This Thai-inspired coconut lime curry has quickly become my new favorite winter curry. It’s cozy, comforting, and everything I want when it’s freezing out.
Now two things. This coconut lime curry is spicy (as a good red coconut curry should be). Secondly, there is a fair bit of prep work for this curry (cue lots of chopping), but it’s totally worth it. Beyond that, this recipe is super straightforward: the frying process goes fast, and the simmer time is hands-off.
Serve this curry with sticky white rice or flatbread, and store any leftovers in the fridge for later. Speaking of leftovers, feel free to double the recipe to meal-prep this as dinner for the week – it tastes better the longer it sits and reheats so easily!
Coconut Lime Curry Ingredients
Outlining everything you’ll need for this curry – along with a few notes and brand suggestions.
- High-protein tofu or extra-firm tofu: I highly recommend Hodo Tofu’s extra-firm tofu – it’s super versatile.
- Coconut milk: Make sure to use full-fat canned coconut milk!
- Shallots
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Lemongrass
- Red curry paste: I highly recommend Mekhala Thai red curry paste. Most grocery stores carry it, including Whole Foods and Sprouts.
- Makrut lime leaves: I’ve tested this recipe with and without the makrut lime leaves, and they make a massive difference in the flavor profile. The grocery stores near me carry makrut lime leaves next to the other packaged herbs.
- Thai basil: If you can’t find Thai basil, cilantro is a great substitute.
- Limes
- Soy sauce or a gluten-free alternative
- Coconut sugar: Swap in honey or regular granulated cane sugar.
- Sweet paprika: This is purely to add a rich red hue to the curry – so it actually looks like a red coconut lime curry, as opposed to a beige curry!!
Suggestion & Notes
- Serve this curry with sticky white rice or flatbread, and store any leftovers in the fridge.
- Feel free to double the recipe to meal-prep this as dinner for the week – it tastes better the longer it sits and reheats so easily!
- Swap in any protein for the crispy tofu – shrimp and chicken are both great substitutes if you eat meat/seafood and would pair super well with this curry. Basically just use this curry as a base and throw in a protein of choice – if you’re using chicken or shrimp, I would pan-fry it.
So excited for you to make this curry – don’t forget to leave a starred review and rating. If you have any questions, leave a comment below or send me a message on Instagram.
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Spicy Coconut Lime Curry
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Thai
Description
This spicy coconut lime curry is a blend of aromatics like lemongrass, Thai chili, sweet shallots, and coconut milk, along with crispy tofu, for a spicy and comforting curry perfect for winter!
Ingredients
Crispy Tofu
- 1 block (10 oz / 284 g) high-protein tofu or extra-firm tofu
- Avocado oil and kosher salt
Aromatics
- 3 large shallots, finely minced (100 g)
- 5 cloves garlic, finely grated or minced (10 g)
- 2” piece ginger, finely grated or minced (20 g)
- 3 stalks lemongrass, finely minced (10 g)
- 2 tbsp(38 g) red curry paste
Other Ingredients
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 tbsp (15 g) coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp (15 g) soy sauce
- 1 can (13.5 oz / 400 g) coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 makrut lime leaves, torn
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- 1/2 cup fresh thai basil leaves, whole
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a pan with parchment paper.
- Bake the tofu. Break the tofu into bite-sized chunks*, and dump onto the prepared sheet pan. Drizzle over a generous amount of avocado oil and kosher salt, toss to coat, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until crisp and golden.
- Make the curry – bloom the aromatics. Add a generous amount of avocado oil to a deep pan and heat on medium heat until the oil shimmers, then add in the shallots. Saute the shallots until translucent, then add in the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and red curry paste. Saute for an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Make the curry – add the remaining ingredients and simmer. Lastly, add in the paprika, kosher salt, coconut sugar, soy sauce, coconut milk, water, and lime leaves. Stir well to combine, and let simmer until it reaches a soft boil, about 2-3 minutes. Then dump in the tofu and stir to coat. Partially cover the pan, reduce the heat to low, and let the curry simmer for 8-10 minutes until thickened. This will also give the makrut lime leaves time to steep into the curry.
- Finish and serve. Right before serving, remove the lime leaves, and stir in the lime juice, lime zest, and basil leaves. Adjust for salt as needed. Serve the curry on top of white rice or with flatbread.
Notes
*Tearing the tofu instead of chopping it creates tons of little edges and crags that get super crispy and golden as the tofu bakes.
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