articles

Easy Coconut Curry Chicken Soup - Perfect for Chinese New Year

A Healthy and Tasty Recipe your Family will Love!

By Jess Searcy, Publisher Macaroni Kid South Birmingham December 27, 2022

Are you looking for something delicious and healthy to cook for your family? Maybe you're looking for something to warm your family's tummies? This super easy coconut curry chicken soup is a delicious, healthy, and complete meal with an Asian flare and perfect meal to celebrate the Chinese New Year!

Ingredients

  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 1 inch fresh ginger
  • 1 pound sugar snap peas
  • 1 bag fingerling or other small, thin-skinned potatoes
  • 5 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, plus more to taste
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper, optional
  • 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
  • 1 quart chicken stock
  • 30 ounces unsweetened coconut milk  - I just used two cans
  • 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken - we added more, almost all of our leftover chicken
  • 1/2 lemon
  • 1/4 cup cilantro

Macaroni Tip: If you family is looking for a Vegetarian or Vegan soup you can easily swap the chicken stock for your favorite vegetable stock and skip the chicken and either add more vegetables or use tofu instead

Directions

1. Mince the garlic and chop the onions and potatoes. Peel and grate the ginger. Wash and trim the sugar snap peas.

2. In a heavy-bottomed pot, add coconut oil, onions, garlic, ginger, and salt and cook on medium heat until soft and fragrant.

Take pot off heat while you do the next steps:

3. Cover potatoes with water until just covered and boil until mostly cooked through - about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

4. Steam snap peas in a pot with a shallow layer of water. Remove from heat when bright green, then run under cool water. Set aside.

5. Go back to onion mixture. As it begins to soften, add all of the dried spices and cook while stirring for 3 minutes.

6. Add chicken stock and coconut milk to curry mixture. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes.

7. Add chicken and potatoes to the curry, heat through.

8. Juice the lemon. Chop cilantro.

9. Turn off stove heat; add lemon juice and steamed snap peas.

10. Serve in bowls with cilantro garnish. Add salt to taste.

This looks and tastes super fancy, like it's from a restaurant. But it was really very easy to put together. It's a great winter comfort food!


Jess Searcy

Macaroni Tip:  Make a whole chicken in a slow cooker:  put the chicken in, cover halfway with water, and cook on low 5-6 hours the day before and you will have enough chicken for dinner one night, plus chicken AND homemade stock for this recipe the next day. I actually took my chicken bones and followed a homemade bone broth recipe to really get the most out of my chicken. But you don't have to get that into it.


This previously published article was updated December 27, 2022

by Macaroni KID Conejo Valley - Malibu - Calabasas