Tom Yum soup – everybody’s favourite Thai soup is finally here! Choose from the classic clear Tom Yum Goong, or make the creamy Tom Yum version – both are made with the same broth.
Simple to make using whole fresh OR peeled frozen prawns / shrimp, this is astonishingly easy to make once you’ve gathered the ingredients! Bonus: Tom Yum is probably the healthiest Thai dish ever, clocking in at just 156 calories!
Tom Yum Soup
Asian food has some of the best soups in the world! From the rich coconut Laksa Noodle Soup to Vietnamese Beef Pho, and Japanese Ramen, there’s a vast variety and Thailand’s Tom Yum Soup is right up there with the best of them.
And the bonus? Tom Yum Soup is good for you, with just 156 calories per serving and very low fat.
Two types of Tom Yum
First up, let me explain that there’s two different types of Tom Yum Soup:
Clear Tom Yum Soup (Tom Yum Goong Nam Sai); and
CREAMY Tom Yum Soup (Tom Yum Goong Nam Khon) which is made from the clear version with the addition of evaporated milk and a good hit of Thai Chilli Paste.
I’ve no idea which is more popular, and truthfully I like both equally so I don’t play favourites. The creamy version has a slightly bigger flavour punch because of the addition of the chilli paste. The evaporated milk really doesn’t add flavour, it just changes the appearance.
Difference between Tom Yum and Tom Kha?
The soup broth flavour base is the same, but the key difference is that Tom Kha has chilli paste and a splash of coconut milk added. In fact, Tom Kha is the creamy version of Tom Yum I’m sharing today if you use the coconut milk option instead of evaporated milk!
Tom Yum is best made with whole prawns/shrimp that you peel yourself. But I’ve got a recipe made with frozen peeled prawns too – see recipe notes!!
What goes in Tom Yum Soup
There’s 2 parts to Tom Yum Soup:
Making the soup broth; and
The stuff that goes in the broth.
Firstly, the broth. In addition to items shown below, you also need the head and shell of the peeled prawns/shrimp (see image below). If you can’t get whole prawns, don’t worry – in the recipe notes, there’s directions for making this with frozen pre-peeled prawns!
Key to this soup broth are all the fragrant fresh herbs and spices you see below. The kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, chilli and garlic. They impart such beautiful flavour into the soup!
And here’s the stuff IN the soup.
I live in the upper northern beaches of Sydney, which is a beautiful part of the world but is sadly in Asian food and produce. But even I can get my hands on all the ingredients for this recipe from my grocery and fresh produce stores!!
How to make Tom Yum Soup
The ingredient gathering is the hardest part of this recipe, being that the aromatics aren’t pantry staples and depending how well stocked your grocery store is, might require a trip to an Asian store.
The making part is very straight forward, calling for not much more than plonking and simmering, straining, more plonking then simmering again. EASY!
See? A lot of plonk and simmer above to make the broth.
And more plonk and simmer below when you add the “stuff” into the soup.
That’s how you make the clear version of Tom Yum Soup which I find is the one more commonly served at Thai restaurants in Sydney.
The broth looks deceptively simple – clear and unassuming. But wait until you try it! It’s got terrific complexity of flavour from the prawn/shrimp shells – basically it’s a homemade prawn stock with a ton of aromatics added!!
Can you freeze Tom Yum soup?
Yes you can! What I like to do is make the broth, strain it, then just cook the shrimp/prawns and freeze it like that, before the mushrooms and tomato go in. But in fact, it would freeze fine even with the tomato and mushrooms – I just feel it’s better adding them in fresh later.
And now for the creamy version!
How to make CREAMY Tom Yum Soup
For the creamy version, you simply take the clear one, add a good dollop of Thai Chilli paste then a splash of evaporated milk.
I think that people assume that the creamy version is made with coconut milk, being an ingredient associated with Thai cooking. But it’s not, it’s evaporated milk.
But coconut milk is also amazing – in fact, that changes Tom Yum into Tom Kha soup and some people who sampled this preferred that the best!
Whichever you choose – classic clear or the creamy version, you are going to love it. It tastes 100% authentic, as good as you get at Thai restaurants. I exaggerate not – some favourite takeout dishes are difficult or simply can’t be replicate at home because we don’t have commercial grade equipment. And when that’s the case, I’m very upfront about how close a homemade version can be (for example, Chicken Tikka Masala, Char Kway Teow)
Tom Yum soup is not one of those! It’s astonishingly easy, SUPER HEALTHY, and tastes just like the real deal! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Tom Yum Soup (Thai Soup)
Ingredients
- 300g / 10oz whole prawns / shrimp with heads and shells on (Note 7)
Broth:
- 3 cup (750 ml) water
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 2 stalks of lemongrass , outer layers peeled(Note 1)
- 1.5 cm / 3/5" piece of galangal , cut into 4 slices (Note 2)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves , torn roughly (Note 3)
- 2 Thai or birdseye chillies (Note 4)
- 3 garlic cloves
Soup Add Ins:
- 120g / 4oz oyster mushrooms
- 1 roma tomato , cut into wedges
- 1/2 white onion (medium sized), cut into wedges about 1 cm thick
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- Coriander/cilantro , for garnish
Creamy Tom Yum Option:
- 1 1/2 tbsp Thai roasted chili sauce (Nam Prik Pa, Note 6)
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) evaporated milk
Instructions
Broth:
- Peel the prawns. Place heads and shell in pot, reserve meat.
- Use a meat mallet or similar to bash the garlic, chilli and lemongrass so they burst open to release flavour. Add into pot.
- Crush kaffir lime leaves with your hands. Add into pot.
- Add galangal, stock and water. Bring to simmer on high heat, cover, then reduce to medium and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Strain the broth, discard the prawn shells etc, then return broth into same pot over low heat.
Finish Soup:
- Add onions and mushrooms, simmer 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, simmer for 1 minute.
- Add prawns, simmer 2 minutes or until just cooked.
- Stir in sugar and fish sauce, simmer for 1 minute.
- Add lime juice, then taste. Adjust sweet (sugar), salt (fish sauce) and sour (lime) to your taste (trust me, you'll know when you like it!).
- Ladle into bowls and serve with fresh coriander and fresh chilli! This is the CLEAR version of Tom Yum.
Creamy Tom Yum:
- When you add sugar, also add Thai Chilli Paste and evaporated milk.
- Then continue with recipe!
Bonus: Tom KHA!
- Following Creamy Tom Yum steps but use coconut milk instead of evaporated milk.
Recipe Notes:
- Skip prawn/shrimp shells and head in the broth. Instead, add 1.5 tsp shrimped paste into the broth. Proceed with recipe.
- Use 200g/7oz frozen peeled prawns (this is more than the weight of peeled whole prawns) and add them in step 7. The resulting soup is extremely good, quite similar to making the broth using the prawn shells!
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
A familiar sight – he does this every day. ie rolling around on a pile of his toys. Do you think he’s:
a) in need of a good back scratch
b) rubbing his stench all over the toys in a sign of ownership / deter other dogs from taking his toys
c) just loving life? 🤔🤔🤔
Very informative instructions and video
Thanks
I want to make this recipe tonight. I have a question though.
Is ‘evaporated milk’ sweetened or non-sweetened condensed milk?
In the Netherlands we use non-sweetened condensed milk (“koffiemelk”) in our coffee.
I believe that sweetened condensed milk is used for desserts (dolce a leche).
I want to make sure I use the right stuff…
Who can help me out?
Hi Onno, evaporated milk and condensed milk are two different things here – but essentially evaporated milk is sweetened condensed milk without the sugar. So you will be fine to use the unsweetened version in this recipe 🙂 N x
Thanks Nagi for your simple and easy to follow receipe to Tom Yum Goong! I am going to try to cook the Nam Khon version and wish me the best!
Thanks and God bless! 😁
I love recipe tin eats.
Every recipe is great .This clear tom yum is awesome ,
I gave it a bit more heat but the broth base is fabulous
Stephen
I love your website thank you for the amazing recipe 😍
Hi there, I’m wondering if I can sub in galangal powder, and how much you’d use? Thanks so much!!
Also sorry, wondering if I can sub in shrimp stock for the water and chicken stock? Thanks!!
Hi Jen, the base of the soup gets the signature flavour from the shrimp so it really is require here. If you can’t find galangal, use ginger in it’s place as the powder just wont give the soup the right flavour. N x
Thank you, Nagi for this incredible recipe- I can’t express how much I adore something both tasty and low in calories. Athough I could not find kaffir lime leaves, I prepared the clear version of the Tom Yum soup and it was fantastic. The fish sauce was not overpowering and I am looking forward to enjoying some leftover soup today.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Naima! N x
Hi Nagi. I’m keen to try this recipe, but am wondering if 8 can make a similar soup from stock without seafood? Thanks so much.
Hi Lelia – this recipe needs the seafood sorry! N x
Hi Nagi
I made the clear tom yum soup before and it was delicious! The family requested it again so I decided to make the creamy version using evaporated milk. However it curdled and I’m not sure why that is. Any ideas? It still tasted divine, but it didn’t look as good. Thanks for your amazing recipes xx
Tried this recipe today. And the soup turned out to be tasteless and with a bitter after taste. The soup taste like mixing water with lime and chilli. I followed the recipe accordingly but halved the ingredients. Should I boil the broth longer to enhance the taste?
Hi Wiesahl, sorry you had issues here! I’ve never had it curdle on me, was the milk in date? N x
Hi yes it was. Do you add the milk at the end without cooking further? Is it important perhaps to not bring the soup to boil after adding the milk? I’ll try it again in future to test this. X
Hi yes it was. Do you add the milk at the end without cooking further? Is it important perhaps to not bring the soup to boil after adding the milk? I’ll try it again in future test this. X
I made this recipe and it’s amazing. Seriously so worth it. I’m wondering what your suggestions are regarding the sambal oelak and chili oil substitution ratio (should it be half and half?) and I’m also curious about how the amount of shrimp paste should be adjusted when the recipe is doubled? The site just says 1.5 tsp for all numbers of servings. Is 1.5 tsp for one serving? Would love to know your thoughts.
Hi Nagi. Made this yesterday. It was awesome. I doubled the recipe, used lemon (that was what left in the fridge) and left the sugar out. My husband is a diabetic patient, so prefer not to have it in. We love it, he drank the soup till the last drop. Thank you for the awesome recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Shamala!! N x
Hi Nagi, Thankyou so much for your recipes, they are all fabulous.
I wondered if you can make the stock from cooked prawn shells. I sometimes have these prawns and usually give the shells to my chooks but wondered if I could make the stock from these and freeze it. I could then use this for Tom Yum with the frozen green prawns as you suggested. Thankyou.m
Hi Annie, once the prawns are cooked the flavour goes out of the shells – best to use raw shells here for flavour 🙂 N x
Wow! I have always admired those who can cook authentic dishes such as these & always thought I could not! Well, I take my words back. It is not that hard to make (when you have the ingredients)
I am super proud of myself I have to say 🤭
How gorgeous is the flavour. I used shelled king prawns & prawn paste, also adding coconut cream as my boys wanted creamy. Yummo!! I also added the 1.5 tsp of chillie oil which really gave it a kick 🌶️🌶️💥
I sent intermittent videos to my Indonesian friend who is an incredible cook to show her I actually did cook from scratch. We both 😂😂
She won’t eat at mine be she so lovingly says, I can not cook 🙅♀️🤭, bless her. Now she may change her mind.
I love your recipe & so did my boys. Thankyou Nagi I will definayekt be a follower & use your recipes from now on
First time cooking tomyum from scratch, so glad I found this recipe and it was delicious! Your recipe was very thorough and easy to follow through even for a beginner like me! I added more chilli and lessened the fish sauce to suit our taste buds. Definitely not my last time using this recipe!
Just now received your email with my favourite soup. Tom Yum Goong, so will be using your recipe very soon, as it has slight variations from what I have been eating since the 1980s, and looks absolutely mouth watering.
Luckily, I grow Tahitian Limes, Kaffir Lime, Lemon Grass and Galangal, which died off in the drought, so I have most of what is needed for your yummy recipe.
I hope you love it Gary – love to know what you think once you try it!! N x
I love how you make it seem easy. I’m gonna try making it later. It’s seems very similar to our Filipino dish, Sinigang.
But after traveling and being exposed to this I can attest that my tastebuds are longing for this dish. I cant wait
I’d love to know what you think once you try it Aslan!!
Omg… so friggin delicious…
To die for… your recipe is spot on.. I couldn’t decide between creamy or regular, but ended up adding the coconut milk at the end. Just a bit of tweaking the fish sauce, lime juice, thai chili paste and sugar at the end to suit your personal taste… but absolutely fantastic.
I couldn’t find head on shrimp… but in all honesty… I don’t think I could have dealt with that anyways… lol 😂
I had frozen raw shrimp with the shell on… so thawed and peeled the shrimp and used the shells in the broth, plus added the shrimp paste as you suggested… we did have it with rice vermicelli noodles in our bowls…. the fresh and bright flavor was amazing.
Another fantastic recipe Nagi… thank you 😊
Nailed it Darlana!!!
Hey Nagi, Hey there fluffy Dozer 🥰
I made this today. First time in my 47 years of life making tomyam from scratch. And I am licking the chopsticks lol. Thanks for the super simple recipe Nagi! I made with the evaporated milk and dunk rice vermicelli into the super tasty broth. 🥰
I’m so glad you loved it Maria!!!
Nagi,
you’ve done it again.
My god-daughter is a big fan of Thai food. Me…not so much…until now!
I wanted to surprise her with a nice Thai dinner. So I made your Thai Chicken Satay w Peanut Sauce, Thai Lettuce Wraps and the Creamy Tom Yum Soup.
She was delighted! I was surprised.
I enjoyed the Chicken Satay. I wasn’t too fond of the lettuce wrap filling. (Not sure if I balanced the flavors correctly, but will try again.) I was totally blown away by the Tom Yum Soup. It was wonderfully delicious. I love soups and this will be a regular one from now on.
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. The pictures of the Pantai chili paste and Maesri red curry paste were VERY helpful. Many of the ingredients at my favorite Asian store have little to no English on the labels and I get confused.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on, but thanks again for such wonderful recipes. Hugs from me and crazy tail wags from Obe.
Thanks so much for the feedback Kris – I really appreciate it!! N x
This soup is a dream. In fact, your entire blog is dynamite. Thank you for sharing your talent and passion with the world.