
Definitely a keeper!!!
This was a delicious soup! I added spinach since I had some to use up and it complimented this recipe perfectly. The coconut milk and mushrooms tasted so good together. Will make this recipe again.
OMG….fabulous. Better than the Tom Yum soup I order at a local Thai resturant. Very fragrant and exotic looking. Could eat this soup every day and not tire of it. Recipe is a keeper.
The Thai Coconut Soup was phenomenal, as good as cream of mushroom soup. Next time I am going to give the lime a little squeeze over the soup, instead of putting lime wedges into the soup.
I was surprised how tasty this came since it was so simple! I added extra veggies and ground turkey. Crushed cashews and a squeeze of lime on top. DELICIOUS!
Excellent soup. I liked the change that this soup brought. It brought variety to the soups we’ve already made. We’re going to make some rice to go with the left overs.
Listen…this recipe was delicious!!!! You do have to have an appreciation for coconut flavor, which my family does from coconut milk, ice cream bars oil; we love it. This was strong on the coconut flavor. I used only three cans of the milk. I added a little more of the curry paste than the recipe called for and also a little of my normal curry powder. My eight year old, almost two year old and I loved this soup. This is one I will definitely be making in the future.
This was really good. Not as spicy as I thought it would be. That’s okay….I added more heat. I will be making this one again.
Delicious – but too much saturated fat – even with low fat coconut milk.
Thai Coconut soups are usually something we love to eat every so often at home. I used red curry . Adding the maple syrup was something I never thought of as a sweetener in soup before. It worked well with the unsweetened coconut milk. Making the zucchini the noodles in Spirals was a great idea. I decided to do this with the carrots as well. The flavor overall itself is subtle and slightly sweet with a nice healthy portion of vegetables. With the toppings you can choose to add some heat with the pepper, crunch with the cashews and adding the lime is I think is needed to enhance the flavors. This is a good version of the soup.
Love thai coconut soups. Never thought to add mushrooms. Nice to have vegan option since most thai restaurants add fish sauce.
New favorite! I used 3 cans lite coconut milk and subbed one can for a can of water, and it was still wonderful. My family loves Thai food and this was pure comfort in a bowl. We will definitely be making this again.
This my absolute favorite soup so far!! I can’t get enough of Thai curry soup and this recipe is so so easy!
I liked the soup but my husband said this was his least favorite soup so far.
My favorite!!!!!!
This soup was very good and very easy. I doubled the mushrooms and it still could have used more, but then again, I love mushrooms! I substituted 4 tsp curry for the paste since our little country store did not have that. Next time I will try to get the ingredients to make my own. It was still very good with just the powdered curry. I will be making it again!