This 30-minute Thai green curry recipe is a delicious weeknight dinner! Store-bought curry paste, fresh ginger, and lime juice fill it with bold flavor.
This Thai green curry recipe is a restaurant-worthy weeknight dinner! It’s fresh, flavorful, and bright, yet it still comes together in 30 minutes thanks to an easy pantry shortcut: store-bought green curry paste.
Made with aromatic ingredients like green chilies, lemongrass, and makrut lime leaves, the curry paste is packed with bold flavor. Simmered in coconut milk with fresh ginger and lime juice, it creates a curry sauce that’s rich, fragrant, and a little bit sweet. I can’t say it’s better than my go-to Thai restaurant (sometimes, nothing but takeout will do), but it comes pretty darn close.
You could use any protein or vegetables you like in this green curry recipe. I call for my favorites—eggplant, bell peppers, and snow peas, plus creamy cubes of tofu. Just add a side of rice for an easy, delicious dinner!
Thai Green Curry Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this green curry recipe:
- Green curry paste, of course! Store-bought green curry paste is typically made with ingredients like green chilies, lemongrass, galangal, makrut or kaffir lime leaves, and herbs. It fills this homemade green curry with bold, aromatic flavor. Find it in Asian grocery stores or the Asian section of your supermarket.
- Full-fat coconut milk and water – They create the sauce’s rich, creamy base.
- Coconut oil – For sautéing the eggplant.
- Eggplant, bell peppers, and snow peas – The main vegetables in this Thai green curry recipe. I like Chinese or Japanese eggplant here. It’s firmer and meatier than Italian eggplant, yet easier to find than Thai eggplant, at least in the stores near me. Feel free to use whatever type you like best or is most accessible to you!
- Fresno chiles or Thai chiles – For heat. Skip them if you’re sensitive to spice.
- Fresh ginger and lime juice – They deepen the curry paste’s bright, refreshing flavor.
- Extra-firm tofu – My protein of choice. Feel free to prepare it however you’d like. You can add plain cubed tofu to the curry, or use baked tofu or fried tofu. (I like to buy pre-cooked fried tofu at my grocery store to save myself a step.)
- And fresh herbs – Garnish the curry with cilantro and fresh basil leaves (or better yet, Thai basil) to take it over the top.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Want to try other veggies in this recipe? Zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, and/or green beans would be great! Drained canned bamboo shoots are delicious too. Add them along with or instead of the red bell pepper and snow peas.
Working with Green Curry Paste
Store-bought curry pastes vary in pungency and flavor. It’s very important to season to taste in this recipe because the overall balance will depend on the brand of curry paste you use.
I call for optional sugar in case you need some sweetness to offset a salty, savory paste. I also call for optional tamari in case you need extra salty, savory depth. One thing to note:Â An authentic Thai green curry recipe would include fish sauce, not tamari, for umami flavor, but I omit it to keep this recipe vegetarian!
I’ve made Thai curries with a variety of different brands of curry paste, and my personal favorite is Mekhala. It’s vegan and gluten-free, and it has a bold, fresh flavor with a nice amount of spice. If you use a different brand, check the label to make sure it’s vegetarian if that’s a concern for you. Some contain shrimp paste.
If you’d like to try making homemade green curry paste from scratch, check out my cookbook Love & Lemons: Simple Feel Good Food. I share a recipe on page 149!
How to Make Thai Green Curry
This Thai green curry recipe comes together in 4 simple steps:
1. Start by cooking the eggplant. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the eggplant. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Next, fry the curry paste and ginger with a little of the coconut milk, cooking until the mixture dries out and becomes fragrant. This step takes the raw edge off the curry paste and ginger and develops their flavors.
3. Simmer the curry. Add the remaining coconut milk, water, bell pepper, snow peas, eggplant, and half the Thai chiles to the skillet. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the snow peas are tender.
4. Season and serve. Remove the curry from the heat and add the lime juice. Season to taste with the sugar and/or tamari. Top with fresh herbs and chiles and serve with cooked jasmine rice!
Storage Tips
I love this green curry leftover. The flavors become even more complex after a night in the fridge!
- To store in the refrigerator: Let cool to room temperature, then seal in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
- To freeze: Yep, this curry freezes well! Let cool to room temp, then seal in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To reheat: Reheat in the microwave or over low heat on the stovetop.
More Curry Recipes to Try
If you love this Thai green curry, try one of these easy curry recipes next:
Thai Green Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 medium Chinese or Japanese eggplants, cut into ½-inch-thick half-moons
- Sea salt
- 1 (13.5-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- ¼ cup Thai green curry paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger matchsticks
- 1 cup water
- 7 ounces extra-firm tofu, cubed (raw, baked, or fried—I like to use store-bought fried tofu)
- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and sliced
- 4 ounces snow peas
- 2 Fresno chiles or 4 Thai chiles, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon sugar, optional
- Tamari, to taste, optional
- Thai basil or fresh cilantro, for garnish
- Cooked rice, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a medium skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the eggplant and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, or until softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Return the pan to medium heat and add ¼ cup of the coconut milk, the curry paste, and ginger. Sizzle for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the curry paste mostly dries out. Add the remaining coconut milk and the water and stir to combine.
- Add the tofu, red pepper, snow peas, sautéed eggplant, and half the chiles and stir to combine. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the snow peas are tender.
- Remove from the heat and add the lime juice. Season to taste, adding the sugar and tamari, if desired.
- Garnish with the remaining chiles and herbs and serve with rice.
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