Thai Green Curry makes a fantastic meal full of warm and comforting vibes. This 20- minute Coconut curry with Green Curry Paste is creamy rich and bursting with layers of flavors. Pair this delicious one pot curry with rice or quinoa for scrumptious weeknight dinner.
This Thai Curry is Vegan, GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE and NUT FREE. It also has all elements of classic Go-To Curry – quick, easy, delicious and healthy! You will love this easy recipe that tastes BETTER THAN carryout from ANY RESTAURANT! Let’s take easy route and whip up incredibly Gourmet Thai Food with minimal efforts. Shall we?
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Pick any vegetables of your choice, coconut milk and green curry paste. Add in tofu for some meatless protein. Simple cooking technique of sautéing and simmering and dinner is ready in no time.
You can make this recipe either on stove top or in electric pressure cooker like Instant Pot. I am including both directions in the recipe card.
The key to bringing the store brought curry paste alive is to sauté it with some oil. It allows all the flavors to permeate the curry thoroughly.
Then you let it simmer in coconut milk so that all the ingredients are infused with robust and dynamic flavors. It results in finger licking delicious curry you want to eat till the last drop.
Thai Green Curry Ingredients
Vegetables – I am using carrots, red bell pepper, green bell pepper and Chinese eggplant.
Tofu – adds excellent meatless protein and makes the curry filling. Use extra firm tofu and try to squeeze as much water out as possible before cutting.
Coconut Milk – I prefer full fat coconut milk. Feel free to use lite version but curry may not feel as rich.
Green Curry Paste – my favorite Maesri brand curry paste. It is free of added color, MSG and preservatives.
Aromatics – Since green curry paste is full of robust flavors, I only add onions. I didn’t feel it was necessary to add extra ginger and garlic or chilies but you can. Lime juice, raw sugar, cooking oil are other essential ingredients
Fresh herbs – I am using basil leaves, cilantro and kaffir lime leaves. If you don’t have them easily available, simply skip it.
How to Make Thai Green Curry
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan on medium high heat.
Once oil is hot, add onions. Sauté well till they get translucent. Add all the veggies to the pan.
Add green curry paste. Sprinkle some salt.
Toss veggies for around 2 minutes on medium high heat.
Add water. Stir well so it’s all combined.
Cover the pot and let the veggies cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
Add cubed tofu and coconut milk. Mix well. Cover the pot with the lid and let it come to a light simmer and become thick and creamy.
Remove the lid. Add lime juice and sugar. Mix everything together. Turn off the heat.
Add in the thai basil leaves, cilantro and kaffir lime leaves, if using. Gently stir so it combines well.
Serve this vegan Thai Green Curry with rice. Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Choose full-fat coconut milk for its richness.
- Stirring in just a little bit of lime juice and sugar adds tons of complexity.
- Sauté the curry paste in oil with vegetables so the flavors liven up.
- Feel free to change up the vegetables to whatever suits your mood. You might as well call it “cleaning-out-the-refrigerator” curry.
- You could try snow peas, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, diced butternut or sweet potato, sliced zucchini and/or yellow squash.
Should I make Thai Curry Paste at home or use store bought?
It is a personal preference, but I like to use quality store brought curry pastes. Since these sultry curry pastes require a lot of ingredients, chances are you don’t have all the required ingredients at home handy.
Maesri is my favorite authentic brand. Thai Kitchen and Trader Joe’s also have good selection of curry paste. You can find curry pastes in the ethnic isles of supermarkets or in Asian grocery stores and of course on Amazon.
I highly recommend stocking up on readymade curry pastes. These “curry in a hurry” meals are life savers. Here’s Amazon affiliate link for Maesri Green Curry Paste. I also prefer to stock up on these variety pack of curry paste and coconut milk. They do have long shelf life.
Our Favorite Thai Food Recipes
- Vegan Thai Red Curry
- Curry Fried Rice
- Thai Massman Curry
- Thai Pumpkin Curry
- Thai Zuchini Noodles
- Tom Kha Soup
★ If you make this THAI GREEN CURRY RECIPE do let us know how you like it by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Thai Green Curry with Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Thai green curry paste adjust per spice tolerance
- 1 cup Extra firm Tofu remove excess water and dice in bite sized pieces
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 cups Mix vegetables I used diced carrots, green and red bell pepper and Chinese eggplant
- 1 (14 oz. can) coconut milk (I used organic full-fat )
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar or raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- Salt to taste
Optional Garnishes
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro and basil leaves
- kefir lime leaves for extra flavor.
Instructions
How To Make Thai Green Curry
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan on medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add onions. Sauté well till they get translucent. Add all the veggies to the pan. Add green curry paste. Sprinkle some salt. Toss veggies for around 2 minutes on medium high heat. Add water. Stir well so it's all combined.
- Cover the pot and let the veggies cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add cubed tofu and coconut milk. Mix well. Cover the pot with the lid and let it come to a light simmer and become thick and creamy.
- Remove the lid. Add lime juice and sugar. Mix everything together. Turn off the heat. Add in the thai basil leaves, cilantro and kaffir lime leaves, if using. Gently stir so it combines well. Serve this Thai Green Curry with rice. Enjoy!
INSTANTPOT DIRECTIONS
- Start Instantpot on SAUTE mode. Add oil. After few minutes,
add onions and sprinkle some salt. Sauté well till onions get translucent. Add rest of the vegetables and green curry
paste. Sauté for couple minutes. Add water and deglaze the pan by scrapping the bottom with the spatula. - Cancel SAUTE. Close the lid. Press MANUAL or PRESSURE COOK
button. Select 2 minutes high Pressure. After Instantpot done cooking, let it release the pressure naturally for 5 minutes and release leftover pressure by moving the valve from Sealing to Venting. - Open the lid when silver pin drops. Press SAUTE. Add coconut
milk and tofu. Mix well. Let the curry come to light simmer. Cancel SAUTE. Stir in lime juice, sugar and fresh herbs. Mix well. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Thai Green Curry Paste Ingredients
Fresh Green Chili, Garlic, Wild Ginger, Shallot, Lemon Grass, Salt, KaffirLime, Sugar, Galangal, Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Cardamom and Turmeric.
Helpful Tips
- Maesri Green Curry paste is spicy hot, so use sparingly. I used 2 heaping teaspoons. If you can’t tolerate the heat, use 1 teaspoon.
- Adjust the consistency of the curry. If you feel it is too thick, add little
water to thin it out. - The curry thickens as it cools down. You will have to add some water while re-heating.
- Recipe yields two large servings or four small servings.
- This curry pairs well with White rice (Jasmine or Basmati preferred) or brown rice, cauliflower rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
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Aanchal
Lovely Recipe!