There’s a really yummy quick eats Thai restaurant that makes everything with fresh ingredients in my town called Pandan. They are awesome because they can make any dish vegan to order and have tofu! My favorite dish has quickly become their Thai Red Curry with Tofu.

As good as it is, I did ask if they baked their tofu truly expecting the answer to be yes. I’m so naive… She said no we fry it. Oh… Of course…

SO, I knew I’d have to try to recreate it at home but BAKE the tofu so that it was no oil. I’m sure that they also use the full fat coconut milk, so I changed that to the light. Of course, the choice is yours – it will be creamier with the full fat, but I’m always going for nutrient density vs. calorie density.

So many veggie choices for a Thai Red Curry

I also chose the same veggies that my Thai restaurant uses – red bell peppers, yellow peppers, green peas, onions, spinach, & fresh basil. You can really use ANY veggies you have on hand. Carrots, a package of stir fry veggies, kale, snow peas, mushrooms, edamame, broccoli, corn, cabbage are all great ideas too. The choices are endless!

Curry is kind of like a soup, so don’t expect it to be thick. You can eat it by itself or serve it with brown rice. I recommend either brown jasmine rice or brown basmati rice. Brown jasmine is my first choice, but I had a hard time finding it at first. It wasn’t in the rice section of my Kroger, but in the Asian section…. really? You couldn’t put the rice in the rice section???

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If you can’t find brown jasmine rice, you can get it here on Amazon. This is the same Dynasty brand that I got from Kroger.

Do you have to use Tofu?

Do you have to use Tofu? Nope, I just really like it. If you don’t want to use tofu, then you can use add a can of white beans or chickpeas (drained) when you add all the veggies.

You also don’t HAVE to do the baking portion. But it does add extra flavor and a little crispy outside to the tofu pieces so I do recommend baking the cubes first. I save time by chopping my veggies while the tofu is baking. But if you are in a hurry, you can just put the tofu cubes in with the veggies.

Thai Red Curry Paste

I also don’t like my Red Curry too spicy, so I only used 1 1/2 tablespoons of Thai Red Curry Paste. You can definitely use more! I’ve seen some recipes use double that amount. Thai Red Curry Paste is found in the Asian section of your supermarket and comes in a little bottle like this:

I also recommend going with extra firm tofu. Firm tofu will work, but they just might break apart a bit when marinating them before baking. I know this because my store was out of extra firm tofu and I had to use firm…. Still tasty though! Definitely NOT silken tofu – that’s for like smoothies.

Vegan Thai Red Curry with Tofu Ingredients

Tofu & Marinade

• 14 ounces extra firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Curry Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon finely grated minced ginger about 1 inch ginger nub
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth low sodium
• 14 ounces light coconut milk canned not refrigerated kind
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow, orange, or green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup green peas frozen
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai Red Curry Paste
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• Drain tofu, wrap in a towel and press out extra moisture. Unwrap and cut into 1 inch cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon water & 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Add tofu cubes and mix until well coated.
• Place tofu cubes on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Then turn each cube and bake for 15 more minutes until lightly browned.
• While tofu is cooking, chop the onion, slice the bell peppers into 2 inch thin slices and grate the ginger.
• In a large saute pan over medium heat, water saute the onion 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add the minced garlic and grated ginger and cook for 1-2 more minutes. Add the coconut milk, vegetable broth, bell peppers, green peas, Red Thai Curry Paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, rice vinegar and stir. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat to simmer for 15 minutes.
• Once the tofu is done baking, transfer it to the curry and mix until combined. Add the spinach & basil and cook covered for 5 minutes until wilted. Serve immediately over brown basmati or brown jasmine rice.

More recipes you might like:

• Slow Cooker Curry Red Lentil Soup
• Perfect Instant Pot Brown Basmati Rice
• Amazon Gift Guide for the Plant-Based Cook
• Vegan Southwestern Potatchos Recipe
• 5 Tips to Start Eating Whole Food Plant Based

If you try this recipe, please comment below and let me know what you thought!

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