Vegan Thai Butternut Squash Curry

A heaping bowl of bright orange butternut squash swimming in creamy coconut curry is just the welcoming kind of quick Thai meal to warm the soul on chilly nights. It's also gluten free and cook in less than 20 minutes.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan

Keyword butternut squash recipes, thai curry

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Servings each

Calories 592kcal

Author Agile Test Kitchen

Equipment

1 3 qt saucepan or larger with a lid to cover
1 Heatsafe stirring utensil
1 cutting board and knife
1 Vegetable peeler

Ingredients

1 Tb oil
1 clove garlic minced
1 Tb yellow curry paste with no shrimp paste, such as Mae Ploy; see Note 1
1 ea small onion, diced cut into a large dice, this is a bout 1 cup of chopped onion
1 lb butternut squash cut into 2 large 2" chunks; this is about 4 cups of chopped squash; see Note 2
1 can coconut milk 13.5-14 oz
1/2 c vegetable stock
4 tsp coconut sugar or 2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
1 ea red bell pepper cut int 2" chunks
2 c baby spinach loosely packed, about 2 handfuls

Optional

1/4 tsp turmeric

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium high heat in at pot (at least 3 qt size). Add the curry paste, onion, and garlic. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes to bloom the flavors.
Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, butternut squash, and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer (low bubble). Then lower to medium heat.
After 6-8 minutes, add the red bell pepper. This is about halfway through cooking of the butternut squash which will take 10-15 minutes to cook through, depending on the size of the chunks.
Add the turmeric if using (to add a nice yellow color to the coconut milk).
t's also time to taste. Is your butternut squash sweet? Do you have enough salt? Add more sugar, salt, or tamari as needed. See Note 3 if your squash does not taste so great, and you need a flavor boost.
After 5-8 minutes, the red bell pepper and butternut squash should be tender. Add the baby spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes.
The baby spinach should just be wilted and still bright green. Serve hot with jasmine rice, cauliflower rice, or rice noodles.

Notes

Use a yellow curry paste or other colored curry paste that does not contain any animal products such as fish sauce or shrimp paste, if you would like to keep this recipe vegan. I used the Mae Ploy brand which tends to be salty, and thus requires less additional salt/tamari. I've found the Thai Kitchen brand to be not salty at all and requires double the addition of salt or tamari.
If you don't care to peel and cut butternut squash, try using delicata squash. You don't have to peel it, and it is much easier to cut. You can also buy precut butternut squash from the store.
If you taste the pumpkin with the curry at the end of cooking and feel like it still needs something, you can mix some of the liquid with 2-3 tablespoons of almond butter or peanut butter to give it some extra sweetness and heft and pour that back into curry.
If you prefer to dump everything in a pot all at once, that will work too. Stir frying the paste and vegetables separately just adds a little more nuance and develops more distinct flavors. Just make sure to add the baby spinach at the end to avoid overcooking.

Nutrition