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.
I haven’t tried it yet but I’m wondering if you have any suggestions to add some protein without using meat. I want to keep it vegan but I also don’t really like tofu. What about lentils? If I were to take that route, how would I do it? Thanks!
I love using chickpeas in my curry dishes. I just simmer them in the sauce the whole time.
This looks delicious! I’ve only ever made a curry with paste, but I currently only have curry powder on hand. Would this work with curry powder?
I’m wondering the same thing! Did you ever try it with the powder? If so, how did it turn out?
Just made it tonight and my 2 and 4 year old liked it!! I enjoyed it as well but would’ve preferred a little richer bolder flavor. Next time I will try it without the 3/4 Cup of water and add more coconut milk and an extra T of red curry paste. Thanks so much Kate! We are newly vegetarian and going very light on the dairy as well. I’m making a bunch of your recipes, they look so delicious. Last night we had your black bean/kale/avocado/rice bowl. It was awesome!! My kids also liked it too, and my meat-loving husband, who is trying vegetarian as well.
Thanks again!!
my boyfriend and i made this last night when we had people over and it was AMAZING! he wanted to add chicken, so we did, and it was still good! super easy, and we even have a little bit of leftovers! keep the recipes coming, thank you!!
Two for two, Kate! I had your lentil soup for lunch the other day, and that same day I made this for dinner (over jasmine rice) – so yummy!!! I can’t wait to try out your other recipes! I’m currently eying the vegetarian chili :)
Oh god this is the best curry I’ve ever had… And it’s so frickin easy! Thank you so much for sharing ❤️
Made this today after being reminded that Thai curry 1) exists and 2) is absolutely delicious. I went for sweet potatoes instead of carrots, because the red curry I tried this weekend included pumpkin and it worked really well. I also added the baked tofu you linked on your green curry page.
I had to add more salt than I expected, and I think I’ll bump up the tamari and rice vinegar measurements next time, but overall I was thrilled with my first curry effort! Thanks for posting this seemingly foolproof recipe :)
We just made this and devoured it. Our only comment is yummy and then some more :) very simple and easy to prepare but soooooooo full of taste.
we love curry and this complements our vegetarian diet.
thank you for sharing
Frank and Margret
Gozo , Malta
This was absolutely delicious!! I have loved curry my entire life but never made my own! I did accidentally buy Indian curry paste but it was still great and I can’t wait to try it with the Thai Curry paste! I also added pineapple and maybe next time pineapple and grean beans, maybe even some cherry tomatoes. Can not wait for this to become a regular dish in our home, THANK YOU! oh and the best part is that next day cold on top of lettuce as a salad is AMAZING!
This recipe is awesome!! We added fresh brussell sprouts (quartered), canned mini corn,1/2 tbsp of curry powder and left out the kale. We also added 12 thawed shrimp (cut into 1″ pieces)about 8 minutes before it was done. It was delicious…will make it again soon!!
P.S. Does adding the shrimp make the dish “non-vegetarian”? If so, I would advise cheating a bit!!
When I make this, I add about a tablespoon of peanut butter, a tablespoon of fish sauce, and some Thai basil. YUM!
I made this tonight and was thrilled it tasted like my favorite creamy red curry from a Thai restaurant I can no longer go to. I used broccoli. ..mushrooms…Chinese eggplant…carrots…peppers and chicken and tofu.
I think next time I would need more sauce because of adding chicken and tofu which absorbed some liquid.
Should I double the coconut milk and water?!?!
Thank you and can’t wait to try the green curry next.
This is now our favorite Thai Red Curry recipe (after trying dozens!) I also add 1 Tbsp of fish sauce, and a couple squirts of sriracha sauce, just to spice it a bit. My wife told me to stop trying other recipes – this is the one she wants to settle on. Thank you!
This was amazing! We’ve tried several red curry recipes that always end up being a huge disappointment, but yours was different! I had to make myself stop eating, and even now I’m contemplating sneaking back to the fridge for more. Thank you for sharing this!
Five stars! I confess….I made it with chicken for my hubby and 3 yr old son (I’m the vegetarian ) and they LOVE it! Looking forward to making it again but without chicken ;)
Easy recipe and a definite keeper! Thanks, Kate!
This recipe was delicious! Made this for my GF who is a vegetarian and she loved it! I did forget to add the brown sugar but it still tasted sweet from the coconut milk and the natural sweetness from the veggies, so don’t worry if you forget to add it too it comes out great! Thanks for the recipe, definitely going to make this again very soon!
I made this once and loved it! I have my fridge stuffed full of all the veggies I need and more and I’m ready to make it but I just realized I’m out of rice! I don’t want to go shopping again until I’ve eaten up the food in my fridge, so I’m wondering what else I could serve it over instead of rice?
Hi Janice! Do you happen to have any cauliflower in the fridge? Cauliflower “rice” is actually really good… you just pulse cauliflower florets in the food processor until they are rice-like in texture and sauté them for a bit. Other than that, any cooked whole grain should be pretty good… millet, farro, wheat berries…
I went to the market to buy the ingredients for this dish today, and came up empty handed on the key ingredient – red curry paste! I purchased green curry paste and red curry powder instead. Any idea if either would be acceptable substitutions?
Loved this recipe! ! Added more vegetables and tofu. Only thing, the red curry paste was not flavorful or spicy. My family loved the recipe and I have made it twice in the last 10 days!! Thanks
I’m loving thai food these days. The lemon grass makes the curry for sure. I was getting a bit tired of the indian curries. But I do love curry dishes. This was perfect. I must admit I made my own red thai curry and used beef not veggies. It just needs to cook a lot longer until the beef is tender…what a delicious curry sauce. Thank you for posting it.
…sorry! I forgot to rate it! 5 star for sure!
I made the vege. Curry for my husband yesterday. I followed the recipie. I have to say it was not as good as the reviews said. We were pretty disappointed. The flavor was bland, will try some of your muffins and blueberry loaf.
This looks delicious and I really want to try it. However, we are not a vegetarian family. Any recommendations for adding meat? What kind, how much?
Dude thank you! This turned out amazing
Made it twice now. My family loved it. I have one question is there a way o make it less creamier. I can really taste the creaminess of the coconut milk. I was thinking would it help to substitute half coconut milk with broth?
Thanks
I made this a couple weeks ago and am hooked! We’ve had it once a week since then! I’m excited to explore your site and try more of your recipes!
Yes!!! This is the first time I made a curry and actually liked it! So good and leftovers were even better. Can’t wait to make it again.
Just made this tonight my husband and I tore this up ! It was DELICIOUS! I took a pic and sent it toy brother who lIves about 25 minutes away and he drove over and finished it off. Thank you for sharing.
I didn’t week it to my liking. I added small diced sweet potatoes and cayenne. I think the next time I do this (next week) I am going to makey own coconut milk. Can’t wait!!
I made this last week. It was delicious! And the leftovers were even better. This was a hit with my entire family including two picky preschoolers.
Saw your recipe, used it as a base, made my favorite ever dish. Thank you!
My method is more of a pad thai curry. I added in 4 fingerhot peppers. I skipped the kale. I minced half of the main veg, (all of the fingerhot) and put it all in there in the initial softening. Cooked it all down. At step 4 I didnt add any veg with the coconut milk, and added 1/4 cup water just let it all simmer for about 15 more minutes. Then when all the minced stuff was super well done, I added in the half that wasnt, carrots first, then peppers, then onion staggered a couple minutes. Added some super thinly sliced chicken, let it cook, added in a scrambled egg, poured it over rice noodles, squeezed a lime on it, and hoooooooooly crap. Best thing ever.
What I’m trying to get at is the base flavors are an inspiration. Thank you.
How would you incorporate red lentils into this? Dying to try but would love to bulk it up with lentils and potato so skip on the rice!
That’s a good question. I think I would just cook them in a separate pot and stir them into the finished curry. Otherwise, they’ll absorb a lot of the liquid, and I’m just not sure how well that would work.
This was absolutely delicious! I made this for a group dinner and everyone was impressed. The cooking process was really quick since I used a rice cooker, also I really like that someone could customize their bowl and make is spicier or add more topping like bean sprouts and basil. I didn’t use kale because I just forgot to buy it but will definitely try it next time.
I am SOOO glad I stumbled across your blog! Just wanted to let you know this is our (my husband and I) 3rd time in the last month making this curry. It is seriously the most delicious curry we have made….ever. Thanks for posting! :)
I made this last night. My husband and I loved it! Definitely making this again. Can’t wait to try your other curries.
I made this last night and WOW!! It was the best curry I ever had!! I did add 1/4 tsp peri peri and 1/2 tsp sumac just to give it a kick. Best ever and thank you for your blog!!
Delicious. Going into my rotation.
This is a fantastic dish!! I’ve made it in a few variations of veggies because my husband doesn’t like peppers – subbing in broccoli instead of kale works fantastic too! I love making curry at home and found that the Mae Ploy brand (available online) is the best- the red curry flavors in this dish are just like in a restaurant!
DEAR GOD this is the best curry I’ve ever had.
Trying this tonight!!! : ) xx
I’m making this for my boyfriend tomorrow night. We both love Thai food. He keeps asking what I’m making but it’s a surprise. I’ve never made Curry before but this looks like an easy recipe wish me luck! I’m also adding chicken that is marinating right now in pretty much the same ingredients that are the sauce in this meal. So excited to try it!!
This is a great recipe! I did want to note, though, that while the brand of curry paste you used is vegetarian, many, if not most, other brands contain shrimp paste, especially if they come from an Asian grocery store.
If you want to add chicken..when do you put it in…if it’s raw??
I’m sorry, I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t have much experience cooking chicken. I would probably suggest cooking it separately, and adding it to finished dish.
Hi Kate,
Just made this curry for dinner, it good except you forgot to add acid to this recipe. It needs Lime zest and Lime juice.;)
The recipe calls for rice vinegar, which is acidic, but I’m sure lime is good as well!
This was amazing. Thank you. The only thing I’ll do differently next time is cook the carrots for maybe 15 minutes first before sauteeing everything else as everything else was done way before the carrots and they were rather crunchy. Still awesome though.
SO GOOD! Thank you!
I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used ACV and it turned out just as well.
I made this for dinner. I changed the recipe by adding a can of coconut cream after the can of coconut milk and 1 and a half cups of water. There did not seem to be enough liquid and the water thinned the soup. I added the extra can for texture and volume. It deluted the spices and made them too mild…but the texture was nice. Very pleasant. Zero kick.
This curry was delicious! I halved the curry paste so my kids could eat it but I think it was still a little too spicy. Don’t think they can handle chillies just yet. I added tofu, canned baby corn, shrimp and straw mushrooms and it was a great combo. Thank you for posting!
I tried the red thai curry found it easy to follow the recipe, the curry it’s self was excellent and very enjoyable
I’m totally an ignoramus when it comes to cooking, but this recipe looks divine and my mom loves curry…attempting this for mother’s day. IF you were to add tofu, when would you recommend adding it to the recipe?
Hey Ellen, I’m sorry I didn’t answer your question in time for Mother’s Day! I just added a note to the recipe that explains how to best add tofu.