A veggie-laden, Thai-inspired green curry that you get on the table in about 15 minutes, using no-chop, no-prep frozen spinach and edamame beans, along with purchased carrot noodles and fresh baby bok choy.

This one is fast, filling, and flavourful – just like its tagline twin, our 15-Minute Thai Chickpea Curry, which is a red curry to this green one.

Ingredients

While there’s a relatively long list of ingredients in this green curry, most of them require no preparation at all and can be measured right into your wok or frying pan.

Vegetables…lots of them

Let’s start with the vegetables. We’re making a green curry in more ways than one, with three powerhouse greens: spinach, edamame beans, and baby bok choy. We’re throwing in carrot “noodles” for a zazzle of colour. We bought them prepared, with our eyes on the clock, but if you have the time – and a spiralizer, go ahead and noodle your own. Alternatively, slice them into thin matchsticks.

All told, we put about 6 cups of veggies in. You could use a little less if you like, as few as 4 cups would be fine, or vary the proportions to suit your taste and what’s on hand. Just be sure to use vegetables that have equal cook times, or be prepared to add them in in stages.

Thai green curry paste

Thai green curry paste is a mix of dried and fresh spices, green chili peppers, and other ingredients such as lemongrass, shallots, and galangal, a member of the ginger family. No two homemade recipes are going to be alike, nor are all store-bought recipes.

We like the Cock Brand Green Curry Paste, which is made from fresh green chilis, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, salt, galangal, cumin and coriander seeds. It’s a lot spicier than standard supermarket brands like Thai Kitchen.

We use just one teaspoon of curry paste, but if you’re using Thai Kitchen, you’ll likely want several tablespoons as it's that much less flavourful. Read the label on your curry paste to check for the recommended amount. And remember, you can always add more – so start with a bit and go from there. 

If you find the flavour lacking, add extra ginger (or galangal if available), lemongrass, green chili, and coriander seeds.

Coconut Milk

This recipe uses canned coconut milk. We prefer the full fat version, not the light version. You should be able to find coconut milk in the Asian section of your grocery store. When you open the can, you might find a thick layer of cream on top and more water-y milk underneath that. Sometimes, depending on the brand, you’ll find that the coconut milk is a more homogenous mixture. Either way, you can just dump it can right into the pot – just stir it until smooth if necessary.

This is a 1-pot dish…

We made this in our trusty wok, but you can use any large frying pan. Start by heating the coconut oil and then frying the curry paste and fresh ginger for a few minutes. After that you can literally just dump in the remaining ingredients, stir, and heat through.

Check the seasoning and add more soya sauce if it needs salt, some more orange juice for brightness (or lime juice works too), and no-fish fish sauce (or the real stuff if you’re not vegan) to add a funky depth to the the soy and citrus.

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