This is the soup I want when I'm feeling on the verge of "under the weather"—not quite sick, but the cold outside is draining me a little bit. There's the feeling that you could get sick. That's when you want a spicy soup. I like this chicken noodle soup with the flavors of Singapore noodles: it has just this. deeply warming feeling plus the benefits of bone broth. The flavor of the coconut milk, garlic, and the heat of the curry clear the sinuses, especially if you go with the spicy version. Plus it’s dairy- and grain-free!
Why is the original dish called Singapore noodles? Many swirling theories are out there, so I'm not entirely certain. But it's really not a dish from Singapore at all. It's likely a Cantonese-style stir fry featuring curries that were carried via the spice trade from British-ruled India. I have not been to the region, but it’s a dream of mine to travel all through southeast Asia and try so many of its tasty foods. I digress...let's get cooking.
A tip on working with glass noodles
This dish uses glass noodles (also called cellophane noodles or fensi) which are made of starch—often times mung bean flour or sweet potato.
Glass noodles are great for soup but they can't sit in the liquid too long or they become gummy. So I recommend making them ahead of time according to the package you're using, and then chill them and toss them with a little sesame oil and fish sauce. Then they can stay at room temperature until you're done making the soup.
Which to use: Madras vs. regular curry powder
Use a curry powder that reflects how spicy you want the final dish to be. If you want it to be a medium spice level (my preference here), then use a Madras curry powder. If you want it mild, use a regular curry powder. I love to find spices at H-Mart, and my favorite one for this curry can also be found on Amazon!
How to Make This Curry-Flavored Chicken Noodle Soup
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After you have the noodles cooked to the package directions, you can go ahead and portion them out in your serving bowls, since you will assemble the soup right there at the end.
As far as equipment, you need a high-sided saute pan (or even a wok). I'm using this 10-inch one. Add some coconut oil to the pan and set it over medium heat. Dust and coat the exterior of the boneless and skinless chicken thighs with your curry power of choice. Sear them in the pan, turning once, until they're cooked to 160 degrees, approximately 5-7 minutes per side. The carryover cooking that happens off the heat will take it up to the ideal 165 degrees. They'll have this rich brown color on the exterior and will be very juicy. Set the chicken thighs aside to rest while you start on the vegetables
Use the same pan you just used for the chicken—no cleaning it out!—to saute the carrots lightly with a quarter of a pinch of salt, which will develop color and flavor. Then we’ll saute the baby bok choy cut side down in the pan—get a little char on the bottom—and then the oyster mushrooms separately just until they have some caramelized edges, removing them to a platter. Add a couple of tablespoons of chicken stock to the mushrooms if they're getting too dry in the pan. Each will take about a minute and a half to sear.
Next in that same pan, build the broth, starting with the lite coconut milk (I'm using the Chaokoh brand). Season this with salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons of fish sauce to taste. Turn the temperature up and whisk the mixture to break up the fond on the bottom. Add the minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, and about 3/4 teaspoon more curry powder. Whisk in chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Let it simmer for 10 minutes to meld the flavors together.
How to Serve this Singapore Noodles-Inspired Soup
Place a sliced chicken thigh over the noodles in one of the bowls. Then add a few baby bok choy to another side of the bowl. Sprinkle some carrots in between them and add some mushroom pieces. Take your pan and a ladle and scoop four ladles of the broth into each bowl, sprinkle over a few cilantro leaves and squeeze a key lime overtop, dropping in the spent lime for extra flavor.
I made a sweet-spicy chili sauce to accompany this since I like to add the heat. It's a blend of Thai chili peppers, garlic, sugar, and lime juice creating a unique balance of sweet and spicy. When this dish is cooked, it’s not quite as spicy to me, so I’ll add in a little sauce. Just be careful with it—a little goes a long way. It’s concentrated everything: sweet, spicy, savory—it’s a big flavor bomb.
What can I substitute for...
Mushrooms: You can use any variety that you want, just slice them pretty thin.
Fish sauce: If you want to skip the fish sauce, you can substitute salt in a 1:5 ratio.
Coconut milk: You can use almond milk or soy milk if you prefer.
Key limes: I like to use key limes—it’s more about the size, but also key limes always juice consistently. They’re the perfect amount of lime juice for a portion. You can use regular limes if that's what you have available, just use half for both portions.
Madras curry powder: You can switch to a regular curry powder (look for no chili peppers in the ingredients list). If you want MORE spice to it, add some Asian hot sauce.
Can you make this dish ahead of time?
You can make all of the components ahead of time, store them in the refrigerator for up to a few days. Then reheat the chicken, vegetables and broth—no need to reheat the noodles—and assemble the soup at the table. The most important thing is to wait until serving to add the broth!
You just can't beat the warm, spicy smell from this soup that permeates the room and lifts your senses. I hope you make it for someone you care about and let me know how it goes in the comments!
Singapore-Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup - Grain-Free; Dairy-Free
2
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
- For the Sweet Chili Sauce (optional)
2 Tbsp sliced Thai chilis, red or green
2 Tbsp finely chopped shallots
1 Tbsp fried garlic (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp water
1/3 cup coconut or palm sugar
- For the Chicken
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp curry powder (Madras for a little spice)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp coconut oil
- For the Broth
1 1/2 pints chicken bone broth
1 cup light coconut milk
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp turmeric powder
1-2 tsp additional curry powder, to taste
TT fish sauce or salt
- Other Ingredients
2 servings glass noodles
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 medium carrot, julienne cut
4 baby bok choy, halved lengthwise
4 oyster mushrooms, halved lengthwise
- Garnish
fresh cilantro
fresh lime
sweet chili sauce (recipe above)
Directions
- Make the chili sauce (optional)
- In a jar combine all of the chili sauce ingredients and shake to combine. Place in the fridge and use as desired. It's great on everything.
- Prep the noodles, chicken, and vegetables
- Cut all of the vegetables as indicated above and set aside. Prepare the noodles per the directions, drain, run under cool water until cooled, then season with 1/2 tsp sesame oil and 1 tsp fish sauce. Put one serving of noodles into each of two bowls. Season the chicken with the curry powder and salt.
- Make the soup
- Put a high-sided sauté pan on medium heat. Once heated, add the coconut oil and cook the seasoned chicken 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through (165 internal). Remove from heat and set aside.
- In the same pan over medium heat, add the carrots and flash sauté for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Repeat that process with the bok choy and mushrooms, adding a few drops of water if the pan becomes too dry.
- Add the coconut milk and garlic cloves and bring to a simmer. Add the chicken bone broth, turmeric, and more curry powder to taste. Season additionally with fish sauce or salt to taste.
- Slice the chicken and add one serving to each bowl. Add half of each of the vegetables to each bowl. Pour half of the broth into each bowl, garnish as desired and enjoy!
'Tis the season for sweets and snackable treats to share with others in those cool tins. My mom (whom you met in my dinner roll recipe video) always used to make soft, chewy caramels around Christmas that would be some of the first things to go at any holiday gathering. Her recipe probably had butter and evaporated milk in them—the traditional way! These days, we have some people in our family with food restrictions, so I wanted to make dairy-free chewy caramels we could all enjoy this time of year.
So if you're looking for a dairy-free soft caramel candy recipe that you can share with everyone you love, give this dessert a try!
Watch the Dairy-Free Soft Caramels Video
This recipe has some slightly more visual elements for those complicated questions, like "What should my caramel look like when it's ready?" and "How do I roll a caramel candy?" The video comes in handy for how to tackle these cooking conundrums.
How to Make These Soft Coconut Caramels
The key to making these is a candy thermometer, because you need the caramel at the right temperature so you can have the right consistency. I use a stainless steel saucepan and add some vegan butter, vanilla extract, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), coconut cream, sweetened condensed coconut milk and stir to mix.
Why coconut sugar? It has the molasses flavor that I love, but it has a much lower glycemic index.
I put the saucepan on the stovetop over medium high heat with the candy thermometer in there the whole time. Everything will melt and start bubbling rapidly—so keep an eye on the thermometer until it gets to 235-240 degrees. The mixture will be a dark honey color and have very active bubbles across the top. Remove it from the heat once it reaches our target temperature.
Prep the Optional Add-In and Set Caramel
Marble Bowl | Dish Towel (similar) | Cedar Stem
I like to add a little bit of salty crunch to my caramels to balance out the sweetness. Lightly salted almonds roughly chopped and added into a heatproof dish. You could also try pecans or hazelnuts if you want to switch it up.
Add those chopped almonds to a casserole dish. Carefully pour the caramel on top (it's very hot) over the almonds add a little texture and extra savory note. I lightly sprinkle flaky sea salt over top and let it cool for 30 minutes.
How to Wrap Homemade Caramels
I put these in the fridge overnight to set....and life got busy. So I finally got to them a week later to wrap them, and man, it was like the flavor intensified and the texture got even better. They do need to set for at least 24 hours. You can serve them as small squares straight out of the pan, but let's get a bit more festive for the holidays.
So to wrap the caramels, first I put on gloves to prevent any stickiness. Next, take a stack of wax paper cut into rectangular square pieces and a sharp knife. I cut the caramels into approximately 2-inch by 1-inch rectangles and then roll them up with my hands into cylinders. Each one goes into their wax paper piece, and I roll the middle like a log and then twist the two sides to enclose the caramel. This part is very meditative (read: long), so just put on some Christmas music and carry on until they're all done.
The Review
What a fun treat. These caramels are so smooth, chewy, and buttery (even with no butter!). The almond and salt flakes add so much complexity. Bonus: These never get stuck in your teeth like those harder caramels. Store them in the fridge for the best texture—a chilled caramel is so tasty. It's so great to bring back something nostalgic from my childhood.
I hope these are your new favorite Christmas treat. And if you want some more gluten-free, dairy-free holiday sweets, try my Peppermint Brownies recipe or my Vegan Holiday Brittle recipe.
Soft Homemade Caramels for the Holidays (Dairy-Free)
4
servingsIngredients
1 cup vegan butter (Miyokos brand preferred)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups coconut sugar
13 1/2 oz coconut cream
18 oz sweetened condensed coconut milk
1/2 cup lightly salted roasted almonds, rough chopped
Directions
- To a medium sauce pan, add the butter, vanilla, coconut sugar, coconut cream, and sweetened condensed coconut milk. Place a candy thermometer into the pan and put on medium/medium high heat and cook until the thermometer reads 235/240.
- While the caramel cooks, chop the almonds and spread evenly in a casserole dish. Once the caramel reaches temperature, pour into the dish overtop the almonds. Cover and place in the fridge overnight until completely cooled.
- Cut and portion the caramels, shape them quickly by hand and wrap in a small square of wax paper. Since coconut caramels behave differently at room temperature, store in the fridge until ready to serve, otherwise they will lose their shape and texture.
We don't eat at Olive Garden often, but whenever I find myself there during colder months, I always get the bottomless soup, salad & breadsticks. And even though they have several soups to choose from, I always stick with the Zuppa Toscana because it is, far and away, the superior option. So imagine my joy when a friend showed me how to make it. Turns out, it's super easy.
Since we're heavy into fall now and I love this soup, I chose to make it as my first non-Whole30 meal, and I made it for a lot of people. So I'm going to give you the amounts to make half of what I made (so disregard the sausage count in the picture and stuff like that - just follow the instructions. :) )
The ingredient list for this soup is surprisingly short. Here's what you need (again, disregard amounts shown - the stuff shown made a lot):
In order of appearance, the ingredients are:
• 1/2 cup chopped bacon, most of the fat trimmed off
• 4 uncooked links of Italian sausage (mild or spicy, your call), casing removed
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 small garlic cloves, minced
• 1 qt of chicken stock
• 1 qt of water
• 3 medium russet potatoes, washed and sliced into half-moons (about 1/4 thick or so)
• 1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes (the more you use, the spicier it will be...is a "duh" called for on this one?)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 kale leaves, thick rib parts removed, leaves washed thoroughly and cut into pieces about 1 inch long.
• salt TT
First, preheat a 5 qt stock pot on medium/medium-high heat. Once heated, add the bacon and cook until almost crispy. Then, add the sausage in beat it up so it's no longer in link form. Let that cook thoroughly and drain the fat. I do this by removing my stock pot from the heat, pushing the meat to one side of the stock pot, then propping the meat side of the pot up on an old rag or something, so the fat drains to the non-meat side. Did that make sense? Once the grease drains, you can spoon it out pretty easily. Leave a tablespoon or so of grease.
Quick note: the reason you cook the bacon first is because if you add both the bacon and sausage at the same time, the fat remaining on the bacon has a hard time rendering the way it should and you may end up with soggy pieces of bacon fat in your final soup. Not ideal. Moving on.
After you get most of the fat out, put the pot back onto medium heat. Once the meat starts to sizzle again, add the chopped onion and bay leaf and sauté for a minute or two. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or so (this is why you left a tablespoon of grease in the pot - to sweat the onions and garlic. Also, doesn't "sweating" vegetables sound so much worse when the vegetable is onions?).
Add the chicken stock and water, then bring to a boil. Add the sliced potatoes and red pepper flakes, cover, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 30 minutes.
When you're about ready to eat, add the heavy cream, stir, then add the kale and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and add salt as desired.
I always serve soup with a hearty, artisan bread. Unless it's chili, then I prefer cornbread (but that's a post for another day). Give this soup a try (printable recipe below) and be sure to come back and tell me how you liked it. Or even if you didn't, that's cool too. :)
Cheers, Internet friends. Have a wonderful day.
CopyCat Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden)
8
15
minutes50
minutes0
kcal1
hour5
minutesThis isn't really a mystery soup. There are lots of copycat recipes for it out there, and mine isn't very different from any of them. I'm not so much trying to blaze trails here as much as I am just encouraging more people to make this really awesome soup.
Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped bacon fat trimmed
4 uncooked links of Italian sausage milk or spicy, your call, casing removed
1 yellow onion chopped
1 bay leaf
2 medium garlic cloves minced
1 qt of chicken stock
1 qt of water
2 large russet potatoes washed and sliced into half-moons about 1/4 thick
1/2-1 tsp red pepper flake depending on desired spice level
1 cup heavy cream
4 kale leaves thick rib parts removed, leaves washed thoroughly and cut into 1 inch pieces
salt TT
Directions
- Preheat a 5 qt stock pot on medium/medium-high heat. Add the bacon to the heated pan and cook until beginning to crisp.
- Add the sausage and break it up using a wooden spoon. Cook thoroughly.
- Remove pan from heat and drain and remove all put approximately 1 Tbsp of grease from the pan.
- Place the pot back on medium heat. Once the meat begins to sizzle again, add the chopped onion and bay leaf, and sauté until onion begins to become translucent.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté until aromatic. Add the chicken stock and water, then bring to a boil.
- Add the potatoes and red pepper flake, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- About 5 minutes before it's time to eat, add the cream and stir, then add the kale. Cover the pot and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 0g
- Calories: 0kcal
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 0mg
- Potassium: 0mg
- Carbohydrates: 0g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugar: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Vitamin A: 0IU
- Vitamin C: 0mg
- Calcium: 0mg
- Iron: 0mg
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