Vegan Thai Green Curry

An authentic vegan Thai green curry with tofu and lots of vegetables. One of the best vegan green curry ever! Let me show you how to make it.

Vegan Green Curry

One of the most beloved and most popular Thai curries is the green Thai curry. It is one of the hottest Thai curries, and it has a unique and aromatic taste due to the use of many green ingredients.

Another very popular curry is the Red Thai Curry, which is slightly milder. The Yellow and Masaman Curry are both very mild compared to the green one. So if you think the green one is a little too hot for you, try out one of the others.

Green curry paste is largely available in any supermarket. But be careful, most of them are made with shrimp paste for a slightly fishy and salty taste. Check the ingredients or watch out for the vegan label before you buy it. I linked my favorite vegan-friendly green curry paste in the recipe card at end of the blog post.

It’s also possible to prepare green curry paste at home. This way, you can ensure that it’s fish free, but the preparation is a little time-consuming, and lots of different non-everyday ingredients are needed. I always use store-bought curry paste, but this is up to you!

Tofu Green Curry – My Favorite

Among all curries, the green Thai Curry is my absolute favorite! I cook it very often!

The creaminess of the coconut milk and the pleasant pungency of the curry paste is a pure delight! Furthermore, I find it a rather light meal as I always prepare it with lots of vegetables and some tofu to add in some proteins.

Authentic Thai Curry Recipe

What’s most important to me is that curry is prepared in an authentic way. Anyone who has ever been to Thailand knows that an authentic Thai curry cannot be compared with the imitation many people are used to be cooking.

Thai curry has to be rather liquid, and the vegetables should literally swim in the curry sauce, reminding you of a thick soup. This is also the reason why the rice and curry are served in two separate bowls and usually come with a spoon!

Maybe a bit bold of me to claim that I can cook an authentic curry. However, during my travels in Asia, I have always stayed with local families who taught me how to cook authentic food. This was also the case during my stay in the city of Chiang Mai in Thailand!

I advise everyone who loves to travel, taking a cooking class with local people! Incomparable to all the subpar touristic restaurants!

Vegetarian Thai Green Curry

Green Thai curry is traditionally cooked with chicken. But I’ll show you how you can conjure up this vegetarian green curry recipe with tofu and lots of vegetables in no time.

I prefer to use Thai products such as Thai eggplants, Thai long beans, baby corn, and Thai Basil. You can find them in every Asian shop. Let me bring you those products a little closer.

My favorite green curry ingredients:

• Thai Eggplants – They are small, round, green, and much crisper than our eggplants. Attention: They turn brown very quickly, so cut them just before you add them to the curry.

• Baby Corn – Very crunchy, aromatic, and small corncobs. Must be fresh! Do not confuse them with pickled baby corn.

• Thai Long Beans – Very very long green beans. Very similar in taste to our green beans.

• Thai Sweet Basil – Be aware, there are two different Thai basil available, the Thai Sweet Basil and the Thai Holy Basil. You preferably want to use Thai Sweet Basil for this curry recipe, which is very sweet in taste. If you can’t find it, substitute with Italian basil leaves.

• Kaffir Lime Leaves (see picture below) – Small dried green leaves which have a very aromatic citrus note. I love them!

It is obvious to me that not everyone has an Asiahop around the corner. This vegetarian Thai curry recipe also tastes great with other, local vegetables. I often cook it with ordinary leftover veggies. 🙂

Local vegetable alternatives for curry:

• Zucchini
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Bamboo Shoots
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Peppers

Fried Tofu

Thai Curry tastes best with deep-fried tofu. You can buy it in the Asian shop. It is fried in oil and is a little yellowish on the outside, see picture.

Besides the amazing taste, fried tofu has another advantage: You only have to cut it and add it to the curry. No more tofu preparation needed.

However, this curry also tastes excellent with extra firm tofu. But you will need a little more preparation time choosing this tofu.

Preparation with extra firm tofu: Press tofu, cut it into small cubes, toss with 1 tbsp cornstarch, and fry it in a skillet with a little oil until crispy. 

OR make your own deep-fried tofu according to this Guide “How to Deep-Fry Tofu” by Full of Plants.

How To Make Green Curry

The recipe is easy, quick, and simple to follow! You can find the entire recipe with the full ingredient list further below in the recipe card, but I found that this visual guide helps you to make it right away the very first time! I especially recommend it for cooking beginners.

Here is how to make it:

• Heat a wok, large frying pan, or cast-iron pot. Add the coconut milk and the green curry paste. Stir well and let it simmer for a few minutes.

• Taste the curry and add more curry paste if needed! → Better always start with only a little curry paste, it can get hot very quickly.

• Quarter Thai eggplants and add them.

• Cut the beans into bite-sized pieces and add.

• Cut tofu and baby corn into bite-sized pieces and add.

• Add kaffir lime leaves and let it simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending on how soft/crispy you like your vegetables.

• Season with soy sauce and sugar. Add some water if you like your curry thinner.

• Stir trough Thai basil and serve over basmati or jasmine rice.

More Asian Recipe You’ll Love:

• Thai Iced Tea
• Thai Cucumber Salad
• Udon Stir Fry
• Tofu Banh Mi Sandwiches
• Vegan Dumplings with Tofu

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📖 Recipe