Coconut Curry Soup

I have to confess, I have fallen off the wagon (yet again) when it comes to cooking meals at home. It’s not that I don’t want to cook at home… I like that we eat healthier food and we save money when I cook at home. But right now I have two (seemingly insurmountable) obstacles: I’m exhausted all the time, and there are just too many fantastic restaurants nearby. 🙂 The first I could definitely improve on if I could make myself go to bed at a reasonable hour, but the second just gets worse by the day. Portland is such an amazing foodie city, and my list of restaurants to try is already a mile long. I mean, how can I be excited about cooking at home when Boxer Ramen, Grassa, and Lardo are all within a few miles of my house?

Right now I’m working hard on limiting myself to only one restaurant per week (although it’s hard!) and I’ve realized for the millionth time that if I don’t make my meal plan simple and easy, I won’t stick to it. This coconut curry soup is the perfect quick and easy meal! It also tastes fantastic, which means I’ll actually look forward to making it, instead of veering off into a restaurant parking lot on the way home. 🙂 I used a rotisserie chicken, and it was ready in less than thirty minutes. My kids (who are generally not fans of curry) absolutely LOVED this soup and licked their bowls clean. You could definitely make it a little spicier with some sriracha, but I left it mild to make it a little more kid-friendly.

Coconut Curry Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce (optional *)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3-4 cups hot cooked rice (for serving)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper, and cook until softened. Add the chicken and cook until warmed through. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, fish sauce, pepper, salt, and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer 10-15 minutes. Serve hot over a scoop of rice.

adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

* A note on the fish sauce: It smells absolutely terrible, and I go through it so slowly that I can’t use a whole bottle (or even a quarter of a bottle) before it goes bad, so I made it optional for this recipe. If you do have it, though, it adds a really great flavor to the soup! I wasn’t convinced until I tried it for the first time, and now I’m a believer. 🙂