Vegan Thai green curry risotto will make you thankful rice exists!
I must confess, I got the idea for curry risotto from my husband. He has some really great F’ing ideas. This vegan thai green curry is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. Don’t take that lightly. I have eaten a lot of food. Serve this curry risotto with crispy tofu and some fresh herbs. There may be nothing better.
I love risotto already, but mimicking the creaminess that cheese usually gives to risotto is hard. However, this risotto is made with a broth of veggie broth, coconut milk and green curry paste. Making it so darn creamy, you will never know that is has no dairy.
Risotto is not difficult, so don’t let it scare you. It is simply a little labor intensive because you have to constantly stir it. However, that is it. If you can stir, you’ve got this. While you make the risotto, you can bake some tofu which takes pretty much no effort. So you can focus on the best thing, this thai green curry risotto.
This curry risotto would be amazing with lots of different veggies and different protein. So follow your heart. I just really wanted to top mine with crispy tofu and cilantro and mint. It is a bit spicy, so I think mint complements it perfectly. It cools if off a bit, which is appreciated!
I have fallen in love with this vegan Thai green curry risotto. It is easy, healthy, and genuinely one of the greatest meals of my life. I want it all the time, and feel like I need an industrial sized bag of Arborio rice, just to have comfort in the fact that I can always make this recipe!
Vegan Thai Green Curry Risotto
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 C. Vegetable broth
- 1 1/4 C. Coconut milk
- 3-4 tsp. Green curry paste, divided
- 1 Tbsp. Oil of choice
- 1 Shallot, chopped
- 1/2 C. Arborio rice
- 3 Tbsp. Rice wine vinegar
- Salt to taste
- Fresh herbs
- 1 Block Extra firm tofu
Instructions
- If you are serving with crispy tofu, start that first. Drain and sprinkle the tofu with salt and place on some paper towels, then place more paper towels on top and then something heavy on it. Press until a lot of the liquid has come out. I like to press it for at least 20 minutes, but the longer the better.
- When ready, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the tofu into small cubes. Then spray a baking sheet with non stick spray and place the tofu on the sheet. Sprinkle with more salt. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 15 minutes or so until the entire cube of tofu is brown and crispy.
- While the tofu is baking, make the risotto. First, in a medium sized sauce pan, whisk together the veggie broth, coconut milk and 2 tsp. of green curry paste. Heat on medium high. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and just keep it at a low simmer.
- Now in another medium or large pot, heat the oil on medium. Add the chopped shallot, and saute, reducing heat as needed until the shallot is getting translucent. 1-2 minutes.
- Now add in the remaining 1-2 tsp. of curry paste(depending on how hot you want it, add 1 tsp. if you only want a little spice, and 2 tsp. if you want a little more). Then stir the curry paste into the shallots.
- Then add in the Arborio rice. Stir to combine. Then add the rice wine vinegar. Stir while the liquid is absorbed. Once the rice wine vinegar has been absorbed by the rice, start to add the veggie broth/coconut milk mixture that should still be simmering, one cup at a time to the rice.
- Once you add one cup of the broth, stir constantly until the liquid has been absorbed, it will take 3-4 minutes. Keeping it at a simmer. Then add another cup and stir constantly until it has been absorbed. Repeat until all the broth has been added.
- The end result should be thick, but very creamy and not super solid. It should still be able to move around. And the rice should be al dente. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Once the risotto and the tofu are done, add risotto to a bowl, top with tofu and fresh herbs. I used mint and cilantro. Serve immediately.
We just finished this for dinner. Excellent recipe, even despite my best efforts to ruin it! (I misread the recipe and poured in half a cup of rice wine vinegar! Rescued it with baking soda–it looked like a fourth grader’s science fair volcano, bubbling up everywhere. But it worked.)
Can’t wait to make this again, thank you for the recipe. 🙂
Yay! I’m sorry you had some trouble. (I have totally dumped a load of black pepper in soup before and had to rescue it). I’m glad it worked out though!!❤😊
I made this last night and loved it! I never make thai food so I’m wondering how to kick up the heat without adding more curry paste which would add more salt than I like to have. So happy to have stumbled on your website!
If you need a bit more heat, tabasco has the least amount of sodium when compared to other hot sauces and such. So, you could always add a few dashes of that without increasing the salt too much!
Cayenne is the best thing to add heat to curry! I start with a few sprinkles and increase from there tasting until I get desired heat!
This was amazing!!!! Thank god for your blog, finally some unique vegan recipes!!! And it was surprisingly SO easy, and I’ve never made risotto before.
I sauteed some veggies and added them to the top, and added hot sauce.
omg soooo good~~ it was total hit in my fmily lolol. Only a little problme tho, I did the recipe for 8 people and 7 cups of vegetable stock and five of coco milk is WAYYYY too much, I ended using only like 1/4 so I recommend only 3,5 cup of broth and 2,5 of coco milk, at least for 8 persons lmao. Also marinating your tofu in something (like soy sauce or tamari) is also very nice before putting it in the oven. Anyways except that excellent recipe, definetly recommend it :)))
This is going to sound really dim but I had assumed the coconut milk is canned and not the carton variety and realised I should definitely check before I totally ruin this whole meal haha! Obviously thai curry made using canned coconut milk makes sense but I’ve never made it as a risotto, what an amazing idea! But that’s why I thought I had best check because this is unchartered territory for me 🙂
You were correct! I used canned coconut milk!
I have been thinking of making thai curry risotto for a while so I was so glad I stumbled onto your recipe. Ive gone through 2 boxed of curry paste this pandemic already, but everyone at home i sick of me make the same ol’ thai curry with rice.
Honestly though, I could eat thai food for the rest of my life and not get sick of it. I love it so much.
____
So I didn’t have rice wine vinegar, or green curry paste, or shallots…..
What I did?
Took a huge knob of coconut oil, I used onions, let them go translucent, toasted my rice till it went a little translucent on the edges (this is how I was taught to make risotto and I only took ur ingredient list with me ooops) , “deglazed” LOL, with seasoned rice vinegar, made a mix of coconut milk, veg stock & red curry paste, and added that in 1/2 c at a time, stirring). I just made up the quantities as I went think the seasoned vinegar made my risotto a little salty… next time I’d either half the stock.
In a separate pan, I cooked mushrooms, babycorn, snap peas, bell peppers, broccoli, etc. and added them on top along with some thai basil.
My tofu disinegrated so we tied it up in a muslin cloth and pressed it flat till we sqeezed as much water as we could out, and then did it on the stove top like tofu chips. >_<
Made this twice, been a flavor banger both times, thanks a lot for sharing!
I was wondering about mushroom as a topping instead of tofu – seems like a natural fit for risotto. Do you think that could work?
Made this last night, subbed red curry paste for the green (what I had in the fridge and the store was out of green…), halved the amount of vinegar and added sake (so 1.5 tbsp of each) when deglazing the pan. I served it with a thai-ish slaw and some garlic-y fried peanuts. It was really tasty and the perfect amount for two people (I’m terrible at eating leftovers…). A super fun riff on risotto– I don’t know why I never thought of doing a curry one!
I’ll definitely make it again. Thanks 😀
I wasn’t sure these flavours would work, but boy was I wrong!! This dish was just delicious , and I have been asked to make it again, soon!!!
Thank you “!!!!!!