A simple, saucy and spicy 30 minute Thai Red Curry with salmon. This is the perfect weeknight dinner to put together. You can serve with a side of white rice or naan to dip into the delicious vibrant Thai red curry sauce.
Jump to Recipe
sweet, spicy, and sour
I love a good hearty bowl of curry any day of the week. There are so many different types of curries across various regions in Asia. I grew up in a diverse community and that exposed me to various cuisines and my mom would always make curry: shrimp curry, Thai coconut red curry, green curry, korma and/or Saag. This Thai Coconut Red Curry recipe is not the most authentic version, but it is the most delicious! I just love the sweet, spicy, and sour flavors that touch on all your taste buds! This dish is really easy to put together.I used a good quality red curry paste from Whole-foods and that helps to flavor the sauce quickly. Also, an important step that adds a depth of flavor of this dish is searing the salmon first and then, finish cooking it in the sauce. This extra step is worth it since it gives a caramelized flavor to the sauce and adds some texture to the salmon too.
sauce is great for ramen or add some cauliflower and make it vegan
This coconut curry sauce base is VERY delicious . Here are other meals to make using this sauce:
- Ramen: I use this base for ramen and just add about 2 cups of vegetable stock to make the broth and simmer it longer.
- Vegetable Curry: Add all your favorite veggies, tofu and you got yourself an easy vegan friendly dish. Note: You can swap the fish sauce in the recipe for a vegan one.
- Cauliflower: I have tried this sauce with cauliflower and it is the best!!!
30 minute Coconut Thai Salmon Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 4 cloves garlic (small) minced or finely chopped
- 3 tablspoons Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1 large Lime ( 4 thinly slices of lime to add to the sauce and juice the remaining lime)
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chili paste
- 2 green thai chili pepper or 2 dried red chili
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- 1 can organic full fat coconut cream 14 ounces
- 4 salmon fillets ( 4 to 6 ounces) skin-on or skinless
- 3 Thai basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or any neutral oil
- 1 finely chopped shallot
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Salt and pepper each salmon fillet.
- In a large pan on medium to heat heat, add olive oil and sear the salmon skin side up and sear for about 1 minute until light golden. Then transfer the salmon to a clean tray and set aside.
- Using the same pan you seared the salmon, add 1 tablespoon oil, shallot and ginger and cook until carmelized. Then add the garlic and coconut sugar and cook until garlic gets light golden. Then add the curry paste, chili paste and and Thai green chili and fry for 1 minute.
- Then pour the coconut milk and fish sauce and stir. Allow the sauce to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add juice of half a lime and 2-3 lime slices. Add the Thai basil and stir.
- Lower the heat and add each salmon fillet in the sauce and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes or until salmon is cooked. Serve the the curry with some jasmine rice or naan bread!
Hi looks delicious! Which red curry paste did you use?
Hi! I used the Mekhala Organic Thai Red Curry Paste. I get it from Whole Foods but you can also purchase it from other grocery stores and amazon!
Hello, what type of chilli paste did you use for this recipe?
Hi! I use whatever chili paste I have available to me. Sometimes I use the Huy Fong Chili Paste or the Thai Kitchen Roasted Red Chili Paste. You can also just use dried red chili pepper if that is all you have. 🙂
The recipe says ‘3 finely chopped Thai basil’; I don’t see a unit of measurement so any clarification would be helpful, Thanks!
Hi! Just three thai basil leaves. Please let me if you have any additional questions, thanks!
I made this for lunch and it was terrific! Followed the recipe exactly. A definite keeper. Thank you!
This is phenomenal. I like the addition of red chili paste that many other similar recipes lack. This is a recipe I make often and add whatever veggies I have on hand to bulk it up. Tonight I added roasted sweet potato, bell peppers, and zucchini. I usually can’t find Thai basil so I use regular basil.
About to try this. Assume the thai peppers are finely chopped?
I cut the ends off and left them whole. This recipe is fantastic! Trying it with chicken tonight
This was delicious except for the lime rind which made it a teensy bitter. I would suggest when adding lime wedges that you remove the rind. One question: the ingredients call for coconut cream but the recipe calls for coconut milk. Is there a difference? I would make this again. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Coconut cream or milk, and do you sear skin side of salmon?
I had the same question about the skin as she said to sear it skin side up in the recipe. That’s probably an error as you usually see or the skin side down (against the heat)
Can I use red Thai chilli pepper instead of green?
Yes 🙂
Great dish. Will definitely make the sauce and freeze it to cook with chicken or white fish
Can you clarify if coconut milk or coconut cream is used for the recipe? Thanks
Hi, I have made this with both unsweetened coconut milk and coconut cream. But I do prefer using coconut cream for a thicker curry. 🙂
Excellent recipe. Great flavor even though I couldn’t locate any Thai basil. I used regular basil.
I made it last night for dinner omg so good!!!! only thing I would add is a bit more spice, other than that delicious!
Looks great but both tools for scaling the number of serves plus metric conversion would be REALLY useful.
Can I use cod in place of Salmon . Thanks!
yes 🙂
hi there! i made this recipe yesterday and oh my my my…. what a beautiful recipe! so flavorful so so goood!
Amazing!
Thanks so much for posting this and sharing it with us