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Home » Recipes » Asian-inspired

Published: Apr 14, 2022 · Updated: Nov 17, 2022

Vegan Tom Kha (Vegan Thai Coconut Soup)

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Our Tom Kha Soup or Thai Coconut Soup recipe is the vegan version of the common Tom Kha Gai. Made with a homemade chilli paste, our recipe has a unique flavour yet keeps the aroma and taste of the traditional recipe.

Vegan Tom Kha (Vegan Thai Coconut Soup)

Tom Kha is one of the vegan recipes that we learnt how to cook while in Thailand and is together with Khao Soi our favourite choice when it comes to creamy soups. If you have been following us for some time now, you'll probably know that Thai cuisine is one of our favourites.

This is one of our favourite soups as it combines the flavours of a homemade Thai chilli paste and aromatic and tasty vegetable broth made with galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, with the creaminess of the coconut milk, spicy flavours, the saltiness of soy sauce and the tanginess of some freshly squeezed lime.

Our Thai Coconut Soup and this Vegan Chop Suey are our favourite options for a rainy day or for those days when you want to eat something light yet comforting. Served with some rice on the side makes for a perfect main meal too. You won't need to go to a Thai Restaurant to enjoy this creamy and sour coconut soup anymore.

Our Tom Kha Soup is:

  • Vegan
  • Thai-inspired
  • Can be made gluten-free if using tamari instead of soy sauce
  • Spicy
  • A starter or main dish
  • Creamy
Vegan Tom Kha

What is Tom Kha?

Tom Kha would translate to galangal soup. Galangal root is a spice from the same family as ginger. Tom Kha soup consists of a spiced broth made with aromatics such as lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and of course galangal combined with coconut milk.

Traditionally, this sour soup is made with chicken (Tom Kha Gai) but this is our vegan version which includes plant-based protein such as mushrooms and tofu and no fish sauce.

Tom Kha vs Tom Yum

Both Tom Kha and Tom Yum are hot and sour soups prepared with fragrant spices. The main difference is the coconut milk added to the Tom Kha, which makes it a creamy version of Tom Yum Soup. As well, Tom Yum is normally served with shrimp while Tom Kha is served with chicken (Gai)

Vegan Tom Kha with mushrooms and tofu

How to make Vegan Thai Coconut Soup

Ingredients

  • Red Chilli Paste. For our Tom Kha recipe, we prepare a simple paste made with bird's eye chillis or Thai chilies, carrots, shallot, garlic, and soy sauce. We briefly stir-fry the chillis, carrot, shallot, or onion, and garlic before blending everything with a splash of soy sauce to make the paste. If you want to speed up the cooking process and have some Thai red curry paste on hand, you can use that instead. If you are using dried chillis, you'll need to rehydrate them in warm water for about 15 minutes before using them.
  • Galangal. It may be difficult to find depending on where you live but Tom Kha really calls for galangal. You can try to find it in an Asian supermarket fresh, frozen or even dried. Otherwise, you can use ginger instead of galangal.
  • Lemongrass. One of the most popular ingredients in Thai food. Lemon grass will give your soup a proper Thai fragrance and flavour.
  • Kaffir lime leaves. This is a must ingredient when cooking Thai soups or curries. You may be able to find them frozen or dried. You can substitute this ingredient by using lime juice or kaffir lime zest.
  • Plant-based protein. For our Thai coconut soup, we love using tofu and a variety of mushrooms.
  • Veggies (optional). We kept the recipe simple, but you can add some fresh veggies such as red bell pepper, green onions, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, bamboo shoots, and many others.
  • Vegetable broth or stock. If you are like us and always have some veggie broth in the freezer, now is the time to take it out. You can use store-bought vegetable stock.
  • Coconut milk.
  • Sweetener. This recipe calls for a little bit of sweetness too. You can use palm sugar widely used in Thailand or another type of sweetener such as brown sugar or maple syrup.
  • Soy sauce. Use tamari for a gluten-free option or this vegan fish sauce.
  • Lime juice. A splash of freshly squeezed lime juice at the end makes a huge difference. As well, you can serve the soup with a lime wedge on the side to keep adding some more tanginess.

Don't worry if you don't have many of the ingredients on the list. You can find online Tom Kha packs that contain almost everything you need. We have seen a similar frozen pack in our local Asian supermarket, which is super handy if you don't want to buy a big amount of galangal and lemongrass.

Vegan Tom Kha Ingredients

Step-by-Step Method

Make the chilli paste. Using gloves, cut the red chills, remove the seeds and roughly chop them. Roughly chop the carrot, shallot and garlic. Heat some coconut oil in a pan and add the ingredients. Once they start to brown, transfer them to a blender jug, add soy sauce and blend until you have a smooth paste.

Vegan Tom Kha curry paste
  1. Briefly stirfry the paste with the galangal and lemongrass.
  2. Pour the vegetable stock and add kaffir lime leaves, mushroom, tofu and sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave simmering for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Add the coconut milk and soy sauce. Stir for 2 minutes making sure it doesn't get to a boiling point as it could curdle, and remove from the heat.
  4. Serve with chopped cilantro and a splash of freshly squeezed lime.
Vegan Tom Kha stepo-by-step Method

How to serve our Vegan Tom Kha Soup Recipe

This Thai Soup is normally served as an appetizer or starter. It's a great option for a light lunch or dinner and it can be served as a main dish as well if you want to serve it as a portion of jasmine rice or rice noodles.

Add some fresh cilantro and drizzle some lime juice before serving.

For spicy food lovers, you could serve some chilli oil on the side, chilli flakes or sriracha.

Keep any leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheat using a microwave or a pot.

Vegan Tom Kha with Tofu and lime

FAQ and Tips

  • Before serving, add some chopped cilantro or coriander and a splash of freshly squeezed lime for the perfect taste and presentation.
  • If you like your soup spicier, add some chili oil before serving.
  • Is Tom Kha Vegan? Not naturally. The original recipe is Tom Kha Gai which includes chicken and fish sauce. It is normally made with chicken broth instead of vegetable stock. Our recipe is made with tofu and mushrooms instead of chicken and soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
  • Is Tom Kha gluten-free? Simple use tamari instead of soy sauce and your recipe will be 100% gluten-free. If you are wondering if tofu is gluten-free, it is! You can get all the info in this really helpful post. If you are using a stock cube, make sure is gluten-free.
  • What can I use instead of galangal? You can use ginger or dried galangal.
  • Which other plant-based protein can I use? Instead of tofu, you could add seitan, soy curls or tempeh.
  • Which vegan red chilli paste can I buy already made? Aroy-D red curry paste is vegan and has a great flavour.
  • Is Tom Kha healthy? You can reduce the amount of sugar or skip this ingredient to make our recipe even healthier. We use freshly made chilli paste with no additives. Our Vegan Tom Kha recipe is low in carbohydrates and a nutritious meal.
Vegan Tom Kha
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4.66 from 26 votes

Vegan Tom Kha Soup

Delicious Thai Coconut Soup with tofu and seasonal vegetables to serve as an appetizer or main dish.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Total Time35 mins
Course: Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine: Thai
Keyword: Thai Coconut Soup, Tom Kha
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 371kcal

Ingredients

Red Chilli Paste

  • 10-15 Bird's eye chillis
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or other vegetable oil
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 shallot or ¼ white onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce or vegan fish sauce

Tom Kha Soup

  • 3 tablespoon red chili paste or 1 ½ tablespoon store-bought red curry paste
  • 2 lemongrass stalks
  • 2-3- inch galangal
  • 1 litre vegetable stock
  • 4-5 kaffir lime leaves
  • A handful of mushrooms
  • 250 g firm tofu
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar
  • 3 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free option
  • 400 ml coconut milk canned
  • A splash freshly squeeze lime
  • A handful chopped cilantro
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Red Chilli Paste

  • Using gloves, cut the red chills, remove the seeds and roughly chop them.
  • Roughly chop the carrot, shallot and garlic. Heat some coconut oil in a pan and add the ingredients. Once they start to brown, transfer to a blender jug, add soy sauce and blend until you have a smooth paste.

Tom Kha Soup

  • Chop the galangal in 3 or 4 big chunks and the lemongrass stalks in two.
  • Using a big pot, briefly stirfry the red chili paste with the galangal and the lemongrass stalks.
  • Pour the vegetable stock into the pot and add the kaffir lime leaves, mushrooms, tofu, and sugar. Bring to a simmer and leave simmering for 10-15 minutes.
  • Add the coconut milk and soy sauce. Stir for 2 minutes making sure it doesn't get to a boiling point as it could curdle, and remove from the heat.
  • Serve with chopped cilantro and a splash of freshly squeezed lime.

Nutrition

Calories: 371kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Sodium: 1048mg | Potassium: 531mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 5189IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 6mg
If you tried our recipe, please leave a comment or tag us on Instagram @Sixhungryfeet. We are always happy to see your creations! 

Other Thai-inspired recipes

  • Vegan Khao Soi
  • Thai Red Curry with Tofu
  • Vegan Pad Thai

More Asian Inspired Recipes

  • Gyoza Dipping Sauce
  • 15 Chinese Tofu Recipes
  • Salt and Pepper Tofu
  • Vegan Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles Stir-fry)

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lizzet says

    October 19, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    5 stars
    Great Job! Delicious!!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 23, 2020 at 1:48 pm

      Thank you Lizzet!

      Reply
  2. Linda Ferro says

    November 10, 2020 at 11:32 pm

    5 stars
    A knockout!

    Reply
  3. Ivana ? says

    January 24, 2021 at 8:05 pm

    5 stars
    This vegan version of Tom Kha looks so amazing! I have to try it soon! ?❤️

    Reply
    • Laura says

      January 24, 2021 at 9:04 pm

      Thank you Ivana! You will love it!

      Reply
  4. Rebekah says

    February 14, 2021 at 12:59 pm

    5 stars
    I absolutely adore this recipe. Tom yum/Tom kha are my two remedies to everything from colds, hangovers, headaches, sore tummies and even heart break so I really like it to pack all the flavour. This does it beautifully and is so simple and quick, freezes and reheats well too. Absolute winner.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      February 15, 2021 at 2:45 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Renee says

    May 08, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 08, 2022 at 7:37 pm

      Thank you Renee 🙂

      Reply
  6. Monica says

    May 29, 2022 at 9:00 pm

    5 stars
    This was very flavorful and ill definitely be making it again!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 30, 2022 at 12:20 pm

      Thank You Monica!

      Reply
  7. TT says

    December 06, 2022 at 7:59 am

    5 stars
    Absolutely delicious. was spending a fortune ordering out to get my tom kha fix.. Thanks for sharing!

    I forgot to spice it. Added salt and pepper etc. at the end and it was just fine.

    I think next time, I'm going to use cheese cloth or a spice bag for the lime leaves, lemongrass and galangal so I don't have to pick them out.

    Five star recipe!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      December 07, 2022 at 10:32 am

      Thank you, Love the idea of using a cheese cloth to add the aromatics!

      Reply

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Welcome to Six Hungry Feet! We are Astra, Laura and Luca, a family of foodies. Through our food blog, Six Hungry Feet, we want to inspire you to cook delicious and nutritious vegetarian and vegan meals at home that the whole family will love.  More about us →

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