Thai green curry is not normally vegan — the curry paste contains shrimp paste, and the finished dish is seasoned with fish sauce. This recipe fixes both: a vegan green curry paste and salt in place of fish sauce. Everything else — the coconut milk, the vegetables, the technique — is exactly how my family makes the original Thai green curry, so you lose nothing in flavour.
It’s naturally dairy-free and gluten-free, and once the vegetables are chopped it’s about 20 minutes in the wok. There’s a full video and a step-by-step photo guide below.
What Makes This Green Curry Vegan
Only two things in a traditional green curry come from animals, and both are easy to swap:
The shrimp paste lives in the curry paste itself, so you need a paste made without it — buy a vegan one or make your own (both options below).
The fish sauce normally seasons the curry at the end. Here it’s replaced with plain salt, which is how many vegetarian kitchens in Thailand do it. Light soy sauce or a shop-bought vegan fish sauce also work if you want a touch more depth.
Make or Buy Your Vegan Thai Green Curry Paste
Mae Ploy Vegan Green Curry Paste
This is the key to making a vegan Thai green curry. The curry paste has to be vegan which leaves you with two choices, make your own or buy a vegan Thai green curry paste.
If you are going to buy a vegan green curry paste then the only brand I can recommend is Mae Ploy. This is the closest you will get to an authentic green curry paste without making your own. I’ve tried many other pastes and nothing comes close to Mae Ploy.
Fresh green curry paste is available in most places in Thailand, but when it isn’t Mae Ploy is the one we use! Forget about using a Tesco vegan green curry paste if you are looking for an authentic taste!
Mae Ploy Vegetarian Green Curry Paste is vegan even though sometimes it may not say vegan on the packaging. Just go for the vegetarian version and you will be fine. It’s available on Amazon which is the quickest way to get it.
Make Your Own Vegan Green Curry Paste
The second choice is to make your own paste. This isn’t difficult but it needs specific ingredients, a pestle and mortar and some time.
Below you will find my video for a regular Thai Green Curry Paste. The only difference with a vegan version is that you don’t use any shrimp paste. It’s only a small amount anyway, so you can either just skip it or replace it with a small amount of miso paste or soybean paste. Apart from that it’s exactly the same.
My Vegan Thai Green Curry Recipe
So before you begin you should have either bought your vegan green curry paste or made your own. You’ll see that it’s actually a very easy vegetarian Thai green curry recipe that anyone should be able to make. Below the instructions and ingredients, you’ll find a visual guide to help and there’s a full video as well.
Vegan Thai Green Curry Recipe
Equipment
- 1 wok
Ingredients
- 40 g Carrots
- 30 g Mangetout
- 50 g Courgette
- 40 g Aubergine
- 140 g Red and Green Peppers
- 40 g Cauliflower
- 40 g Broccoli
- 2 Babycorn
- 1 tin Coconut Milk (Chao Koh Coconut Milk)
- 1 tbsp Vegan Thai Green Curry Paste Reduce the amount if you want it less spicy
- 40 g Palm Sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 or 2 Kaffir lime leaves
Instructions
- Cut up all the vegetables into manageable sizes
- Add a small amount of coconut milk to the wok to start the curry
- Stir it around the wok until it begins to boil
- Add your vegan Thai green curry paste
- Mix the curry paste into the coconut milk and let it cook for at least 3-4 minutes
- Add the remainder of the coconut milk
- Rinse the tin with around 200ml of water and add to the curry
- Cook for at least 4 minutes
- Add the broccoli, baby corn and cauliflower
- Add the palm sugar
- Add the aubergine
- Cook for a minute or so to allow the vegetables to soften up
- Add the Mangetout, peppers, carrot and courgette
- Add the salt
- Check the taste, add more salt or sugar if needed
- Continue stirring and let everything boil
- Add the kaffir lime leaves
- Let it cook for a few more moments then turn off the heat
Video
Visual Guide
Adding Tofu or Other Plant Protein
This curry is all-vegetable, which is how it’s usually served in Thailand, but firm tofu turns it into a complete meal. Press the tofu, cut it into 2cm cubes, and either fry it golden in a separate pan before adding it at the end, or drop it in raw with the broccoli. Fried holds its shape better and the crust soaks up the sauce beautifully.
Smoked tofu, tempeh and chickpeas all work too. Add chickpeas early, with the first vegetables, so they take on the flavour of the broth.
Three Tips for a Better Vegan Green Curry
Use full-fat coconut milk. Light coconut milk makes a thin, watery curry — the richness of the coconut is doing the job that meat fat would normally do. Chao Koh is the brand we use.
Give the paste its 3–4 minutes. Cooking the paste in the first splash of coconut milk before anything else goes in is what builds the flavour of the whole curry. Don’t rush it — wait until it smells fragrant and the colour deepens.
Season at the end, then taste. Salt is doing the work fish sauce normally does, so add it late, taste, and adjust with a little more salt or palm sugar until it balances. If the curry tastes flat, it nearly always needs salt, not more paste.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Thai green curry usually vegan?
No. A traditional green curry contains shrimp paste inside the curry paste, and the dish is seasoned with fish sauce. To make it vegan you need a curry paste made without shrimp paste, and salt or soy sauce in place of the fish sauce — which is exactly what this recipe does.
What is the best vegan Thai green curry paste to buy?
Mae Ploy Vegetarian Green Curry Paste. It's the closest you'll get to an authentic homemade paste, and it's vegan even when the label only says vegetarian. It's what we use in Thailand when there's no fresh paste to hand.
Can I add tofu to vegan green curry?
Yes — firm tofu is the natural choice. Press it, cube it, and either fry it golden first (better texture) or add it straight in with the broccoli. Tempeh and chickpeas also work well.
How spicy is vegan green curry?
As spicy as you make it. One tablespoon of paste gives a proper Thai level of heat; use half for a milder curry. Remember that green curry is the hottest of the Thai curries — if you're heat-shy, see my guide to which is hotter, red or green Thai curry.
Is vegan Thai green curry gluten-free?
Yes, this recipe is naturally gluten-free. Just check the label on your curry paste, as a few brands include gluten-based ingredients.
Is vegan green curry healthy?
It's full of vegetables and free of saturated animal fat, so it can be a healthy choice — but coconut milk is rich, so the portion size matters more than the ingredients. Serve it with plain jasmine rice rather than fried rice to keep the meal lighter.
What should I serve with vegan green curry?
Steamed jasmine rice is the classic pairing; rice noodles also work. Finish with Thai basil leaves and a lime wedge. If your curry comes out thinner than you'd like, my guide on how to thicken curry without flour covers techniques that work with coconut milk sauces.
How long do leftovers keep?
Two to three days in an airtight container in the fridge. Reheat it gently on the hob, stirring so the coconut milk doesn't split. It freezes too, though the softer vegetables lose some texture.
