Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Veggies

Name: Thai Green Curry with Tofu
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons oil ((divided)); 2 cloves garlic; 1 teaspoon ginger; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 2 tablespoons green curry paste; 1 (13 oz can) coconut milk ((full fat coconut milk or coconut cream is best)); 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth ((or water)); 2 teaspoons brown sugar (or coconut sugar); 6 cups vegetables of choice; 1 (14 oz) package tofu ((firm, extra firm, or high protein tofu)); 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves; 3 cups cooked rice ((or rice noodles))

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This vegan Thai green curry with tofu recipe is a quick and easy meal that's bursting with flavor. Coconut curry is simple to make with a can of coconut milk, green curry paste, vegetables of your choice, and some extra firm tofu. Put it over rice and you will have a mouthwatering dish in about 30 minutes!

A top view of a vegan coconut green curry with vegetables and rice.

This easy green curry tofu recipe will be hit with your whole family and go on your weekly meal rotation for sure.

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🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
🔪 Helpful tools
🥄 How to make Thai green curry
👩🏻‍🍳 Pro Tips
❓ Frequently asked questions
🥡 Storage and reheating
🌟 More recipes with coconut milk
📋 Thai green curry with tofu recipe

🧾 Ingredients and substitutions

Oil - any neutral-flavored oil will work. I like to use light olive oil or coconut oil.
Garlic Cloves - for flavor.
Fresh Ginger - for flavor
Thai Green Curry Paste - this is the flavor base of your curry. Thai Kitchen brand is usually the easiest to find, but I like Maesri brand green curry paste since it's spicier and has more flavor overall. You can make your own homemade green curry paste but it requires a lot of special herbs and spices that can be hard to find like green chile, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, coriander seeds, and galangal.
Coconut Milk - This gives the green curry sauce a rich and creamy flavor, so full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream is best if you want a creamy dish. You can use light coconut milk for a lower-fat meal if you choose.
Vegetable Stock - to thin out the sauce a little. You can also use water if you don't have vegetable broth.
Salt - for flavor
Brown Sugar - or coconut sugar for a little sweetness. It's just a small amount, but it brings out the flavor of the curry nicely.
Vegetables of Choice - the great thing about this recipe is that you can add any veggies that you have on hand. These are some of my favorite vegetables to use in green curry.
- broccoli florets
- bell peppers - I prefer red pepper.
- green beans
- mushrooms
- zucchini
- eggplant
- baby corn
- bamboo shoots
- baby spinach
- bok choy
- snap peas
- water chestnuts
Fresh Basil Leaves - for flavor. (Thai basil will give you the most authentic flavor.) This is an important ingredient if you want your curry to taste authentic as you would get at a Thai restaurant. You can also swap this out for green onion or other fresh herbs.
Fresh Limes - add a tablespoon of lime juice at the end of cooking for some brightness and depth of flavor. You can also add a little lime zest to the sauce. You may also want to serve this dish with lime wedges on the side.
Tofu - firm or extra-firm tofu works best for this recipe. You may want to toss the tofu in cornstarch before cooking if you want crispy tofu. You can also use my quick and easy seitan recipe to add chicken-flavored seitan instead of tofu.
Jasmine Rice - Basmati rice, brown rice, or even rice noodles to serve with green curry and tofu.

🔪 Helpful tools

Microplane - (a zester) for grating the fresh ginger root and zesting the lime.

A plate full of veggie green curry with tofu served with white rice.

🥄 How to make Thai green curry

Step 1 - Heat oil in a large skillet over low heat and add minced garlic and freshly grated ginger. Stir around for a minute and then add 2 tablespoons of Thai green curry paste and stir.

Step 2 - Add a can of coconut milk. 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock. 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, then turn up the stove to medium heat. Once your curry sauce starts to bubble, turn down the heat to low and let it simmer slowly.

Step 3 - Drain and press a container of extra firm tofu, cut it into cubes, then pan-fry the tofu in 2 tablespoons of oil. Flip the tofu after it cooks for about 2-3 minutes on each side until it's crispy. Place on a paper towel to drain off excess oil. (Toss the tofu cubes in 1/4 cup of cornstarch before frying for extra crispy tofu.)

Step 4 - Add a little oil to the skillet and pan-fry 5 cups of veggies of choice. (I use 2 cups broccoli, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup red bell pepper 1 cup mushrooms.)

A large wok filled with Thai green curry with veggies, coconut milk, and tofu.

Step 5 - Just before serving add the sauteed veggies and fried tofu to the green curry coconut sauce.

Step 6 - Toss in fresh basil leaves and the juice of 1/2 a lime. Serve over rice or rice noodles.

👩🏻‍🍳 Pro Tips

You can easily adjust the spice level of your vegan Thai green curry by adding more or less curry paste. If you don't like spicy foods, you may want to start out with a small amount and slowly add more curry paste to taste.
The longer you simmer your green curry sauce, the more the flavors will blend into the sauce. For the best flavor let your sauce simmer for about 20 minutes before adding the veggies and tofu.
Be sure to cook your sauce over low heat so that it doesn't boil.
You can omit the step of sauteing the veggies and just add them to the sauce. The vegetables will just be softer this way.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Is Thai green curry vegan?

If you get Thai green curry premade or from a restaurant, there is a good chance that it has fish sauce in it. Be sure to ask the wait staff or check the ingredients. A great way to make sure that your coconut curry is vegan is to make it yourself at home. The Thai kitchen brand and Maesri brand Thai green curry pastes are both vegan.

What gives green curry its flavor?

The green curry paste gives the dish most of its flavor. A good Thai green curry paste will contain chili pepper, garlic, ginger, shallot, lemongrass, basil, kafir lime, sugar, coriander, cumin, cardamom, and galangal.

How do you thicken green curry?

If you want a thick and creamy green curry sauce, you can add a little cornstarch slurry to the sauce to thicken it. To do this, mix, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water and stir well. Slowly add the slurry to your hot curry sauce stirring constantly until you have reached the desired thickness. (Your sauce will thicken even more as it cools, so be careful not to make it too thick.)

How can I make lower-fat Thai curry?

To make this a lower-fat dish, you can use light coconut oil. You can also omit the step of frying the tofu and veggies and just add them to the green curry sauce and let them simmer for 20 minutes.

🥡 Storage and reheating

Refrigerate: The coconut curry will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days in a sealed container. You can store the curry sauce separately from the rice or over the rice. Store in small single-serve containers for meal prep - it tastes great reheated and it makes great lunches.

Freeze: Thai green curry tofu freezes well and can be stored in airtight containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can reheat it directly from the freezer or let it thaw overnight in the fridge before heating.

Reheating: Microwave a serving of curry for about 3 minutes, or heat in a pan on the stovetop until warm.

A close up of green coconut curry with crispy tofu and veggies served with rice.

🌟 More recipes with coconut milk

📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!

📋 Thai green curry with tofu recipe

5 from 8 votes

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