This vegetarian Thai green curry with cashew rice is the perfect fast and easy dinner. Fresh and bright homemade Thai green curry paste, crunchy peppers, leafy bok choi all get tossed with creamy coconut milk and served over a bed of cashew rice. This curry is full of lime and lemongrass flavors with a peppery hit of Thai basil to pull it all together.
This recipe is based on using my homemade Thai green curry paste, but if you've only got store bought that's okay too. But please promise yourself that you'll try making your own at some point. It really is so easy and so much better than the commercial stuff.
The beauty of making your own curry paste is that it takes about 10 minutes, but can be the base of about 8 dinners. So, it's a genius meal prep move. This curry was served over a bed of rice with cashews and coconut mixed through, but you can easily switch out the rice for farro or quinoa.
What veggies should you use in this vegetarian Thai green curry?
This recipe uses basic crisper drawer veggies like red onion and red and yellow peppers because I just wanted to keep it really basic. But, if you've got an idea to change this up and use different veggies then let me make some suggestions.
- Broccoli
- Eggplant
- Zucchini
- Tenderstem
- Squash or pumpkin
- Peas
- Broadbeans
You get the idea. There's a lot of choices here. Can you add tofu to the mix? You sure can. I would just make sure that you either bake it or pan fry it to dry it out a little and add some crispy textures to the curry.
Is Thai green curry hot?
Yep. It's the hottest of the 3 (green, red, yellow) curries. While it may be spicy, it's also incredibly fresh and vibrant tasting. It gets its color from using all green herbs and vegetables to make it. Kaffir lime leaves, green chilies, cilantro, and lemongrass all form the base of this curry. If you want to know more about making Thai red and yellow curries then you can check out recipes for the pastes and a little about how hot they all are.
Why you should make your own curry paste
One word- meal prep dream. I make all three curry pastes at once, which only takes about 15 minutes. Then I store them in ziplock bags in the freezer. Add a tin of coconut milk and some veggies (frozen if that's all you got) and some rice, and you've got the perfect easy and fast weeknight dinner.
It's been my go-to for quite a few dinners in a row when I've been working to tight deadlines or just been under the weather. And I promise you, you can serve this curry to your people for 3 nights in a row and no one will complain. They'll be too busy wrapping their hands around comforting bowls of fragrant vegetarian Thai green curry.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING AND COOKING ALONG WITH ME! IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE A QUESTION, I’D LOVE IT IF YOU LEFT A COMMENT AND A RATING. YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ALONG ON PINTEREST, FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO SEE WHAT WE’RE EATING, PINNING AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE SCENES TOO!
Vegetarian Thai Green Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 yellow pepper sliced
- 2 bok choi cut in half lengthwise
- 1 ½ cups red cabbage thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoon homemade Thai curry paste or store-bought
- 1 400 ml tin coconut milk
- 1 sprig each- Thai basil cilantro, mint, finely chopped
- 1 cup whole grain rice
- 3 tablespoon cashews chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon coconut slices optional
Instructions
- In a medium skillet or sauce pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onions. Let the onions sweat for 5 minutes and add the pepper slices. Stir the curry paste through the vegetables and add the coconut milk. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the peppers are soft and cooked. Turn the heat off and add the bok choi to the pan. Cover with a lid and let the bok choi wilt until ready to serve.
- Meanwhile cook the rice according to the package instructions. Stir the cashews through.
- Divide the rice between 4 bowls and spoon the curry over top. Place the red cabbage on the side and finish with the chopped herbs and some slices of coconut.
Leave a Reply