Thai Red Curry – everything we know and love about Thai food! Big, bold Thai flavours, beautifully fragrant, the creamy red curry sauce is so good you can put anything in it and it will be amazing!
Make the easy 30 minute red curry recipe using my trick to pimp up store bought curry paste. Or go all out and make a Thai Red Curry Paste from scratch! Complete your Thai banquet with Thai Satay Skewers or Thai Fish Cakes to start.
Thai Red Curry recipe
We’d all love to be able to have a Thai Red Curry any night of the week made with homemade red curry paste. Freshly made, like the best Thai restaurants do every day. But it’s simply not viable.
So today, I’m sharing a recipe for how to make Thai Red Curry two ways:
30 Minute quick version using curry paste in a jar – sharing my secret for how to make an AMAZING curry using curry paste in a jar!
From scratch, using a homemade red curry paste
The BEST Thai Red Curry Paste – Maesri
The best Thai Red Curry Paste by a long shot is a brand called Maesri. This is also the brand I use for Thai Green Curry. Other brands tend to have less authentic flavour and are (usually) too sweet.
Sold in small cans for around $1.30 (it’s the cheapest!), it’s available in large grocery stores (Coles, Woolies, Harris), Asian grocery stores and here is the cheapest one on Amazon US.
Don’t worry if you can’t find it. This recipe is still great even with mainstream curry pastes.
How to make jar curry paste better
Store bought curry paste in a jar lacks the freshness of freshly made curry paste. So if you just dump it into coconut milk, you’re going to be sorely disappointing.
So here is how to make curry paste in a jar taste way (way, way!) better:
Sauté the paste in oil with garlic, ginger and fresh lemongrass or lemongrass paste
Adding the fresh aromatics does wonders for improving the flavour!
What does a Thai Red Curry Taste like??
Thai Red Curry, like most Asian curries, has a great depth of flavour. The sauce flavour is complex, it has many layers from all the ingredients in the paste that is then simmered with broth and coconut milk. It’s sweet and savoury, and it is quite rich.
The use of shrimp paste and fish sauce in the curry paste (jar or homemade) provides the saltiness as well as the umami *. However, this red curry recipe does not have a strong fishy or fermented shrimp flavour like some “hardcore” Thai restaurants. Most non-Thai nationals find those versions too fishy for their palette.
While one may assume Thai Red Curry is fiery hot, if from the colour alone, in actual fact it is not! It is actually quite mild, and generally most restaurants tend to stick with the mild level of spiciness though you will find some restaurants that dial up the heat considerably.
* Food-nerd word for savouriness, now officially considered to be the 5th taste in food along with sweet, salt, bitter and sour.
We love Thai Red Curry for the flavour, the creamy sauce, and how can one not love the colour!!
Complete your Thai meal with a starter of Thai Fish Cakes or Satay Skewers with Peanut Sauce, and a fresh Asian Slaw on the side. And while you can totally serve the red curry with plain steamed Jasmine rice, you could take it to the next level with Thai Fried Rice or Coconut Rice! – Nagi x
PS If you’re wondering if the sauce is supposed to look sort of split – yes it is. The oil is actually supposed to separate. I’ve included some general commentary in the recipe notes, for those that are interested. 🙂
Thai red curry
Watch how to make it
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Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
Red Curry Paste – choose ONE:
- 5 – 6 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste (store bought, Maesri best) (Note 1)
- 1 quantity homemade Thai Red Curry Paste
Extras – only for jar curry paste (Note 2)
- 2 large garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger , finely grated
- 1 tbsp lemongrass paste or finely chopped fresh (Note 3)
Thai Red Curry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil (or canola or peanut)
- 1 cup (250 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 400 ml / 14 oz coconut milk (full fat!)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp sugar (white, brown or palm)
- 2 tsp fish sauce , plus more to taste
- 350g / 12 oz chicken thighs (boneless and skinless), cut into 0.75 / 1/3″ thick slices (Note 5)
- 150g / 5 oz pumpkin or butternut squash, cut into 1.5cm / 3/5" cubes (~1 heaped cup)
- 120g / 4oz green beans , trimmed and cut into 5cm/2″ pieces
- 12 Thai basil leaves (Note 6)
Garnishes (optional) & serving:
- Fresh red chilli slices (small chilli – spicy, large = less spicy)
- Fresh coriander / cilantro leaves
- Steamed jasmine rice
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy based skillet over medium high heat.
- Add curry paste and Extras (if using jar paste) and cook for about 2 minutes so it “dries out” (See video)
- Add chicken broth and stir to dissolve paste. Simmer rapidly for 3 minutes or until liquid reduces by half.
- Add coconut milk, lime leaves, sugar and fish sauce. Stir, then add chicken.
- Spread chicken out, bring to simmer, then turn heat down to medium. Simmer for about 8- 10 minutes or until Sauce reduces, the chicken is cooked and the sauce is almost at the thickness you want.
- Do a taste test. Add more fish sauce (or even shrimp paste) to add more saltiness, sugar for sweetness.
- Add pumpkin and beans, stir. Cook for 3 minutes or until pumpkin is just cooked through and Sauce is thickened – see video for Sauce thickness.
- Remove from heat. Stir through a handful of Thai basil leaves.
- Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with fresh red chilli slices and fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Spiciness: Thai Red Curry is not supposed to be crazy spicy but it has a nice tingle to it.
Sauce thickness varies drastically between restaurants – at some it is almost watery, at others it is really thick and seems to be made with coconut cream. I like mine in between – a sauce that is pourable but with a gravy like consistency. I am not a fan of very sweet Red Curry, but if you are, just add more sugar.
Consistency: Thai red curry sauce doesn’t look completely smooth, it looks a bit split because of the oil and that’s the way it is supposed to be.
Stuff in it: There are no hard and fast rules about what goes into a Thai Red Curry. You’ll find Thai eggplant in curries at very authentic Thai restaurants but to be honest, I am not a huge fan of them – they are like tiny eggplants and kind of hard (also not easy to find in shops). I’d say that the two most common vegetables I’ve noticed are pumpkin and green beans or snake beans. While pumpkin may not sound “Thai”, don’t dismiss it, it is spectacular in red curry for both the texture, the sweetness and also because it soaks up the sauce. 8. Nutrition per serving, curry only.
Nutrition Information:
I adore Thai curries
See?
Life of Dozer
It’s lucky he’s so cute because he isn’t going to win any prizes in the spelling bee…. When he bonks his head on the door frame, it sounds hollow. I swear!
Hi Nagi. I love your blog and have recommended it to friends and family. We have a special family birthday tomorrow so I decided to make your delicious sounding Thai red chicken curry. I was delighted to be able to find all ingredients here in the south of the South Island of New Zealand (we have some great Asian food stores these days) including galangal (it was frozen but after thawing I grated it and the fragrance was amazing). I used the dried chillies as recommended and scooped out seeds, however the heat of the finished curry was definitely hot – not mild. I used the whole portion of your red curry sauce – should I have only used a part of it (note I made a double quantity of the curry with 700 gms chicken).
I made this curry and boy it was so hot that us three eaters had to stop within a few mouthfuls. Such a shame as the flavour was lovely. Nagi would you recommend just a tablespoon of the paste if I was to make it in the future?
Also understand that the chillies can vary in heat.
Hi Leeb – I’m sorry to hear that. Did you make this with my homemade curry paste?? Because it’s made with dried chillies it’s definitely not that spicy. 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi yes made with the dried chillies and removed the seeds initially before soaking. Next time I think I will try with a tablespoon of the fresh paste and see how that works. Love you recipes on the whole by the way.
AMAZING!!!!! By far the best recipe I’ve made of yours so far!!! ABSOLUTELY WORTH MAKING FROM SCRATCH!!!
Made this last night. I never follow a recipe…. but disciplined myself this time… well worth it!!! thanks. now become a new staple. xo
WOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Hi Nagi, Its my first time commenting but long time follower 😊 just wanted to say I made this dish a few weeks ago along with the red curry paste and it is truly to die for. The depth of flavour is so good, better than takeaway shops!
Your recipes feature at least once or twice on my weekly meal plans, with household favourites being shredded beef ragu, chicken shawarma, Greek one pot lemon chicken and rice, chicken satay curry, beef rendang and Thai chicken red curry and plenty more!
Keep up the good work!
WHOOT WHOOT! I’m so pleased to hear that Lochani, thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
This looks amazing and when I eventually assemble all the ingredients for homemade curry paste I will be ON THIS! When making Thai curries I’ve often found that my curry sauce consistency doesn’t seem as ‘creamy’ or thick as the ones we get at restaurants. Generally I’ve been using coconut cream, occasionally I’ve tried thickening it with cornflour. Should I have been using coconut milk all along? Not sure exactly what the differences are to be honest…
Thanks Nagi love heading to your homepage and typing in my ‘ingredient-of-the-day’ into the search function to see what gems come up!
Hi Belle! It depends on what your taste is 🙂 Some restaurants serve REALLY thick curry sauce. Authentic Thai curry sauce is actually quite thin, far thinner than served in Thai restaurants in Australia. I like mine halfway, so a gravy consistency. They way it gets thick is by cooking the sauce down which is not a step that most people expect to see in a red curry! If you follow the recipe as is but use cream instead of coconut milk, you’re going to end up with a very thick and creamy curry sauce 🙂 My suggestion would be to try this with coconut milk first then if you want it even richer and thicker, then try it with cream! N xx
The ultimate comfort food! I’d love a big pot of this over some rice and I could just eat it for days. I have been meaning to make my own red curry at home, but there just never seems to be enough time. I’ve got to make some time! I feel you on the recipe posting, I get antsy to post all finished recipes on the same day because I’m so excited to share them.
I am making this for out of town guests on Sunday…I have all the ingredients…I’m making the paste tomorrow. One question…I have your same pan…what are the dementions of your pan??? I would love to use it, if it’s big enough.
Hi Lyn! So sorry for the late response! It’s 27 cm 🙂 N x
This was yummy…thanks
YOU MADE IT??!! I think you’re the first to report in! YAAAAAYYYYY! N xx
I must say it is spicy…but we all enjoyed it!
Hi Nagi,
looks like another terrific recipe. When I did the Thai Mango Chicken recipe, I had a little problem with the amount of chilli paste …. it was pretty hot to my Californian taste buds. Do you think you can moderate these recipes like Thai restaurants out here with mild, moderate, or hot for the amount of chilli paste one might add? Also, in the Thai Red Curry recipe, it only says ” 1 quantity homemade Thai Red Curry Paste” for the amount of Thai Red Curry Paste to add. Thank you again for another great recipe. All best, Brooke
Hi Brooke! Sure thing, that’s a great idea, I will do that 🙂 For this one, it is mild, Thai Red Curry is typically not that spicy at all. Even though it is made with quite a few chillis, the dried Asian chillies aren’t that spicy! N x
Nagi, if I wanted to make this ahead, or larger quatities, how long would it keep in a sealed jar in the fridge do you think?
Hi Greet! I think 3 days at best, freezer is best 🙂 Please see notes for storage! N x
Oh, this sounds so good. When you tossed that red curry paste in the hot pan and as it sizzled, I could almost smell it. Must make it soon.
Dozer must not be fond of curry as he appears to have sleep right through the cook..
You are so right. THAT is The Moment. 😂
Your curry is gorgeous. Like I mentioned before, I’ll never be able to make my own paste. But when we travel I always go to Thai restaurants, so hopefully those curries are made well!
This recipe looks absolutely perfect! And kaffir lime leaves are just… the bomb! Thank you for this 🙂
Aren’t they the best??? They’re like a secret ingredient!!!
One of my favourite curries and I have to agree that homemade is realms above store bought in flavour . This looks amazing Nagi. Great work
Definitely one of my fave curries too! SO GOOD! 🙂 N x
The addition of pumpkin is new to me but would add extra depth and sweetness . . . shall try next time around . . . *smile* in the 60s when you were not born and I a new bride, Thai cuisine came to Sydney via a Danish chef just out of that country: he had his first restaurant right in the middle of Sydney’s red light district in Darlinghurst – ‘nice girls’ did not go ‘there’ but most would visit at least once a month . . . often to eat Thai red chicken curry!
No way!!! A Danish Chef???!!! I love hearing stories of the “early days” in Sydney! 😈 N x
Oh yes: his name is/was Mogens Bay Esbensen, which a few people had to learn to pronounce: a delightful and very talented gay guy who brought fish oil and lemongrass to Australia: how do you think they got here? And, a little less of the ‘early’ foodies days, if you please, Madam: remember I was there and I am here and . . .hmmph!! 🙂 !!!
Looks great, Nagi! Thai green curry next???
YES! On my list!! 🙂 N xx
absolutely nothing better than homemade, this looks like it has deep flavors to it, incredible recipe to say the least
Thank you Albert!! N xx
Wow, this sounds great. I love Thai Red Curry, st my favorite Thai restaurant. But have never had a decent sounding recipe to try. Looking forward to giving this one a try, it sounds yummy. One question though… “one quantity of red curry paste” not sure what that measurement is. Could you enlighten on that please. Thanks for all the effort and time you put into this.
Hi Sue! So glad you like the look of this! I created this recipe around the homemade red curry paste I published on Friday, so it needs one whole batch of that curry paste. 🙂 Here’s the recipe! N xx https://promotown.info/thai-red-curry-paste/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The ingredient “one quantity of red curry paste” is a link to Nagi’s recipe for red curry paste (1 cup’s worth), which is what I’m assuming this refers to.
Thanks Brett! Yep, that’s exactly right 🙂 This recipe has been created to be made using exactly 1 batch of the homemade red curry paste which I published as a separate recipe. N xx
Since pumpkin is hard to find at this time of year, can squash be substituted?
Absolutely! 🙂 Squash is actually a variety of pumpkin here in Australia – we call it butternut pumpkin 🙂 N x
Looks great! But kaffir leaves and Thai basil are too difficult to get…..
😔
Same question as Sue, what is “one quantity of red curry paste” amount?
Hi Ian! This recipe has been created exactly for 1 quantity of homemade Thai Red Curry Paste which I published on Friday 🙂 Here it is! -> https://promotown.info/thai-red-curry-paste/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
This looks so yummy, Nagi. I see myself eating this over rice. Great job describing it!
And I see you MAKING this!!!