Easy Coconut Curry Base Recipe
This is one of the base recipes featured in our Whole Life Meal Plan. This easy coconut curry base recipe is a staple for quick, flavorful, and nutritious weeknight dinners. Use different vegetables, proteins, and curry pastes to change the recipe to YOUR taste!
Servings: 4 cups
Ingredients
Base Recipe
- 12-16 ounces protein food (tofu, chicken, etc.) or mushrooms
- 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk, divided
- 2-3 Tablespoons Thai curry paste
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1-2 Tablespoons fish sauce (sub tamari or soy sauce)
- 2 cups assorted vegetables*
- ¼ cup roughly torn Thai basil leaves
- 1 medium lime (~2 Tablespoons juice)
Instructions
- In a 3-4 quart saucepan, bring ½ cup coconut milk to a boil. Add curry paste and stir. Continue cooking over medium high heat, stirring until thick and bubbling.
- Add the remaining coconut milk, broth, sugar, and fish sauce. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
- Add the protein food and any hard vegetables and continue to simmer. As the vegetables soften, add medium-firm vegetables, cook for a few more minutes, then soft vegetables. Continue to cook until all vegetables are crisp tender and protein is cooked through, ~8-10 total minutes.
- Turn off heat and stir in the Thai basil and lime juice. Serve over quinoa, brown rice, or Jasmine rice and add toppings to taste. Enjoy!
Notes
*Vegetable Recommendations
Hard Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans, onion, sweet potatoes
Medium Vegetables: baby corn, bell pepper, bok choy stems, eggplant, mushrooms, snow or sugar snap peas, summer squash, zucchini
Soft Vegetables: bean sprouts, bok choy leaves, thawed from frozen shelled edamame, leafy greens (double the amount because it cooks down so much), shredded cabbage, water chestnuts
Toppings to YOUR taste
- Toasted nuts or seeds
- Chopped fresh basil or cilantro
- Lime zest and/or juice
- Chile oil or hot sauce
- Black pepper