This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
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.
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
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.
Tieghan, I made this tonight for dinner and my family really enjoyed it. The only thing I would change – and it’s solely based on personal preference – is we would add a bit of heat to it, maybe some birdseye chilies or something. But we all thoroughly enjoyed it! I have really been enjoying perusing your site and finding wonderful recipes that speak to our palates. Thank you so much for sharing!
Hey Sheryl,
Happy Friday!! I appreciate you making this recipe and your comment, I am so glad to hear it was a hit!
Can this be done with green curry?
Hi Sara,
Sure, I don’t see why not! Let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I make this every year during fall!
Hi Missy,
Love to hear this!! Thanks for making this every year:) So glad it is always enjoyed! Have the best day! xx
Really enjoyed this! This recipe was a bit out of my normal wheelhouse, which is why I wanted to give it a shot. Prepared as written. Hubs and 3 teenagers loved it! Will make again!
Hey Angela,
Awesome! Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback! So glad it was enjoyed! Have a great autumn Friday! Xx
This dish is absolutely delicious and one of my favourites (although I think I say that every time I use one of the recipes from here) 😋
Aw thank you Kerry! 🙂 xT
Made this last night for dinner. WINNER, WINNER! SO flavorful – could have just eaten the meatballs plain… but then with that great sauce. Just delish! Wouldn’t change a thing. (And it was a little cooler here in the Carolinas today, so felt that a dish with butternut squash was called for!)
Thank you so so much for trying out the recipe! Have an awesome weekend! xT
Hi. Is there a typo in the instructions No3: 1/4 cup soy sauce? Should it be 1/4 cup Thai curry paste as ingredients? Thanks
Hi Darren,
No typo, you are using 1/4 cup of soy sauce in step 3 and 1/4 cup of Thai curry paste in step 3 as well. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This turned out amazing, except I didn’t get to eat it because the glass container I put it in (too soon) busted all over my fridge 😭 will try it again soon!
Hey Sarah,
Happy Monday! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try, I am so glad it turned out well for you! Thanks for your comment! xT
Quick and delicious. This will be a go-to weeknight dinner!
Hey Jessica,
Happy Monday!🎃 I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was tasty for you, thanks a bunch for making it! xx
Saw a reel of a variation of this recipe that you did recently. Came to your website hoping to find it. Found this to be the closest. The differences are interesting…wondering why the changes from butternut squash to yellow peppers and from spinach to corn. Also, is the honey in place of the pomegranate?
I’m guessing it was what you had on hand or are there other reasons?
Hi Merrily,
Were you looking for this recipe?
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/coconut-chicken-meatball-curry/
Let me know if you have any other questions! xx
This recipe is one of my faves! I have some boneless thighs I need to use, you think I can substitute meatballs with thighs?
Hey Sara,
Thanks so much for your feedback and trying this recipe out! I love to hear that it was a hit:) Sure, thighs would be yummy! Have the best weekend?
The sauce was SO good!! I did make a bunch of substitutions but I loved it. Like ground turkey instead l can’t have chicken and coconut aminos instead of soy, tahini subbed for PB…also I didn’t add the water at the end and so the sauce stayed thicker, amazing flavors thank you so much!!
Hey Erika,
Fantastic!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! ?Tieghan
This is so good. We just finished it – perfection in a bowl. I can’t wait for the leftovers tomorrow. I’d add a more meatballs, maybe 1/4-1/2 lb. only because my husband loves them. You could drink the broth with a straw. Try it!
Hey Janet,
Happy Friday!! I am thrilled that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for trying it out!! xx
Delicious. I subbed low fat coconut milk to reduce the calories and added a little corn flour to thicken it up. Absolutely delicious
Hey Becca,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and sharing your feedback, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xTieghan
This was delicious! I misread the recipe and only had 1 can of coconut milk, so I refilled the can and did half water and regular milk. Still so good! I also forgot to stir in the spinach but was fabulous. Nice job!
Hey Kelly,
Happy Friday!! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed!! xxT