This is a super tasty Asian coconut soup that is so easy to make despite the long list of ingredients – please don’t let them put you off as it really packs a punch of flavour.
We pretty much always have a Sunday roast chicken and I will always make a batch of stock from the bones after stripping any left over meat off. You can keep both the left over meat and the stock in your fridge for a couple of days, and then you can whip up this soup in about 15 minutes for an awesomely tasty midweek dinner (or you could just as easily use a chicken stock cube for ease and quickness).
I used a massaman paste because that was what was in my fridge but you could use any Thai style curry paste and you can tone up or down the level of spice by using more or less paste. I found 1 tbsp of the massaman paste offered a warming spice and the coconut cream offers a richness to the dish that counteracts the spiciness perfectly so it does not build too much whilst eating.
You could also easily turn this into a vegetarian Asian coconut soup offering by swapping the chicken stock for vegetable stock and swap the chicken and prawn for loads of Thai style vegetables.
From this Asian coconut soup recipe you will have half a can of coconut milk left over, which you could make my mango, chilli and lime panna cotta from. Recipe here.
With the new format of the blog I will be closing off each post within the body of the text at this stage and the contact form will be up here too. This means that you can print out the recipe card below if you wish without the contact form being part of that print out.
Hope you love the Asian coconut soup recipe as much as we did.
S Xx

Servings | Prep Time |
2 People | 15 Minutes |
Cook Time | Passive Time |
15 Minutes | 60 Minutes (if making the chicken stock) |
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Aromatic Asian coconut soup with a richness added from the coconut milk. Can be made with leftover shredded chicken and prawns or just one of them.
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- 1 whole chicken carcuss
- 5 leaves lime dried
- 1 stick lemongrass bashed
- 1 thumb ginger sliced
- 1 whole chilli
- 1 litre water Approx measurement, enough water to cover ingredients
- 1 Portion Asian Chicken Stock
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp massaman curry paste
- 1 handful shredded chicken left over from roast
- 6 pieces king prawn
- 0.5 can Coconut Milk
- 1 stick lemongrass bashed
- 1 thumb ginger cut into little match sticks
- 4 leaves lime ideally fresh
- 2 whole birdseye chilli deseeded & cut in half
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 0.5 tsp Palm Sugar
- 0.5 whole Lime Juice
- 4 pieces babycorn sliced
- 1 whole small carrot cut into little match sticks
- 1 tsp kecap manis
- 1 tsp chilli oil
- 0.5 whole Lime Juice to serve
- 1 whole spring onion cut into little strips
- 1 handful coriander chopped
- If making your chicken stock fresh then start by putting all of the asian chicken stock ingredients into a big pan and bringing to the boil. If you have a pressure cooker I would advise using it and your stock will be ready in 30 minutes. If you only have a pan, lower to simmer and cook for 60 minutes.
- Heat tbsp oil over a medium heat and add massaman paste. Cook out for 1-2 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and warm through with the lime leaves for 3-5 minutes
- Add the lemongrass, chilli & ginger sticks. Both the lemongrass and the chilli pieces will need removed at the point of serving.
- Add the julienne / matchstick carrots
- Add the babycorn
- Sprinkle in half of the fresh coriander
- Add fresh prawns and stir through
- Add shredded cooked chicken
- Add the coconut milk and balance the asian coconut soup seasoning with fish sauce, palm sugar, kecap manis, lime juice & chilli oil
- Check that the prawns are fully cooked and everything is warmed through. Serve with fresh coriander, spring onion and a wedge of fresh lime
My best advise for this one is to make the chicken stock the day before and keep it in the fridge so you can whip up the soup easily after work in less than 20 minutes.
Don't forget to make a coconut panna cotta from the left over coconut milk from this recipe.