Thai Green Curry with Spring Vegetables
This healthy, vegetarian Thai green curry recipe is full of asparagus, carrots and spinach! It's full of flavor and simple enough for weeknight dinners.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
I’ve been on a vegetable-packed coconut curry kick lately—they’re just the perfect transition food for this time of year. This vegetarian Thai green curry recipe features fresh asparagus, carrots and spinach in a delicious green coconut sauce. It’s full of flavor and simple enough for weeknight dinners.
I used store-bought Thai curry paste instead of raw ingredients, because some (like galangal) are difficult to find and time-consuming to prepare. I’ve watched a chef prepare curry paste in Thailand, and he really worked up a sweat! So while this recipe is not perfectly authentic, it’s a lot easier to make.
This curry is based on an older Thai green curry recipe, which I’ve since deleted. I loved the base recipe for that dish (I learned how to make it at a fun cooking class), but I was never quite satisfied by my choice of mix-ins.
So here we are, three years later, with an improved, extra-green version. This time, I opted for asparagus (snow peas would also work), carrots and wilted spinach. I love it, and I think you will, too!
How to Serve Thai Green Curry
I skipped the tofu altogether and found the dish to be plenty hearty without it. If you want to add tofu, though, I’d suggest baking it first and adding it with the coconut milk.
I served my curry over rice (again), but I bet quinoa would be an interesting alternative.
Please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! If you want to change it up, don’t miss my Thai red curry recipe.
Watch How to Make Thai Green Curry
Thai Green Curry with Spring Vegetables
This healthy, vegetarian Thai green curry features fresh asparagus, carrots and spinach! It’s full of flavor and simple enough for weeknight dinners. Feel free to substitute sliced snow peas for the asparagus if it’s not in season where you live. Recipe yields two large servings (as shown) or four small servings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown basmati rice, rinsed
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger (about a 1-inch nub of ginger, peeled and chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- Pinch of salt
- ½ bunch asparagus, tough ends removed and sliced into 2-inch long pieces (to yield about 2 cups prepared asparagus)
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into ¼-inch wide rounds (to yield about 1 cup sliced carrots)
- 2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste*
- 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk (I used full-fat coconut milk for a richer curry)
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ teaspoons coconut sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar or brown sugar
- 2 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 ½ teaspoons rice vinegar or fresh lime juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce** (I used reduced-sodium tamari)
- Garnishes: handful of chopped fresh cilantro and red pepper flakes, to taste
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.
- Warm a large skillet with deep sides over medium heat. Once it’s hot, add a couple teaspoons of oil. Cook the onion, ginger and garlic with a sprinkle of salt for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the asparagus and carrots and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the curry paste and cook, stirring often, for 2 minutes.
- Pour the coconut milk into the pan, along with ½ cup water and 1 ½ teaspoons sugar. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the carrots and asparagus are tender and cooked through, about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are done cooking, stir the spinach into the mixture and cook until the spinach has wilted, about 30 seconds. Remove the curry from heat and season with rice vinegar and soy sauce. Add salt and red pepper flakes (optional), to taste. Divide rice and curry into bowls and garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, if you’d like.
Notes
*Green curry paste: Look for it in the Asian section of the grocery store. I like Thai Kitchen brand. Not all Thai curry pastes are vegetarian, but this one is.
**Make it gluten free: Be sure to use gluten-free tamari instead of regular soy sauce.
If you love this recipe: Be sure to check out my other Thai-inspired recipes here!
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 looks beautiful.I am in the midst of chopping vegetables now. I am wondering, is this a dish you can simmer and cook for a while? Is there any reason to do so, or not do so?
Great, easily understandable recipe! I am using green beans in place of asparagus and your baked tofu, which tastes amazing already!
Hey Miranda! The curry will condense and get thicker the longer you let it cook. My only real concern would be that your vegetables would end up overcooked.
Hi! This looks delicious! I’m thinking of making this recipe for a crowd. Any tips on what to keep in mind as i triple the measurements? Anything i should add proportionally more/less of?
Thanx!
Hi Marianne, I think this recipe will multiply just fine! Good luck!
I have the same question as Marianne–making this for 10-12 friends and wondering if it triples well and if there’s anything to keep in mind re proportions of vegetables. Also, while this dish with rice stands on its own, I’d like to include a side dish since I’m hosting. Any side dishes with which it pairs well? Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Hi Lorita, I think this dish will multiply without problem! I’m drawing a blank on side dishes now, but here are my other Thai-inspired recipes that might go well with it: https://capital-fly.pro/category/vegetarian-thai-recipes/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This is the best Thai curry ever! Green curry is my favourite Asian dish and I usually make it from a premade jar. But I tried this and it tastes like something you get from a Thai Restaurant. I also added baked tofu and capsicum to make it more filling and ended up with 6 small serves. This was also the first time I’ve made brown rice and it was really good too. My fussy two-year old boy loved it too!
PS. I only discovered your blog a week ago and I’m addicted to it… I already made your lemon blueberry yoghurt cake, this curry and tonight I’m thinking of doing the cauliflower falafel burgers and tomorrow night is your easy brown rice mushroom risotto!
Thank you for your amazing recipes
Thank you, Himadi! I’m so glad you said hello. Happy to hear that you and your family are enjoying my recipes!
I just made this with red curry paste as I couldn’t find green on short notice. Still awesome:). I’ll have to search out green curry paste since this may land in my permanent meal rotation. Love all the recipes I’ve made off of your site!
Thanks, Katie! Glad it turned out well for you! Now I want to try it with red curry…
This recipe is genuinely one of, if not the favourite of my girlfriend. Since discovering it 4 weeks ago we’ve cooked it at least once a week, adding tofu and chicken on the last couple of attempts. Will definitely be using this website a lot, thanks! :)
Well, that is wonderful to hear! Thanks for letting me know, Tom!
looks healthy
This was so delicious! I added three Thai chiles with the onion/garlic/ginger and mixed in a handful of Thai basil with the spinach. I also used some snow peas. Will definitely make it again!
Your curry sounds fantastic. Thanks, Lisa!
Today was the first time I made Thai Green curry and I used this recipe. It tasted amazing – there was a nice kick to it! Thank you Kate for posting this. I also added broccoli to my curry.
Thank you, Dipti! Broccoli sounds like a great addition!
I was starting to doubt vegetarian curries but this one is so so good! I’m going to make it again, but try adding some more vegetables. Thinking beans, and maybe courgette? Any other suggestions?
Thanks, Shane! Glad you enjoyed this one. Courgette would be great. Broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers… those would be good, too!
Thank you for this recipe, Kate! I googled ‘veg Thai curry’ and yours was one of the top ones that came up. I haven’t visited your blog before. I was a little nervous making this – I wasn’t sure if some of the ingredients were really necessary (that 1/2 cup water, the sugar, the rice vinegar) but I made it as you directed, with the exception of using green beans instead of asparagus, and I was so surprised how delicious this tasted that I am already planning to make this again this week!
I think my green curry paste, which I purchased from a local oriental shop, was extra hot compared to the stuff you used because the curry came out really spicy. Normally my husband cannot tolerate spice but the curry was so tasty that he carried on anyway and had two or three servings! I was also worried that with the lack of meat it would be a little thin, or bland. I’ve not had much success yet with vegetarian curries. But I was so amazed that it tasted just as full and flavoursome as any meat curry that I have really no need to ever go back to making a meat curry. Thanks so much!
Please tell me, how did you learn to cook Thai food?
Thank you, Emma! So glad you enjoyed it! Those small amounts of sugar and vinegar add so much complexity. This curry is based on a curry I learned to make at a cooking class forever ago!
I made this with a little less curry paste and added chicken today. The chicken was seasoned with Thai Chili powder. I used 1& 1/4 Tbsp of the curry paste to keep it mild for my kids. Turned out so good that I forgot to add the soy sauce and vinegar. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Glad it turned out well, Kristie!
This recipe was soooo delicious. So well balanced, spicy, salty, sweet perfection. It was the first time I’ve ever made anything with green curry and I can confidently tell you that it won’t be the last. Can’t wait to make this for my “non-vegertarian” loving friends and family too. Thanks for sharing!
Hooray! Thank you, Lisa!
Easy,healthy and sounds delicious like a light lunch or perhaps dinner after working out at the gym.
Can’t wait to get the ingredients and make it this weekend.
Cheers!
Thanks, Crystal! Enjoy!
I made this last night; I followed the recipe exactly (including the chili flakes) but I found it to be a little bland. Maybe it was the curry paste I used. I think if I were to make this again I would add some additional spices.
I’m sorry to hear that, Laura. A little more spice/vinegar/salt would probably amp the flavor up to your liking.
Hi Kate,
I tried the recipe out, and it came out quite watery. The flavor was great, and I thought I may just need to use a different kind of coconut milk. Could you let me know what brand you use?
Thanks!
Hi Cristina, I’m sorry to hear that! Did you use full-fat coconut milk? That’s really the ticket so super creamy curry. I used Thai Kitchen brand for this curry but have recently switched to Native Forest brand since they use BPA-free cans. Either should work!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was the best green curry I have ever had, better than our favorite restaurant where we get it. So thankful I found this recipe so I can make it at home. Thanks so much for sharing, it was absolutely delicious!!!
Fantastic!! Thank you, Ashley!
I just made a curry according to your recipe. Only substituted asparagus with green beans and added cauliflower florets. Very, very yummy!
I hope I don’t loose this recipe in midst the hundreds already bookmarked, would be a shame ;)
Made this for dinner tonight – absolutely delicious. I did add some chicken to bulk up the protein for the meal, and it was a great addition, though I know with some tofu instead or even without it would be lovely. Thank you for another delicious recipe, Kate! x
Absolutely fantastic. Easy to make and yummy to eat! Used the full fat coconut milk, and no tofu. Awesome dish. Thanks.
Hooray, thanks Susan!
I tried this recipe on the weekend and it turned out to be great. I used BBC Good Food’s recipe for Thai Green Curry paste as I could not find it in my regular supermarket here (I suspect I will find it in one of those gourmet places). Love from Bangalore, India
P. S You should totally check out some of the Indian vegetarian recipes (not the restaurant Indian food which is typically diary heavy and mainly Punjabi). May be you could search online for Tamil or Kerala cuisines for a large variety of simple, vegan dishes which are less spicy and more coconut based.
P. S – 2. In regular Indian home cooking, most people use only three spices – red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder along with some cumin seeds or mustard seeds. You can omit everything else and it would still turn out to be great imho.
*Dairy heavy – silly typo
Easy and wonderful.
Made this tonight and the teenagers loved it. A vegetarian teen can make meals a challenge for meat eaters. Purchased green chili paste from Asia market. The paste was super spicy and I love the heat but couldn’t read the warnings on that label. It is a repeat recipe along with Kate’s kale pesto.
Hey! Just a heads up, green curry paste is often not vegetarian and has anchovies or fish sauce in it. So watch out gang!
I made this last night (doubled the recipe) and found it to be bland. Any suggestions on what to do differently next time? Use less water?
Have a Question…
I made this tonight but I added a little bit extra with tofu and shrimp and different veggies….the tofu absorbs the sauce so I doubled the ingredients including 3.5 tbsp of green paste….OMG me and my boyfriend had to add so much extra rice because it was SO SPICY….I made the red curry and LOVED and it wasnt as spicy. Is green thai curry paste usually spicier than red? If so I would definitely not use as much last time.
Also if I add extra veggies…tofu etc…should I double the water…coconut milk and spices or keep it the same?
Thanks
Alyssa
A very simple, quick and delicious recipe! I added vegetable stock instead of water to the curry and found that it gave it a little bit more flavor. Thanks for the great Recipe Kate! I’m sharing it with friends =)
Made this a couple of days ago and it was fantastic! This was my first time using green chili paste. I used the whole bunch of asparagus instead of spinach and I added in some sugar snap peas. Super yummy that my whole family enjoyed.
Thank you!!
Mmmm made this last night and it was amazing. I modified a little with veggies that I had on hand, and used eggplant, edamame, and broccoli. It was fantastic! I did find I had to use a little more Tamari than I anticipated, and I think next time I’ll throw some chiles in to add a little heat. Thanks Kate!!!
Hey thanks for the perfect recipe . My mom-in-law is visiting us and today I made this in lunch for her. She was immensely pleased. Earned myself few brownie points with this dish.
I love green curry with chunks of sweet potatoes, yellow zucchini, and bits of tofu (although im not crazy about tofu), carrots and green beans and chopped onions and red peppers made with side of white rice. I am so hooked on this dish i cant get enough of the green curry with that slight sweet taste. Just love it. From Nuvy
Was excited for this recipe! I added mushrooms and lemongrass and used Thai Kitchen rice noodles (vegan). The curry was slightly runnier than I wanted but delicious.
I made this recipe tonight but substituted asparagus with broccoli and used frozen spinach and crushed garlic and ginger because I didn’t have any fresh in the house! I also added in tofu. It was perfect! Love to try it with more fresh veges next time. Thank you!
Kate, you are a lifesaver! My boyfriend and I wanted to get back to the basics of eating healthy and all your recipes make it easy and welcoming to do so. I’m making the curry tonight and we are really excited!
Super delicious and vibrant! I used Coconut Vinegar instead of Rice, purely because that is what I had on hand.
This is the most delicious meal!!! It is now on our regular list :D thank you so much Kate.
I made this last night for my meat-loving family and friends and they all admitted that we don’t need meat for a delicious meal! This is the best veggie green curry ever! I did add some cauliflower for a bit more veg and would recommend it! Thanks Kate!!
I have used the Thai kitchen green curry paste for years and only followed the recipe on the bottle. Stumbled upon this recipe last night and followed it exactly. It was a HUGE hit. Thank you so much! This is a keeper!
Hi, can I use Thai sweet red curry paste ?
You can use red curry paste for a different flavor, although I’m not sure about sweet curry paste.
I made this today. Used eggplant instead of asparagus, but it was still amazing. Oh, and I didn’t have rice (d’oh!) so I made Couscous instead :)
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it.
I have now made the Thai Green Curry with Spring Veggies twice. I have improvised the veggies as I like putting several in. It has been a HUGE hit both times. I love it!! Thank you so much for sharing…
Thank you, Raila! Happy to hear it.
this is awesome! I just made this recipe! I replaced the carrots with eggplant, peas, sand green beans, and added baked tofu. it was wonderful! even seasoning was hard and I suck at seasoning. This is a recipe I will keep forever!!
Well, it’s not exactly spring but the Thai Green Curry with Spring Vegetables was a hit! My husband made faces when I told him the curry had no meat, but he liked it anyway. Delicious! The photographs are absolutely wonderful. I cannot wait to try more of your recipes Kate .. in fact the Vegan Lentil Soup is on the menu tonight! Yum Yum! BTW I used MAESRI green curry paste.
Thank you, Mo! I appreciate your kind words!
Made this last night. Delicious! Perfect for cold fall nights.Vegetarian green curry paste was easy to find at the grocery store. The whole recipe was fairly quick and simple. This is a keeper!
Thank you, Hope! I’m so glad you loved this one! I’m looking forward to curry weather. :)
Guinness isn’t vegetarian. Google isinglass.
H, do you know the nutritional information on this meal?
It’s about 600 calories if you make this a 3 serving recipe.
For two servings see below (which is a really substantial meal, and adding a little tofu, shrimp or chicken won’t add much more to the numbers):
Calories 967
Total Fat 56.5g87%
Sodium 400mg
Potassium 1304mg37%
Total Carbohydrates 101.3g34%
Dietary Fiber 11.0g44%
Sugars 13.8g
Protein 23.0g
Made this for dinner tonight. Couldn’t find green curry paste in my little town so I had to make my own. I have no idea if it tasted like the canned! But this dish was SO GOOD! I’m newly vegan (mostly) and my Husband is very anti-vegan! Always asking if I forgot to put the meat in! But we both loved this! It was so flavorful! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. It’s a hit at our house and we’ll definitely have it again and again.
I am a new vegetarian, and loved this Thai green curry. I mean really loved it. I ate it for breakfast! I want to make it for my sister and her husband, but I’m not sure what else to serve with it when I have “company” over to round out the meal. Any suggestions?
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Thanks for the awesome recipe.. I practically make this every week now! Sometimes I’ll add chicken and other veggies. Delicious!