This vegan Thai red curry recipe with tofu, vegetables and peanuts is a delicious, quick and simple meal. Easy to customize, you can make this into a versatile dish for any occasion. With a list of tasty and healthy vegan ingredients, this red curry is a balanced meal and can be served as-is or alongside cooked rice/ quinoa/ noodles.
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How to Make Vegan Thai Red Curry Sauce
Making vegan Thai red curry sauce is really simple. All you do is mix Thai red curry paste with a can of coconut milk. To boost the flavour, I recommend adding fresh lime juice and tamari. That’s it!
This recipe for vegan red curry also includes peanut butter in its sauce. This adds a great layer of flavour and creaminess. I’ve also included cilantro for extra flavour, but this is optional if you don’t like cilantro.
The final consideration to add flavour to a vegan red curry sauce is adding aromatics like ginger, onion and garlic. All three are tasty and you can add any combination based on your preferences.
If you just want to make a Thai red curry sauce, simply mix all these sauce ingredients together and cook for 8-10 minutes in a pot over medium heat, stirring every minute or so. You could then use this sauce in any way you choose.
Selecting the Right Coconut Milk for a Vegan Thai Red Curry
I always use canned coconut milk in curry recipes. There are generally two types of canned coconut milk: regular and low fat.
A low-fat option should have the same ingredients as the regular, but with less coconut and more water. Read the ingredients to be sure you don’t get any additional ingredients if you choose low fat.
In this particular recipe, I use the lower fat option because there’s also peanut butter in the sauce. If the sauce didn’t include such a rich and creamy ingredient, I would opt for the regular canned coconut milk so the end result is nice and creamy!
It’s up to you what type of coconut milk to use. Decide based on your taste preferences!
Add Vegan Protein to Thai Red Curry with Tofu
I love the convenience of using tofu. It’s inexpensive, easy to prepare and can add plant-based protein to any meal.
Without tofu in this recipe, the final product would be fairly low in protein. It’s usually best to include a good vegan protein source in meals to keep you feeling full and provide essential nutrients.
If you don’t like tofu or don’t have any on hand, tempeh, shelled edamame and/ or chickpeas are other great choices to add to a vegan Thai red curry recipe.
Thai Red Curry: What Vegetables to Use
I’ve selected a few tasty green vegetables for this recipe. Broccoli is a staple in my house so there’s usually some around to toss in. Broccoli is a fantastic vegetable choice because it’s packed full of tasty nutrients!
Zucchini is quickly becoming one of my favourite vegetables because it’s so easy to prepare. There’s very little prep required when cooking with zucchini and it’s a great filler for any curry or stir fry recipe.
Bok choy is another one of my favourite vegetables. As a leafy green, bok choy is a great vegan source of calcium and fantastic to add to this Thai red curry recipe.
When it comes down to it, you can use pretty much any vegetable you want. There are no rules when it comes to making a tasty curry! Recipes like this vegan red curry are an excellent way to use up any vegetables that may be starting to go bad or use frozen vegetables if you’re in a pinch!
Let me know what vegetables you decide to use in the comments below. Enjoy!
Vegan Thai Red Curry with Tofu, Vegetables and Peanuts
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Large pan
- Can Opener
Ingredients
- 1 350 gram block extra firm tofu
- 1 large head broccoli cut into florets (about 2 ½ C of florets)
- 1 medium onion chopped (about 1 C)
- 1 medium zucchini cut into half circles (about 2 C)
- 12 baby bok choy about 4 C chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger grated or finely minced
- 1 398 mL can light coconut milk (can use full fat)
- ¼ C natural peanut butter
- 4 tsp red Thai curry paste
- 3 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- Juice of ½ lime about 1 tbsp
- 1/3 C cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Prep all the vegetables by cutting the broccoli into bite-sized florets, dicing the onion, cutting the zucchini into half circles and chopping the baby bok choy.
- Slice the tofu into thin strips.
- Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat and brown the sliced tofu on both sides. Optional to use vegetable oil to brown the tofu.
- Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan or a larger pot (depending on how large your non-stick pan is) add the onion and ginger and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes. Use oil or water to prevent sticking.
- After 3 minutes, add the broccoli and zucchini along with the can of coconut milk (398 mL), peanut butter (1/4 C), red curry paste (4 tsp), tamari (3 tbsp) and lime juice (1/2 a lime).
- Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the broccoli and zucchini start to soften.
- While the vegetables cook, chop the browned tofu into bite-sized pieces.
- Add the diced bok choy and diced tofu to the pan/pot and cook for another 3-5 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.
- Take the pan/ pot off heat and stir in cilantro.
- Serve!
Benefits of Plant-based Protein vs Animal Protein
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂
Thank you!