Thai Red Coconut Curry Soup with Frozen Dumplings

Need a warm and nourishing meal on your table fast? Try our 15-minute one pot Thai Red Coconut Curry Soup with Frozen Dumplings. This quick and easy soup recipe is brimming with flavorful red coconut curry broth, frozen homemade jiaozi (potstickers) and healthy veggies. It’s just what your body is craving on those cool and windy days.

Say goodbye to “fake spring”! Mother Nature is off her rocker with snow, sleet, high winds and more. Warm up from within and boost your immunity with ginger, garlic and red chili paste.

This quick soup recipe can easily be thrown together using store-bought frozen dumplings, frozen veggies you have on hand and a few pantry staples.  Top it off with a drizzle of garlic chili oil for an extra spicy kick. We can’t wait to share with you our secret hack to prevent dumplings from tearing apart or bursting while they cook in the soup. So, let’s get started!

Ingredients

Dumplings (potstickers) –We decided to use up the half pork and shrimp Hong Kong style homemade dumplings that we froze during Chinese New Year.  However, you can certainly use store bought dumplings that are found in the frozen food section of the grocery store. We even found gluten-free chicken pot stickers by “Feel Good Foods” the other day in the frozen food isle. There are many different dumpling fillings like chicken, pork and shrimp, vegetable and more.

Coconut Milk – full fat works best for a rich and creamy Thai red curry dumpling soup. Try not to use a brand of coconut milk that has anything other than coconut and water in the ingredient list. More on that later.

Thai Red Curry Paste – pre-made pastes like gluten-free Thai Kitchen red curry paste or Mae Ploy brand (not gluten-free) are our favorites. If you have access to all the fresh essential Thai herbs and spices, make it from scratch.

Chicken or Vegetable broth – We used low sodium gluten free chicken broth. You can also use homemade.

Vegetables – We used frozen mixed Asian vegetables. First, it is super convenient and cooks fast. Secondly, it brings down the temperature of the soup pot so that the dumplings do not break open during the cooking process. More on that to follow.

Thai Flavors

Aromatics – Fresh ginger, garlic, green onions.

Fish Sauce - If you need to keep this recipe gluten free, one of our favorite fish sauces is Red Boat. We use this ingredient all the time with good success.

Sweetener – Just a touch of brown sugar or natural Date Paste to balance the iconic Thai flavors of spicy, savory, sour and lightly sweet. You can also use your preferred sweetener of choice.

Lime juice – fresh is best. Its fresh sour taste balances the savory, sweet and spicy flavors of this Thai red curry coconut soup. In a pinch, you can use the bottle concentrated lime juice.

How to Make Soup with Frozen Dumplings

• Sauté aromatics and red curry paste in a soup pot.
• Add in chicken broth, coconut milk, fish sauce and sweetener.

• Drop in the frozen dumplings and bring to a light boil.
• Add in a portion of the frozen mixed veggies and allow the temperature to reduce to a simmer.

• Cover and cook for approximately 5-8 minutes or according to your package instructions for dumplings. Add in more of the frozen vegetables when the dumplings come up to a boil 2 more times.
• Serve piping hot in a bowl with a drizzle of fresh lime, coriander, green onion, and a drizzle of chili oil – if desired.

Secret Hack: Prevent Dumplings from Falling Apart

There are a couple of key tricks to remember to prevent your dumplings from falling apart while cooking in the soup broth. Allowing your dumplings to boil for a full 5-8 minutes (depending on your package instructions) may cause them to burst open during the cooking process in the soup. Here is how to prevent that from happening…

1. Frozen dumplings are raw and need to come up to a full boil 3 times. Adding the frozen vegetables, a little at a time, you can lower the temperature.
2. Fresh dumplings need to come up to a full boil in the soup 2 times. Adding the frozen vegetables, a little at a time, you can lower the temperature.
3. In between the full boils you can reduce the temperature on your burner to maintain a good simmer to cook the dumplings according to the package directions.

Helpful Recipe Tips

• Allow the aromatics and Thai red chili paste to cook for 2-3 minutes to bloom the flavor.
• Follow this by the addition of the coconut milk to allow all the milk solids to dissolve in the heat.
• Choose a quality full fat coconut milk that only has coconut and water in the ingredient list. Otherwise, you may get lumps – yep that is right.
• Add the lime juice to the coconut curry dumpling soup upon serving so it is fresh and vibrant.
• If using the dried ginger, instead of fresh, do not add until you add the coconut milk.

When are Asian Dumplings Fully Cooked in a Soup?

Raw frozen Asian dumplings are typically done cooking in soup when they float to the surface, the wrapper texture is not doughy, and they are steamy hot all the way through. Depending on the brand, thickness of the jiaozi wrapper and temperature of the soup broth this usually takes between 5 to 8 minutes. To ensure they are fully cooked, check that they are hot in the center and the edges are tender. If you decide to cook fresh dumplings, they take only between 3-5 minutes to cook in a soup.

Heat Level Index

Do you like it mild or spicy? Every person has their own specific body constitution and preferences. Choose the option that works best for your taste buds.

If you have one person that likes it mild and another that likes it hot, make it mild. Then as a garnish, add extra chili oil into their soup bowl after serving. Here is a general guideline of how much Thai Red Chili paste to add to 2 servings of coconut curry dumpling soup.

• Mild – hardly notice any spice = 1 tablespoon or less of Thai Red Chili Paste
• Medium – Nice heat level without the fire = 2 tablespoons Thai Red Chili Paste
• Fire Hot – Tongue on fire and bead of sweat on your brow = 3+ tablespoons of Thai Red Chili Paste.

Rocking Garnishes

Of course, adding garnishes to your Thai red curry dumpling soup is not required but it adds so much extra flavor and texture.

Limes juice is not optional in our books. It is part of the traditional Thai flavor profile (sweet, savory, sour and spicy). An extra lime wedge upon serving is always a nice touch.

Garlic chili oil or sriracha sauce to give it an extra kick. Fresh cilantro (coriander) and green onions adds a bit of freshness to the soup.

What to Serve with Dumpling Soup?

We think it is perfect all on its own but some of our family wanted extra steamed rice on the side for serving. Carbs on Carbs but hey – whatever you like. Personally, we love it with a shrimp mango salad on the side.

Try a batch of our firecracker shrimp or Thai style lettuce wraps as an appetizer. Don’t forget a mango sticky rice for dessert.