Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Vegetables, a perfect vegan dish. Oh..so aromatic and creamy. I and my husband gobbled it up. And the best part, it can be ready in less than 20 minutes.
A few months back, I shared the Panang Curry with tofu and Panang Curry with Chicken recipe. This time it is Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Vegetables. This is a quick and delicious one-pot dish. I made it in the instant pot, but you can easily make it on the stove-top as well. Enjoy this Thai Green Curry with Jasmine rice or Coconut Rice.
There was something exciting for me as I created this recipe. I made my first video recipe and I am so proud of doing it. It is in no way perfect, and I can improve many things. But my husband agreed that it is great for a first production. It certainly was an awesome learning experience, and I suggest anyone thinking about creating a video to take the plunge!
Green Curry Paste
The main ingredients in the green curry recipe are – green curry paste, coconut milk, tofu and mixed vegetables. I used the below paste from the asian market – Ranch 99. This one is vegetarian. Most of the other thai paste’ contain shrimp, so if you are a vegetation, I suggest to always check the ingredients. There are other options available on Amazon. Thai Kitchen is another brand with vegetarian and gluten-free curry pastes.
How to make Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Vegetables?
Once you have the green curry paste, this is a fairly easy dish. Start with heating oil in the instant pot (or a saucepan), and add the green curry paste to it. Then add the coconut milk and make a smooth mixture with the paste. Add veggies of your choice and tofu. Pressure cook for 2 minutes at low pressure and quick release the pressure. Add some garnishing and Thai Green Curry is ready to be enjoyed. This time you get to see the how to video, rather than seeing my step-by-step photos of the recipe. I hope you enjoy that!
Note: Some people mentioned they had trouble with the coconut milk coming out when doing a quick release. If the coconut milk is thin in consistency, then add half of it before pressure cooking. Then add the other half after pressure cooking and bring to a boil on saute mode.
Now some tips!
If you like your veggies crunchy, then skip the pressure cooking and just cook on saute mode for 5-7 minutes. That is how I made my Vegan Panang Curry with Tofu. However after playing more with the pressure cooker, I like the hand off experience with pressure cooking. Just 2 minutes on low pressure and then a quick release. Low pressure works great for veggies that cook quickly.
I lightly pressed the tofu before using and just cut it into cubes to add to the curry. If you like, you can bake or slightly fry it before using. Air frying tofu is another great option too.
You can add any vegetables that you have handy in this recipe – bell peppers, beans, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli or baby corn.
Enjoy this Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice.
Recipe Video
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Tofu Recipe (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 14 oz Tofu Firm firm pressed and cut into cubes
- 19 oz Coconut Milk 1 large can
- 3 tbsp Green Curry Paste
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Roasted Cashews (optional)
- Fresh basil leaves to garnish
Veggies
- 1 Bell Pepper cut into 1" pieces
- 1 Carrot sliced
- 1 cup Broccoli cut into pieces
- 2 Scallion or Green onion cut into 2" pieces
Instructions
- Start the pressure cooker in SAUTE mode and heat oil in it. Add the green curry paste and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add coconut milk. Stir so there are no lumps and the curry paste is mixed well with the coconut milk. (Note: Some readers had trouble with coconut milk coming out when doing a quick release. If the coconut milk is thin in consistency, then add half of it before pressure cooking. Then add the other half after pressure cooking and bring to a boil on saute mode)
- Add all veggies and tofu. Press CANCEL and close the pressure cooker lid with vent in sealing position.
- Change the setting to MANUAL or pressure cook mode on LOW pressure for 2 minutes.
- When the pressure cooker beeps, do a quick pressure release and open the lid.
- Add sugar and lemon juice. Add cashews (optional). Stir the curry.
- Garnish with chopped basil leaves. Enjoy with jasmine rice.
Notes
- I lightly pressed the tofu before using and just cut it into cubes to add to the curry. If you like, you can bake or slightly fry it before using. Air frying tofu is another great option too.
- You can add any vegetables that you have handy in this recipe. Besides the one's I used, other choices are baby corn, beans, eggplant, mushroom.
- Like veggies crunchy? If you like your veggies crunchy, then skip the pressure cooking and just cook on saute mode for 5-7 minutes.
- Stovetop variation: Follow the same steps to cook in a sauce pan. Let the curry come to a boil after adding veggies and tofu. Then simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Thank you – this was very tasty! How can we add a bit of heat to it so it is more like a spicy curry? Thanks again!
Hey Becky – Glad you enjoyed the Green Curry. You can add thai chillies and/or increase the amount of green chili paste in the curry to increase the spice. Topping with chili sauce is also an option. Thank you for sharing your review!
Why would you add sugar?
Hey Kay – I think it helps balance the spices in the thai curry. But feel free to skip sugar if you like. Hope you enjoy the curry 🙂
Hi this looks really good will this recipe work if I also want to add potatoes?
Hey Abby – Thank you! Potatoes take a bit longer to cook, so you will have to cut them in small pieces and cook them a bit on saute mode (~3 minutes), before adding rest of the veggies. Hope that helps!
If we want to double everything (we are making lunches in bulk for the week), how much should we increase time to cook? Or should we just stick with two minutes.
Hey Joey – Just stick with 2 minutes. The instant pot will just take longer to come to pressure. Hope you enjoy it!
Could I just replace the green curry paste for red curry?? Also, it says on LOW pressure but my IP only cooks on HIGH. So would I just cook it for half the time= 1 min?
Hey Ash – Yes, you can add red curry paste and follow the same recipe. Cooking for 1 minute at high pressure sounds fine. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Meeta!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made a batch of butternut squash curry with coconut milk last night in the pressure cooker and the coconut milk totally separated while cooking. I ended up blending it into a soup and it worked ok, but I was hoping you might have tips on how to keep the coconut milk from separating. Also when I quick released coconut milk came flying out of the steam vent. Lol. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Hello Rakefet – thanks for stopping by.
I am not sure I can completely diagnose the issue, however here are potential things – I always hear the pot a bit on sauté, add coconut milk, and then pressure cook for not much time (4 mins is the max I have done with coconut milk in there).
Was the coconut milk thin in consistency? Another option could be to add just a little coconut milk initially to the veggies/meat, and add the rest after pressure cooking. That way you might not have the splatter issue with quick release too.
Let me know how it works out ????
Thank you for the recipe Meeta! Just perfect. It’s important to get off the Indian food loop.. we all enjoyed this awesome recipe..
???????? Keep posting
Great to hear, Khushboo!
Very tasty vegan recipe! Thanks for sharing. Also the video was awesome and hard to believe it was your first one.
Thanks Karla! Glad you enjoyed the green curry 🙂
Hi, this looks very tasty. How could we substitute chicken for the tofu?
Hey…here is the link to the panang curry chicken recipe. You can substitute the green curry paste for the panang paste – https://www.pipingpotcurry.com/panang-curry-chicken-instant-pot/
Can you cook eggplant into this? Like just cut up some eggplant and put it in when you throw in the other veggies? Thanks!
Sure, absolutely. I believe they will cook in the 2 minutes of low pressure.