An easy, plant-based spin on Thai red curry noodle soup features a boost of protein from tempeh and a rich coconut broth. Contributed by Sam Jones from No Meat Disco: 7-Ingredient Plant-Based Recipes.
No Meat Disco is a lively cookbook built for color, flavor, rhythm, and joy: food that feels fun to make and even better to share. Sam writes of this soup:
“When I traveled around Thailand, I’d always go for a red curry. To me, it’s more of a soupy, aromatic broth than a thick curry, which is exactly why I wanted it in this chapter.
Thailand is one of my favorite places for both culture and food, and while this is just my take on the incredible dishes Thai people create, I knew it had to be in this book. This version is a simplified, no-fuss banger that still delivers all the bold, warming flavors I love.”
This recipe is good to make for any meal of the day — even breakfast, for those of us who like to start our day with a ramen soup, as is customary in parts of Asia.
About the author: Sam Jones is the creative force behind the popular @nomeatdisco Instagram account, followed by over one million fans. Known for his vibrant food, artistic eye, and infectious joy, Sam shares his personal cooking journey and the deep connection between food and music that fuels his creativity.
Recipe and photo (at top) by Sam Jones, ©2026. Countryman /W.W. Norton. Reprinted by permission. More about No Meat Disco following the recipe box.
No Meat Disco is available on Bookshop.org*, Amazon*,
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Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup (with Tempeh & Coconut Milk)
An easy, plant-based take on Thai red curry noodle soup features a boost of protein from tempeh and a rich coconut broth. Contributed by Sam Jones from No Meat Disco: 7-Ingredient Plant-Based Recipes.
Ingredients
- 3.5 ounces (100 g) tempeh (½ block)
- 4 tablespoons light soy sauce, plus more for serving
- 5 spring onions (scallions)
- 1½ tablespoons plant-based Thai red curry paste (adjust to how spicy you like it)
- One 13.5-ounce (400 ml) can coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
- Two 3.75-ounce (110 g) packages plant-based ramen noodles
Extra ingredients
- Vegetable oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Crumble the tempeh into a bowl and toss it with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1 tablespoon of the light soy sauce. Spread it out on a baking sheet or large ovenproof skillet and roast for 15 minutes, or until golden and slightly crispy. [Note from TheVeganAtlas.com, this can also be done in an air fryer or countertop oven]
- Meanwhile, heat a splash of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Finely slice the whites of the spring onions and sauté them for 2 to 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened. Thinly slice the greens of the spring onion lengthwise and place them in a bowl of ice water to curl up for garnish.
- Stir the Thai red curry paste into the spring onion whites and cook for a minute, or until fragrant, then pour in the coconut milk. Bring to a gentle simmer, then stir in the remaining soy sauce and coconut sugar.
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Before draining, scoop out ¾ cup + 1½ tablespoons (200 ml) of the starchy noodle water and add it to the curry broth to help thicken it slightly. Drain the noodles.
- To serve, divide the noodles between two bowls, ladle the curry broth over them, and top with the crispy tempeh. Garnish with the curled spring onion greens plus a splash more light soy sauce if you like.
More about No Meat Disco by Sam Jones
Sam Jones does not want cooking to feel like another thing on your to-do list. He wants it to feel like putting on a good song.
That’s the spirit behind No Meat Disco: 7-Ingredient Plant-Based Recipes (Countryman Press; September, 2026), brings that same energy to the kitchen, pairing bold, whole-food plant-based cooking with the music that shapes how he moves, creates, and eats. The result is a cookbook built for color, flavor, rhythm, and joy: food that feels fun to make and even better to share.
Seven Ingredients, Big Flavor
Every recipe in No Meat Disco is built with just seven ingredients, not counting everyday staples like oil, salt, and pepper. For Sam, that structure keeps cooking light on the shopping list and big on creativity. Each ingredient has a job to do, whether it brings heat, crunch, creaminess, umami, freshness, or comfort.
The recipes are bright, punchy, and full of texture: Mushroom Brisket Burger, Nashville Hot Cauli Burger, Tofu Katsu Sando, Chipotle Mushroom Tacos, Creamed Corn Nachos, Disco ’Nduja, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and Benny’s Miso Caramel Banoffee Pots. They show how much plants can do when they are charred, smashed, crisped, blended, marinated, stacked high, and treated like the main event.
A Plant-Based Cookbook with Soul
Sam’s food is rooted in whole ingredients: vegetables, mushrooms, legumes, tofu, grains, sauces, herbs, and spice. His approach is generous and open, built for anyone who wants to cook more plant-forward food without losing flavor, comfort, or fun.
Across the book, he turns familiar cravings into plant-based dishes with personality: burgers with smoke and bite, sandwiches layered with sauce and crunch, soups that feel cozy but alive, snacky plates made for sharing, summer dishes with sunshine built in, and desserts that end the night properly. It is plant-based cooking that feels abundant, not limited.
A Cookbook You Cook by Mood
Music gives No Meat Disco its pulse. Each chapter is built around a different sound and mood, guiding readers through the day and into the night. Disco in the Morning eases into breakfast with wake-up-slowly tunes. Between Bread brings psychedelic folk to sandwiches, toasties, and big handheld meals. Slurp My Soup pairs bowls of comfort with jazz and electronica. The Munchies brings dub, reggae, and ’90s rap to salty, crispy snacks. Summer Madness has Latin and Brazilian grooves for sunshine cooking, while Dessert Island Disco closes with slow jams, soul, and something sweet.
Recipes include playlist cues and key tracks, so readers can cook with the sound of the dish in mind. For Sam, music sets the pace. It loosens the kitchen up. It turns chopping, stirring, sizzling, and tasting into something with rhythm.
From Nini’s Kitchen to No Meat Disco
The heart of the book goes back to Sam’s Welsh grandmother, Nini, whose kitchen was full of food, old classics, and life. She cooked with Frank Sinatra and Tom Jones playing, singing as she moved, making the kitchen feel like the happiest place to be. That early connection between food, music, family, and feeling runs through every page of No Meat Disco.
Sam’s travels later opened that world even wider, from China and Vietnam to Thailand, Australia, and Canada, shaping the way he thinks about flavor, plants, memory, and sound. Certain songs still take him back to specific meals and places, and that sense of food as a full sensory experience is what drives the book.
No Meat Disco brings all of that together: seven-ingredient cooking, whole plants, loud flavor, and playlists that make the kitchen feel alive. The promise is simple: cook something banging, turn the music up, and make the kitchen somewhere you actually want to be.
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