Vegetable Thai Green Curry | Instant Pot & Stove Top recipe

Best Thai Curry Paste

I often cook my Thai food with ready-made curry paste. They have all of the key ingredients such as galangal (Thai ginger), lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and Thai chilies, making it convenient and easy to bring home your favorite Thai flavors. 

My favorite brand of readymade curry paste is the Maesri brand curry paste. It does not contain fish products, making it good for vegan diets. It is easily available in local Asian Grocery stores as well as on Amazon.

I love that the small 4 oz can has all the authentic ingredients that otherwise can be hard to find individually. In addition to lending authentic flavors to the curry, it also cuts down on the overall cooking time. The other brands that make good curry pastes are Thai Kitchen and Mae Ploy.

The best part of this recipe is all the different vegetables you can add to it. Starting from eggplant to zucchini that almost melts into the curry to the crunchy bites of beans and peppers, this dish has the perfect balance of flavor and texture.

Ingredients

Here are my favorite veggies to add to Thai Green Curry

• Eggplant - Traditionally small green Thai eggplant is added to this curry although they can be hard to find. So go ahead and use Japanese eggplant, small Italian eggplant, graffiti eggplant, or even Indian baby eggplant. The eggplant simply melts in this curry giving a creamy texture and rich taste
• Zucchini - Available year-round in most grocery stores, this mild vegetable simply melds in the flavors and is a great way to add more veggies to your diet
• Mushrooms - Cremini mushrooms or white button mushrooms, these do not overcook in the Instant Pot and add a meaty satisfying texture to the curry
• Snap Peas - These crispy, crunchy beans with tender peas inside them add a sweet flavor, make sure to add them to the hot curry just before serving. You can also add green beans cut into 1-inch pieces or small broccoli florets when snap peas are not in season
• Pepper - I like to add an orange pepper to compliment the green color of this curry, but any color pepper can be added as it adds a nice sweet flavor and crunchy texture to the curry

How to Make Thai Green Curry

Here is the EASY Instant Pot Thai green curry recipe loaded with vegetables with step-by-step photos. Note: refer to the recipe card for the detailed Instant Pot and stovetop recipe.

1: Sauté green curry paste and pressure cook the hardy vegetables in coconut milk (photos 1 - 4).

2: Stir in the crunchy veggies, garnish and enjoy (photos 5 - 8).

Serving

Thai Green curry tastes best when it is served piping hot over a bed of plump jasmine rice. However, I have also served it with steamed basmati rice or brown rice and it tastes equally great with those options too. 

Tips

Having cooked this curry on the stovetop for years and now in the Instant Pot, here are my tips for you:

1. Make sure to sauté the curry paste in hot oil, as it really helps to enhance the flavors of the final dish
2. Use as many colored vegetables as you can. This will make your curry look really beautiful and appealing
3. Adding some of the veggies after pressure cooking retains the crunch in those vegetables for a more satisfying bite 
4. Use fresh Thai basil leaves for added authentic flavor 
5. Feel free to use diluted coconut cream in place of coconut milk

Variations

• Add baked tofu for added proteins 
• If you like to add proteins such as chicken or shrimp, sauté the chicken (cut into thin 1-inch strips) or shrimp along with the curry paste
• For a more soupy curry add ½ cup of vegetable broth along with the coconut milk

Do you enjoy warming curry dishes? You will love these Indian curries that are on repeat in our kitchen:

• Green beans and potato curry - Vegan curry with creamy potatoes
• Mushroom Masala - Easy versatile mushroom curry
• Dum Aloo - Curried baby potatoes
• Chana Saag - Creamy chickpeas cooked with spinach
• Palak Paneer - Easy 15-minute Instant Pot recipe

Here is my quick and delicious recipe for Instant Pot Thai Green Curry. I have also included my stovetop recipe in the notes so you don’t miss out on this must-try homemade Thai green curry!