How to make Tom Kha Soup in an Instant Pot

My best-ever tom Kha soup recipe is already fantastic, but it’s even better in the Instant Pot!

This Thai coconut chicken soup dish is easy to make and delicious. It’s rich, creamy, and full of amazing spices. It’s also easy to make it Whole30, paleo, or vegan.

What Gives This Soup Its Flavour?

• You’ll understand why my Best Ever Tom Kha Gai Soup is one of my most popular recipes once you’ve tried it. It’s light and satisfying, creamy and rich, tangy and sweet all at the same time.
• The quickest way to get this delicious soup on the table is to make it in the Instant Pot. The Instant Pot cuts the traditional stove-top version by 15 minutes, allowing you to make a large batch of Thai coconut chicken soup in under 30 minutes.
• This dish is suitable for a wide range of dietary requirements! This dish may be made Whole30, paleo, vegan, or vegetarian friendly. Do you like a seafood version? Instead of chicken, try shrimp!

Important Ingredients

Red Thai Curry Paste is the key to making the best Tom Kha soup, regardless of how you prepare it. It’s a bit sweet, a little spicy, and a little salty, and it adds a lot of flavor to the soup.

Lime Leaves — Kaffir lime leaves are optional, but I strongly advise you to use them! They provide a lot of flavor to Tom Kha gai, and it’s not the same as the flavor you get from only using lime juice.

The smoothness of tom Kha soup comes in here in the form of coconut milk or cream. Use coconut milk or coconut cream if possible. Coco Lopez and coconut creamer are not interchangeable and will not work in this recipe.

Tips from the Chef

• Tom Kha gai can be stored in the Instant Pot for up to a week. Simply store it in an airtight jar in the refrigerator.
• Lemongrass is becoming more common in supermarket produce sections. If fresh lemongrass is unavailable, minced, chilled lemongrass will suffice.
• Make any changes you need or desire to the Instant Pot tom Kha soup to suit your tastes! To increase sweetness, tartness, or salty, add extra sugar, lime juice, or fish sauce. Serve with lime wedges, additional mushrooms, or without the cilantro.

Tom Kha Soup

My best-ever tom kha soup recipe is already fantastic, but it’s even better in the Instant Pot! This Thai coconut chicken soup dish is easy to make and delicious.

It’s rich, creamy, and full of amazing spices. It’s also easy to make it Whole30, paleo, or vegan.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• ½ of one onion sliced
• 2 cloves garlic chopped
• ½ of one red jalapeño pepper sliced, or a couple Thai chiles, halved
• 3 ¼-inch slices galangal or ginger
• 1 stalk lemongrass pounded with the side of a knife and cut into 2-inch long pieces
• 10 kaffir lime leaves torn, optional
• 1 tablespoon red Thai curry paste
• 2 13.5-ounce cans full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream
• 2 chicken breasts about 1 pound, cut into bite-sized pieces; see Notes for vegan or to use shrimp
• 8 ounces white mushroom caps sliced
• 2-3 tablespoons brown or coconut sugar see Notes for Whole30
• 2-3 tablespoons fish sauce plus more to taste
• 4 cups chicken broth see Notes for vegan or Whole30
• 2-3 tablespoons lime juice fresh
• 2-3 green onions sliced thin
• cilantro fresh, chopped, for garnish

Equipment

• Pot
• Silicone spatula or wooden spoon
• Slotted spoon

Instructions For Tom Kha Soup

1. Set the Instant Pot to the Sauté setting. Heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, jalapeo, galangal (or ginger), lemongrass, lime leaves, and red curry paste after the oil is hot. Cook for 5 minutes, or until onions are softened, stirring regularly.
2. Pour in the chicken broth and mix well. With the vent in the sealed setting, secure the lid on the Instant Pot. On Manual High Pressure, cook for 5 minutes.
3. When the 5 minutes are over, carefully Quick Release the pressure and remove the lid. Return the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Remove the garlic, onions, lemongrass, lime leaves, and galangal with a slotted spoon. Aromatics are discarded.
4. Coconut milk, chicken breasts, mushrooms, fish sauce, coconut sugar, and lime juice are added to the pan. Cook on the Sauté mode until the chicken is barely done.
5. Taste the soup and make any necessary adjustments. To increase sweetness, tartness, or salty, add extra sugar, lime juice, or fish sauce. Serve the soup in serving bowls with sliced green onions and fresh cilantro on top. Serve hot.

Notes

• Use coconut cream or coconut milk instead of water. Coconut cream/coconut milk is not the same as coco Lopez or coconut creamer, hence they will not work in this recipe.
• To replace the chicken with shrimp, sauté 1 pound of raw shrimp until it is cooked through (pink and transparent).
• Vegan/Vegetarianize it: Instead of chicken broth, use 2 cans of full-fat coconut cream or coconut milk. Tofu can be substituted for chicken. Cut a 1-pound block of firm or extra firm tofu into cubes (maybe regular or silken). Instead of fish sauce, use soy sauce to taste.
• Make it Whole30 compliant: Instead of chicken broth, use 2 cans of full-fat coconut cream or coconut milk. Instead of coconut sugar, use 2 teaspoons of coconut aminos and fish sauce without sugar (the only one I know of is Red Boat Fish Sauce).

This recipe serves around 6 people. Your desired portion sizes will determine the number of servings.

The nutritional values given are for one serving of the ingredients specified and are approximate. The exact macros will vary depending on the brands and types of ingredients utilized.

Prepare the recipe as directed to get the weight of one serving. Weigh the final recipe, then divide the weight (excluding the weight of the container in which the food is stored) by 6. The weight of one serving will be the result.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 413kcal, Carbohydrates: 15g, Protein: 21g, Fat: 32g, Saturated Fat: 27g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 48mg, Sodium: 1162mg, Potassium: 891mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 485IU, Vitamin C: 21mg, Calcium: 55mg, Iron: 5mg, Net Carbs: 13g