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Here's a quick and easy vegetable Thai red curry with loads of vegetables sautéed and simmered in a rich coconut curry sauce. This mildly spiced curry is easy to customize, great for beginners, and perfect for using up whatever veggies you have in the fridge or freezer.
If you love Thai, try my Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe next!
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Skip the Takeout
If you want to skip the $15+ per entree on Thai takeout, this recipe is for you! You can make your own Thai red curry at home in about 30 minutes using everyday ingredients—you can even use veggies you already have on hand.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This Thai curry is packed with so much flavor, you'd never guess its vegan.
- You can use fresh, frozen, or leftover vegetables—whatever works!
- The spice level is totally up to you. Start mild and add heat as you go.
- It’s a great choice for weeknights, date nights, and beginner-level cooking.
- Serve it over rice, rice noodles, quinoa, or any grain you love.
- The leftovers reheat beautifully, so tomorrow night's dinner (or lunch!) is done.
- It uses pantry staples and common produce you can cross-utilize in other recipes.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s what goes into this simple curry—plus, feel free to swap in any veggies you love.
- Coconut Oil: Adds richness and helps sauté your aromatics.
- Yellow Onion: A flavor base for your curry.
- Garlic & Ginger: Fresh, fragrant, and essential for building flavor.
- Red Bell Pepper: Adds sweetness and color.
- Red Curry Paste: The star of the show—gives the curry its bold flavor and color.
- Carrot, Broccoli, and Cauliflower: Use fresh or frozen. These give it body and texture and you can use any soft vegetables you like!
- Coconut Milk: Makes the curry rich with coconut flavor.
- Vegetable Broth: This helps create the perfect sauce consistency.
- Lime Juice: Brightens up the whole dish at the end.
- Optional Garnish: Thai basil, cilantro, and lime wedges for serving.
How To Make Vegetable Thai red curry
Heat a large skillet or sauce pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion until soft, then add garlic and ginger and continue cooking for a few minutes. Add red bell pepper and saute until tender.
Stir in red curry paste and cook a few minutes until fragrant. Deglaze the pan with a splash of broth.
Add in remaining vegetables, coconut milk, remaining broth, and soy sauce.
Simmer until the veggies are tender and the broth reduces slightly. Finish with lime juice, and garnish if you'd like.
Serving Suggestions
Spoon this delicious red curry over fluffy jasmine or basmati rice, rice noodles, Instant Pot Brown Rice or quinoa.
Recipe Variations
- Adjust the spice level: Start with 1 tablespoon of curry paste and add more as needed—it can be quite spicy.
- Use what you have: Swap in mushrooms, peas, edamame, zucchini, or baby bok choy. Add leafy greens at the end to wilt.
- Frozen vegetable tip: No need to thaw—just toss them straight into the pot. I often use frozen broccoli.
- Add protein: Chickpeas or diced tofu are great additions. Stir them in before simmering.
- Add protein at the start of simmering: Use chickpeas or tofu to keep it vegan, or add raw chicken or shrimp and cook until opaque. Stir in cooked chicken at the end.
More Asian Recipes To Love
- Pumpkin Curry
- Asian Slaw Recipe
- Thai Coconut Soup
- Asian Cucumber Salad
- Sesame Kale Noodles
- Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles
- Vegetable Lo Mein
- Stir Fry Vegetables with Black Bean Sauce
📖 Recipe
Vegetable Thai Red Curry
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Video
Note about scaling
When scaling (2x or 3x), the light gray ingredient amount doesn’t scale. Please adjust those accordingly.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil, or preferred oil
- 1 large Onion, diced
- 1 (1-inch knob) Fresh Ginger, finely grated
- 4 cloves Garlic, finely grated
- 1 large Red Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Red Curry Paste, *or more as needed
- ½ cup Vegetable Broth, or plain water
- 2 cups Cauliflower Florets, fresh or frozen
- 2 cups Broccoli Florets, fresh or frozen
- 2 medium Carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 (15-ounce can) Coconut Milk
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
- 1 Lime, juiced
Optional toppings for serving
- Fresh Lime Wedges, Thai basil, and Fresh Cilantro
Instructions
- Heat COCONUT OIL in a 12-inch skillet or 3.5 quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the ONION and sauté until golden brown and softened, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in the GINGER and GARLIC and cook for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in the RED BELL PEPPER followed by the RED CURRY PASTE and cook for 1-2 minutes to bloom the spices.
- Add a few splashes of the VEGETABLE BROTH to the pot and scrape any stuck bits from the pot to release into the sauce (this is flavor gold!)
- Add the CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI, CARROTS, COCONUT MILK, and SOY SAUCE.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender to your liking.
- Taste and adjust the flavor: Sample the broth and add more RED CURRY PASTE for extra heat or more SOY SAUCE to boost the saltiness.
- Note: This curry has a light, brothy texture. For a thicker sauce, whisk 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 1 teaspoon cold water, add to the pot, and stir until thickened.
- To serve, stir in the LIME JUICE and serve warm with optional garnish toppings.
Recipe Notes
Equipment
- chef knife
- 3.5 quart Dutch oven or saucepan or 12-inch skillet
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are estimates and may vary based on brands, ingredients, and portions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Look for Thai red curry paste in jars or cans. Maesri and Thai Kitchen are good options. Start with 1 tablespoon and add more to taste.
Coconut milk gives it creaminess, but you can use unsweetened oat milk or cashew cream as a backup.
Yes, and it tastes even better the next day. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for longer.
Warm gently on the stove or in the microwave. If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or broth to loosen it.
Heidi says
I love the fresh, vibrant flavors you've infused into this lovely Thai curry. The touch of lime juice adds the perfect finish!
Traci says
Thank you!! I'm so glad you can enjoy this one. It's such a favorite! 🙂
Bev says
I just love this recipe over basmatic rice, the flavors are delicious!
I made my own curry paste which enhances the flavors and aromas.
Traci says
Yay!! I'm so glad you're enjoying my recipe! This is a go-to for us when we want all the vegan comfort. Thanks for your feedback! xoxo
Amanda M says
I’ve made this recipe many times over the past 10 years, and it’s delicious! My only frustration or feedback is that the creator constantly changes the recipe here. At one point, the recipe called for mushrooms. Now, the mushrooms are missing and it’s calling for red bell pepper instead. I’ve made this recipe at least 15 times and it’s never called for red pepper until today. Very strange! I wish it stayed more consistent. I feel like it’s not the same as it was originally posted.
Traci says
Hi Amanda, WOW 10 years 🎉 I adore that – and thank you for this feedback. Funny enough, I had not visited this recipe card in a long while and made the change from mushrooms to bell peppers just last week in order to identically match the photos. Since then, I've decided I will reshoot the photos, for beauty's sake, but I've also taken the recipe card a step further to match the blogpost notes, encouraging the use of any vegetables, since I know many readers skip over the blogpost.
Please know that my recipe edits are always intended to benefit my readers by clarifying information, offering flexibility, or both. I am the human behind each recipe, with evolving cooking experience and content delivery. I do hope you will continue making my recipes for another 10 years. Thank you again for your continued support.
Sahaja says
Loved this. So simple and yummy.
Traci says
Yay! So glad you enjoyed 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience!
Cliff says
Really tasty and so quick, as advertised. I will definitely add this to make quick midweek meals.
Traci says
I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying it 🙂 Thanks so much for the feedback - much appreciated!
Kathy Ingallinera says
Made this tonight, cold and rainy where we live. I used a little bit of red onion as I had no green onion, and my mushrooms were mushy so I upped the carrots, broccoli & cauliflower. A neighbor had given me some Swiss chard 2 days ago so I used that for the greens. This is delicious, my dog and I give it 2 dewclaws up!!
Traci says
Aww sounds like you made it your own and I'm glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to leave feedback - much appreciated! Btw our neighbor's dog loves my white bean and kale soup lol.
Lu says
Made this tonight for dinner… so so good! It has the perfect blend of flavor. I expected the sauce to be a little thicker but still was great! Served over rice. Definitely what we call a ‘do over’!
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome Lu! I'm so glad to hear this one's going into your rotation 🙂 I'll have to include some sauce tips in the future, but I'm glad it was enjoyed. Thanks for commenting!
Jocelyn says
I used a bit more garlic, ginger, and curry paste than recommended and it turned out amazing. This recipe is so quick and simple, but full of flavor!
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome! Yes, this one's easy to bump up those flavors. So glad to hear you enjoyed 🙂 Thanks!
Megan says
I love this recipe! Very flexible with what veggies you use and the flavor is delish! I do sometimes add powdered curry which I like!
The Kitchen Girl says
Awesome! Yes totally flexible and the powdered curry is a nice alternative to the canned curry paste. Glad you enjoyed...thanks!
Courtney says
This was phenomenal!! No one else in my family likes curry very much but everyone ate it. I had to stop myself from having thirds. I skipped the mushrooms (preference) and used spinach instead of kale because I already had spinach on hand. It was sooooo good, and super quick and easy. Used the stove top method.
The Kitchen Girl says
Yeahhh Courtney! I'm so glad to hear you found this recipe AND that the family signed off. Win-win!! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know Woohooo!
Heather S. says
Excellent recipe. I chopped veggies ahead of time so the dish was simple and fun to make. We like “spicy” so I increased the curry paste just a bit. So good! Thank you.
Traci Antonovich says
So glad you enjoyed, Heather. I usually add more curry too lol, but I write the recipes to fit mild spice preferences 😉 Thanks for stopping back by...Cheers!