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 super! The veggies I used were asparagus, broccoli, and red bell pepper. I also added disc shaped rice cakes, (I love the texture of rice cakes). Otherwise, followed the recipe exactly and loved it. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and could not believe how amazing it tasted. Next time I’m going to add cauliflower and chickpeas. My new favorite recipe, Thank you :)
I made this recipe on two different occasions. The first time was superb. The second less so. I think it had to do with the kind of coconut milk. I’m also not the most precise cook. Other than that, I’m not sure what the difference would be.
I first made this in February and it has become a new go-to. It’s great with both your baked tofu and/or a can of chickpeas. I usually add in extra veggies (cauliflower works especially well here), use spinach instead of kale, and serve with lots of sriracha over brown rice. Thanks for the versatile recipe that works really well for meal prep!
This is a great go-to! Thank you for sharing, Kelly.
Would it work to substitute the sugar with maple syrup? or just plain white sugar?
Hi Lyndsey! Sure, the sugar is such a small amount here that either of those should work.
Made this Thai red curry it was delicious and my family loved it. So away to make it again by popular demand. used mangetout as extra vegThank you and I have subscribed to your newsletter
Hi! Thank you for this recipe! I haven’t made it for a few years and I remembered adding fish sauce the last time I made it. I bought the fish sauce yesterday and then saw your recipe. Would the fish sauce replace another ingredient if I used it or just be an additional ingredient? Lol I also got 2 huge bags of kale delivered with my groceries yesterday..didn’t ask for it so guess I’ll be adding that also as well as shitake mushrooms that I accidentally got whole pound of. Thank you!!
Hey Michele! Traditionally, fish sauce is used instead of the soy sauce called for in my recipe (I’m a vegetarian, hence the swap). Hope your curry turned out great!
I did use the fish sauce. The recipe is good! Unfortunately I accidentally used lite coconut milk instead of the full fat and it just wasn’t as good as I remembered from the last time I made it. Then I realized I opened the wrong can♀️.
Made this dish last and it was delicious. My husband was so skeptical and complained because he did not think he would like it and guess what! He raved about it. I made a side dish of chicken for him and added chicken to his and he really loved it. Will be making this dish agaiN.
Thank you so much Kate, for sharing this recipe! I tried it and it turned out to be delicious. All the best, Gabriel
This was delicious!! I added mushrooms and chicke . I doubled the amount of Thai curry paste (I used Taste of Thai) and I also doubled the soy sauce. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Sooo good!
Excellent recipe! Everyone loved it. I added oven baked tilapia and it was delicious!
simple to make but delicious!
I can’t believe how good this is. It’s a simple recipe but it’s so good! Which makes this recipe even more amazing! I’ve already directed people to your site because I want them to taste the goodness! Also, it doesn’t make me feel heavy after I eat it. It’s just so good. I will definitely be putting this in my rotation of meals. Thank you so much for this recipe! I can’t wait to try some other ones!
I’m glad you loved it, Bridgette! Thanks for sharing C+K with your friends. I appreciate your review!
So simple, delicious and satisfying! I used a sweet potato, green beans, cauliflower, kale and a can of rinsed chickpeas. I also added a handful of torn Thai basil leaves just as I took it off the heat. My family loved it and I can’t wait to try with other veggie combos. I did add a good bit of sriracha but it really cut the sweetness and gave a nice kick.
Thanks so much for this amazing recipe, I really enjoyed making it and it tasted delicious! I added tofu and it was lovely.
Just one question: I can’t find a white onion in shops nearby, so I used a brown onion. Is this ok or should I keep searching for the white onion? Also how should I chop this onion up?
Thanks!
Hi Davine! I’m happy you liked it. If you can’t find white onion, yellow onion can be a good substitute. You will want to make sure it’s smaller. This might help: How to dice an onion.
This is so good. Craving Thai and ha small ingredients to make myself. I changed it up a bit with ingredients I had substituting a few things but the curry base with garlic onion ginger, thai red curry paste etc are the same. So so good. The coconut sugar sweetens it up while the curry paste, ginger and garlic gives it the spice!! Little bit of this and that, flavored to taste and was perfect!
Hi, Kate, this is one of my most favorite recipes, thank you! Could you please develop a recipe for an Indian curry? I need a basic go-to. Again, thanks!!!
Hi Lori! I’m so happy you love it. I will add it to my list, Lori!
I made this recipe but I found it didn’t thicken and was more like a soup. Not sure what I ddi wrong? I used a full fat coconut milk and the Thai kitchen red curry paste. I let the ingredients good on medium and then reduce it to a simmer too. I had to add corn starch slurry after to make it more saucey. Any advice is appreciated!
Hi Sarah! This isn’t going to be super thick, it will have more of a soup-like consistency – as to why it’s great to serve with rice.
This tasted just like a fancy Thai restaraunt curry. Absolutely amazing. I will make again, for sure!!!
This is such a wonderful recipe that we have made twice a month now. The flavor is incredible and I love that you can use whichever veggies you want/have on hand. I have also made this with green curry paste instead of red and it works very well.
Delicious recipe! Made exactly as is and wouldn’t change anything. I doubled the recipe and am wondering if I can freeze the leftovers?
Hi Melissa! Glad to hear it. :) Yes, this recipe should freeze well!
Unfortunately this recipe didn’t work out for us. I was excited to make it as my husbands fav cuisine is Thai. The sauce tasted off. I wish I didn’t add the soy sauce and the rice vinegar, it somehow didn’t “fit”.
This is our hands down favorite curry ever!!!! We add roasted cauliflower & roasted chickpeas. So delicious
Roasting the cauliflower first is a great idea – I’ll do that next time.
I loved this recipe! Extremely easy and so so good. I added chicken, Bok Choy, red pepper, jalapeño, and carrots to mine and cut my onion into wedges. I also served mine over rice noodles that I needed to use. Can’t wait to make this again!
Thank you for sharing! I’m glad you loved it.
I made this recipe for my family and friends, they loved it! Thanks so much for the easy go-to. Love it!!
You’re welcome!
Just made the Thai Curry with what I had in the fridge.. spinach vs kale, one sweet potato added after the onions, ginger & garlic, two sprigs green onions, cashew nuts. Everything else as per the recipe! Served over short grain brown rice. Mind blowing delicious per my husband and 22 yr old daughter who introduced me to this cookie & kate recipe in the first place. Success on a plate once again. Thank you Kate.
I made this recipe with kale a couple of weeks ago, and it was excellent. Today because I don’t have kale, I’m going to use broccoli and cauliflower and add marinated tofu.
This is amazing! The flavors are so complex and tasty!! Knocked my socks off. I added some sliced chicken and also turmeric to mine. So so good! Every recipe I have made from your site is wonderful! Thank you!!
I’m so glad you are loving the recipes you have tried, Mary! Thank you for sharing.
(NON-VEGETARIANS read my comment for some additional steps including meat)
Made the dish for the first time following your recipe. It turned out exceptionally well. As I am not vegetarian, I did slice some chicken up and steam some shrimp. I added the chicken in a step before adding the red peppers (I cooked the shallot and green onions in coconut oil for two minutes before adding the chicken, so that i could cook the chicken long enough without compromising the ginger and garlic, only added about two minutes combined to these steps) and added the cooked shrimp in after the coconut milk simmered the first time.
I put a teaspoon of coriander in with the coconut milk. I also added the lime, rice vinegar, and soy sauce in when I added the coconut milk instead of at the end. I replaced kale with fresh basil (basil and coriander are staples in thai dishes and curries) and I added 1.5tsp of cayenne pepper to make the sauce have a traditional bite.
Fish sauce definitely wasn’t necessary, so you didn’t lose any flavor substituting for soy sauce (I normally have fish sauce in my curries if I eat out and I didnt notice the lack of fish sauce at all). Finally, the last modification I made was I used a shallot instead of an onion, and I sliced some mushrooms and green onions up (green onions went in before garlic and ginger but a minute after the shallot; mushrooms went in with peppers). Again, it turned out very well and I recommend you try my substitutions next time minus the proteins. Thanks for a very easy to follow outline and recipe
I was impressed with how lovely my dish looked. It was just as appealing as your photo! The colors were rich and the smell was heavenly! The recipe is simple to follow and it was absolutely amazing! This is the second recipe I’ve used and I can’t wait to try more!
What happens if I add more red curry paste?
Hi! I’m so happy you love it, Tashima. If you add more curry paste, it will increase the curry flavor and heat. So if you are looking for more of those, do it! But be careful if you are sensitive to heat.
love all of your recipe posts. I always use liquid aminos….less salt.
this time I did the Lacinato kale, broccoli, peas and scallions with tofu coated with corn meal and browned first. sooooo good. I always use whole fat coconut milk…so important.
Keep the recipies comming!
Loved this curry! I left out the kale but otherwise followed the recipe exactly and it was awesome. My first Thai curry and will definitely make it again! Thank you!!
We’re experiencing a heat wave and I really didn’t feel like cooking, but I don’t think our neighborhood Thai restaurant is open due to ordinances. I have been making your recipe for years and while I had no kale, I did have broccoli and snow peas which I substituted. Better than ever! I think it was the brand of coconut milk. Have to say it was better than the restaurant and reminded me of our vacation in Thailand. Thank you for so many great recipes and keeping us home cooks inspired.
We’re experiencing a heat wave and I really didn’t feel like cooking
Thank you so much Kate for an amazing recipe. It came out super delicious and flavorful. Will try out your other recipes too!
Hi,
I have made this recipe a few times and my family and love it!
Thank you so much!!
I replace Soy/Tamari with Coconut Ominos – it works great, adds nice flavour and solves sensitivity issues with soy sauce.
Awesome!
I have made this multiple times and it is one of my favorites! I keep red curry paste and grated ginger in the freezer and usually have everything else on hand. I’ve made many variations using different vegetables, chicken and shrimp. Tonight I am going to add some fried tofu. Thanks for the recipe.
I love the recipe, I added chicken and it was so delicious, I am making this again, thank you for sharing it.
The curry was great, although I may do 3 tablespoons next time. My rich turned to complete mush though and I followed the recipe for it exactly. It didn’t say to reduce the heat to simmer, only as needed for overflow. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Katie! I’m sorry to hear that. Sounds like you had your heat too high and cooked too long. You want to maintain a gentle simmer (step 4). I hope that helps! Let me know if you make it again.
Thai red curry was superb. I only cooked the rice for 15 minutes as 30 was too long, apart from that I followed the recipe to the letter. Thank you Kate!
I was excited to try this recipe. It was easy to make and was good, but not exactly the authentic Thai flavor my husband and I are used to from eating loads of Thai over the years and our trips to Thailand.
I felt like there was something just not right.. Wondering if you have ever thought to use Thai basil, cilantro, scallions..?
Hi Ritu, I’m sorry this one wasn’t perfect for you. You could try adding more herbs. What curry did you use?
This was fabulous – and a great way to use up whatever vegetables you happen to have. That’s exactly what I was trying to do, and the hardest part for me was figuring the right ratio of veggies to liquid. I ended up substituting about 3 1/2 cups of mixed veggies (cauliflower, sweet potato, corn kernels, celery, mushrooms) for the bell peppers and carrots, and I used spinach instead of kale. (I just microwaved the sweet potato for about 30 seconds on high before adding it so I didn’t have to extend the cooking time for everything else.)
This is going to be a go-to weeknight recipe for me in the future. It took me awhile the first time, but I’m sure it’ll get much easier and faster after I’ve made it a couple of times. Thank you for the recipe!
Loved the curry. Was easy to put together and had the Thai restaurant flavor. We will add it to our regular mix of weeknight meals. Thanks Kate!
You might want to moderate Jose Monrroy’s 5/24/2020 reply to Willie Smith’s comment on this page.
This is delicious! I made it with green peas, spinach, red pepper, and mushrooms. I added more vinegar and soy sauce.
This was really great – even my picky eater loved it. Adding the soy sauce and vinegar made a big difference, along with using full fat coconut milk. I also don’t usually add onion, but it made it very tasty.
This is my favorite curry recipe so delicious and easy.
I’m happy to hear that, Yassmin! Thank you for your review.
This is my go to dinner recipe when my husband craves for a veggie curry. So easy and yes, i add some other veggies or replace them whatever i can find in my fridge. Thank you for this. It is definitely a healthier option than takeaways.
I used shallots cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini and carrots and my family loved it! Great recipe.
Thanks for sharing your adaptions, Christine!
I loved this recipe !! I only wished I had used full fat coconut milk for a thicker curry. But regular coconut milk was just fine. I added lime juice and basil after i took off heat and also some pickled Serrano peppers that a friend made. Delicious ! I also love your Panang Curry, can’t wait to try the Green
Thank you for sharing, Leslie! I appreciate your review.
I’ve often had trouble preparing food for my vegetarian/vegan friends and this is my go to. Not only do my guests enjoy but I do to it’s absolutely scrumptious!
This was exactly what I was looking for and was so good that we didn’t want to stop eating. Amazing flavour. I made this exactly as directed and used the suggested substitutions of soy sauce instead of tamari and fresh lime juice instead of rice vinegar. I will make this again!