A simple and savory Thai zucchini curry cooks on the stovetop in under 30 mins with cherry tomatoes, red curry paste, and coconut milk. This hearty vegan Thai red curry is also paleo, keto, low carb and gluten-free with easy substitutions. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
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Vegan Thai Curry
Is there truly anything more comforting than a hearty bowl of vegetable curry with coconut milk? It's truly one of the world's finest healthy comfort foods and at least one curry-based dish is always the first item ordered when we go out to Thai food.
After having a bumper crop of zucchini and tomatoes out in our garden, plus my desire to eat more plant-based meals inspired this easy vegan curry recipe with zucchini, fresh tomatoes, and coconut milk. While we used a mix of red cherry tomatoes and small yellow tomatoes from our garden, just using cherry tomatoes from the grocery store will turn out fantastic!
This particular zucchini curry recipe uses Thai red curry paste, each kind of curry has it's own unique flavor, you could, of course, use a green curry instead.
Why You'll Love This Vegan Curry
- The vegan curry recipe takes less than 30 minutes to cook, which is less time than ordering takeout
- It's hearty and filling and even your non-vegan friends will love it!
- You can change it up by using a different type of curry paste or vegetable.
- It's adaptable for most dietary plans, including being gluten-free, low carb, paleo, whole30, and a keto vegan curry too!
And if you're looking for more easy vegan recipes try our vegan ratatouille, pan-fried broccoli cakes, or German mustard potato salad.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1.5 cups)
- 3 teaspoon minced garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 4 cups Zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces (weighed 18 oz)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos, tamari, or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon Sweetener (optional) - brown sugar, golden monk fruit, golden erythritol, honey
Serve with: cauliflower rice or rice
Garnish with: chopped fresh cilantro or basil slivers
We love to use Trader Joe's frozen minced garlic and minced ginger, it makes it easy to throw together dishes like zucchini curry at the last minute!
Regular soy sauce works just fine in this recipe, but if you're also eating gluten-free or low carb, then you'll want to use GF tamari or coconut aminos in place of the soy.
How to Make Vegan Curry
Putting together an easy vegan curry is a piece of cake! You'll just need to prep the ingredients, saute, and simmer until the tomatoes break down. Then add the coconut milk and red chili paste to finish the dish.
Prep
Since this is a quick and easy vegan curry that comes together fast, you'll want to prep all the ingredients and have them ready to go. On a clean cutting board, dice and slice the vegetables as mentioned in the ingredient list.
Saute the Vegetables
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the coconut oil. Once the coconut oil is melted, add the chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and ginger, cooking for 1 more minute.
Add in the chopped zucchini and halved cherry tomatoes with ¼ cup water. Cook the dish covered for 5 more minutes until the vegetables are soft and the tomatoes are breaking down.
Remove the lid and turn up the heat to medium-high. Finish cooking the vegetables until the zucchini is all the way cooked through (about 3+ minutes more). There will be some liquid on the bottom of the pan but some of it will have cooked down.
Add the Seasoning
Add the ½+ can of coconut milk, using mostly the coconut cream and saving the remaining can for another use. Also add in chili paste and soy or coconut aminos.
Add in a pinch of sweetener to taste, if you're using it. Either brown sugar works well or to keep your vegan Thai red curry sugar-free, use monk fruit golden.
Sauté 3-5 more minutes until the curry is at the desired consistency.
Serve
Garnish the zucchini curry with chopped fresh cilantro or fresh basil slivers, if desired.
Serves 4. Enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Add more than a ½ can of coconut milk if you want the zucchini curry to have a little more sauce.
- Likewise, if you think the curry has too much liquid, you can also simmer the dish a little longer to get the consistency you want.
- While sweetener is optional, adding just a touch adds so much flavor! Depending on your personal preferences or dietary concern, golden monk fruit, golden erythritol, brown sugar, or honey will all work.
- Use a green curry instead of red Thai curry, if desired.
- Add more quick-cooking vegetables alongside the zucchini for variety.
- Use coconut aminos or tamari to keep this gluten-free, paleo, and low carb
- Serve with rice, sweet potatoes, cauliflower rice, or beans
Common Questions
What to Eat With Vegan Curry?
While you can definitely eat zucchini coconut curry like a stew right out of the bowl, here are a few popular ways to eat this easy vegan curry recipe:
- White or brown rice
- Quinoa
- Cauliflower rice
- Zoodles
- Roasted Vegetables
- Beans
Is Vegan Thai Curry Healthy?
Here are a few dietary adaptions you can do to make this a vegan Thai red curry without sugar, extra carbs, and gluten.
Keto/low carb curry- Skip the sweetener and use monk fruit or erythritol to sweeten the dish. Be sure to use coconut aminos or wheat-free tamari instead of soy. Serve with cauliflower rice instead of white/brown rice.
Gluten-free- use coconut aminos or wheat-free tamari instead of soy.
Paleo/Whole30- Use honey to sweeten the zucchini Thai curry or skip it completely. Use coconut aminos or wheat-free tamari instead of soy. Serve with cauliflower rice or sweet potatoes.
Can I Double the Recipe?
As long as you're using a large enough container like a Dutch oven, you can definitely double the vegan red curry recipe. This keeps up to 4 days in the fridge, so it'd a great dish to meal prep for lunches too.
More Vegan Recipes
Please leave a review if you make our vegan red curry recipe! We love feedback from readers, plus it helps others too.
Come connect with us on Instagram! Be sure to tag us (wholelotta.yum) when you make a recipe. You can also find us on Facebook, and Pinterest.
And pin the recipe for later on Pinterest so you can easily get back to it!
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Recipe
Vegan Thai Zucchini Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced (about 1.5 cups)
- 3 teaspoon minced garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 4 cups Zucchini cut into bite size pieces (weighed 18 oz)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoon red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon coconut aminos tamari, or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Sweetener optional
- Garnish with: chopped fresh cilantro or basil slivers
Instructions
- Since this is a quick and easy vegan curry that comes together fast, you'll want to prep all the ingredients and have them ready to go. On a clean cutting board, dice and slice the vegetables as mentioned in the ingredient list.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the coconut oil. Once the coconut oil is melted, add the chopped onion and sauté for 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and ginger, cooking for 1 more minute.
- Add in the chopped zucchini and halved cherry tomatoes with ¼ cup water. Cook the dish covered for 5 more minutes until the vegetables are soft and the tomatoes are breaking down.
- Remove the lid and turn up the heat to medium-high. Finish cooking the vegetables until the zucchini is all the way cooked through (about 3+ minutes more). There will be some liquid on the bottom of the pan but some of it will have cooked down.
- Add the ½+ can of coconut milk, using mostly the coconut cream and saving the remaining can for another use. Also add in chili paste and soy or coconut aminos.
- Add in a pinch of sweetener to taste, if you're using it. Either brown sugar works well or to keep your vegan Thai red curry sugar-free, use monk fruit golden.
- Sauté 3-5 more minutes until the curry is at the desired consistency.
- Garnish the zucchini curry with chopped fresh cilantro or fresh basil slivers, if desired.
- Serves 4. Enjoy!
Notes
- Add more than a ½ can of coconut milk if you want the zucchini curry to have a little more sauce.
- Likewise, if you think the curry has too much liquid, you can also simmer the dish a little longer to get the consistency you want.
- While sweetener is optional, adding just a touch adds so much flavor! Depending on your personal preferences or dietary concern, golden monk fruit, golden erythritol, brown sugar, or honey will all work.
- Use a green curry instead of red Thai curry, if desired.
- Add more quick-cooking vegetables alongside the zucchini for variety.
- Use coconut aminos or tamari to keep this gluten-free, paleo, and low carb
- Serve with rice, sweet potatoes, cauliflower rice, or beans
Jessica King says
Very flavorful! I added chickpeas for protein and used the whole can of coconut milk. I wanted to have a lot of sauce to dip my naan bread in. Thanks for this easy recipe that used a bunch of vegetables from our garden.
Michelle Seligson says
Can this curry be frozen and for how long?
WholeLottaYum says
Hi Michelle, it should be fine to freeze for up to 3 months! Jen
Emmett says
There's no mention of protein in here - would probably go great with chick peas or tofu. As a newbie home chef, I didn't think about it and left us a bit hungry!
hal says
did you add the vinegar? not mentioned in the directions.
Andrew says
There is no place in the recipe where you direct to add the red curry paste. I know where it goes, but I thought I would let you know. Thanks, this looks like a delicious way to use the beautiful vegetables given to me by a friend.