Silky, rich, cozy, aromatic, and packed with flavors, this Vegan Tom Kha soup also known as Thai Coconut Soup, is a complete meal in a bowl!
This coconut-ty and creamy soup are so perfect to warm your soul, heart, and body during this time of year.
Now skip the Takeout and Make This Vegan Tom Kha Gai Soup at Home!
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Is there anything better than slurping up a comforting soup on a cold day? No right!?
I love soups during this time of the year. Whether you are under the weather, want to have something light for dinner/lunch, or make appetizers for a big party, soups are always the best.
It warms up your soul!
Tom Kha is one of my favorite Thai soups and I can’t believe I haven’t shared it on the blog until now.
My family love it so much that I keep cooking at home especially during winter.
About Tom Kha Gai Soup
Tom Kha Gai is a traditional Thai dish normally served as an appetizer or starter.
- Tom means soup,
- Kha means “galangal”, a type of aromatic root vegetable.
- And Gai means chicken
Tom Kha Soup or Tom Kha Gai is normally served with chicken (Gai) but since I am a vegetarian, I always opt for the vegetarian/vegan version of the soup.
So the actual name of this soup is “Tom Kha” and whatever at the end is the main protein. For example, if your tom Kha has shrimp (Koong), it will be tom Kha Koong, if it has chicken (gai), it will be tom Kha gai and in our version, it will be Tom Kha Tofu.
This soup is made with coconut milk, a couple of spices, lemongrass, galangal root, soy sauce, Thai chili, lots of vegetables, and tofu. It’s as delicious and flavorful.
The main flavor comes from Galangal, lemongrass, kaffir limes, shallots, and Thai chili. These ingredients help bring out its unique flavor.
I know these ingredients are not something that you would find in every grocery store. But trust me, these ingredients make all the difference!
If you love this Thai coconut soup and want to make it at home, I suggest you find a good Asian store near you. You will get all these ingredients either in the produce section or in the freezer section. Buy extra and freeze them for future use, because I promise you’ll want to make this soup again. Soon!
Ingredients required
- Tofu – Use firm tofu
- Shallots – One of the aromatics for this dish. You can use any onions.
- Mushrooms – Use any mushrooms of your choice.
- Carrots –It adds a unique earthly, slightly sweet, flavor to the soup.
- Bell pepper – I used a red one, but you can use whichever is available in your fridge.
- Soy sauce – A common ingredient to use in place of fish sauce. I prefer to use low sodium soy sauce so the soup is not overly salty. You can also use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce.
- Galangal – A most important ingredient for this soup. You can easily find it in Asian grocery stores. However, if you still really want to make Tom Kha and can’t find it, substitute galangal with ginger.
- Thai chili – It adds some heat to the soup. Use it according to your spice level.
- Kaffir lime leaves and Lemongrass – Other key ingredients of this recipe. But if you can’t find it use lemon zest.
- Sugar – this helps balance all the savory flavors. You can also use coconut sugar if you prefer.
- Full-fat coconut milk and vegetable broth – I use canned coconut milk and I love how creamy it makes this soup when combined with the vegetable broth.
- Thai Basil and Cilantro – I like to add Thai Basil and cilantro at the very end to give the soup an earthy and herby flavor.
- Lime juice – it’s just the perfect finishing touch.
- Oil – I have used coconut oil.
Step by step process
Pre-prep work
- First, drain the tofu and gently press it in a kitchen towel to get rid of extra moisture. Cut it into small bite-sized pieces. Keep it aside
- Pound lemongrass and galangal with mortar and pestle. This way, the aroma, and the natural oil will be released from them. Tear the kaffir limes into small pieces. Keep everything aside.
For Flavorful Stock
- Heat oil in a pot. Add chopped shallots, galangal, lemongrass, and red Thai chilies. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Now add vegetable stock and kaffir limes. Boil everything uncovered for 15 minutes on medium to high heat. This step will bring out all the flavors from the aromatics.
- Now switch off the flame and strain it through a mesh strainer. Discard all the aromatics and keep the stock aside.
Le’s Make Vegan Tom Kha Soup
- Take the same pot (or a new one), add coconut milk, prepared stock, tofu, mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrots. Turn on the flame.
- Cook everything on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until all the vegetables are slightly tender. The texture of the vegetables should be such that you should be able to feel some crunch yet it’s cooked.
- Tip – DONT cooks this soup on high flame. Else the soup might curdle or it might release lots of oil from coconut milk.
- Now add salt, soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Cook for another 2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Add Thai basil leaves and cilantro. Stir well.
- Serve hot. Enjoy!
Tip – you can serve it with Jasmine rice to make a complete meal.
Notes, Pro-tips and Quick FAQs
- I would highly recommend you to use all the ingredients fresh.
- Adjust spice levels to taste. It should have a wonderful mix of spicy, tangy, and a little sweet. For a spicier soup, add more chilies.
- You can skip tofu and use more vegetables
- This soup can be served as an appetizer or with Jasmine rice to make a complete meal.
- You can add some chili oil to the soup to your taste for more kick!
- If you can’t find fresh kaffir lime leaves at your local Asian grocery stores, use dried ones! Dried kaffir lime leaves are easy to find on Amazon!
Tom Kha soup tastes spicy, sweet, and sour. It has a savory umami flavor with a rich and creamy texture.
If you want to save any leftover soup, make sure to transfer it to an airtight container. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge.
It’s a great option for a light lunch or dinner. Add some rice noodles and make a complete meal.
This tom kha soup recipe comes together very quickly and easily. But if you want to make it even faster, you can make the flavorful stock in advance. It stays good for up to a week in the fridge. You can also cut up the veggies the day before. This will save some time the day you make it. To store the ingredients, place them in separate containers or bags.
More Soup Recipes
- Instant Pot Moroccan Lentil Soup
- Veg Manchow Soup
- Broccoli Almond Soup
- Vegetable Thai Curry Noodle Soup
- Ginger Garlic Carrot Soup
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Vegan Tom Kha Soup
Ingredients
- 14 OZ Firm tofu
- 1 ½ cup – Bell pepper cut lenthwise (1 big sized)
- 1 cup – Carrots cut lengthwise
- 1 cup – mushroom sliced
- ½ cup shallots chopped
- 7 to 8 Kaffir lime leaves
- 35 grams – Galangal around 3 inch
- 2 stalks of Lemongrass
- 3 red thai chilies Use according to your spice level You may use green chilies too.
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 800 ml (2 13 oz cans) coconut milk full fat
- ¼ cup Thai basil
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Instructions
Pre-prep work
- First, drain the tofu and gently press it in a kitchen towel to get rid of extra moisture. Cut it into small bite-sized pieces. Keep it aside
- Pound lemongrass and galangal with mortar and pestle. This way, the aroma, and the natural oil will be released from them. Tear the kaffir limes into small pieces. Keep everything aside.
For Flavorful Stock
- Heat oil in a pot. Add chopped shallots, galangal, lemongrass, and red Thai chilies. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently.
- Now add vegetable stock and kaffir limes. Boil everything uncovered for 15 minutes on medium to high heat. This step will bring out all the flavors from the aromatics.
- Now switch off the flame and strain it through a mesh strainer. Discard all the aromatics and keep the stock aside.
Let’s Make Vegan Tom Kha Soup
- Take the same pot (or a new one), add coconut milk, prepared stock, tofu, mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrots. Turn on the flame.
- Cook everything on medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until all the vegetables are slightly tender. The texture of the vegetables should be such that you should be able to feel some crunch yet it’s cooked.Tip – DONT cooks this soup on high flame. Else the soup might curdle or it might release lots of oil from coconut milk.
- Now add salt, soy sauce, sugar, and lime juice. Cook for another 2 minutes. Switch off the flame. Add Thai basil leaves and cilantro. Stir well.
- Serve hot. Enjoy!Tip – you can serve it with Jasmine rice to make a complete meal.
To make this soup in Instant Pot
- Turn on Instant pot on saute mode and add oil.
- Once the oil is hot, add onion, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and red Thai chilies, saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Now add vegetable stock, stir everything, cover the IP lid, turn off the IP, press the pressure cook button, and set the timer for 10 minutes.
- Once the cooking time is done, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and strain through a strainer. Collect the liquid and discard all the aromatics.
- Take coconut milk, prepared lemongrass-galangal stock, Mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, and tofu in the instant pot.
- Turn on the saute mode. Let everything simmer for 10 minutes on saute mode.
- Now add salt, soy sauce, sugar, lime juice, basil, and cilantro. Cook for a minute and turn off the instant pot.
- Vegan Tom Kha Soup in the instant pot is ready. Serve it hot as is or with Jasmin Rice.
Video
Notes
- I would highly recommend you to use all the ingredients fresh.
- Adjust spice levels to taste. It should have a wonderful mix of spicy, tangy, and a little sweet. For a spicier soup, add more chilies.
- You can skip tofu and use more vegetables
- You can serve this as an appetizer or with Jasmine rice to make a complete meal.
- You can add some chili oil to the soup to your taste for more kick!
- If you can’t find fresh kaffir lime leaves at your local Asian grocery stores, use dried ones! Dried kaffir lime leases are easy to find on Amazon!
- If you want to save any leftover soup, make sure to transfer it to an airtight container. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge.
- For meal prep – you can make the flavorful stock in advance. It stays good for up to a week in the fridge. You can also cut up the veggies the day before. This will save some time the day you make it. To store the ingredients, place them in separate containers or bags.
Nutrition
Warm Regards,
Dhwani.
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