Laksa is the most delicious noodle soup that hails from Malaysia. It’s fragrant, it’s rich, it’s spicy. Plus there are noodles to slurp! Since focusing on eating grain-free and low carb, however, laksa has been off the menu at our place. But not any longer!
I was so excited when I had the idea to use some zucchini ‘noodles’ instead of the usual wheat or rice based laska noodles. It’s really that good!
Zucchini Laksa
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini (courgette)
- 150 g laksa paste or other curry paste
- 1 can coconut milk 400mL / 14oz
- 4 chicken thigh fillets diced
- 1 small bunch basil
Instructions
- Using a spiralizer, turn your zucchini into medium thick noodles. Or shave zucchini into fat ribbons using a vegetable peeler and then slice with a knife into thing noodles. Sprinkle noodles with a little sea salt and stand while you make the soup.
- Bring laksa paste and coconut milk to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add chicken and continue to simmer until chicken is just cooked through (no longer pink.) About 5 minutes.
- Add zucchini noodles and bring back to a simmer.
- Taste and season with salt or fish sauce (if you have it). Some people might like a pinch of sugar.
- To serve divide soup between two deep bowls and top with basil leaves.
Variations
no spiralizer – use a mandoline or vegetable peeler to slice zucchini into long ribbons then hand cut into medium ‘noodles’.
vegetarian / vegan – make sure your laksa paste is vegetarian and replace chicken with firm tofu chunks or tempeh. Or use chunks of roast sweet potato instead. Cauliflower is also lovely – just simmer until florettes are tender.
carb lovers – add cooked hokkien, singapore or rice noodles with the zucchini noodles (or instead of the zucchini). Non purists could also use cooked spaghetti.
more substantial (low carb) – add some cashews or peanuts.
no laksa paste – use another thai curry paste like red or green curry or even an Indian curry paste. Just be careful to adjust the quantity to your liking (you probably won’t need a whole jar). The other option is to go for a coconut milk based soup so just skip the laksa paste and use a good squeeze of lime juice for some zing.
hot! – add finely sliced fresh red chilli OR serve with chilli oil or chilli salt.
no basil – you could skip it or replace with mint or coriander (cilantro) leaves.
more veg – add in chopped veg such as carrot, red capsicum (bell pepper), cauliflower and simmer until tender before adding the chicken. OR serve with a handful of rinsed bean sprouts.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
zucchini – will keep for 2 weeks or longer in a plastic bag in the fridge. To keep it even longer, cook sliced zucchini in a little butter until just soft then store in an airtight container in the fridge.
laksa paste / coconut milk – keep them in the pantry.
chicken – freeze it.
basil – make basil oil by packing washed and dried leaves in a clean jar and covering with extra virgin olive oil. Or you can freeze the leaves, they’ll wilt but will still be delicious.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Sometimes you recommend using cabbage as noodles. Do you think that would work here? It’s past zucchini season here.
Wonderful meal. Going into my favourites. Didn’t have chicken added tofu, capsicum and pea shoots to garnish. Big hit with my husband. I added some noodles in his. I enjoyed without noodles. Great way to turn a can of coconut milk into a tasty meal. I added a couple of tablespoons of red curry paste instead of laksa paste
Excellent Denise! Yes red curry is an excellent substitute 🙂
Very tasty, Jules. But I have to adjust the hotness of the dish for us next time. We used Ayam Malaysian Laksa paste from woolies (that was the only one I could see) and it was way too hot for us. So I added another can of coconut milk, but even then, we could barely eat it. Do you have any suggestion how to deal with this next time or is there another Laksa paste? Or maybe we are just too sensitive haha!
I use the Ayam one Sonja – probably the best option is to start with much less – try a few tablespoons – and taste – it’s always easy to add more!
Thanks Jules! I will try and use less next time!
So delicious and easy to prepare, thanks for this recipe Jules!
This sounds delicious. One warning to those using a spiralizer: make sure you have fat zucchini – about 1.5″ diameter, for best results. I’m looking forward to trying this at some point.
Good pointer about the spiralizer Susan – thank you!
Finally got around to making this, and was unfortunately disappointed. I did not enjoy the flavor of the Laksa paste, and it made my stomach very unhappy. I’m guessing there was more chile in it than I can tolerate. I also used just 1 fat zucchini and about half a pound of chicken to feed two of us.
Oh that’s a shame Susan – different brands vary a huge amount. At least you know now 🙂
Great recipe and advice on substitutions, I have been travelling in Malaysia and loved this dish in Penang. I will definitely be trying this recipe when I get home to a proper kitchen. Thanks!!!
Isn’t Malaysian food divine Ashley!
Enjoy the rest of your travels 🙂
Jx
Made this this evening and it was so delicious! When I first looked at the recipe, I thought it would be a harder one to try or take a long time but it was super easy. I did the zucchini noodles with my mandoline and the rest was a snap. I did use red thai curry paste instead as I couldn’t find laksa paste. Will try to order some and try it with that too.
Awesome Ellie!