30-Minute Tom Yum Pasta

If tom yum soup and pasta were to have a baby, this would be it! This tom yum pasta is the easiest, yummiest 30 minute meal you can make. It’s also vegetarian friendly and allows for a variety of ingredient substitutions.

A couple weeks ago I had lunch at a place in Long Beach called Thai Curry Pizza where I had the most amazing tom yum pizza. It was like drinking tom yum soup but on a pizza! I loved it so much I thought it would be so cool to create a variation of it but with pasta. That’s how I came up with this tom yum pasta! It is one of the easiest 30 minute meals you can make.

How I developed this tom yum pasta recipe

I personally love making these fusion recipes because it’s fun coming up with new recipes that combine Asian ingredients with classic Western dishes. A great example of this is my Chinese sausage spaghetti which is a riff off carbonara but with Chinese sausage! It’s personally one of my favorite fusion dishes I’ve ever created. This tom yum pasta is similar in that it’s a variation of a vegetarian spaghetti dish but with a few added Asian ingredients like tom yum paste, fish sauce, and shiitake mushrooms. I only needed to test this recipe one time because I had a pretty good feel for how much each ingredient I needed, and it’s just that easy to make.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• Spaghetti – I used spaghetti because it’s what I had in the pantry, but you can use any kind of pasta you want.
• Shallot – Adds some sweetness to the dish. 1 shallot can be substituted with 1/4 a yellow onion.
• Garlic – Adds more flavor to the dish
• Shiitake mushrooms – I used shiitake mushrooms because they’re my favorite! You can also use porcini or cremini mushrooms.
• Cherry tomatoes – You use any kind of tomatoes you want. Good substitutes are grape tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, or 4 Roma tomatoes.
• Tom yum paste – Gives the pasta its tom yum flavor. I got mine at the store. You can also find some on Amazon!
• Marinara sauce – I would use any kind of tomato or marinara sauce you can find.
• Fish sauce – Adds umami flavor to the dish.
• Cilantro (optional) – This adds some freshness to the dish. You can also use fresh basil.
• Parmigiano reggiano (optional) – I just liked to finish off my pasta with cheese. Definitely is not a must have for this dish.

How to make tom yum pasta

First, boil the pasta. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add 200 grams of spaghetti and cook until cooked through (5-10 minutes). Drain and set aside. Reserve 2 tbsp of pasta water. While the spaghetti is cooking, cut 1 shallot, 4 cloves of garlic, 4 shiitake mushrooms, 20 cherry tomatoes, and 2 tbsp of cilantro. Set aside.

Once the pasta is done, add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large fry pan. Add the shallot and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds until shiny. Next, add the shiitake mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms are cooked through. Add 1/4 cup of tom yum paste and cook for 15 seconds until fragrant. Finally, add in 25 oz of marinara sauce and 2 tsp of fish sauce. Mix and bring to simmer.

Add the pasta and pasta water to the pan and mix. Remove from the heat. Serve with 2 tbsp of cilantro and 1 tbsp of parmigiano reggiano as garnishes.

How do you store tom yum pasta?

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.

Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.

Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!