This simple Thai-inspired Green Curry Noodle recipe uses a creamy coconut sauce with tofu, Thai green curry paste, and vegetables. It’s vegan, gluten-free and anti-inflammatory.
Thai Green Curry Noodles
These vegan Green Curry Noodle Bowls are so good and comforting. This dish is perfect for any anti-inflammatory diet since it’s high in protein, gluten-free, and dairy-free. If you’re trying to eat more plant-based meals but also get enough protein, you’ll love this recipe! For more Thai noodle recipes, you’ll love these Drunken Noodles and Pad Thai.
Green Curry Noodle Ingredients
- Noodles: For this green curry recipe, buy flat rice noodles, like A Taste of Thai’s linguini.
- Tofu: Use firm or extra firm tofu. It soaks up the green curry flavors and is an excellent vegetarian protein source.
- Vegetables: I used a red bell pepper and baby bok choy, but this dish would work with a variety of vegetables.
- Oil: Use any neutral oil such as vegetable oil, avocado oil, etc.
- Salt and Pepper season the tofu.
- Thai Green Curry Paste: Jarred green curry is an amazing shortcut—it’s packed with flavor, and the only prep work is opening the jar! Thai Kitchen’s curry paste is widely available at most supermarkets, but if you have an Asian market near you, it’d be worth checking out their curry selection.
- Light Coconut Milk creates a creamy sauce and balances out the spiciness of the curry.
- Lime Juice brightens the dish and complements the creamy coconut milk and spicy curry.
- Fish Sauce is a complex, savory sauce that adds depth to the curry sauce. It doesn’t taste overly fishy, and I highly recommend using it. Check labels for vegan and vegetarian, I recommend Halo brand
- Light Brown Sugar balances out the spiciness and adds a little sweetness.
- Basil: Stir in fresh basil leaves at the end for a peppery, sweet flavor that adds depth to the green curry.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Green Curry Noodles
- Make the Rice Noodles: In a large bowl, cover the rice noodles with very hot water, stirring to ensure they don’t clump. Let soak for 25 minutes and then drain.
- Drain the Tofu: Cut the tofu into cubes and lay them on paper towels. Cover them with more towels and let drain for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Prep the Veggies: Core the bell pepper and thinly slice it. Trim off the ends of the bok choy. Slice the stems and keep the leaves whole.
- Cook the Tofu: Pour the oil into a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the tofu, season with salt and pepper, and cook until golden on most sides.
- Add the Curry Paste: Make a well in the center of the skillet and add the curry. Fry, stirring constantly, for a few seconds until fragrant. Then, pour in the coconut milk.
- Curry Sauce and Bell Pepper: Stir in the lime juice, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Bring it to a simmer, and then add the red bell pepper strips. Continue simmering until the peppers are crisp-tender.
- Noodles and Bok Choy: Add the noodles and bok choy and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the basil leaves and serve.
Variations
- Noodles: If you can’t find rice noodles, replace them with linguine or any other long noodle.
- Rice: If you’d rather serve your green curry with rice, skip the noodle step and cook a pot of white rice or brown rice.
- Green Curry Chicken: Use diced chicken breasts instead of tofu.
- Vegetables: Substitute either of the veggies with onions, mushrooms, or snow peas.
- Want it spicier? Add more curry paste or drizzle sriracha over your noodles.
- Herbs: Swap basil with cilantro or mint.
What to Serve with Green Curry Noodles
This easy green curry noodle recipe is a complete meal packed with tofu and veggies. If you want to make a side dish, this Asian Cabbage Mango Slaw would complement it nicely. The cool, refreshing ingredients would balance out the curry’s spiciness.
Storage
Store these vegetarian curry noodles in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Microwave the leftovers until warm. You can also freeze the dish for up to 3 months and thaw them in the fridge overnight.
Green Curry FAQs
Thai curry paste is a mix of chilies, aromatics, herbs, and spices. The primary difference between red and green curry paste is that red curry uses dry red chilies, and green curry uses fresh green chilies. Green curry paste also has lemongrass, garlic, and limes.
Green curry is typically the spiciest type of curry. Thai Kitchen’s green curry is milder than most, but some other brands can be spicier. If there isn’t enough heat, add more curry or serve your noodles with sriracha.
These healthy green curry noodle bowls have many health benefits and are great for various diets.
Gluten-free because of the rice noodles
High in protein with 15 grams per serving
Dairy-free because of the coconut milk
Rich in vitamins and minerals from the bok choy and bell pepper
Vegetarian and vegan
Anti-inflammatory ingredients, like curry, bell pepper, and bok choy
More Curry Recipes You’ll Love
- Red Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp
- Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
- Indian Shrimp Curry
- Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry
- Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
Green Curry Noodles
Equipment
- wok or large skillet
Ingredients
- 6 ounces flat rice noodles, such as A Taste of Thai linguini
- 16 ounces firm tofu
- 1 red bell pepper
- 12 ounces baby bok choy
- 1 teaspoon neutral vegetable oil
- Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
- 3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste, such as Thai Kitchen
- 1 1/4 cups canned light coconut milk
- Juice of 1 lime, 2 to 3 tablespoons, plus more lime wedges for serving
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce, check labels for vegan and vegetarian, I recommend Halo brand
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Put the rice noodles in a large bowl, cover with very hot tap water, and stir to ensure they don’t clump. Let soak for 25 minutes, then drain.
- Meanwhile, cut the tofu into 1/2-inch cubes. Lay the cubes on a layer of paper towels, then cover with another layer and let drain for 10 to 15 minutes while you chop the vegetables. Remove the core from the bell pepper and thinly slice it. Trim the ends of the bok choy, slice the stems, and leave the leaves whole.
- In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, warm the vegetable oil. When it shimmers, add the tofu and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until golden on most sides, about 5 minutes. Create a well in the center of the skillet and add the curry paste.
- Fry, stirring constantly, for just a few seconds, until fragrant (it may start spitting), then add the coconut milk.
- Add the lime juice, fish sauce, and brown sugar, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, then add the red pepper and cook until the pepper is crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the drained noodles and bok choy, and cook, stirring and tossing often to ensure even cooking and to prevent clumping, until the noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the basil leaves and serve right away.
This was a delicious Thai dish that tasted better than the Thai restaurant food we had last time!
Thanks Misti!
I don’t do spicy what can I use to replace the curry?
Good, but needed spices pumped up. Made with onions, mushrooms, peppers and broccoli. Added a 4th tablespoon of curry paste, extra fish oil, some tamarind concentrate and some chili paste for heat.
I am not a fan of coconut milk because of the inherent sweetness and coconut flavor. What is a good sub that will still produce a solid flavor profile? Thanks much!
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make !!
Favorite, making it again and using what ever veggies I might have–I use linguini instead of rice noodles as I don’t have the nack of getting rice noodles cooked correctly.
I made the recipe as is written, and it was delicious! I’ll be making this again.
The flavor of this is very good; however. it you soak the noodles for 25 minutes, they end up being very very soft and mushy.. Also I think it could use more sauce.
Another winner! Like others I subbed chicken and added extra veggies but the rice noodles and sauce were delish – everyone had seconds (maybe somewhat defeating the purpose of ST lol..)
Very easy & delicious!!
This was so good, my new fav recipe! Like others mentioned in their reviews, I swapped tofu for chicken and it was delicious! Thank you for such a great, healthy dinner!
Made this last night with Chicken and it came out great. I may try with shrimp next time.
So delicious and easy to make. I brought to share at a small dinner and the host asked for the recipe 😊
Glad everyone enjoyed it!
I made this last night and I’m obsessed. I don’t like tofu so I used pre cut chicken and it was so good. This will definitely be on our rotation this summer.
Another delicious ST dish! I love curry and this recipe was no exception. I subbed shrimp in for tofu and snow peas instead of bok choy, just because that’s what I had on hand. For the rest made per the recipe! I had a huge serving for dinner and two more beautiful containers of leftovers await me this week 🙂
Another tasty delicious quick unusual meal. We really enjoyed it. Thank you Gina!
This was definitely a hit at our house tonight. Will definitely fix it again soon. Thinking of trying it with shrimp as another option.
great!
Can I use arugula instead of basil? How much chicken to replace the tofu? Can I use lemon instead if lime? I used to work with Indian ladies who told me to aways fry the spices, in this case the the green Thai curry paste? Would you advise me please. This will be something new for me. Not the curry but the bok choy and fish sauce.
Thank you 😊.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but you should always “fry” your dry spices to wake them up before adding other things if possible.
Was amazing! Added fresh mushrooms as well. Will make again on a regular basis.
This was so good! Just the right amount of heat and the lime and fish sauce were delicious. Definitely adding this to the rotation – thank you!
I’ve loved many recipes on this site. This one was just so so.
Really good, this recipe is a keeper, I added shrimp for extra protein
We made this with the vegetables we had on hand (red and yellow bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, kale and onion), chicken breast and tamari sauce because it was a last minute dinner idea. So we didn’t follow the recipe exactly. But it turned out yummy. My whole family enjoyed this very much. We will make it again with tofu when our vegetarian kid is home for the summer.
Can you substitute red curry paste for green if you want to turn the heat down?
Sure!
It’s also possible to buy vegan fish sauce. Halo is one brand. It’s good. As already pointed out by several people, calling the recipe vegan using fish sauce is wrong, but fortunately, it’s a correctable mistake. Has the recipe been changed yet?
How is this vegan if you use fish sauce? It sounds amazing but you should state alternatives for a true vegan meal
What can I use instead of fish sauce? I really don’t like fish sauce.
Re: fish sauce – coconut amino or soy is what I use as an alternative. Omitting the fish sauce and replacing it with soy or coconut amino makes this vegan as well since the primary ingredient in fish sauce is fermented fish.