This Thai Green Curry recipe is loaded up with tender vegetables, simmered in green curry coconut sauce. And it is SO good!
We’ve got broccoli, zucchini, red bell peppers, snap peas, and spinach along with Thai green curry paste, coconut milk, and a generous squeeze of lime. You can enjoy this one as-is, or add your protein of choice. I’ll often add tofu or chickpeas to my protein and shredded cooked chicken to the resident carnivore’s bowl.
Table of Contents
- The Story Behind the Recipe
- Why You’ll Love These Thai Green Curry Vegetables
- Ingredients
- Adaptation Idea
- How to Make Thai Green Curry
- Tip for Success
- More Curry Recipes
The Story Behind the Recipe
This is another recipe I’ve had in the hopper for years! Every summer, we head up to the Southern Gulf Islands in British Columbia, and nearly every restaurant has a Thai green curry dish, each one better than the last.
My favorite is loaded up with veggies along with wedges of grilled tofu, then topped with chopped almonds and shredded carrots. It’s incredible!
So a few years ago, I decided to work on recreating the dish at home. It seemed like the perfect One Dish Two Ways recipe – a “fork in the road” recipe where it starts out vegan or vegetarian, then you divide it in half and add meat to one half for the carnivores.
I’ve made this one many times with chicken for my guy and leaving it vegetarian for me. It’s super flexible that way!
I decided that for publishing this Thai green curry recipe, I’d leave it to veggies only, then you can give it the “pick your protein” treatment if you like. Add tofu, chickpeas, white beans, seitan, or chicken – or just enjoy the veggies just as they are! No matter how you serve it up, it’s SO tasty.
Why You’ll Love These Thai Green Curry Vegetables
- SO full of flavor. Garlic, ginger, Thai green curry paste, coconut milk … it’s just the best combo.
- Super flexible. Subtract or add veggies and make it yours. Add a protein if you like. Serve it over cauliflower rice for a lower-carb version or quinoa for a bit more protein.
- Easy! SO easy!
- Simple to prep ahead. Chop up the veggies, garlic and ginger beforehand, then keep the veggies in one container and the garlic and ginger in another in the fridge for up to 2 days. Perfect for when you want a healthy weeknight dinner but are short on time.
Ingredients
- Oil – Any neutral cooking oil like vegetable oil or avocado oil will work well.
- Thai green curry paste – I prefer Thai Kitchen Brand, but use whichever one you like. Note that Thai Kitchen green curry paste is pretty mild, so you might grab another if you want a spicier Thai green curry. I also add crushed red pepper flakes as garnish to add a bit of heat.
- Salt, garlic, & ginger – Helps enhance/add to the flavors of the Thai green curry paste.
- Veggies – Broccoli, zucchini, red bell pepper, sugar snap peas, and baby spinach
- Coconut milk – I like to use full-fat canned coconut milk for the richest curry.
- Brown sugar – Just that touch of sweetness really helps to round out the flavor.
- Cornstarch – This is to help thicken the sauce to give it a more velvety texture. You can totally leave it out if you prefer!
- Lime – Lime zest lends flavor (traditionally you might find kaffir lime leaves in Thai green curry, but that’s an ingredient that’s really hard for me to find in my area, so I use lime zest + serve lime wedges to squeeze over the top of the curry.
- Thai basil – Fresh Thai basil can be found in the produce section of most grocery stores.
- For serving – Rice, chopped almonds, more Thai basil, lime wedges, crushed red pepper flakes, shredded carrots
Adaptation Idea
- Add chickpeas, white beans, edamame, tofu, or chicken for some additional protein.
How to Make Thai Green Curry
You’re gonna LOVE how easy it is to make vegetable Thai green curry!
You’ll want to chop your veggies in advance, because once you start cooking, the process goes pretty quickly. And make sure you have some rice ready to go.
First, saute the green curry paste, garlic, and ginger in the oil for just a bit to help liven up the flavors. Next, add water and all of the veggies except for the spinach.
Cover and let that simmer until the veggies are tender, then stir in the coconut milk. Stir the cornstarch with a little water and pour that in too.
Simmer gently until thickened, then stir in the lime zest, spinach, and Thai basil.
Taste and add more salt if desired. That’s it!
Serve over rice and garnish how you like.
Tip for Success
- Once you’ve added the coconut milk, do not boil the mixture. This can cause the coconut milk to split or curdle. If that does happen, it will still taste okay, don’t worry! It just doesn’t look as appetizing or have quite the lovely silky texture.
I hope you love this Thai green curry vegetables recipe as much as we do! It’s such a delicious way to enjoy veggies, and super flexible too. I love this as a one-dish-two-ways recipe – it’s so easy to just add your protein of choice!
More Curry Recipes
- Chickpea & Tomato Curry
- Chana Masala
- Slow Cooker Red Lentil & Chickpea Pumpkin Curry
- Slow Cooker Red Lentil & Chickpea Curry with Potatoes & Peas
- Thai Green Curry Soup
- Thai Red Curry
Thai Green Curry Vegetables Recipe
Ingredients
For the Thai Green Curry:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or another neutral cooking oil)
- 3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste (I like Thai Kitchen brand)
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (+ more to taste)
- 1 medium clove garlic (minced)
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger (about a pinky-sized piece, peeled)
- 3/4 cup water (can substitute low-sodium veg broth for a bit more flavor)
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 medium zucchini (cut into half-moons)
- 1 red bell pepper (cut into strips)
- 1/2 cup sugar snap peas (or snow peas)
- 1 cup coconut milk (from the can)
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 2 teaspoons lime zest (from one medium lime)
- 10 leaves Thai basil (roughly chopped)
Serve with:
- cooked brown rice or quinoa
- Thai basil leaves
- lime wedges for squeezing over the top
- chopped almonds
- crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Set a large saute pan over medium-low heat and add the oil. When hot, add the green curry paste, 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic and ginger. Stir frequently for a minute, then stir in the 3/4 cup water and add the broccoli, zucchini, red bell pepper, and sugar snap peas (or snow peas). Cover and simmer until the veggies are bright and just becoming tender, about 3 minutes.
- Stir in the coconut milk and brown sugar. In a small bowl, stir the cornstarch with 1 tablespoons cold water and add that to the pan. Increase heat to medium high and bring just to a light boil then immediately turn the heat to low, simmering until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Be sure you don't cook this at a high/rolling boil, or the coconut milk might break/curdle.
- Stir in the spinach, lime zest, and fresh Thai basil until and stir until wilted, about a minute. Remove from heat. Taste and add more salt until it's perfect for you (I usually add about 1/4 teaspoon more).
- To serve, spoon over cooked quinoa or rice and garnish with more Thai basil, chopped almonds, crushed red pepper if you want some heat, and lime wedges for squeezing over the top.
Hi! I’m Karen – I’m a real person with real recipes. No A.I. here! Since 2009, every recipe on Kitchen Treaty is thoroughly tested and loved before I hit “publish.” I’m a home cook, certified plant-based pro, and mom. I’m a vegetarian married to a carnivore, and my goal is to coexist deliciously.
