By Melissa Clark
Updated Oct. 12, 2023
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Prep Time
- 20 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 35 minutes
- Rating
- 4(496)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The secret to this rich, deeply spiced soup is roasting the sweet potatoes and carrots before adding them to the pot. Roasting caramelizes the vegetables, concentrating their flavors and making them particularly sweet, which helps mellow the fiery chiles in the Thai red curry paste. Toasted coconut flakes, fresh sliced chiles and cilantro make a simple but bright and crunchy garnish for this plush soup, which is dense and creamy from coconut milk. The recipe feeds a crowd, and leftovers freeze well for up to three months.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 6tablespoons coconut oil or neutral oil, such as grapeseed
- 1¾pounds carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
- 1¾pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 5 cups)
- 5 to 8tablespoons red curry paste (use the lesser amount if you have a very spicy paste)
- 2½teaspoons fine sea or table salt, plus more to taste
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1cup unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1cup chopped shallots or red onion
- 1serrano chile or jalapeño, seeds removed if you like, minced
- 3fat garlic cloves, minced or finely grated
- 2teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1quart vegetable stock
- 2(13-ounce) cans coconut milk
- Fish sauce, for serving (optional)
- 1cup chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems, for serving
- 1red (Fresno) chile or jalapeño, thinly sliced
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
499 calories; 38 grams fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 9 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 1001 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together 4 tablespoons coconut oil, the carrots, sweet potatoes, 4 tablespoons red curry paste, 1½ teaspoons salt and the black pepper until the vegetables are well coated with the curry paste. Spread the vegetable mixture in an even layer on two rimmed baking sheets (lined with parchment if you like). Roast, tossing occasionally, until tender and caramelized, about 35 to 45 minutes.
Step
2
Meanwhile, add the coconut flakes to a large soup pot without any oil, and toast, stirring often, until they are fragrant and pale golden at the edges, 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Step
3
Add remaining 2 tablespoons coconut oil to the pot and heat until it thins out, about 20 seconds. Stir in shallots and the serrano chile, and cook until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 to 4 tablespoons red curry paste until well combined.
Step
4
Add stock, coconut milk and roasted vegetables to the pot. Bring liquid to a simmer. Cook, over medium-low heat, partly covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until everything is very tender.
Step
5
Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender, working in batches) to purée the soup. Taste and season with salt or fish sauce, if using, to taste. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with cilantro, toasted coconut flakes and sliced fresh chile.
Ratings
4
out of 5
496
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Cooking Notes
Snake Mackerel
Delicious, with a lovely layers of rich, savory, sweet, pepper flavors! The toppings provide textural interest -- I used toasted coconut & crispy shallots.Now, and I think everyone should, my freezer already had small jars of minced garlic, minced ginger, and a huge container of carmelized onions. And my pantry already had toasted large flake coconut and crispy fried shallots from the Indian store. So this recipe came together in no time! And yes, lowfat coconut milk is just fine.
David
Great flavors, I thought mine was a little too sweet, so added the juice of 1 lime and it balanced nicely
Midge
This was delicious but whew, lots of dishes for a simple soup. No shade to Melissa Clark - I don’t think that could have been avoided. It’s my fault for not reading the recipe more carefully before I started cooking. But here’s an idea: What if the Times rated each recipe by the amount of dishes used (not literally, more like the star system used in restaurant reviews)? That way, readers can assess at a glance what they’re in for.
Sharon
Can you you use lowfat coconut milk?
malka
If using store bought red curry paste, one to two teaspoons while cooking the shallots and ginger is more than enough for a kick- and this is coming from someone who eats a lot of spicy foods. I would skip adding it to the vegetables as they roast.
Ben Ryan
If you’re sensitive to spice, I recommend halving the jalapeño inclusion or leaving it out.
dee
Am I missing something? Cooking right now and don't see lime leaves in the list.
Michael
This was listed under vegetarian, make sure your red curry does not have shrimp paste, most do.
Alice
Lovely taste. Particularly like the toasted coconut flakes sprinkled on the soup with a bit of coriander.
Ruth
This was pretty amazing as written! Worth the little bit of extra effort for certain. We will be doing this over and over again!
Rena Davidow
Can you get a similar resulting flavor with curry powder instead of paste? Or with garam masala?
John
This soup is fantastic. Made it last night, followed the recipe exactly, though used chicken broth versus vegetable and it turned out great. Loved the depth of flavors and the fact that it is so healthy. Can't wait to make this again, another great hit from Melissa! YUMMY!
Doug C.
Excellent despite some changes:1. I used sweetened coconut flakes; touch of sweetness enhanced the dish.2. Italian parsley instead of cilantro, and it worked well, too. 3. Used chicken broth instead of vegetable stock, also very good.4. Seeded the jalapeno.4. Seeded & diced red jalapenos used for topping.5. Omitted fish sauce (yuk!). 6. Used low-fat coconut milk, good flavor, result not too thick. 7. Used whole 4 oz. jar of Thai Kitchen red curry paste, result not too spicy.
Jane S
Followed the recipe exactly, opting for the maximum amount of red curry paste. The end result is a ridiculously thick, overly salty pudding mix (as others have commented). But for me the real issue was the overriding flavor of shallots, totally overwhelming the subtle flavors of sweet potatoes, ginger and carrot. The toasted coconut for me just did not work at all either. Will not be making this again!
Lilly
I halved this recipe and found it a bit sweet and salty at the end - added about a tablespoon of lemon juice which balanced it nicely, along with the fresh cilantro.
changes
1 can coconut milk-make up the difference with stock1 tbs red curry w veggies1 tbs red curry with shallots. Too spicy? I don’t think so
Morgan O
I found this needed more liquid than advised. At the end of cooking, I added an extra can of coconut milk. Then, at serving time, added about 1/4 cup of almond milk to make the consistency more soupy. The end product is delicious, albeit a bit spicier than expected for my spice-intolerant boyfriend. Use 4-5 tablespoons (not 8) if you’re sensitive to heat.
ESB
Well, the grocery store did not have red curry paste, so I used Mother in Laws Gochujang chili paste. I used 4 T chili paste with 1 t curry powder on the veggies, and 2 T chili paste and 1 t curry powder in the soup pot. This is a spicy soup! If you use chili paste instead of red curry paste, I recommend using much less! This recipe takes a long time to make with all the peeling, chopping, grating, roasting, sautéing and finally using the immersion blender. Total time was 1 hour 45 minutes.
Michael Schlesinger
Really, really loved this. Only change was we doubled the vegetable stock and even so the soup was still thick and rich.
personal
Yummy! I didn’t have red curry paste (was shopping at Trader Joe’s), so I used Gochugang paste instead. Thanks Melissa!
Daniel
A definite keeper. Kudos to Ms. Clark for a complex, delicious and fun-to-cook recipe that even the teenagers in our house raved over. Added the recommended lime juice and zest post-purée which offset the dense umami with a classic Thai brightness. Looking forward to building a dinner a party around this dish—serve it with Naan bread (keeping it southeast Asian) with a cucumber radish salad.
Kevin
I liked everything but felt the heat level was way too much and overpowered the other flavors. I will try again and reduce the curry paste and jalapeño to one teaspoon and make adjustments later.
Added More heat
Added two additional jalapenos (that's what I had) and a 1/2 teaspoon of celery salt. Used 15 ounces of canned coconut milk because each can was 7.5. Everyone enjoyed it.
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