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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.
Wow this was beautiful! I was missing a few ingredients but was still delicious. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed!!
The picture shows a lot of greens in the soup but I don’t see any in the recipe except for the lemon grass that you are suppose to take out before serving. What am I missing?
The greens are the cilantro and green onions that I recommend you add as condiments after making the soup.
I was so surprised by how flavorful this soup was! I’m a big curry and chili lover so I was a little apprehensive as to how this would turn out. What a great recipe!! Thank you so much!
I made it meat free by subbing the chicken with mushrooms and carrots and zuchinni, and using Pacific brand mushroom broth instead of chicken broth. It worked perfectly!
If I use wild salmon in place of the chicken in this recipe, what would you change? Would you have 1 or 2 lbs of salmon? Thanks.
it’s really up to you- probably keep the ingredients the same but not cook the salmon as long and as for quantity, it depends on you and how much you want. I usually find 2 lb of chicken is great for 4-6 servings or a family of 4 hungry people, but you may not want as much fish…
Want to make this, but confused as to what to do with the lemon grass. Chop iy up?
You can just put it in whole and then remove it before serving – kind of like a bay leaf. It just flavors the soup.
Michele,
Any idea how this soup would do if I prepare it as the instructions indicates and then freeze it in portions to reheat later?
It freezes just fine after cooking – I wouldn’t put the fresh herbs in though, I’d still add them right before serving. I mean, you CAN put the herbs in, but they don’t taste as flavorful, so it’s up to you. 🙂
Yum!!
This is delicious. Have just made it for my Aip hubby 😂. Fair to say the whole family will be enjoying.
That makes me so happy to hear! I love it when a whole family loves something – goes to show just because it’s AIP doesn’t mean it’s not delicious!
Yum – this soup was delicious! Just what I was looking for on a cool, fall day. Thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re so welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed! ❤️
This was INCREDIBLE! It has a bite to it even though no pepper, like how?!
I made it in my instant pot and served it with some AIP bread. Thank you so much. I will make this again & again!
I’m so glad you liked it! It’s the ginger that gives it the bite without the pepper – cool, right? 🙂
Will it ruin the entire flavor without fish sauce?
Nah, it just gives it a bit more umami but you can either skip it or add a tad more salt.
Excellent soup!
I’m so glad you liked it!
Michelle,
Have you tried an herb called Molokhia? It’s supposed to have alot of health benefits but I am not sure if it’s AIP and what to cook with it?
Hmm. I actually have never heard of it before! But as it seems to be just a leaf of a plant (?) it’s probably fine for AIP. I just did a quick search and it sounds like this recipe could be good – just omit the black pepper, use an AIP-compliant oil, and use cauliflower rice and an AIP flatbread or tortilla : https://homeisakitchen.com/2013/04/25/molokhia-soup-recipe/. Also, it might be good in the Thai Chicken Soup as well – just simmer it for about 15 minutes I guess? Not completely sure about all of this, lol, but it sounds like it’d work to me!