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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!
Only way to describe first taste-“ I thought I died and went to heaven”
Absolutely love this soup thank you so much for sharing the recipe
Very surprised by the smoothness and texture of this soup. I loved it and super easy to make.
A 5 us not enough. I am in love with this soup.
I didn’t have zucchini so I substituted butternut squash.❤❤❤❤
It was very good, but a little too spicy for me; I will cut back on the amount of curry next time.
This is soup is unique (not your typical soup when you think of soup). I appreciate that it is meatless and still packs flavor and is filling. The ingredients are simple and it’s easy to make.
First time trying this kind of soup.
Way to be a brave rawkstar Teri!
Simple and delicious, this soup is good for pot luck with a chose your topping spread 🙂
This seemed a little bland until I added some of the suggested toppings. The lime really gave it a boost! Simple & filling! I kept the zucchini spirals separate so I could freeze the soup.
Delicious!! But I had to bump up the “flags” a tad. Was a little flat tasting to me so I added in some adobo and a few more fresh veggies. It was delish though!
I love how simple and delicious this is! I only made 1/2 of the recipe, since it’s just me eating, but when I do it again (and I will), I’ll do the full amount and hold back the zucchini, so I can freeze extras. I did half and half with the coconut milk and it’s still delightfully rich!
As much as I wanted to, I just didn’t love this soup. I’m sure it’s because I don’t like the flavor or texture of mushrooms. I like thicker soups and this was pretty thin. I used 2 cans of Thai Kitchen lite coconut milk and 1 carton of full fat Thai kitchen coconut milk. When I eat the leftovers, I might try adding some rice or quinoa to the bowl and see if that changes my opinion.
This soup was one that was out of my comfort zone. I must say, it is Awesome. I did add a little chopped jalapeño to my bowl of soup and loved the little kick of heat from it. So Delicious !!
Very good warming soup that you can put any veggies into. I like loading a soup like this one up with different slightly crunch veg that change it up just slightly, but you still have the same overall good soup!
FANTASTIC RECIPE!!! So easy to make and very delicious. I’ve attempted making a similar soup years ago but did not have the advantage of all the helpful information that Simple Green Smoothies provided us, thank you Jen. What an incredible difference using the right kind of coconut milk makes with this soup; as suggested I used Thai Kitchen’s Coconut Milk unsweetened variety that I easily found in my Publix grocery store’s International Food isle along with their red Thai curry paste.
TIP #1: Before opening up the cans of coconut milk into a pot, shake them up vigorously first for about 10 seconds to mix the coconut with the water inside to avoid a huge dollop of coconut from sliding out suddenly causing splash back – a lesson I learned with the first can.
TIP #2 While simmering the wisked coconut milk and curry paste over medium heat or during a later step in this recipe, please don’t be tempted like I did and place a lid over the pot even one that is vented, otherwise the soup will likely boil over very quickly if using a smaller pot, another lesson I learned that I’m sharing with you all.
TIP #3 When using any kind of spiralizer gadget in creating zucchini ‘noodles’ that are fantastic, I recommend cutting them into smaller sections before placing them into the soup to cook near the end; it just makes ladiling into a soup bowl easier and less messy.
Alterations to the ingredients: I only made one, instead of using 2 tsps of maple syrup I used the same quantity of a favorite of many Vitamix recipes that I already had on hand, 100% pure agave nectar, the light variety.
Asides from using all the other ingredients as listed in this recipe as indicated, I added a little bit of spice heat by sprinkling some crushed red pepper flakes on top. When I heat up one of my leftover portions for a future meal, I am going to put in some fresh ginger root using a microplane grater during the reheat stage prior to putting in fresh zucchini ‘noodles’, its a small modification but changes the taste of the soup enough that its another new soup to enjoy.
Such great tips, Phil! Thanks for sharing so much detail about your experience with this Thai Coconut Soup. Esp. love the idea about adding ‘fresh’ zoodles to the leftovers! 🙂
Love all the soups . Delicious
I don’t like coconut milk so I used Almond. I also left out thee serrano pepper. And I used less curry paste, even so, the soup was good. I probably will not make it again. It just is not for me.