Chicken Curry Soup is an Indian-spiced creamy chicken soup that’s comfort food with a spicy twist. This curried chicken soup is a hearty and flavorful dish that combines the best of both worlds. Whether you’re new to Indian flavors or a pro, this recipe is sure to please.
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This is one of my favorite soups and I think this chicken soup recipe will become a part of your regular meal rotation if you like Indian flavors.
The chicken coconut curry soup recipe is an aromatic blend of tender chicken, healthy spinach, creamy coconut milk, and fragrant spices, resulting in a satisfying meal.
Ashley says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is the number one request my husband has! We absolutely love it. Easy to follow recipe gets even better the next day. Thank you!
I don’t usually use curry powder because I prefer individual spices such as coriander, cumin, and turmeric. But I make an exception for this recipe.
I think you’ll agree that curry powder is the star of this delicious curried chicken soup recipe that I adapted from this Indian curry soup recipe.
If you want to try an authentic Indian recipe, give my Instant Pot chicken curry (based on my mom’s recipe) or Instant Pot chana masala a try. Or, if you want another Indian fusion recipe, try my Indian shepherd’s pie, a delicious comfort food with Indian flavors!
For some other soup recipes, Thai coconut curry soup, Instant Pot shrimp soup, Instant Pot Italian wedding soup, creamy chicken soup, and pork and hatch chile soup are all delicious! It’s not quite a soup; this Ethiopian lentil stew is awesome, too.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients for Curry Soup
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
Here are some tips for getting the best results when making this chicken curry soup:
🧈 Butter: I use either butter or ghee for flavor, especially homemade ghee using my Instant Pot ghee recipe. For fewer calories, substitute with vegetable oil.
🌴 Coconut Oil: Use coconut oil for a stronger coconut flavor.
🌿 Fresh Spices: Fresh curry powder is essential for robust flavor. Toss any old spices, and avoid generic brands. I recommend McCormick, Spice Islands, or Simply Organic. Adjust salt based on the brand’s salt content. Increase the quantity for more intensity. Indian curry paste will also work.
🥥 Coconut Milk: I prefer full-fat coconut milk, like Aroy-D or Chaokoh. Some readers like Trader Joe’s brand. If you want a creamy alternative, use ½ cup of heavy cream as some recipes for mulligatawny soup.
🌶️ Spice Level: For heat, add more jalapeño or switch to serrano peppers, which offer consistent spiciness. Omit jalapeños for a milder soup.
🍅 Tomatoes: Canned diced tomatoes work great, but fresh tomatoes can also be used.
🍗 Chicken: I prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs for tenderness, especially in the Instant Pot. Chicken breast is fine, too. You can use shredded rotisserie chicken; just add it after simmering the broth for 5 to 7 minutes on the stovetop or after pressure cooking. Adjust the salt accordingly.
🥦 Vegetables: Add more veggies like diced carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and potatoes for added nutrition.
🕒 Make It Ahead: This creamy soup tastes even better the next day!
❓ FAQS
Add the tomatoes with the juices, there’s not need to drain.
Use tofu instead of chicken and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this recipe vegetarian. Another option is to add some red lentils (which are quick-cooking) or canned chickpeas.
If you don’t like the taste of cilantro, you can omit it. You can also sprinkle some chopped parsley.
Add more coconut milk to the soup to make it less spicy. Start with a couple of tablespoons and add more to taste. Another option is to add diced potatoes to absorb some of the spiciness.
How to Make Coconut Curry Soup
♨️ Stovetop Method
- Saute onions, spices and chicken
- Add broth and tomatoes
- Simmer soup
- Add coconut milk and spinach
- Garnish with cilantro
- Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Heat ghee, butter, or oil over medium heat. Stir in onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos, and saute the onion mixture until onions are light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn heat off and add curry powder, salt, and pepper. Stir till fragrant. If the spices are burning or the food is sticking to the bottom, deglaze with a small amount of chicken stock or broth.
- Add chicken.
- Saute chicken until chicken pieces begin to lose their pink color and start to brown.
- Stir in the tomatoes and add chicken broth. Let the soup come to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the coconut milk. *
- Add spinach and simmer until spinach wilts and soup is heated through.
- Turn off heat and stir in cilantro.
- Serve this flavorful soup over rice or with crusty bread.
* If you want to make the soup thicker, feel free to mix together one tablespoon cornstarch and one tablespoon broth and add it to the simmering soup. Stir until thickened.
⏲️ Instant Pot Method
- Turn on Saute Mode.
- Saute onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos in ghee, butter, or oil.
- Press Cancel and saute curry powder, salt, pepper briefly.
- Be sure to deglaze.
- Saute chicken and stir in broth. Add the tomatoes, but don’t stir them in.
- Pressure cook and release pressure using natural release.
- Stir in Coconut milk and heat until the soup thickens.
- Add spinach, select Saute mode, and heat until spinach wilts and soup is heated through.
- Press Cancel and stir in cilantro.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
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I’m Neena, and I’ve spent a lifetime perfecting the recipes I share. My years of practice have honed my skills, resulting in consistently delicious and easy meals. My experience (including hits and misses!) enables me to provide valuable insights, troubleshooting advice, and innovative recipe ideas. Every recipe is tested multiple times, so you can be sure it works the first time!
Coconut Chicken Curry Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon ghee or butter
- 1 cup onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon ginger finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno sliced (optional)
- 2 Tbsp curry powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste) See Note 1
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 kg) cut into 1 inch cubes
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth low sodium
- 1 cup diced tomatoes canned or fresh
- 1 cup coconut milk preferably Aroy-D or Chaokoh brand
- 3 cups baby spinach chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Instructions
- Select Saute mode and allow the Instant Pot to heat up. Once the inner pot has heated up, add the butter or ghee.
- Once the ghee has heated up, add onions and saute until light golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add garlic, ginger, and jalapeno and cook mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Press Cancel. The spices will cook in the residual heat.
- Add curry powder, salt and pepper and stir till fragrant, about 30 seconds [See Note 2]
- Add chicken and stir to coat with the spice mixture.
- Stir in ¼ cup of broth to deglaze. There should be no brown bits stuck to the bottom of the inner pot.
- Stir in remaining broth. Add the tomatoes, but don't stir.
- Close the Instant Pot lid and pressure cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally (NPR). If you're pressed for time, after 10 to 15 minutes, release any remaining pressure. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
- Stir in spinach and coconut milk.
- Cook soup in Saute mode until spinach wilts and soup is heated through.
- Stir in cilantro and serve soup in individual soup bowls over rice or with crusty bread.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat butter or ghee in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat.
- Add onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeños to the pot. Saute for a couple of minutes or until the onion is lightly browned.
- Add curry powder, garlic and salt and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, and chicken. Allow the soup to come to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Stir in the coconut milk and heat till the soup thickens. [See Note 3]
- Add the spinach and heat through till the spinach wilts.
- Garnish with cilantro.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Bobbi says
I substituted extra-firm tofu for chicken in this recipe and it was delicious! So easy and the perfect comfort food for a rainy day. Very happy with how it turned out.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for commenting, Bobbi – I’m glad you were able to sub tofu for chicken.
Suzanne says
My brother told me about this soup. This is one of the best recipes I’ve ever found out about. Absolutely delicious. Contest-winner. This will be going in my regular rotation. Easy and amazing! THANK YOU!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks, Suzanne! I’m so glad he shared it with you. If you’re a fan of shrimp, you might like the chipotle shrimp soup too.
Sunny Drohan says
Quick question:
What is black pepper powder? Is it peppercorns which hv b ground Tom powder?
Bought the Aroyal Coconut milk from Amazon.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi there Sunny, thanks for your question. Yes it’s just ground black pepper, freshly ground or pre-ground. Hope you like the recipe.
Sunny Drohan says
Thanks. Will let you know after I make it, maybe next week.
Sunny D.
D. NIK says
Thanks for the very well-thought-out web instructions and recipe. I assume the recipe is for 6 0r 8 QT size.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You can use either size. I mostly use a 6 quart for my recipes, but soups, in particular, can be made in the 8 quart without modifications.
Cynthia Blanchard says
This was so yummy and delicious. Thank you for posting.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Cynthia, I’m thrilled that you loved the recipe because it’s one of my favorites!
Brenda says
I loved this soup, despite the fact that i did not have cilantro. I added some red peppers, and used some almond/coconut cream. Plus instead of jalepenos, i used some hot sauce. It came out awesome!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Brenda, I’m so glad you liked the recipe and made it your own!
Mullo says
Easily 5 stars!! This recipe is magnificent. My wife and I each had 2 bowls and she asked me to make a double batch again tomorrow haha. 👍🏻👍🏻 Thank you for the amazing recipe!!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear you like the recipe as much as we do 🙂
Mullo says
Thank you!! I made with one large diced to ato the first batch and canned the second batch. The fresh tomato batch was better so just a note if you or anyone wishes to try that way. ❤️
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Mullo, thank you so much for giving that feedback. Fresh is always better in my opinion, but I don’t always have them on hand 🙂
Cheryl says
Love this recipe. You do a great job of giving helpful directions and information. So yummy
Heidi McMaster says
If I was going to add extra veggies (ie, carrots, mushrooms, peppers), should I saute them with the onion before pressure cooking with the chicken, or add them after?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Heidi, you don’t need to saute the vegetables with the onions. You can add them in with the chicken if they’re slower-cooking (they will be well-done) or add them in after pressure cooking and cook on saute mode if they’re fast-cooking and/or you prefer the veggies to be more chewy/al dente.
Suzy says
This was delicious. One question, do you think the left overs could be frozen. Questionable. I made it for myself and have lots left. I’ll try to cut it in half next time! Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Suzy, thanks for your comment and good question. I don’t think I’ve ever frozen this recipe but I do freeze curries with coconut milk and they’re fine. I’d give it a shot.
Nancy says
I am new to the instant pot and although my soup looks somewhat different from yours it’s much darker in color, the taste is great. I will definitely be making it again.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Nancy, it’s probably the type of curry powder that made your soup darker. I’m glad the taste was good though 🙂 Thank you for taking a moment to comment and rate the recipe!
Judy says
Will be making it this week! Thanks
Kate says
I have been making this soup for almost a year now! I absolutely love it. I sometimes add diced carrots or potatoes if I am low on chicken. We like to meal prep this for busy weeks, especially during the wintertime, it’s like a warm hug. We leave out the spinach when we first make it then add it fresh after reheating it throughout the week!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Wow, that’s so great to hear, Kate! I love love this soup too! Thanks for sharing the tip about freezing it.
Tita C says
Family loves this recipe. In have made this multiple times and recently used cooked rotisserie chicken in place of raw chicken out of convenience and it was just as good as the written recipe. This is in the rotation and one of my five year old’s faves.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Tita, I’m always most excited to hear about kids enjoying the recipes 🙂
Ginger Taylor says
I made this soup tonight and everyone loved it. It is a keeper! Thanks for the recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I made it last night with extra veggies! But what do you know – I didn’t have any coconut milk, which is weird because I ALWAYS have it on hand. Used powdered coconut milk, stirred into some broth and added to the soup. Worked out pretty well.
Jennifer Brannen says
So delicious. I’m a low fodmap eater, so I skipped the onion and garlic. I also wanted some carbs and for it it to be a little thicker, so I added mung beans, zuchinni and carrots. It was still soup consistency but so yummy that I had to stop myself from eating 3 servings in 1 : )
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Jennifer, I’m so happy to hear that you liked the recipe as much as I do! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Adrienne Michalek says
Great recipe! Easy to follow and the outcome was so delicious. We devoured it. Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks Adrienne! I’m really glad you like the recipe. One of my favorite recipes to make, period!
ika says
this turned out great but wish you would have recipe on top vs step by step that are becoming irrelevant with all these different pressure cooker on the market. I imagine it takes long time to put that together but for us with Ninja foodi we just need the recipe 🙂 thank you for your effort though
Paint the Kitchen Red says
I completely understand your perspective, and for that reason I have a “Go directly to Recipe” button after the tips but before the step by steps. I can’t put that button higher because I really want people to read the tips. The step by steps are useful for the newbies 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Just an update: I now have a table of contents close to the top, to allow you to go directly to the recipe card.
Glenn Hurd says
So I made this recipe twice now and each time it’s turned out perfect I like a little bit more curry powder in mine and little bit more garlic but the basic recipe is standalone good thanks for sharing this with us I used to buy the soup from a store downtown everyday for lunch and now I can make a batch in my instant pot and it last me two weeks
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for your comment, Glenn! I love it when people use my recipes to cook at home rather than eat out!
Steve says
Hi Neena,
Checking in again, just wanted you to know I really love this recipe! If any of my friends get instant pots I recommend this. I’ve been going pretty willy nilly with it and just tossing in whatever is in my fridge or cupboard: carrots, mushrooms, squash, garbanzos, broccoli, cauliflower, and the last time I used panang instead of curry powder. So versatile.
Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Steve – Awesome, thank you so much! I can see how a Thai curry paste would work well with this recipe too. Glad to hear you’re changing it up to suit your tastes.
Misty Allen says
Can I make this recipe with chicken breasts instead of thighs or would it compromise the flavor?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Misty, I generally don’t like to pressure cook chicken breasts but because these pieces are cut small and the cook time is short, I think you’ll have good results. Enjoy!