Curries come from many different parts of the world, and each region has its own distinctive flavour and identity. India produces a vast array of delicious aromatic dishes like lentil Dahl and Korma, whilst the popular katsu curry originates from Japan.
We’re in a different part of the world today though - this simple curry comes from Thailand. With a lovely combination of sweet, creamy and spicy ingredients, it’s one of our favourite vegan curry recipes and absolutely delicious.
This meal also comes together in just half an hour, so it’s perfect for a quick weekday dinner. We like serving it with rice, couscous or quinoa for a healthy and wholesome meal.
Notes on ingredients
- Peanut butter: The recipe calls for peanut butter, but you can substitute for almond butter if you prefer or leave it out altogether. We’ve also used crunchy peanut butter because we like the texture, but smooth would be fine too.
Red Thai Vegan Curry Recipe Variations
- Mix up the vegetables: One of my favourite things about this vegan curry is that you can adapt it to the vegetables you have to hand. As it is, the recipe includes cauliflower, mangetout, bell peppers and curly kale. But lots of other vegetables would work well here too.
Try adding some sweet potato, butternut squash, aubergine, green beans, carrots, mushrooms or courgettes to your dish. Just increase the cooking time a little if you’re adding firmer vegetables. - Adjust the heat: This dish is flavoursome with a bit of heat but is not overly spicy. If you want to increase the heat, add an extra tablespoon of curry paste or some dried chilli flakes. Similarly, to reduce the heat simply use less curry paste.
- Soup variation: To make a soup version of this curry, add extra stock and coconut milk. You could also swap out the rice and cook some noodles or tofu in the soup instead.
Storing leftovers
Store leftover curry in a fridge for up to 2 days and ensure it’s piping hot before eating. This is a great recipe for healthy meal preps, so why not make a big batch in advance and enjoy over a few days.
Serving suggestions
We like to serve this delicious vegan curry recipe with jasmine rice, but substitute for brown rice if you prefer.
If you fancy a change from rice, try serving with quinoa or couscous instead. All these grains work well as a side dish.
How to make red thai vegan curry?
Here is the complete recipe for the perfect vegan curry:
Red Thai Vegan Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil (or your preferred vegetable oil)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
- 2 tbsp finely chopped or grated ginger
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 400 g can - full-fat coconut milk
- 350 ml vegetable stock
- 4 tbsp peanut butter
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 150 g small cauliflower florets
- 150 g mangetout, halved
- 3 bell peppers, sliced (preferably a variety of colours)
- 75 g chopped curly kale or cavolo nero
- 400 g can - black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- ½ tsp fine sea salt (or more to taste)
- ½ tsp ground black pepper (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Put your water on to boil for your rice while you make the curry. The cooking time will depend on the type of rice you’re cooking but try to time it to be ready when the curry is cooked.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion for 2-3 minutes to soften.
- Add the garlic, ginger and red Thai curry paste and fry for a further 2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the soy sauce, coconut milk, stock, peanut butter, tomato paste, sugar and cauliflower and stir well.
- Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the mangetout, bell peppers, kale and black beans and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, or until the kale wilts and the other vegetables are tender.
- Add the lime juice, salt and pepper and taste the curry, adjusting the seasonings if required.
- Serve hot with boiled rice and sprinkled with chopped peanuts and chopped fresh coriander leaves.
Notes
- Store leftovers in a fridge for up to 2 days and ensure it is piping hot before eating.
- You can change the vegetables to use whatever you have to hand, e.g. sweet potatoes, butternut squash, aubergine, green beans, carrots, mushrooms or courgettes would all be suitable, though the cooking time would be a bit longer for firmer vegetables.
- You can omit the peanut butter if you wish or use almond butter instead.
- This curry is also great served with quinoa or couscous.
- You can add extra stock and Asian noodles for a spicy noodle soup.