This Asian (and vegan!) take on Everyday Food's Coconut-Lime Chicken Noodle Soup recipe will become your new favorite comfort food.
In case you were wondering, I'm still doing Weight Watchers (and I've lost 10 pounds—yay me!). It just feels weird to write about it all the time here. Anyway! I typically find it easy to stick to the plan for breakfast and dinner, and I'm not much of a snacker, so that's not a problem either. But lunch has been difficult. I don't like frozen foods and I'm not a big salad eater. I did sandwiches for a while, but I burnt out on those. I like some canned soups, but I'm trying to avoid them because of the whole BPA thing. When lunchtime rolls around, it's usually, "Oh, what I'm going to eat? I guess I'll have some potato chips and a tangerine." So I'm not so much over-eating when it comes to lunch—it's mostly just that I'm eating odd things. Things that don't really constitute a meal.
The Ultimate Weekly Meal Prep: Soup
Not having time to whip up something from scratch on a daily basis, I've found that a good solution has been to make a big batch of soup on Sundays to eat during the work week. Soup is easy to heat up and I can have it with some fruit and one of my No-Bake Molasses Bites and it's a filling (normal! non-potato chip!) meal.
After a few weeks of various lentil soups, I've moved onto Asian-inspired ones. Last week, I found a recipe for Coconut-Lime Chicken Noodle Soup in Everyday Food (which apparently is so new, it's not even up on Martha Stewart's website yet—sorry, no link!) and I decided to adapt it to my tastes and diet to make Coconut-Lime Tofu Soup. I took out the chicken and noodles and added tofu and mushrooms instead. As I squeezed the lime juice into the pot, I was worried that the soup would be too lime-y for me, but it worked—it reminds me of the coconut soup that comes with the lunch special at our local Thai restaurant.
Recipe
![Coconut Lime Tofu Soup [Top]](https://ohmyveggies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/coconut_lime_tofu_soup_top.jpg)
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cup vegetable broth
- 2- inch piece fresh ginger peeled and cut into ¼ inch rounds
- 1 13.5 oz can unsweetened coconut milk
- 1 14 oz package extra firm tofu, drained, pressed at least 30 minutes (you can use a tofu press), and cubed
- 8 oz button mushrooms thinly sliced
- 6 tbsp fresh lime juice about 3 limes
- 3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 2 tsp light brown sugar
- 1 jalapeno pepper thinly sliced, seeds removed
- ¾ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Combine broth and ginger in a large pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add coconut milk to broth; return to a simmer. Stir in tofu and mushrooms; cook 3 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Add lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, jalapeno, and ½ cup of cilantro leaves to pot; cook 1 minute more.
- Garnish bowls with remaining cilantro.
Carol @ Always Thyme to Cook says
Great looking soup, I have to try this. I love the flavors in there. Congrats on the weight loss, Weight watchers always worked for me, too, helps keep things in check!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! I love Weight Watchers! It's nice to be able to eat what you want and not have to restrict things--especially since I blog about food. 🙂
The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh says
Ooh that sounds good right now. I've gotta ease into tofu though. 🙂
The Type A Housewife says
I'm not a big fan of tofu, but I like it in soup because it takes on the flavor of the broth. I need my tofu to taste like other things!
Genevieve says
This would be a lunch that I would look forward to eating all week! I love adding lime juice to brighten up Asian-inspired dishes too. I've never tried eating a jalapeno in slices like that - was it strong tasting, or does it mellow out in the soup?
The Type A Housewife says
Ha, I had the same thought about the jalapeno! I was thisclose to dicing it instead, but I thought I'd tough it out because the slices would photograph better. 🙂 The sacrifices we make as food bloggers! Luckily, they did really mellow in the soup.
Pam says
I love coconut soup, but the kind at my favorite Indian restaurant ought to be sold as dessert. It is so sweet, a bowlful must have 1,000 calories! So thank you for this. It looks delicious, and much less caloric.
The Type A Housewife says
My husband loves that Indian soup. 🙂 Yes, this one definitely has less calories, although it's not as sweet!
Kelly @ Free Spirit Food says
Wow, this looks so yummy. I love Thai food!
The Type A Housewife says
Me too! I just wish I could cook it. 🙂 This soup turned out well, but I think I've tried at least a dozen variations of pad Thai with no luck!
Candy says
How coconutty ( not a word, but you get it, right?) is the taste? I do not like coconut at all. Any ideas for a substitute? Congrats on the weight loss!!!
The Type A Housewife says
It's not very coconutty--it's more lime-flavored, with an essence of coconut. I think you could just leave the coconut milk out and add an extra cup and a half of broth. I guess it all depends on just how much you hate coconut!
John says
I just made this recipe, and didn't have coconut milk handy. While not vegan, the substitute I used was 1/4 cup heavy cream and about a cup of skim milk. It came out just fine - nice and rich and tasty. I'm sure you could use soy milk or almond milk instead for a vegan version. I think the coconut milk mostly adds a small amount of fat that adds to the flavor (thus the choice of heavy cream).
The Type A Housewife says
I agree, I think anything that gives the broth a little bit of creaminess is a fine substitute for the coconut milk. Thanks for sharing--I'm glad you liked the soup!
Candy says
Thanks John! I'm hoping to hit up the grocery this week end, so maybe I'll get to try this soon!
Ambika says
Wow!! Love this soup recipe, I've got to try it!! Thanks for visiting my page 🙂
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! I hope you like it if you make it. 🙂
BusyWorkingMama says
Mmmm...I love coconut and lime! I'm making a snow pea version with shrimp this weekend. Love the mushrooms in here!
The Type A Housewife says
Ooh, I love snow peas! I'm trying to grow them this spring, in fact. I think they'd be really good in this soup!
Laura says
This looks delish. I'm on WW, too. Did you figure the points value for this?
The Type A Housewife says
Yup, it's 10 PointsPlus. It sounds high, but each serving is really big and filling. You could definitely get 6 servings out of this and use fewer Points.
rachel r. says
Ooh, I'm definitely going to make this. I like those flavors and I already have most of those ingredients.
The Type A Housewife says
I hope you like it! I'm going to make it again soon too--I love Asian soups. 🙂
Rachel R. says
I got around to making this and it was a nice way to use up some tofu and mushrooms. The only changes I made were to use homemade chickens stock (what I had on hand) and added some lemongrass and fish sauce. Thanks again for the recipe!
The Type A Housewife says
I like the lemongrass idea! I really need to get around to making my own broths and stock--I (shamefully) usually end up buying mine.
Brenda Williams says
Don't worry about the 10 pounds you lost, I found it....lol. This looks so good.
The Type A Housewife says
Ha! Yeah, I know how that is!
TerriAnn @ Cookies and Clogs says
That sounds great and I love soups with a coconut base. I may have to leave out the lime for DH's sake but other than that - yum!
The Type A Housewife says
Yeah, the lime flavor is strong, so it's probably best to leave it out if he's not a fan. 🙂
Vicky says
This sounds like a delicious vegan soup recipe!
The Type A Housewife says
Thank you! It's one of my favorites.
erin says
I have tried tofu and do not like the texture (taste isn't bad though)...will this soup be way off if leaving out the tofu? Thanks...this incorporates two of my favorite flavors otherwise!
Kiersten says
You could definitely leave out tofu, but I would add some veggies in its place--maybe extra mushrooms, snowpeas, red bell pepper.
Debs @ The Spanish Wok says
Wow this soup sounds delish. Congrats on the weight watchers too.
You are welcome to join in my monthly food blogger event THE SOUP KITCHEN, here for entry details and current theme offering a new theme each month. All bloggers are welcome, hope to see you participate soon.
Mushrooms Canada says
Love, love, love this soup! Warm, but with such summery flavours! Nailed it!
-Shannon
Kiersten says
Thank you! Coconut milk soups always make me think of summer for some reason. 🙂
emily says
I tried making this soup with low fat coconut milk. I think that was a mistake. The soup tasted way too sour from the lime and you couldn't taste much else.
Kiersten says
I've made it with light coconut milk a few times and it worked out for me--it definitely is a tart soup, but I didn't find it overwhelming. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you!
cp says
I love this soup. I've made it at least a half dozen times. I've made some adjustments...less jalapeno, more ginger, less lime juice and I use about half the tofu but add cooked udon noodles at the end to make it a more substantial meal. So tasty, simple and delicious.
Kiersten says
I love the idea of adding udon--I'm going to try that next time I make it! 🙂
Rachel R. says
Made this for supper tonight - DELICIOUS!!! I used light coconut milk and thought that worked fine - though full fat would probably be better and I'll use that next time. Love the idea of adding noodles - I think I will try that, as well. This one is definitely going in the rotation!
Kiersten Frase says
Thanks for your comment--I'm glad it was a winner! 🙂
Alyson says
Wonderful recipe! I've tried making this type of soup before (I know it as tom kha tofu soup), but it never tasted right. This is it! In Thai restaurants, there is usually lemongrass in the soup, but it's really not missing here at all! I added some broccoli slaw from Trader Joe's (shredded broccoli stalks mixed with some shredded carrot) along with the tofu and mushrooms, and it added some nice texture. I've signed up for your email updates and can't wait for more!
Kiersten Frase says
I'm glad it was a hit! I'm always trying to replicate restaurant dishes at home too--it feels like such a victory when you finally nail it! 🙂
Rebekah says
I'm eating this right now. So good! I added a bit of red curry paste, a dash of fish sauce, and red peppers. It's delIghtful!
Kiersten Frase says
Thanks for your comment--I'm glad you enjoyed it!
stephanie says
Not a fan of cilantro any other herbs you'd suggest instead
Kiersten Frase says
You could try basil too - I'd add less, though.
Alisha says
I am making this now - thanks for the recipe. I am hoping it turns out great. I just wish there were more pictures of the cooking process because that really helps me.
Julie says
I'm burning my mouth on this right now as I cannot wait for it to cool. I had fried tofu last night for a dish, but then used instead in this with broccoli a few green beans and carrots (no mushrooms) and it is awesome! Tangy, yum. Thanks for nailing the recipe tastes with easy to have on hand (for me) ingredients
Geeta says
Hi,
thanks for the receipe.
how to make vegetable broth here?