Easy Thai Red Curry with Tofu or Chicken

Add 1/4 cup of water to a large sauce pan and bring to a light simmer. Add minced onion, garlic, and fresh ginger, and increase heat to medium. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant and onions are lightly translucent.

Add the slices of red bell pepper and mushrooms. Stir in the red curry paste and stir until veggies are evenly coated. Finally, add coconut milk, fish sauce, sambal oelek, lime juice, zest, and the Thai basil leaves. Give it a nice stir until everything is nicely mixed, about 1 minute. If you aren’t frying or baking the tofu for crispiness, you can add the uncooked cubes at this point. Let the curry simmer for approximately 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare rice as per the package instructions.

Once the rice is ready, serve in a bowl, and spoon the curry over the rice. Top with the cubed tofu or chicken, and garnish with fresh Thai basil ribbons and sliced scallions.

This dish makes amazing leftovers!

Note: How you prepare the tofu or chicken is ultimately up to you based on your preference. If you prefer your tofu uncooked, add it to the curry before allowing the curry to simmer for 15 minutes. Otherwise, cook it in advance! You can pan fry it, bake it, or whirl it through an Actifry. I’ll be honest, I’m currently getting to know tofu better myself right now so I don’t have all of the secrets figured out on how to perfect it. But I’m working on it! If using chicken, cook your chicken however you prefer in advance and cube it so it’s ready to go when you make your curry.