Vegan Green Curry is one of my go-to dinner dishes for chilly days. Full of chickpeas, green beans, sweet potato, and carrots, this Thai style curry is warm and comforting, and it's easy to customize it to your liking. This easy recipe is vegan and gluten-free.
Vegan Green Curry
Thai-style curry is one of my all-time favorite comfort food dishes. I'll take it over soup, stew, and chili any day. And I'll take pretty much any kind – red, yellow, green, made with beans, tofu or tempeh, and pretty much any vegetable. I pretty much always have a jar of curry paste in my pantry, and I like to make a big pot of curry when I vegetables in the fridge that I don't know what to do with. It's a great way to clean out the fridge.
Indian curries are usually made with ground spices, while the Thai varieties are made with a paste. While I do love Indian curry, I've never done a great job of recreating them at home. I just can't get the spices right! Thai style curries are easier, thanks to jarred pastes. Green curry paste gets its color from green chilis, basil, cilantro, and lime leaves, and it tends to be milder in flavor than red. Red curry paste can be used if you’d like a little more spice.
How to Make Vegan Green Curry
This recipe is super easy to make.
- First you heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat and cook the onion for about 5 minutes, until it begins to brown.
- Then you add the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute or two longer, until it turns fragrant.
- Next you stir in the coconut milk, vegetable stock, curry paste, and cashew butter.
- Then you stir in the sweet potatoes, green beans, and carrots.
- You bring the curry up to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are fork-tender.
- Serve your curry topped with sliced basil and toasted cashews. I like to serve mine with side of brown rice.
How to Toast Cashews
To toast your nuts, place a large, dry (no oil) frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, add the nuts and cook, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. They can also be roasted in a 400°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them, because they go from no-yet-done to totally burnt in a matter of seconds.
Where to Find Curry Paste
Curry paste can usually be found in the Asian aisle of the grocery store. Green and red are the most popular types, but yellow is also available. Be sure to always check the ingredients, because sometimes fish will be snuck into the ingredients. I like Thai Kitchen's curry paste.
How to Customize Your Vegan Curry
It's easy to play with this recipe and make it your own.
- You can use red curry paste instead of green.
- Broccoli can be used instead of green beans.
- Butternut squash can be used instead of sweet potatoes.
- Red pepper can be swapped for carrots.
- You can use peanut butter and peanuts or almond butter and almonds instead of cashew butter and cashews.
Green Thai Curry with Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium red onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger
- 2 ½ tablespoons green curry paste
- 13.5 ounce can light coconut milk
- ½ cup vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons cashew butter
- 1 large sweet potato cubed
- 2 medium carrots cut into half moons
- ½ pound green beans cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 4 cups cooked brown rice for serving, optional
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves for servings
- 2 tablespoons toasted cashews chopped
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a large pot over medium-heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until it turns translucent and starts to brown a little. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute or two longer.
- Stir in the cashew butter, curry paste, stock, and coconut milk. Then add the sweet potato, carrots, green beans and chickpeas.
- Bring the curry up to a quick boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and let the curry simmer for about 20 minutes. Give it a good stir every so often.
- Remove from heat. Serve over cooked brown rice, if using, topped with sliced basil leaves and toasted cashews.
Lisa Viger Gotte
This looks so good!
Dianne
Thanks so much, Lisa!