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.
Two words – Insanely Satisfying… Thanks Kate :)
This was my first attempt..wonderful! I definitely will make again!
This was colourful and delicious. We added chickpeas to make it more hearty, and with that I would add more kick – maybe crushed red pepper flakes or siracha while simmering. But yum!
Hi Kate, this will be my first time cooking Thai at home. Will it make a noticeable difference to opt out of the rice vinegar at the end? That’s just not something I have stocked in my pantry.
Thanks! Love your website :)
I just made this the other day and straight up forgot the rice vinegar (though it was sitting on the counter, waiting for me… go figure), and this is still an incredibly delicious recipe. You should go for it!
Thank you Susan! It turned out great! Can’t wait to add some shrimp or chicken to it next time! Thanks again!
I know I’m way behind with this recipe, but I made it the other day, and it’s super amazing! I can’t eat bell peppers, so essentially had to swap out half the veggies. I used the base, carrots,and kale, but added small diced sweet potatoes and chickpeas; then extra curry paste, and a little turmeric. It took a bit longer simmering to cook the sweet potato through, but it was still delicious in the end!
I’m so glad you made this one and enjoyed it, Susan! Have a great day. :)
Made this for the first time tonight after having it bookmarked for awhile, AMAZING! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe. :)
Hooray! Thanks, Caroline!
Thank you for this recipe! I made it last night for the hubby and he loved it. I tweaked it a bit: soy sauce at the end was the only salt I used (the curry paste had more than enough salt), instead of sugar I used silan (date sugar), and I added broccoli. Would highly recommend this recipe!!
Just love your blog! Every recipe I have tried on here has been so delicious. I’m moving towards a more plant based diet and I’ll be using your website to make the transition easier and more exciting. I can’t wait for your
cookbook!
Love it! So fresh and easy. Healthy but with lots of flavor
Delicious, and PERFECT fall meal. I’m not a huge fan of kale, but like you said, you can sub in other veggies. I’ve made with bok choy replacing the kale, but also tried with asparagus, and both ways were DELICIOUS! Only other “garnish” I added was a squeeze of lime.
Thanks for the easy, healthy, and delicious weeknight recipe!
This was soooooo good. Hubby and I loved it. We put 3 chopped fresh Thai chillies at the end and it was the perfect spice level. Want to eat more but so stuffed.
This recipe is SO good! There are a few ingredients in this recipe, like soy sauce and vinegar, that I haven’t used in a thai curry before, but I will from now on! I didn’t have kale, so at the very end I threw in a handful of fresh spinach instead – it worked out well. Also, instead of the tofu I added some sliced chicken seasoned with cumin, garlic powder and a tiny bit of chili powder (I’ve been making a lot of vegetarian dishes lately and my spouse wanted to meat!). I will definitely be making this again.
I have been trying to stay away from my favorite Thai restaurant as I know there are some unhealthy things I’m trying to stay away from – questionable oils, etc. But I’ve been so missing my red curry! I made this tonight and I am absolutely in love! Satisfied my craving for Thai food. Thank you so much for creating this.
Thank you so much Kate and Cookie :) for this wonderful and delicious recipe. WE LOVED IT!!!!!! I tried many of your recipes but this is the best one! I was so happy when I found all the ingredients in the store where I live. I love that Thai red curry paste! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK AND FOR SHARING THESE WONDERFUL RECIPES!!! This was our favorite. :) Please keep up the good work and sharing ;)
Kind regards,
Klaudia
Mmmhmmm.
‘Nuff said.
Kate, you did it again. You made my favorite meal. Thanks for making me a successful cook. This curry is perfect on a winter day. I liked it more after it was in my fridge for a day, as the flavors soaked in. I’ll be pairing it with your tamari/soy sauce almonds.
Loved this recipe! I added mushrooms and they were a great addition. I liked the spice, but my husband thought it was too spicy. If I used a little less of the curry paste would that lessen the spice some?
I’m a Peace Corps volunteer living in China, and I just made this dish! It was amazing to say the least. I couldn’t find any coconut milk, so I used regular milk and reduced the amount by about 6 ounces. No tamari, so subbed with soy sauce, using a bit less than called for. No kale, so I just used regular Chinese spinach leaves. I also added some chicken I seasoned with turmeric, salt, and pepper. Even with ALL of the substitutions,it still came out extremely flavorful. I’m adding this to my line-up. Thank you!!!!
I’m making this again for my daughter tonight. It’s her absolute favorite! A great use for the leftover chopped Kale salad too. Oh yes… Tamari, glad I visited. :)
Such a delicious colorful dish, perfect on a cold night like tonight! I made this with a green curry paste tonight, it was absolutely delicious! Love your recipes! I am posting a pic on Instagram under @jen.bites. Thank you!
Girl this was so GOOOD!! Im in awe that I made something so awesome thank you
Made this recipe today– so great on a cold, rainy, gray day. I did add broccoli and red pepper flakes (I love spicy food!). I don’t eat as many vegetables as I should, and this recipe is a delicious way to basically eat a bowl full of vegetables for a meal. Thanks!
Just made this last night. For the vegetarian we added tofu – we also added grilled chicken. This was fantastic and easy! The kale was surprisingly delicious.
Perfect recipe for a vegan curry fan! So good!!
This was absolutely delicious, I added tofu and used brown rice. Thanks for the great, and easy, recipe.
Made this tonight. My husband and I RAVED about it! Loved it so much!! You know what makes you unique, Kate? Your recipes aren’t just falvorful, easy, and unique….They ****don’t require expensive ingredients**** (biggest selling point EVER!!!!!) and are actually QUICK, not just easy. The 3 kiddos liked it too (even good for the baby because flavorful but not too spicy, and can cook the veggies until soft enough for a baby to chew, if you prefer). Love love love your stuff. Keep cooking!
Delicious! I used zucchini and added a can of rinsed chickpeas for protein.
I found this recipe yesterday and made it last night, and it was pretty much the best thing I’ve ever cooked!!! I ate so much of it I wanted to explode, then had it for lunch today and plan on having it again tomorrow. I’d eat it for breakfast too.
I couldn’t get my 8 year old to try it, but I’ll work on that because this is going on a regular rotation in my house.
I used a variety of veggies – I had leftover turmeric roasted cauliflower and some spaghetti squash so I tossed those in, as well as some fresh carrots, broccoli and pea pods. The coconut milk I used didn’t have guar gum so it was very runny which was actually really good because it meant that I could add a TON of veggies, which I did.
I’m trying your green curry next. Maybe I’ll just rotate between the two, because I’m pretty sure the green curry will be just as fab.
Thanks!!
Tried the Red Curry last night, it was a big hit, can’t wait to try the green curry next.
Hey, first off just wanted to say Thanks for everything you’ve posted and the website as a whole. I have been cooking for many years and love learning techniques from Gordon Ramsay and trying new dishes whenever I can for my wife and I.
NOT trying to bash at all and I hope it doesn’t come across this way, but I was extremely dissapointed in the curry dish above. I followed it to the letter and it came out with almost no taste….especially not one with the “red curry” flavor i’ve come to expect and love from my favourite Indian places. I’m just confused as a whole I guess. Going back through the dish im wondering why not substitute the Thai Red Curry Paste for cumin, yogurt, a bit of cinnamon and even paprika (maybe some heavy cream) to get that curry base and flavor?
Again, not trying to offend at all I just know i didn’t mess up the dish at all and why it lacked what it did. Hope you all are well!
Hi Carl, I’m disappointed to hear that you didn’t enjoy this curry. It’s one of my favorites! Are you sure you used Thai curry paste, not a powdered curry blend? If you’re looking for an Indian curry, this is not it.
I tried this recipe with a few variations. I used quinoa instead of rice. I love coconut curries, and this turned out delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Ooh, sounds great – glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing!! Best curry I’ve ever cooked!
YES! I’m honored! So glad it turned out great.
Great Curry! Loved this recipe.
Thanks, Teresa!
Bottled red curry paste typically has shrimp paste in it. I would rather see a recipe with an embedded recipe for a vegetarian version.
Hi Allie, for the record, I linked to a homemade version in the post and linked to a vegetarian curry paste in the recipe.
Tried this recipe about 10 months ago and I wasn’t happy with how bland it was. I kept adding curry paste hoping it would change but I couldn’t get it right. I tried again today and the vinegar makes all the difference! I love it. So yummy! Thanks Cookie and Kate!
Yes, the vinegar gives it that extra kick. I’m glad you figured out what it was missing!
This recipe is great! The leftovers froze really well too…I appreciated having curry ready to go on a night that I didn’t feel like cooking!
Delicious food with little effort is always a good thing :) Happy this froze well, thanks for commenting!
I made this tonight and it was so gooooood! Followed recipe to a T except I added Chinese eggplant And served with brown jasmine rice. Added some red chile oil for some heat! Thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Emily! Happy you enjoyed it :)
It was the best Curry I’ve ever had!! and the tofu recipe is beyond. Thank you :)
You’re welcome!! & what a compliment. Thanks, Marie-Charlotte!
Very nice recipe! I made it twice now, the second time I substituted the Kale with Broccoli. Just a personal preference. And I eliminated the water. It tastes amazing!! Thank you very much
Glad your version was just as delicious!
I added 3 chillis and chicken, truly gorjus
:) Thanks, Nick! Happy you could make it meat-friendly.
Excellent recipe Kate! It was great as is but I added a good 1/4 cup of coconut cream from Tropical Traditions at the end and it kicked up that coconut flavor I love. Unfortunately there won’t be any left overs for breakfast. I’ll double it next time. You have some fantastic recipes!
Thanks, Michael! Adding the coconut cream sounds delicious.
I substituted red curry paste for green (which is what I had in the house) and, since I made it on my fish CSA day, I added my fresh pollock at the end. It was delicious as a fish curry too!
Oh, good to know! Our pescatarian readers will thank you, for sure :)
This is the best vegan red thai curry i have found it’s simply amazing!!! I didn’t have any kale so i used spinach and added cauliflower, it was so good <3 I couldn't stop eating it!!!
Thank you for posting another wonderful recipe :)
I love your page :)
Happy it worked out with what you had on hand! You’re welcome :)
I made this recipe tonight and it was delicious! Even my 16-month old twins liked it. I added organic chicken breast and organic zucchini to the recipe, and added fresh basil and lime wedges as extra garnish options. Instead of the 1/2 cup of water, I used 1/2 cup of organic homemade chicken broth. I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. Thanks!
That version sounds great for our poultry-friendly readers, Jenelle. :)
Great recipe except it has no high-protein source! I’d add chickpeas or tofu
Looking forward to making this for the Super Bowl next weekend (go Pats!) 42 consecutive years with the same 3 couples! Always trying out something new. What suggestions do you have for serving with it? Not used to cooking curry so I don’t want to mess up the tastes. Salad or bread? Looking forward to this taste again. A neighbor made it for us for New Year’s Eve. Thank you. Hannah
Hannah, so glad you have enjoyed this one. It’s a pretty hearty meal-in-a-bowl as is. I bet a simple green salad with a lime or ginger dressing would be great. My friend Ali just posted carrot-ginger dressing on her blog, Gimme Some Oven.
Great recipe, I have made it several times. Two amendments that improved the recipe for me- it turned out very watery with the 1/2c water. I scale this way back, usually just a couple tbsp. Also- I included the rice vinegar today for the first time and warning- do NOT use more than 1tsp. I used 2tsp and it ruined it:(
Thanks for the tips, Carly!
Just made this tonight, and my family made me PROMISE to make it again. Thank you!
So happy, Mike!
This has been my favorite recipe for a year now and I always make it when I’m trying to impress someone, especially someone who is skeptical about meatless meals. I follow it exactly as you have it and it is perfect. Sometimes I use asian noodles instead of rice to mix it up. Thank you so much for sharing!
Haha!! I love that this is your secret weapon!
It was perfect until the vinegar, which ruined it. Take note, people!
Definitely feel free to adjust to your tastes, Madi.