Thai Red Curry with Vegetables
This Thai red curry recipe is so easy to make at home! It's much tastier than takeout and healthier, too. This recipe is vegetarian, vegan and gluten free!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
You know dinner was good when you want to eat it for breakfast. Speaking of, it’s 10 am and I’m writing with a happy belly.
This Thai red curry made a fantastic meal last night and perhaps an even better breakfast this morning. It’s warm, comforting, and perfect for cool days. It’s a little rich, too, but so full of vegetables that it doesn’t feel too indulgent.
I’ve been meaning to try a red Thai curry based on my green curry for a while now, and I’m so glad I finally did. It’s the best curry I’ve ever had, restaurant versions included! Yeah, I said it.
Bonus? You should be able to find everything you need for this simple curry at a well-stocked grocery store.
Watch How to Make Thai Red Curry
Thai Red Curry Tips
- The secret to making amazing Thai curries is to use plenty of aromatics, like onion, ginger and garlic.
- Choose full-fat coconut milk for its richness (you won’t regret it!).
- Stirring in just a little bit of rice vinegar and sugar adds tons of complexity.
- Readily available store-bought Thai red curry paste adds characteristic Thai flavor and, bonus, the Thai Kitchen brand is vegetarian. You can make your own if you’re so inclined, though.
- Feel free to change up the vegetables, as long as you slice them so they’re all pretty small and about the same size. You could try broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, diced butternut or sweet potato (which will probably require a longer cooking time), sliced zucchini and/or yellow squash.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments. I love to hear from you.
If you enjoy this hearty dinner recipe, be sure to check out my cookbook for more!
Thai Red Curry with Vegetables
This Thai red curry recipe is so easy to make at home! It’s much tastier than takeout and healthier, too. Feel free to change up the vegetables (you’ll need about 3 cups total) and skip the kale if you want a more traditional Thai curry. This recipe is vegetarian, vegan and gluten free for all to enjoy. Recipe yields 4 servings.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups brown jasmine rice or long-grain brown rice, rinsed
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 small white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- Pinch of salt, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (about a 1-inch nub of ginger)
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips
- 1 yellow, orange or green bell pepper, sliced into thin 2-inch long strips
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into ¼-inch thick rounds (about 1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste*
- 1 can (14 ounces) regular coconut milk**
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ cups packed thinly sliced kale (tough ribs removed first), preferably the Tuscan/lacinato/dinosaur variety
- 1 ½ teaspoons coconut sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce***
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar or fresh lime juice
- Garnishes/sides: handful of chopped fresh basil or cilantro, optional red pepper flakes, optional sriracha or chili garlic sauce
Instructions
- To cook the rice, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the rinsed rice and continue boiling for 30 minutes, reducing heat as necessary to prevent overflow. Remove from heat, drain the rice and return the rice to pot. Cover and let the rice rest for 10 minutes or longer, until you’re ready to serve. Just before serving, season the rice to taste with salt and fluff it with a fork.
- To make the curry, warm a large skillet with deep sides over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the oil. Add the onion and a sprinkle of salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, while stirring continuously.
- Add the bell peppers and carrots. Cook until the bell peppers are fork-tender, 3 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the curry paste and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, water, kale and sugar, and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the peppers, carrots and kale have softened to your liking, about 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pot from the heat and season with tamari and rice vinegar. Add salt (I added ¼ teaspoon for optimal flavor), to taste. If the curry needs a little more punch, add ½ teaspoon more tamari, or for more acidity, add ½ teaspoon more rice vinegar. Divide rice and curry into bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, if you’d like. If you love spicy curries, serve with sriracha or chili garlic sauce on the side.
Notes
Recipe adapted from my Thai green curry recipe.
*Red Thai curry paste: Look for it in the Asian section of the grocery store. I like Thai Kitchen brand, which is vegetarian. Not all brands are (they can contain fish sauce and/or shrimp paste).
**Coconut milk: For rich and creamy curry, you need to use regular (not light/reduced fat) coconut milk that contains guar gum. My favorite is Native Forest Classic. The varieties without guar gum (which are becoming more widely available) aren’t nearly as creamy, even though their fat content is the same.
***Make it gluten free: Be sure to use gluten-free tamari instead of regular soy sauce.
If you want to add tofu: I’d suggest baking it first and adding it with the coconut milk in step 4. If you add raw tofu, it will soak up too much of the liquid, and baking it greatly improves the texture, anyway.
Update 8/10/2016: I tweaked this recipe a tiny bit to make it richer and more flavorful (decreased water from ¾ cup to ½ cup, and increased tamari to 1 tablespoon and vinegar to 2 teaspoons). I also updated the post with better photos!
If you love this recipe: Be sure to check out my other Thai-inspired recipes here! Don’t miss the Thai pineapple fried rice.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This was so good, and it is one of those dishes that just continues to taste better the more you eat. My husband has MS and often doesn’t have much of an appetite, but he ate this really well, and kept saying how good it was. Thanks, Kate! Give Cookie a hug for me, as well!
Thank you, D’Arla! I’m so glad this recipe worked well for you both. Cookie sends her love!
We loved it! I’m so delighted that you’ve recreated one of our favorites… Except it’s even better! Loved how quickly it came together too – an added bonus. Thank you for always brightening our bowls!
Yay, thanks Emily!
Shut the front door. This is OFF THE CHAIN! Followed it to the T, just added mushrooms. Posted the results on twitter. Consider me a recipe stalker at this point ;)
Yesssss! Thanks, Margot!
Made the soup version tonight and ooooh myyyy gawwwdd. Wish I liked rice, quinoa or couscous more since I’m trying to be more vegan, but… Mushrooms, a little extra veggie broth and a protein. You are a flavor goddess. *drops mic*
Woop woop! Love your comments, Margot. Thank you. :)
Best curry I’ve made! I look forward to many more variations on this.
Thank you, Sadye! Glad to hear it!
I made this curry last night; I had to triple the recipe and it was SO AMAZING!
I love Thai red curry and everything about it; the colors, the aromas, everything! Fantastic recipe 5/5+ stars easy!!
Yes! Thank you, Aaron.
This came out awesome! Skipped the kale and added tofu. Yum.
Thank you, Meredith! I’m happy to hear it.
If I can master this recipe, I think my boyfriend will finally marry me. lol. Curry is our favorite, YUM! Will give this a try!
Fingers crossed it does the trick! :)
Another winner Kate! I omitted ginger (my boyfriend isn’t a huge fan) added a lot of pepper flakes and bamboo shoots and some crispy tofu into the veggie mix as well. Delicious!
Your version sounds great! Thanks, Jeanne!
I live in South Africa and I have been following Cookie and Kate for a couple of months now and I really enjoy your recipes. As a family we have a regular Thursday night get-together, and invite a few friends too, and I have to be really careful when cooking because we have two vegetarians, a gluten intolerant guest as well as a dairy intolerant guest. Your Thai Red Curry was perfect and got rave reviews all round. I have told everyone to have a look at Cookie and Kate, so I’m sure you’ll have more happy followers in no time. And everyone’s can’t wait to see photos of Cookie! Thanks for a wonderful blog.
Hi Maria! Thank you so much for commenting and sharing my blog with your friends. Delighted to hear that the curry turned out well for you!
Just tried your recipe for the first time! I love it, but still trying to find ways to sneak more heat into Thai curry. Thanks for the start though! Keeping this in my arsenal of dinner recipes.
Thanks! Just add more chili flakes and sriracha next time. That should do it. :)
THANK YOU for this recipe!! I’ve been miserably sick with Bronchitis and have been pining for a good curry. The thai curries i’ve tried making in the past have either been watery and bland or miserably salty so I was scared to try this out.
I did change it up just ever so slightly: added a bit of penzey’s dried lemongrass along with the garlic & ginger and added a bit more curry paste. Didn’t have kale on hand so I used spinach and threw in some broccoli for good measure. Used rice noodles instead of brown rice…’twas delicious :) Thanks!
I hope you are feeling better now, Helena! So glad you enjoyed the curry.
I absolutely LOVED this recipe! Used full-fat coconut milk as suggested and it was to die for. I added some shrimp for my fiance, and he loved it! Excellent recipe, going to be making it again tonight :).
Hooray, thanks Lauren!
Added a splash of Lime juice and a hint of chilli,
Made this for my future wife as she is taking to vegan receipes :) I’m as Carnivore as they come haha but even I couldn’t resist this recipe, thank you so much. 5 stars, for some reason I couldn’t pick stars on the comment thingy :)
Joe
Thank you for taking the time to let me know, Joe! Glad you both enjoyed this one.
Just made this for friends tonight — FAN. TASTIC. Can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow (so glad I made a double recipe)!!
Hooray! Thanks for letting me know, Christina!
Your spice suggestions saved our dinner last night. I tried a recipe from Food 52 for Thai Summer Squash curry. It used the same amount of red curry paste as you did here but had very little flavor (perhaps the brand of curry paste, all I could find in rural NM). I doctored it up with all the other spices you used here (and some chipotle puree for a little more heat). So these spices work well with summer squash, zucchini and heirloom cherry tomatoes. I hadn’t seen your website before, but I’ll be back. Thanks again.
Thank you, Margie! I’m glad you found my recipe in time. I’ve made some pretty blah curries before myself. I think that a little bit of vinegar or lime juice and some sugar and spice go a long way! Hope you find some other recipes to enjoy here.
It was good! I wanted a little more heat so I will add a spicy pepper next time. Will repeat. Thank you!
Thank you, C!
Made this last night for a a large group of 15 people including varied diets of vegan, gluten intolerant and lactose intolerant. The red curry was amazing! Everyone loved it. I was able to use light coconut milk and just omitted the water. Delicious! Thank you!
Thanks, Tina! I’m glad the curry was a hit with your group!
Kate, this is so so delicious. We’re marveling over how it tastes as good (or better) than restaurant quality – thanks for another amazing recipe!!
Hooray! Thank you, Kim!
I tried this tonight with mushrooms and it was great! I wish I would have had Thai basil to simmer in the sauce. Next time I will add a tad less water to make a thicker sauce. It was so easy, inexpensive and healthy so I will definitely be making this often.
Thank you, Sandy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I wish I could find Thai basil around here!
I just wrote down all the ingredients and will be headed out shortly to buy what I need for this and your Curried Coconut Quinoa with Roasted Cauliflower dish!! (just found your blog last night and I’m feeling a little giddy :D)
Quick question.. can I sub Apple Cider Vinegar for Rice Vinegar? Or perhaps I should just splurge and buy the right kind? Thanks and can’t wait to give these a try. THANKS for making awesome recipes!!
Hi Jill, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question sooner! I think apple cider would work, although it will add some apple flavor. Fresh lime juice would be a better bet!
Absolutely divine! I tagged you on instagram :) Thanks again for the great recipe.
Thank you, Jill! I’ll go look for your curry pic. :)
I’m so thrilled to finally have an easy-to-follow Thai recipe. I made this tonight for dinner and it was incredible! I’m new to your blog (just found it last night), but I think it’s safe to say you have a new loyal follower! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much, Jerie! Delighted to hear it. Glad you found my blog. :)
Wow. This recipe is absolutely amazing. I made it two nights in a row – it’s that good! It really makes a difference that you personally taste test all of your recipes. Your efforts are quite apparent in the end result: a tasty dish that is very satisfying.
I used a cup each of carrots, butternut squash (chopped and frozen), and kale (also chopped and frozen). Threw in a rib of celery too. Your “three cups of veggies” guideline was very helpful for me. I live in a remote area, so foods have to store well for me to keep them around very long.
I went with lime juice instead of vinegar, as someone mentioned above. I find lime to be very cleansing and uplifting.
Thank you for another lovely recipe! And happy belated birthday :)
Thank you, Deanna! Delighted to hear that you’re enjoying the curry so much. Your variations sound terrific. Happy New Year!
Absolute best Thai curry recipe. I used it because I like curry shrimp and adapted accordingly. I roasted the shrimp in the oven, used spinach instead of kale, chopped the ginger instead of grating, used double garlic, and put lots of cilantro in the dish as opposed to just as garnish. It is amazing!
Glad your version turned out great, Sarah!
Made this over the weekend to eat for lunch at work (I like to prep my lunches on Sundays). Had the first one today and it was AMAZING. I made it just like the recipe but with wild rice on the side. Cannot believe how creamy and coconut-y it tastes! Will definitely make this again, and will probably add some tofu to it next time for more protein. Thanks for the great recipe!
Yay, thank you, Kristan! High five for making your lunches in advance! I never think that far ahead. :)
This recipe was much easier and much more delicious than a previous recipe I had tried. So delicious-my family loved it! I will probably be making it weekly! I did chicken, kale, weird little mushrooms, bell pepper, zucchini, & basil. :)
Had someone come visit for a few days and we made this together last night! Absolutely wonderful! Will definitely keep looking through your recipes for more amazing meals. Thanks so much
Made this last night and it was DELICIOUS@! One of the best curry dishes we’ve even had … either homemade or in restaurants! Our hats off to you for developing such awesome flavors! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Just made this tonight for dinner and it was FANTASTIC!!
Hooray, thank you!
All those ingredients… and then you use pre-bought red Thai curry paste !??
Disappointing.
Sorry you’re disappointed, Simon. I try to keep my recipes accessible and the main ingredients in red curry paste (fresh red chilis, lemongrass, Thai ginger and kaffir lime) aren’t available in your average grocery store. Feel free to make your own.
Kate,
How would you alter the cook time, etc if I wanted to add tofu?
Thanks,
Brett
Hi Brett, that depends on how you’d like your tofu to turn out. I’ve tried adding cubed raw tofu to curry before and it worked fine, but absorbed quite a bit of liquid, so you might have to compensate by adding more coconut milk/water. Another option would be to bake some crispy tofu and add that near the very end of cooking, or even just on top.
I did the crispy tofu and added it in close to the end and it came out delicious!
Hello Kate! We’ve made it last night and it was an absolute success! It is such a recomforting dinner for the cold Canadian winter we are experiencing here, in Ottawa. We just added cashew nuts. I note Brett’s and your idea of (crispy) tofu. Thank you and have a nice day.
Okay I must confess, this was honestly my favorite food blog recipe I have ever tried….and I have tried countless!!!! This was sooo incredibly good, and I feel like topping it all off with soy sauce really made the dish. Life changer, thank you!
Oh yay!!! Thank you, Lauren!
I have yet to meet with a curry I don’t love and this one was no exception. I made this for dinner tonight. It was such a quick, easy meal to make and was delicious! I didn’t have any bell peppers, but used a jalapeno – the added heat was a bonus as my family likes spicy food, and subbed spinach for kale which I was also out of. I added mushrooms, broccoli, and snow peas too. The carrot was my favorite vegetable in this curry.
Another wonderful recipe! Thanks Kate!
Thank you, Lorraine! Your version sounds stellar to me!
This Red Curry recipe is awesome. As usual, I never have everything on hand. I replaced the kale with cabbage. I also added chopped sweet potato. My Asian friend uses a pumpkin that you can find in asian stores but he also substitutes with sweet potato. Just cook a little longer and use about one inch chop.I was also taught by him to really heat the curry paste with the oil alone for about 5minutes to get the best flavor from it before adding the veggies or coconut milk. I saute onion garlic and curry paste first for 5. Excellent recipe thank you.
That’s a great tip! Thank you, Patti!
Made this on Monday night for lunches for the week and it’s SO GOOD. My husband and I both said it tastes like it’s made with rich cream and butter, we love it so much. Plus it’d be easy to add in other veggies or meat for the non-veg crowd. Definitely making this one again!
Thank you, Lis! Glad you both enjoyed the curry!
Delicious! You really can use any veggies. I also threw in some butternut squash, cauliflower and asparagus. The red curry I bought was a bit spicy for us, next time I will go back to the Thai Kitchen version we prefer but the grocer was out of.
Love the site! Been great find for this veggie loving busy family of 4!
Your version sounds fantastic!
Made this tonight for my hubby before he heads off to nightshift. Added chicken (because we’re carnivores), and replaced the bell peppers with pointed peppers and the kale with green beans, but absolutely delightful. Absolutely delicious!
Absolutely delicious! The delivery man brought massaman instead of red curry paste, but I followed the recipe exactly otherwise. It’s really good, and my husband who a) grew up in Southeast Asia and b) “hates vegan food” said I should make it again :)
Great recipe! I would recommend fish sauce over soy sauce. It is more traditional and produces a brighter flavor. Please to enjoy!
Delicious! Added some diced extra turn tofu since my hubby & I always choose tofu at our favorite Thai place. Soooo yummy! Love the options to keep it mild (me!) or add Sriracha (him!).
I just made this dish for the second night in a row. It’s delicious and easy. I added tofu, too. Thanks for the great recipe!
Lovely recipe, thank you! I found that it made 3 servings rather than 4, but perhaps we’re just greedy as we’re only newly Vegan! I omitted the sugar, rice vinegar and tamari and added green beans and sweet potato. The kale was a great idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
Soooo good. I made the red curry paste from scratch and I steamed broccoli and carrots separately and added them at the end. Also, I sauteed the peppers and mushrooms separately and added them at the end. Bless it! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
Amazingly simple. Tasted good, but in your experience, is there a way to develop the flavor some more without making the veg soggy? The flavor was right on, but it was, I guess, “muted.” Thank you!
I don’t have any ginger or garlic.. Is that going to ruin the recipe?? I have everything else .. Also is this a soupy consistency to does it have some thickness to it?? Thanks
Can’t wait to try this out tonight!! IF (because everything sounds amazing and we might eat it all) there are leftovers, does it freeze well? Going on a business trip and would love to eat the rest when I come home Thursday night.
Hi Kate,
I’m trying to avoid meat for the next month or so and just stumbled on your blog. They look great! But I haven’t seen nutrition facts on the ones I saw. Do you by any chance have those information handy? I want to make sure I have enough protein intake. Thanks!
Delicious. I made this but with different vegetables. I used carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, mushrooms, broccoli, red bell pepper, onion. I had extra chicken broth from another recipe so I used chicken broth instead of water. I know it makes it not vegetarian anymore but I wanted this dish because of the vegetables, not necessarily to be vegetarian. I will definitely be making this again and again! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
Oh my gosh! This was crazy good. I have made it a couple of times already and have enjoyed it so much that I want to tell you thank you! And it is wonderful that you have given such thourough directions as…over medium heat, etc, etc. I need that because I don’t know how to cook! But I can make this now!