Chicken, Dinner, Food, Recipes, Soups & Stews

Thai Green Curry

Thai Curry is one of our favorite “go to” dishes and so easy to make I almost feel like I missed something after the meal is ready!  You can put whatever you want to into this curry but I’ll give you the recipe for what we used the other night and it was a winning combo!

You’ll need to find some Thai curry paste.  I use the Thai Kitchen brand and they also carry a red curry paste which is spicier than the green but equally delicious.

I also like to use a bit of Thai fish sauce, so you’ll need that on hand as well.

I buy both of these products from either Raley’s or Safeway but if you are having a hard time finding either of these locally, I have added them here to my Amazon store, along with Coconut Aminos which I also used in this recipe.  Coconut aminos is a fermented coconut product, and a great soy sauce replacement!

Ok, so here’s the recipe!

Thai Green Curry

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite size pieces

2 carrots, diced

1/2 a large head of green cabbage, shredded

3 cups crimini mushrooms

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon Thai curry paste (if you are using red paste, start with 1/2 a tablespoon and add more later if you want it spicier – this stuff has a kick!  If you use the green paste, I actually use 3 to 3 1/2 tablespoons because it’s much milder and we like the extra kick – experiment and find the amount that works for you!)

1-2 splashes of fish sauce or more to taste

1-2 splashes of coconut aminos or more to taste

Cilantro

In a large soup pot add the coconut milk and curry paste, mix until blended and bring to a boil.  Turn down to low and simmer for 5 minutes.  While the coconut milk and curry are simmering, dice up your chicken and chop your veggies.  Add the chicken, carrots, chicken broth, fish sauce, and coconut aminos to the coconut milk curry – mix well and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add the cabbage and mushrooms and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the cabbage is tender.  Top with diced cilantro.

As always, Enjoy!!

Sarah Fragoso

Sarah Fragoso is an international best selling author of 6 books, co-owner of the Chico, CA based gym JS Strength and Conditioning, and founder of the Everyday Paleo franchise. Sarah is the co-host of the popular Sarah and Dr. Brooke Show podcast and she also conducts workshops and retreats on the subjects of nutrition, lifestyle and fitness.

Her message is from the heart and she carries a genuine desire to help other families looking for guidance. These attributes have contributed to her successes and provide the drive to keep the discoveries coming.

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91 Comments

  1. Lillian says:

    Yum! I love green curry! 😀

  2. This would be a good one for the pressure cooker!
    Making this tomorrow!

  3. Stephsnie says:

    Yay! Can’t wait to try and so glad to see coconut aminos in the ingredients! I’ve been using it and love it!

  4. andrea says:

    My recipe is much like this but I shred the cabbage and serve the curry over that. I haven’t tried it with mushrooms but that sounds good and I’ll add them next time. Also good with string beans stirred in.

  5. Allright,
    I am really going to do this.. Today I had the boys take some Cordon Bleu we stillhas with them as school lunches nad they kliked it a lot!
    Now I know there were breadcrumbs and chees in there, but it is awhole lot better than the usual chocolate breads they take…
    I will start this thing by letting them finish what is in the house concernign the NOt so good stuff, and then only buy “real Food”

    One big question though.. do you , Sarah have a recipe for Salsa? Here so far I have only found the bottled, sugar added type… and I do NOT THink buying all the food from your amazon staore will be a good idea moeny wise… shipping from the US is just ridicuolusly (Spelling?) expensive…
    okay, ANd maybe I willhave to set up a littel blog some where to chart my progress and to write down all the comments I am sure to get!!!
    Thanks for beig there and helping from FAR away Chico all the way to a small village close to Heidelberg, Germany!

    Cheers, Damgar

    1. Drenka says:

      Hi Dagmar! I live in Frankfurt, so we are close! 🙂 By “salsa” do you mean tomatoes or actual pre-made pasta topping? I am pretty sure that the other day I bought canned diced and whole tomatoes in NETTO and the only ingredients in it were tomatoes and tomato puree so I guess that is the safest option, and they are cheap as well! =P I am not sure about actual bottles of pureed tomatoes, but I would not buy those: I am Italian and my grandma still prepares the canned tomatoes by helself in summer to have it in winter and I can tell u that the “Salsa” is made with the leftover of what she does not use for the canned tometoes (e.g.: tomato skins, seeds, half good tomatoes) and I am sure that is what industries make a well! I’d rather buy canned whole tomatoes and then mash them in the pan to have a smooth tomato sauce! I hope it helps!

  6. Okay, I now did set up a littel blog (<a href="http://paleo-for-us.blogspot.com/&quot; title="paleo for us") and will try to post our progress there…
    Thanks for being so inspiring!!!

    Cheers,
    Dagmar
    PS: So sorry I spelled my OWN name wrong at the end of the last post!! UUUPS ;o)

    1. Good for you Dagmar! I’ll check it out! : )

  7. I have never made Thai curries since they just seem so complex but heck! this looks easy peasy. Definitely going to give this one a go. Anything with cilantro is always a favorite too 🙂

  8. OOOOoh this sounds so good, going to talk to Mommabear and see if we can make this tonight!

  9. Michelle says:

    Sarah can you tell me what cookware you use? I really need to make an investment and need advice. I would have sent this to a contact other than a recipe but could not find one on the site. Thanks so much! Trader Joe’s opening in our area soon…cannot wait!

    1. Hi Michelle! So sorry with the delay for my reply, I have been buried! I have Calphalon and I love it. I was super lucky when I bought my pans because a local store was going out of business and I got 3 pans all for 80% off. Here’s the link to their website http://store.calphalon.com/calphalon-tri-ply-stainless-steel-13-pc-cookware-set/298835 Also, just using good old cast iron is a great way to go. I’m actually going to buy a cast iron wok this weekend – it lasts forever and is super healthy to cook with. Whatever you end up buying stay away from non-stick stuff and go for either stainless steel or cast iron. Good luck!! : )

  10. Shae Rothwell says:

    Just wanted to thank you for all the great recipes and let you know that all the info on brands is so helpful.

  11. Jen Sanchez says:

    Have you ever done this in the crockpot? Seems like it’d be an easy one to throw together in the morning. I made your pork verde this week and it passed the test with my Mexican-Not-So-Keen-On-Paleo husband. Also wondering if you’ve ever done that in the crockpot as I had a difficult time finding the 2 hour cook time.

    1. Hi Jen! I haven’t tried the chili verde in the crock pot yet but I know you could do it! Also the curry would be fine in the crock pot too but I would leave the chicken breasts whole or in bigger chunks and then shred it up after it’s done. Try 5-6 hours on low for the curry and 7-8 hours on low for the verde but make sure you brown the pork for the verde before you throw it in the crock pot! : )

  12. I usually use the red paste, but should try the green. It’s so easy it seems like it’s cheating! thanks for sharing

    1. I feel the same way Shirley!! : )

  13. I LOVE curry. Wishing I had saved the rest of the head of cabbage I used for cabbage rolls the other day instead of giving it to the chickens!

    1. Hi Nikki! Sounds like you have very happy chickens!! : )

  14. Liz Joiner says:

    This recipe looks so good, and easy!!! I was planning on doing some recipe hunting for this weekend (since we are vowing not to eat out for a while) and really craving Thai food. Although, it’s so funny how people’s tastes are so different. Hubby and I can’t stand the green curry, we think it’s way too hot. The red to us is more mellow and almost kind of sweet. 🙂

    1. Mira8 says:

      You are correct; the green is actually a good deal hotter than the red.

  15. Do you think I could sub red cabbage for the green? I have lots and don’t know what to do with it.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Gwen! For sure you could use the red cabbage! Yum!! : )

      1. Natalie says:

        I just made this recipe in the slow cooker (thanks, Sarah!) and used red cabbage instead of green. It tasted delicious but beware.. you will have a distinctly purple meal! 🙂

  16. Vanessa says:

    i made this last night for dinner and it was so filling that my boyfriend didn’t even ask me “where’s the rice?”

    yum!

    oh and did i mention – it took less than 30 minutes? take that rachel ray!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Vanessa! LOL!! Love it… : )

  17. So quick & delicious!! Will be making this many times. Very filling, I didn’t miss having naan with it 🙂 I did add some diced yams, a couple pinches of cumin, and used spinach instead cause that’s what I had on hand.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hey Shi, Sounds delicious!!! : )

  18. Jamie says:

    Made this tonight, great and simple. Added some green, yellow, and red peppers, and also fresh basil.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Jamie,
      LOVE it with fresh basil too!! Yum!

  19. We made this saturday! I am totally hooked on Curry! It was the top recipe of the week in our household, thank you for posting it. I gave you props on my blog and a link bouncing back to this page. Loved it!

    1. Sarah says:

      Thanks so much for the shout out Poppabear! : )

  20. Vicky says:

    I really want to make this, but can I make it without the coconut aminos ? Thank you!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Vicky! yup, just leave it out!!

      1. Vicky says:

        Ok, so I made the Thai green curry tonight (so easy!) and it was missing something – probably the coconut aminos?? What do they taste like? What aisle would they be on at a Whole Foods?
        thank you!

        1. Sarah says:

          Hey Vicky! The coconut aminos give it a bit of a soy sauce/salt flavor. I don’t have a whole foods so not sure where you find it there, I buy mine from a locally owned health food stores but I do have it in my Amazon store you can order if you can’t find it locally! Here’s the link http://astore.amazon.com/everpale-20?node=3&page=3

  21. Hi Sarah, i made this the other night, and it was pretty good. The only thing was, my curry didn’t seem to turn out as thick as yours. Did you boil it down some, or add any kind of thickener?

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedarkboo/5399339907/in/photostream/

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Joseph! What kind of coconut milk did you use? Did you use the canned or the So Delicious? I use Chaokah brand coconut milk that is full fat and makes my curries pretty thick. I buy it at Safeway or Raleys but you can also order it from here if you can’t find it locally. Maybe that was the problem? http://astore.amazon.com/everpale-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=3

      1. Joseph Hull says:

        yeah, i was afriad of that, cause i normally use Thai Kitchen coconut milk, but i didn’t have any on hand, and used some other brand, (can’t remember the name) and it didn’t seem as thick.

        i’m going to make it again this weekend, cause it’s just so good anyway. I’ve never used the Chaokoh Coconut milk before, but i’ll give it a try. 🙂

        thanks! — Joe.

        1. Sarah says:

          Awesome Joe! Let me know how it turns out. : )

  22. Michelle says:

    Can this be done with cooked chicken or do you think it would be too tough by the time the flavors blend?

    1. Sarah says:

      HI Michelle, Yes you can make this with already cooked chicken, just follow the directions as is except add the chicken at the very end after the veggies have cooked and just cook if for a minute or two or until the chicken is warm. : )

  23. Sarah! Crisis, help!

    So I made this and aside from it being too watery (I went a little crazy with the chicken broth… on accident, lol… and the coconut aminos… also on accident) it turned out DELICIOUS! The main problem I had was that it wasn’t spicy AT ALL. And I used the red curry paste. And I used at least 1-1.5 tablespoons. I didn’t want to use the whole jar of paste, so how could I make it more spicy next time without doing just that but by also keeping it Thai?

    And I’ve said it before, but I love your recipes. My friends love them, too, and they keep asking me for them so I linked a couple recently over on my blog. Thanks for bringing good foods into kitchens all the way across the continent! 🙂

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Meghan! I wonder if there’s some variation in the spice level on the paste? I have found the red paste to be pretty darn spicy and we really like spicy so I’m not sure why it didn’t turn out hot! You could always add some hot chili oil to it?? That would keep the Thai flavors but give it some more kick. : )

      1. Hot chili oil? You’re a genius! Thanks! 🙂

        1. Sarah says:

          Your welcome! : )

  24. Veronica says:

    I do this with basil and zuchinni instead of the other vegies. Add the basil in at the very end. I love green curry, but I always seem to put a little bit too much curry. Oops!

    1. Sarah says:

      Is there ever too much curry?? ; )

  25. Loved this! Made it today – I didn’t have chicken so at the very last minute I added frozen (already cooked) tiny shrimp. Delicious!
    Heidi

  26. Hi Sarah,

    Whats your opinion on using the ‘So Delicious’ coconut milk brand? Its the one thats sold in a carton, not a can. Would that make the curry texture not as thick as the one you have here since you use the canned coconut milk?
    I also bought the trader joes brand of light coconut milk in a can but I seem to use it in so many of your recipes that I end up making too many grocery runs!

    1. The So Delicious brand is great for smoothies or pouring into coffee but it would not do this curry justice. I suggest you use either Chao Koh brand or Mae Ploy. both you can buy at major grocery stores typically. If you have a store like Cash and Carry you can buy the stuff by the case for less expensive than by the can. You can also order through my Amazon store as well. Here’s the link! http://astore.amazon.com/everpale-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=3

  27. James McCabe says:

    Just a comment on the Green Curry paste. I was in WholeFoods to pick up the ingredients for this dish today and compared the Thai Kitchen Brand to the WholeFoods brand right next to it. WholeFoods had sugar, soybean oil and other non-paelo ingredients. Interesting that he Thai Kitchen brand was very straightforward! Good call Sarah!

    1. Wow James, that’s crazy! We do not have a Whole Foods here but I am shocked that they would have so much extra garbage in a thai curry paste. The Thai Kitchen is all legit thank goodness!!

  28. I use Mae Ploy brand stuff for my pastes and coco milk. Straight from Thailand. Find it at restaurant supply stores or online http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Green-Curry-Paste-Brand/dp/B000EIE20M
    About as straightforward as ingredients come: Green chile, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, salt, galangal, shrimp paste, kaffir lime peel, coriander seed, pepper, cumin, turmeric.

  29. Wow – this was awesome! I made it for dinner tonight and used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead. This was my first time making a curry and maybe even my first time eating one. My non-Paleo, somewhat picky husband even gave it a thumbs up. Plus it was all in one pot and quick – win, win. I’ll definitely be looking for more recipes like this. Thanks Sarah!

    1. So glad it was a win Carla – that’s great!!

  30. Hi Sarah! Thank you again for sharing yet another wonderful recipe with us.

    I’m not sure what I might have missed, but in my version of this dish, the cabbage seems to have a very strong visual presence in my finished product, whereas what you have pictured seems to be very adequately coated in the sauce. Perhaps it is as you mentioned in a comment response, about the type of coconut milk used. I used the Whole Foods brand, 365 canned coconut milk. I also overdid it on the mushrooms. 😀

    You make it so easy for people trying to live a healthy lifestyle, by having already done the footwork of calculating what’s appropriate for Paleo, and going one step further by turning it into delicious recipes! I’ve used at least five of your recipes so far. I hope your book and other ventures are doing well, you certainly deserve to reap the monetary benefits of your time spent sharing the tricks of the trade with us.

    1. Well, at any rate, the dish is cooking right this moment. I think I’ll simply cook it down a bit more, at the risk of overcooking the cabbage and mushrooms.

      Thanks again!
      -Alex, Cincinnati, OH

      1. Thank you so much Alex for your kind comment – I hope the curry turned out ok!!

  31. Is there like a vegetarian version? Or just don’t add the chicken? Housemates are vegetarian and also awesome cooks. XD Thinking of showing them this recipe.

    1. You could put this sauce on anything – veggies, eggs, you name it!

  32. Sarah says:

    Yum! This was awesome. I didn’t have coconut aminos (and actually have never heard of it) but i just added a little extra fish sauce and it was great. I was hesitant about having mushrooms in a curry but the texture of the mushrooms in the sauce was heavenly! My 4yo wasn’t a fan, but my 2yo (who normally won’t eat anything “weird” and especially green) didn’t want to try it at first but when I made him take a bite he started going “yum, yum” and ate a bunch. Thanks!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hurray Sarah! So glad it turned out yummy for you!

  33. Erin says:

    Mine turned out a little soupy too but totally delicious!!
    I am thinking that the following factors contributed:
    Shrimp vs Chicken
    veg releasing moisture (pre-cooking the mushrooms might help)
    should not cover the dish at all while cooking
    I was worried that the zucchini weren’t soft enough so simmered longer and same for the mushrooms. Perhaps a brief pre-cook would have helped…
    At any rate, I will be doing this again because it was delicious and I can’t wait to eat more of it!!

  34. Tony says:

    Hi Sarah, I just bought Everyday Paleo and tried your Red Curry Beef slow cooker recipe. I followed your recipe to a tee (with 1 tbsp of Thai Kitchen red curry paste), but the result was not spicy at all and didn’t even taste like curry! It still tasted good but I had to add some Cayenne Pepper to spice it up.

    Did I do anything wrong? Any suggestions? thanks!!

    1. Sarah says:

      It could have been that specific batch of curry! I know that I have bought green curry paste from Thai Kitchen and it was so incredibly mild I ended up using half a jar to get it to the spice level that we wanted. I don’t think you did anything wrong! Next time simply try adding a bit more and hopefully that will help. : )

  35. Brooke says:

    Making this today in the crockpot. I can’t wait, I’ve never made anything curry before! I typically just eat it out. Thanks for all the great recipes. I have your book and have already tried several in there. YUM!

  36. Yum, so tasty looking! What can I use instead of coconut aminos? I can’t find it here in Australia 🙁

    1. Sarah says:

      Do you have Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, or Wheat Free Tamari? Both of those will work too! : )

  37. Sharyn says:

    OK, I didn’t have fish sauce or aminos (not even sure where to get those), and I improvised – added sliced red pepper and chopped spinach (just at the end – no real cooking required), as well as a few green chilles. Served over cauliflower “rice.” DELISH! My 8-year-old daughter took the leftovers to school for lunch (darn her).

    1. Sarah says:

      So glad it turned out yummy for you! If you are interested, check out these site for the fish sauce and coconut aminos for future recipes. : )
      http://redboatfishsauce.com/
      http://www.coconutsecret.com/aminos2.html

  38. OMG I just cooked this and it’s amazingly tasty and soooo easy to make! But I overdid with my Mae Ploy brand Green Curry Paste: used two full tablespoons of it (green curries at the restaurant always taste so mild!) and now my lips are on fire! 😉
    Thanks again for sharing this and for your wonderful blog!!!

  39. I love this recipe. So easy and so tasty. One of my go to dishes. With the curry, I always find I have to use a whole jar of the Thai Kitchen to even get a hint of spice. If you want a spicy curry paste Aroy-D makes a great one. And I’m sure it’s the same with Mae Ploy. You definitely only need one tbsp with those pastes.

    Thank you Sarah for putting all your time into this website. I have been using it since I started going paleo/primal in January. I love all the simple and delicious recipes. Cheers!

  40. Mona says:

    I make this several times a week. You have got me ADDICTED! 🙂 Thanks for a wonderful recipe. I need to explore others as well!

  41. This was so amazing and so easy! I will definitely be making this on a regular basis. I hope to have the same luck with the cabbage rolls tomorrow. Thanks for your awesome and tasty ideas!

  42. Megan says:

    This was a great recipe! I used half a cabbage for your Pancit on Thursday, then used the second half of the cabbage for this today (Saturday)! Thanks for all the great recipes!

  43. Jenn says:

    Just made this and it was good! Like others have said, mine was def soupy compared to yours. I used the Whole Foods 365 canned coconut milk and it looked like all the other brands I’ve used but maybe that was it. I added string beans, water chestnuts, and yellow peppers to it too. Also had to add almost have the jar of red curry (used the Thai Kitchen brand!) and it was still mild so I tried to add crushed red pepper flakes to it. Tasted really good but now I have to figure out how to tweak it to get it creamy! 🙂

    1. Jenn says:

      Ugh that’s supposed to say ‘half the jar of red curry’!

  44. Sara N. says:

    Sarah- Do you think you could freeze this recipe? We like to keep some of our paleo favorites ready just in case. Thanks

  45. Samantha says:

    Green is actually hotter than the red – don’t let the colors fool ya. 🙂

  46. Kirby Rainbow says:

    Just made this and it is delicous!

  47. Hello,
    I came here to look for dinner ideas that my kids would like, and the photo in this post caught my eye.
    You are having the same problem with the photo in this post as I am with photos in my posts. We are both using themes on the Genesis framework in WordPress. Do you have any idea why the pictures are being squeezed rather than re-sized? This just started happening on my site and I don’t know why.

    Thanks,
    Keith

  48. Laurie says:

    I absolutely adore curry and cannot wait to make this! I could not find where you stated how many this serves. I am planning on making it for guests tomorrow and would like to know if I need to double or triple. Thanks!!!

    1. It serves 6 (or 4 with big appetites) I suggest doubling or tripling because the leftovers are divine or you can freeze some. ENJOY!

  49. Cherina Clairmont says:

    Made Thai Green Curry on a whim tonight. I had googled for paleo slow cooker and this showed up in a list of 30 options.

    Went to the store to grab a few extras and threw it together. I chopped and precooked my chicken- I’m always chicken about throwing raw chicken into a sauce base… I ended up doubling the green curry and using a whole jar of green curry paste. I threw in some sprouts and baby bok choy that I had on hand. Everything looks smells and tasts amazing. You really can go wrong with thai curry and canned coconut milk and veggies! Mmm! Thanks a bunch!

  50. I have some lamb in the fridge I’d like to cook this week….how do you think it would be with this recipe?!?

    1. I think it would be great but I love lamb, and I love curry so it sounds like a win win in my opinion. enjoy!

  51. Karen says:

    I tried this tonight, and was absolutely delicious. My husband is very picky and doesn’t like a lot of things. I added some broccoli just because I had some, and it sounded good, I also used boneless chicken thighs as it was what I had on hand. My husband had his over regular rice and I had cauliflower rice. This is recipe that I will definitely make again, so easy, and so good.

  52. Celerion says:

    I don’t know if we get something different here in Europe. But all the ThaiKitchen products (except for the coconut milk) are useless to a Paleo eater. They contain normal and/or cane sugar.

  53. Jessica says:

    I made this with the red curry and left out fish sauce because I couldn’t find a Whole 30 compliant brand… home run!! This was amazingggg!

    1. So glad you enjoyed it!! OH, and for future reference, Red Boat Fish Sauce is spot on perfect and SO delicious – no sugar added or any other garbage. : )

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