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Keeping things simple with a warming weeknight style Creamy Coconut Chicken Meatball and Noodle Curry. This southeast Asian inspired noodle curry is the simplest weeknight dinner. Made with flavorful Thai curry paste, coconut milk, creamy peanut butter, and a sprinkling of cilantro. Toss in seared chicken meatballs and plenty of delicious egg noodles and it’s hard to beat this easy creamy curry. It’s the perfect any night of the week dinner that’s made in just about 30 minutes…hearty, cozy, and healthy too.
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Hey, hi! We made it to Thursday, which means the weekend is almost here! Trust me, I know it’s been a long week, but thankfully we have good food to share, upcoming holiday excitement, and tomorrow…chocolate. Everything is better with a good dinner and a night that ends on a sweet note. And that is just the truth.
You guys, I am very excited about today’s recipe. It’s inspired by a Southeast Asian soup called Laksa. It’s spicy, creamy, and the most flavorful dish. And I love all the color throughout.
With fall in full force, and Thanksgiving planning and prep underway, I tend to get into a dinner rut of making casserole after casserole and pasta after pasta. In my mind, there isn’t anything wrong with that. I love these foods! But it’s always nice to switch it up. I was feeling like I needed to break away from all my cozy, cheesy pasta and Thanksgiving recipes and share something completely fresh and different, but yet still warming for fall.
The Thanksgiving recipes will return tomorrow and throughout next week, but when in the midst of Thanksgiving planning and prep, we also need good dinners!
The background.
Laksa is one of the most popular southeast Asian dishes. It’s a spicy noodle soup that usually consists of either rice or wheat noodles with chicken or fish. The broth is a spicy, rich curried coconut milk. Laksa can most commonly be found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and southern Thailand. It varies from place to place in exact flavor, but the two things Laksa always has is a creamy, spicy coconut broth and lots of noodles. It’s not hard to prepare, but it does require a handful of ingredients that I can’t easily find.
So this is my simplified version of Laksa. It’s creamy, heavy on the noodles, and made with chicken meatballs. It’s a little different than a classic Laksa, but similar in flavor profiles. Most importantly, it’s easy to make and so delicious.
Here are the details.
Aside from cooking the noodles, you can make this dish entirely in one pot. The meatballs are simply a mix of ground chicken, green onions, soy sauce, and black pepper. Very simple, but yet so flavorful. The combination of green onions and salty soy is key here.
To make the meatballs, roll them out and then pan-fry them in a bit of oil to get them nice and crispy on the outside. I really like using avocado oil for this since it’s a high heat cooking oil, but olive oil works nicely too.
Once the meatballs are seared, remove them from the pot to ensure they don’t end up overcooking or losing their crispness. Once the meatballs are out, add everything else right to that very same pot. Starting with lots of shallots, ginger, and garlic, then toss in the cubed butternut squash or sweet potatoes.
Next, you’ll want to sauté the Thai red curry paste for a minute or two before adding in the liquids. This will activate the flavors in the curry paste and give you a richer tasting broth. Now, just add in all the coconut milk, stir back in the meatballs and simmer everything together for a few minutes.
While that’s happening, boil some egg noodles (or use rice noodles if you’re gluten-free). By the time the noodles are ready, the curry should be thick and ready to toss with the noodles and serve.
To serve, just add the noodles to bowls and then ladle both the veggies and meatballs overtop.
Finish with lots of fresh cilantro and pomegranate arils. Simple, but yet so complex with flavor, and so colorful too!
The broth, the crispy meatballs, the noodles, the toppings…everything all together? It’s delicious. Creamy, gingery, and garlicky, a touch spicy, salty, and truly so perfect. Loving this for busy weeknights, but yet it feels special enough for a cold Sunday night. Either night you end up serving this, it’s going to be perfect.
Looking for other warming curry recipes? Here are my favorites:
Slow Cooker Saucy Thai Butternut Squash Curry
30 Minute Coconut Milk Braised Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Rice
Saucy Coconut Braised Chicken with Rice Noodles and Broccoli
Sweet Potato Lentil Curry with Crispy Sesame Chickpeas
Lastly, if you make this Creamy Coconut Chicken Meatball and Noodle Curry, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Creamy Coconut Chicken Meatball and Noodle Curry
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 2 green onions, finely chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
- black pepper
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 cup cubed butternut squash or sweet potato
- 2-3 medium shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus more for serving
- 1/4 cup Thai red curry paste
- 2 (14-ounce) cans full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce , (or low sodium soy sauce)
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 8 ounces egg or rice noodles
- pomegranate arils, for serving, (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Add the chicken, green onions, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, and a pinch of pepper to a bowl. Mix until just combined. Coat your hands with a bit of oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-20 meatballs).2. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil shimmers, add the meatballs and sear until crisp, about 4-5 minutes, turning them 2-3 times until cooked through. Transfer to a plate.3. To the same pot, add 3 tablespoon oil, the shallots, ginger, and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the butternut squash and curry paste. Cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, fish sauce, and peanut butter. Slide the meatballs back into the curry. Simmer over medium heat until the meatballs are cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Stir in the spinach. Thin as desired with additional water or broth.4. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions.5. Divide the noodles between bowls and ladle the curry over. Top each bowl with pomegranate, cilantro, and green onions.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Loved it! Didn’t quite know what to do with the 1/2 c chopped cilantro. Next time I’ll put it in the meatballs and add just a squeeze of lime juice.
Hey Michele,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad it was enjoyed! Happy New Year! xTieghan
The flavors in this dish were incredible! Tried beef instead of chicken, and wouldn’t recommend. Next time will follow the recipe more closely. Also, we went with egg noodles and they worked so well with the broth!
Hi Maria,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a go! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Beyond easy to make and so delicious! We made this for date night Friday and my husband was obsessed! We added a tablespoon of chili paste for extra heat! Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipes!!!
Hey Jess,
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
The meatballs were bit good at all, next time I would skip them or replace them with chicken thighs. The curry itself was good though they could’ve used a more substantial noodle.
Hey Amanda,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sorry you did not enjoy the meatballs. Is there anything I cane help with? xTieghan
Great recipe! This is the first one I make from your blog.
I’d recommend adding lemon zest or lemongrass. And adding extra spice via dried red chiles or mashed red Thai chiles! The red curry paste I got was missing flavor so I added a bit of yellow curry powder. I used regular potatoes that are more traditional in Thai food.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hey Hugo,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, I am so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This recipe was delicious and easy! One question though: I swapped the butternut squash for sweet potato as it said that was an option and the sweet potato was taking so long to cook that I had to take it out and quickly microwave! What did I do wrong?
Hey Andreya,
So sorry you had issues with the sweet potato. My guess is you needed to dice the sweet potato smaller. I hope this helps for next time. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
Just commented on another of your recipes and want to do the same here… this one is a winner. Soooo flavorful and delicious! I will take your Thrive rec on noodles for next time; substituted buccatini and it worked well. Also, not a real peanut butter fan but did add a tad and it gave it just enough flavor for us. Thank you so much. You are a favorite resource for both flavor and ease.
Hi Lorie! I am so happy this recipe turned out so well for you! I hope you love all of the recipes you try of mine! Thank you! xTieghan
This is my second time making this it is so tasty the flavours are perfect thank you for a great recipe !
Thank you Maxine! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Hey! Where is the cilantro added other than for serving? Is says 1/2 cup plus more for serving but I didn’t see it in the recipe. Thanks!
Hey Grace,
You can add the cilantro with the spinach. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Holidays! xTieghan
This was amazing!
Is this something that I could freeze, if I don’t want it to go bad before we finish it?
Hey Kelli,
Yes, that would be fine to do, but I would freeze without the noodles. I hope you love the recipe. Please let me know if you have any other questions and Happy Holidays! xTieghan
We really enjoyed this recipe. It was a very tasty and warming supper on our first really cold day. We cut down on the amount of curry, knowing that our urchins aren’t as spice friendly as we are. We’ll definitely make this one again.
Thank you!! I am so happy this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
Delicious! Loved this recipe! Makes a lot of curry “broth” so I actually added more veggies I had in my fridge to make it go further! The meatballs are definitely worth the effort!
Thank you so much Kelsey!! xTieghan
First off let me say I have made at least 10 of your recipes and they are amazinnngggg!!! This one was absolutely delicious but just a few things I did differently. The butternut squash took at least 20 minutes to cook. I omitted the spinach sherly based on the fact my husband doesn’t like it, I added it to mine and could have went without it, needless to say the flavor was out of this world.. Please keep thinking of amazingness!! Happy Holidays!!!!
Aw I am so happy you have been enjoying my recipes, Bianca!! Thank you so much for trying this one! xTieghan
Deeeeelicious!! Going to become a staple in our house! Used 1.5 lb of chicken to make more meatballs.
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you Chelsea! xTieghan
This was a really really good soup. We absolutely loved it! It smelled amazing, it tasted amazing and the next day is still was amazing. Oh, and easy to make! Just enough fun in the kitchen and not to many dishes.
Thank you so much Barbara!! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan