Tom Yum Soup (Print Version)

Vibrant Thai soup with lemongrass, lime, and chiles in 35 minutes.

# What You'll Need:

→ Broth Base

01 - 4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
02 - 2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and smashed
03 - 4 kaffir lime leaves, torn
04 - 3 slices galangal or ginger
05 - 2 Thai bird's eye chiles, sliced

→ Vegetables and Aromatics

06 - 7 ounces mushrooms, sliced
07 - 2 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges
08 - 1 small onion, sliced
09 - 3 cloves garlic, smashed

→ Protein

10 - 10 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined, or tofu for vegetarian option

→ Seasonings and Finish

11 - 3 tablespoons fish sauce or soy sauce for vegetarian
12 - 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
13 - 1 teaspoon sugar
14 - 1 teaspoon chili paste (nam prik pao), optional
15 - Fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
16 - 2 green onions, sliced
17 - Lime wedges to serve

# How-To Steps:

01 - In a medium pot, bring the stock to a gentle boil. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, chiles, garlic, and onion. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to infuse throughout the broth.
02 - Add sliced mushrooms and tomato wedges to the simmering broth. Cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms are tender.
03 - Add shrimp or tofu and simmer just until shrimp turn pink and are cooked through, approximately 2 to 3 minutes.
04 - Stir in fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chili paste if using. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt, sourness, and heat to your preference.
05 - Remove from heat. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with cilantro and green onions. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • It comes together faster than you'd expect, yet tastes like it simmered for hours because those aromatics do the heavy lifting.
  • The balance of sour, spicy, salty, and savory hits all at once—there's something almost meditative about a soup that doesn't ask you to choose just one flavor.
  • You can make it vegetarian, shellfish-free, or swap proteins without losing any soul, which means everyone at the table gets their own version.
02 -
  • Don't skip the aromatics infusion step; those 10 minutes do more work than you'd expect, transforming plain broth into something complex and layered.
  • Fresh lime juice and fish sauce are where the magic lives—if you substitute bottled or skip either one, the soup tastes like a pale version of itself.
  • The soup will taste a bit funky if you taste it right after adding fish sauce and before the lime juice; wait until everything's mixed in and balance is restored before deciding if you need adjustments.
03 -
  • If you're buying lemongrass, grab an extra stalk because you'll want to make this again soon, and having it on hand means you're more likely to actually do it.
  • Smash your aromatics hard and mean; you're not being gentle, you're trying to crack open flavor cells, so don't be shy about it.
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