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When you're craving an AIP Chicken Soup, why not make it a Thai Chicken soup? SUPER flavorful, no nightshades, and so easy to freeze for later! Paleo, Whole30, AIP friendly
Table of contents
Why I made a Thai-style AIP Chicken Soup
When you're on the AIP diet, having a dish with a lot of flavors sometimes seems like a pipe dream. Especially one that's Asian in nature.
So I've been coming up with some recipes to help that – one of them being this AIP Thai Chicken Soup.
A bowl of normal chicken soup can be delicious and comforting, but there's something about getting a bowl of Thai flavor while on the AIP Diet.
See also: The ULTIMATE Guide to the AIP Diet – everything you need to know to be successful
It's definitely not a normal flavor to have on AIP because you can't have nightshades, which typically are the things you'd find in most Thai recipes.
Nightshade-Free Chicken Soup
Since the typical Thai soups with peppers and curry pastes are out on a nightshade-free diet, what do you use to flavor it?
Lemongrass, ginger, and garlic – and then cilantro, mint, and green onions.
No nightshades to be found, yet lots of deliciousness!
The flavors really get concentrated in the Instant Pot because it really concentrates the flavors quickly. You know, kind of like how a chili or stew usually tastes better the next day? Same idea, waaaaay less time.
A Note About Coconut Milk
I get a lot of questions about how to find a guar gum-free coconut milk, and at least if you're in the US it's getting increasingly easier.
Many stores like Thrive Market and Trader Joes have been known to carry it (though do check the labels before buying as this often changes), and I also have found the Arroyo Brand in most grocery stores and ethnic markets.
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I personally use Native Forest Simple Coconut Milk because I like the consistency the best. Plus it's just easy to order on Amazon (I'm lazy).
And if you want to make your own, it's really quite easy – I show you in the post How to Make Homemade Coconut Milk
How to make this coconut-free
If you need to be coconut-free, you can still make this soup.
Simply omit the coconut aminos- or you could also make your own coconut-free coconut aminos using this recipe by Mel Joulwan. I recommend making a batch of this and freezing it in an ice cube tray, giving you approx 2 tbs of “coconut aminos/soy sauce” per ice cube to use whenever you need it!
And then use tigernut milk instead of the coconut milk if you're on AIP, or your dairy-free milk of choice if you're not.
AIP Chicken Soup Recipe Video
If you're a visual person, the full-length video on YouTube gives you specifics on how to prepare it both for dinner tonight and for how to freeze it for later.
What to Serve with the Soup
Some people just like to eat the soup by itself, but others, like me, tend to want some sort of bread-like thing with soup. Try my AIP Flatbread!
One of my YouTube viewers mentioned that you could put sweet potato or kelp noodles into this as well to make it have a bit more bulk. Other ideas are zucchini noodles and the glass noodles made of sweet potatoes.
Dump Freezer Cooking is a Time-saving Lifesaver
Making from-scratch, home-cooked meals that fit on the AIP diet and can please everyone in your family may seem impossible.
Especially when life gets hectic. Who has time to slave over a stove?
Luckily there are some techniques that can save your hiney. Yes, I said hiney 🙂
Dump freezer cooking is definitely one of these life-saving techniques.
You put ingredients in a bag – without cooking – freeze, and then dump the contents of the bag into a slow cooker, Instant Pot, stove, or oven and have a delicious, AIP-compliant meal.
Yay!
You can get like 7-8 meals done in an hour – even more if you double the recipes.
Easy peasy.
The best news? This chicken soup is one of those recipes!
All you need to do is prep the ingredients as written in the recipe below and put them in a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze! The instructions for cooking are in the recipe.
Freezing after cooking
You can also freeze this soup after cooking if you'd like. Even with the additional fresh toppings!
They may not come out as bright and flavorful as if they were fresh, but the soup will still be delicious, plus it makes for an easy meal later!
And yes, you could make it as a dump-and-go freezer meal, and then freeze the leftovers for later 🙂
Other AIP Freezer Cooking Recipes
Cherry Balsamic AIP Post Roast
See even more recipes and instructions on AIP Freezer Cooking
AIP Thai Chicken Soup Recipe
Here's the recipe along with instructions for cooking it on the stove, in the slow cooker, or in the Instant Pot.
I hope you enjoy this soup! If you make it I'd love to hear how it turned out! Either comment below or share a pic on Instagram and tag me @thrivingautoimmune!
AIP Thai Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 2 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs (cut into 1-inch pieces)
- 1 Shallot or Small Yellow Onion (diced)
- 2 tbs Garlic (minced)
- 1 Lime (juiced and zested (or 1 tbs Lime Juice))
- 1 tbs Coconut Aminos (*see notes above for coconut-free)
- 1 tbs Fish Sauce
- 1-2 cups Chicken Broth (use 1 cup for serving 4 people and 2 cups for 6 servings or if you want to stretch it a bit further)
- 1 tbs Honey (omit for Whole30)
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- 3- inch piece of Lemongrass (or dried lemongrass)
Not needed until time of cooking:
- 13.5 oz can Coconut Milk ((or 1.5 cups homemade coconut milk) *use tigernut milk or sweet potato milk for coconut-free)
- 3 Green Onions (sliced)
- 1/2 cup fresh Basil (chopped)
- 1/2 cup Cilantro (chopped)
Instructions
- Directions for freezing: Put all of the ingredients into a 1-gallon freezer bag. Massage lightly with your hands to mix the ingredients. Push all the air out of the bag, seal, label and freeze.
Directions for serving: To serve, thaw and do ONE of the following:
On the stove:
- Dump the contents of the bag into a large saucepan and add the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about 7-9 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the lemongrass. Garnish with the green onions, basil, and cilantro.
or in the Instant Pot:
- Dump the contents of the bag into the Instant Pot (do NOT add the coconut milk yet). Close the lid, turn the valve to “Sealing” and cook on High Pressure on Manual for 5 minutes (10 if cooking from frozen). Quick-release the pressure when finished and stir in the coconut milk. If you need the coconut milk to heat up a bit, turn the Instant Pot to “Sauté” and cook until desired temp. Remove the lemongrass. Garnish with the green onions, basil, and cilantro.
or in the Slow Cooker:
- Dump the contents of the bag into a slow cooker, add the coconut milk, and cook for 2-4 hours on low. Remove the lemongrass. Garnish with green onions, basil, and cilantro.
This soup was soooo good! even left over a couple days later! I put some in the freezer to see how it does. 🙂
This soup is delicious. I added mushrooms and bok choi and like others sautéed the onion, garlic and ginger first. I also diced the lemongrass to get more of that flavour and doubled the broth but not the coconut.
This was awesome! I sauteed the onions, garlic, and ginger. I also added several sweet potatoes and a whole head of cauliflower (cut into bite-sized pieces). I made a double batch and used about two quarts of homemade chicken stock. My husband is not a huge coconut fan, so I only used one can of coconut milk for a double batch, and it was perfect. I served it over brown rice cooked in stock for my non-AIP family, and I ate it without the rice. They all requested that I make this one again, even my somewhat picky kindergartner. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I love this recipe so much! I meal prep it on Sunday and eat it every day lunch. It’s soooo good!! I do add some extra lime and use lemongrass paste instead of fresh. 🤤
This soup tastes incredible! It’s also a wonderfully easy recipe to prep for a quick meal during the week. I was placed on the AIP diet as a part of my migraine treatment, and I’ve been feeling so much better ever since. Your website, YouTube videos, and recipes have been incredibly helpful in my AIP journey. Thank you for everything you do!
This looks delish! Adding to my new recipes to try this fall.
Found this recipe about a year and a half ago and we have made it several times since. It’s SO good! We slow cook it and I add the coconut milk in after it’s done cooking so it doesn’t separate. We also add sweet potatoes, and now that I’ve reintroduced brown rice without issue we serve it with that also. But it’s delicious without any grains too!
Delicious. Tasted very authentic and I surprisingly did not miss my beloved Thai curry pastes. Used 1lb of skinless boneless chicken breasts as it’s all I had with some homemade pork + chicken bone broth in the IP for the recommended time. I also added some sliced mushrooms. Will make again!
Wonderful recipe. I’m still enjoying it 3 days later and I’m pretty picky with leftovers. Anything that has a ton of lime and flavor in it is my preference!!! I used a few cups of homemade pork/chicken stock that needed to be used and only had 1lb of chicken breast. Definitely enough. I’ll for sure make it again, and I can’t believe I don’t miss the curry paste.
Love to hear that you’ve been enjoying it!
oops I totally just posted another review b/c on my phone I couldn’t see that my original comment posted. feel free to clean up if you wish – but I still love the soup!!! haha! happy Monday.
This recipe has tons of taste, most of the dishes I have made since doing AIP have been very bland. I added turnip, and carrotts to mine. It was very delicious. you got 5 stars from my 5, 8, and 14 year old. ( I’m allergic to coconut so I used homemade soy sauce and didnt use any coconut milk.)