Thai Red Curry Recipe

Rich and creamy, Thai red Curry has chicken and vegetables. It packs fresh flavors; you need just 30 minutes to make it. This Thai curry recipe features a secret to creating fresh flavors using bottled red curry paste. It tastes fantastic when served with Jasmin rice.

If you wonder how Thai red curry can have fresh flavors using bottled Red curry paste, read along, and you will find the secret.

A bowl of hot rice with curry is comfort food for us. We love Thai curries, and its pretty regular at home. You can load it up with vegetables and protein. And the best part is it takes less than 30 minutes to make it. So definitely a perfect curry to make on busy days.

You would find so many versions of Thai curry on the web. The recipe shared below is something I make regularly and have improvised over the years. It is very versatile, and you adjust it to your taste.

While Thai Curry pastes made from scratch at home are always the best, it is not always feasible. Red curry paste calls for a long list of ingredients, and it can sometimes be challenging to source a few ingredients. So, keeping a jar of red curry paste always comes in handy.

Bottled Curry paste is quite intense in flavor, but it lacks freshness. So to lift the flavors and add some freshness, we add some fresh aromatic like fresh Thai basil, lemongrass, ginger-garlic, and fresh cilantro roots.

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.

Prep: 10min

Total: 40min

Yield: 4

Nutrition Facts: servingSize None, calories 340 calories, Sugar 9.3 g, Sodium 473.3 mg, Fat 11.3 g, Saturated Fat 8 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Carbohydrate 56.3 g, Fiber 5.6 g, Protein 8.3 g, Cholesterol 0 mg

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**
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups packed thinly sliced kale (tough ribs removed first), preferably the Tuscan/lacinato/dinosaur variety
• 1 1/2 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

Instruction:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and season with tamari and rice vinegar. Add salt (I added 1/4 teaspoon for optimal flavor), to taste. If the curry needs a little more punch, add 1/2 teaspoon more tamari, or for more acidity, add 1/2 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.

Chicken Thai Red Curry

Rich and creamy Thai red Curry have chicken and vegetables. It is packed with fresh flavours and you need just 30 minutes to make it. It tastes amazing when served with Jasmin rice.

Prep: 15min

Yield: 5

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 serving, calories 442 kcal, Carbohydrate 9 g, Protein 19 g, Fat 38 g, Saturated Fat 18 g, Trans Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 98 mg, Sodium 279 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 4 g, unSaturated Fat 16 g

Ingredients:

• 500 grams Boneless Chicken Thighs (cut into thin strips)
• 2 tablespoon Oil
• 4 tablespoon Red Curry Paste ((ref not 1) )
• 1/2 Onion (sliced)
• 1/2 tablespoon Garlic (minced)
• 1 teaspoon Ginger (minced)
• 1/2 tablespoon Coriander Stem (minced )
• 1 stalk Lemon grass ((ref notes – 2))
• 2 teaspoon Fish Sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Red Bell Pepper (cut into wedges)
• 1 cup Zucchini (cut )
• 1.5 cup Coconut Milk (full fat)
• 1/2 cup Stock / Water
• 2 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• 8-10 leaves Thai Basil (roughly torn)

Instruction:

1. Heat oil in a skillet. Add sliced onion, minced ginger, and garlic. Saute for a minute until it is aromatic.
2. Add red curry paste and minced coriander root. Saute for 2-3 minutes until oil starts oozing out on the side, and the mixture is aromatic.
3. Add coconut milk, stock, lemon zest, brown sugar, fish sauce, and lemongrass stalk. Mix well and let everything come to a boil. Simmer and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add chicken and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes.
5. Add the veggies when the chicken is almost cooked/ and the sauce has reduced almost by half (or to the consistency you are looking for).
6. Cook for another 2 minutes, until the veggies are just cooked but still have a crunch to them.
7. Remove the lemongrass stalk, Add torn Thai basil.
8. Serve over rice with more garnishing of basil and fresh coriander leaves.

Thai Red Curry with Chicken

Recipe VIDEO above. A Thai Red Curry with Chicken is one of the world’s most popular curries! Make this with store bought curry paste (we give it a freshness boost) OR homemade red curry paste (the fresh flavour can’t be beaten!). SPICE Level: Mild to hot BUT if using store bought paste, depends on what brand you use (Note 5).

Prep: 5min

Total: 25min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 530 kcal, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 5 – 6 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste ((store bought, Maesri best) (Note 1))
• 1 quantity homemade Thai Red Curry Paste
• 2 large garlic cloves (, minced)
• 2 tsp fresh ginger (, finely grated )
• 1 tbsp lemongrass paste (or finely chopped fresh (Note 3))
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil ((or canola or peanut))
• 1 cup (250 ml) chicken broth/stock (, low sodium)
• 400 ml / 14 oz coconut milk ((full fat!))
• 6 kaffir lime leaves ((Note 4))
• 1 tbsp sugar ((white, brown or palm))
• 2 tsp fish sauce (, plus more to taste)
• 350g / 12 oz chicken thighs ((boneless and skinless), cut into 0.75 / 1/3″ thick slices (Note 5))
• 150g / 5 oz pumpkin or butternut squash, ( cut into 1.5cm / 3/5″ cubes (~1 heaped cup))
• 120g / 4oz green beans (, trimmed and cut into 5cm/2″ pieces)
• 12 Thai basil leaves ((Note 6))
• Fresh red chilli slices ((small chilli – spicy, large = less spicy))
• Fresh coriander / cilantro leaves
• Steamed jasmine rice

Instruction:

1. Heat oil in a large heavy based skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add curry paste and Extras (if using jar paste) and cook for about 2 minutes so it “dries out” (See video)
3. Add chicken broth and stir to dissolve paste. Simmer rapidly for 3 minutes or until liquid reduces by half.
4. Add coconut milk, lime leaves, sugar and fish sauce. Stir, then add chicken.
5. Spread chicken out, bring to simmer, then turn heat down to medium. Simmer for about 8- 10 minutes or until Sauce reduces, the chicken is cooked and the sauce is almost at the thickness you want.
6. Do a taste test. Add more fish sauce (or even shrimp paste) to add more saltiness, sugar for sweetness.
7. Add pumpkin and beans, stir. Cook for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is just cooked through and Sauce is thickened – see video for Sauce thickness.
8. Remove from heat. Stir through a handful of Thai basil leaves.
9. Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with fresh red chilli slices and fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, if desired.

How to Make Thai Red Curry แกงเผ็ดไก่ (紅咖哩雞肉)