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.
Recipe by Cookie and Kate on October 20, 2015
Prep time: PT10M
Cook time: PT30M
Total time: PT40M
Rating
4.8 stars ( reviews)
Keywords
Thai red curry
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
Categories
Entree
Cuisine
Thai
Steps
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.
Nutitrion
Calories: 340 calories
Carbohydrates: 56.3 g
Protein: 8.3 g
Fat: 11.3 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sodium: 473.3 mg
Sugar: 9.3 g
Reviews
Katie on 2025-02-04 (5 stars): Pretty easy to make and was greatly enjoyed by my partner who doesn't mind spicy food. I, however, underestimated the spice level and overestimate my tolerance. That's on me though, not the recipe :)
Janet Kepes on 2025-02-09 (5 stars): I have already made this recipe twice. Love it! Also love it's made in one pot. Great flavors and easy!!
Judith on 2025-02-10 (5 stars): This is absolutely DELICIOUS! I added some baby bella mushrooms, otherwise followed the recipe as written. It’s going to be saved in my top-rated file!
Valeria I. on 2025-02-12 (5 stars): I made this super yummy red curry recipe, added several veggies in addition to recipe (celery, mushrooms, broccoli, jalapeño) and grilled chicken. I omitted rice vinegar and soy sauce. The flavor was amazing and I’ll be making again in the future!
Taylor on 2025-02-13 (5 stars): Awesome curry and my go to for weeknight dinners. Add a table spoon of miso at the same time as the curry paste, makes the umami flavor pop!
Ann on 2025-02-18 (5 stars): Outstanding recipe- thank you! We used Mekhala red curry paste brand which added great complexity and spice.
We hope that you will develop a yellow curry recipe soon:)
Hana M on 2025-02-18 (5 stars): My husband and I both loved this! I took your suggestion of modifying the veggies if needed as we had so much that needed to be eaten. We used sweet potato, broccoli, peppers, onion, asparagus and mushrooms. I also added chickpeas for some extra protein and added chicken to my husband's (I'm vegetarian and he isn't). Again, we both loved this and can't wait to try it again!
Cheryl Pluto on 2025-02-20 (3 stars): 3 Stars. Doubled the spices and still tasted bland. Missed the fish sauce, my bad for not reading to the end.
Sandra Allen on 2025-05-24 (3 stars): Will try again with modifications. It was too bland for us. We drizzled sriracha on it.
sharon on 2025-03-03 (5 stars): Amazing! I had some snap peas on hand so added those instead of kale. I love this addition and will definitely add it in the future!
Gadi Wolff on 2025-03-07 (5 stars): Wonderful food, thank you ! so tasty !
Gadi Wolff on 2025-03-31 (5 stars): Yes, i have reheated and it is as tasty as ever.
Susie Agniel on 2025-03-08 (5 stars): Kate - Can you make this in an insta-pot for after work simplicity? If so, how?
Love your recipes!
-a fellow KC lover
Sarah Zuber on 2025-03-16 (5 stars): This is so delicious and seasoned perfectly. Instead of the second bell pepper and kale I used broccoli and a par boiled Yukon gold potato. And threw in some chickpeas for protein. I like making curry this way, with the paste. You can add more for more heat or less for milder.
GENA L STAHLECKER on 2025-03-17 (3 stars): Easy to make without having to go to specialty stores! I was looking for more flavor and spice.
Barb on 2025-03-28 (5 stars): I have made this recipe twice and it is fabulous. I get requests for it. It's easy to make and it's better the next day. I make many of Kates recipes and they are all I have tried absolutely great!
Erica on 2025-03-31 (4 stars): Smells delicious! I made it with sugar snap peas, thin beans and beef cubes (goulash) added to the original recipe.
Very saucy, will add less water next or a little Corn Starch.
Ona Anna on 2025-04-07 (5 stars): Perfect and best curry I've ever made !
Niya on 2025-04-09 (5 stars): I enjoyed making this receipe. I added a lots of fresh garlic and young Thai ginger. I added zucchini, carrots, red and yellow peppers. I pan fried tofu with lil sesame oil, soya sauce for umami. I added with the coconut milk. I like it creamy so I added a can of coconut milk and the Thai red curry I bought. I ended up using the whole bottle which was 100gm. I made lil extra as an attempt to meal prep. the did not have tamari so I added soy sauce. Thanks for the tip to add some vinegar. I understand the complexity it adds. It warm and rich and quite simple to make!
Kellie Depauli on 2025-04-15 (5 stars): Hi,
I love your book! Can you please tell me of a good substitute for coconut milk?
Kaitlin on 2025-04-18 (5 stars): This is one of my family's favourite meals - I don't know how many times I've made it at this point! I add chicken every time though because we're a meat-loving fam ;)
Andrew on 2025-05-24 (5 stars): This was excellent! Didn’t feel like making rice, so I made it with brown rice pad Thai noodles, which I stirred into the whole dish before serving. I also added chunks of cod and shrimp. The three of us thought it was delicious.
Jill Donaghue on 2025-05-27 (5 stars): This recipe is delicious.
We are having friends for lunch in a few days.
Could I make this recipe the night before and just reheat for lunch?
I do not like Kale so I use spinach instead.
Thank you
Tracy S on 2025-05-28 (5 stars): I made this recipe last night and it was delish. I used cauliflower, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, carrots and tofu. I cooked the tofu first in an air fryer and then sprinkled on top. I put in a ton of veggies and did 3 tblsp of the curry paste … yikes. DH and I loved it but mother-in-law had to douse it in yogurt.
Marlene D on 2025-05-29 (5 stars): People found this bland? In comparison to what, LOL? It was delicious. My sole reason for looking this up was I had a jar on hand of the same red curry paste that was recommended to use. I loved this recipe. Brown Texmati rice soaked up all the delicious curry coconut sauce. I did add the tofu - was going to just throw it in so I'm glad I saw your recipe for baking it first. I skipped the sugar, not sure why it's there. We used kale and it tasted and looked great with the rest of the veg's (needs a green!) My coconut milk had no guar gum, it was fine. Also, used powdered ginger as my gingerroot had gone bad, that didn't seem to matter. So good. Thank you!
V on 2025-06-09 (5 stars): LOVELY
Monique on 2025-06-28 (5 stars): My husband and I love this recipe thank you
Berno on 2025-07-19 (5 stars): I always come back to this recipe! It's fantastic! Greetings from South Africa.
Penny Walden on 2025-08-01 (5 stars): Amazing! I made this today and added thin chicken breast. Tasty and pretty.
Lauren on 2025-08-03 (3 stars): I’ve made it twice, the recipe is okay I guess. It come out pretty bland. I added extra red curry paste the second time around and it still was kind of underwhelming.
Pardeep Panesar on 2025-08-08 (5 stars): Thank you very much for sharing this vegetarian coconut thai curry which I make about once a month. I appreciate your update on the coconut milks that contain guar gum because my only marginal disappointment with this recipe is that it could be better being a little creamier. Can you share a good brand with the full fat non guar gum ?
I am looking forward to trying more of your lovely vegetarian recipes!
Pardeep