This tasty vegan sweet potato Thai curry is super easy and comforting. With a quick method and using only simple ingredients, this recipe is perfect for lunch or a weekday dinner ready in just 25 minutes.
Table of Contents
We love this Thai-inspired dish! Sweet potatoes may not be an obvious choice for a Thai red curry, but sweet potato is a perfect match.
Its subtle, natural sweetness melts together beautifully with the Thai curry flavours. With its bright orange colour, it also looks good!
The sweet - sour - spicy combination of flavours in Thai food is something we cannot resist. If you love it too, then you'll love our Vegan Pad Thai and our Satay Sauce recipe too!
Ingredient tips
Here's what you'll need to make this delicious Thai red curry with sweet potato:
We kept this ingredient list on the short side to make it convenient, simple and vegan-friendly without ingredients such as fish sauce or palm sugar.
Veggies - The bulk of the curry is sweet potatoes, with a side kick of red bell pepper.
Curry paste - This is essential for an authentic Thai red curry flavour. There are some great storebought vegan Thai red curry pastes available, you can also make your own. When fried briefly with the garlic and fresh ginger it forms the flavour base the curry builds on.
Coconut oil - We use coconut oil, but you can use other oils good for frying. Or use a bit of the fatty part of the coconut milk, if the coconut milk has separated.
Coconut milk - We recommend using some good quality organic coconut milk, as it has the least stabilisers and other unnecessary additives.
The dish is then balanced out with some soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar to get that yummy combination of sweet, sour and salty-umami.
Step by step pictures
You'll find the full recipe below, but here's a quick visual guide on how to cook this Thai sweet potato curry in just 3 easy steps!
Step 1 - Melt the coconut oil on medium-high heat and fry the garlic and ginger for about a minute.
Step 2 - Add the red Thai curry paste and fry for another minute until aromatic.
Step 3 - Add all other ingredients, bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes.
Variations and substitutions
For extra creaminess, you can stir in a spoonful of peanut butter or almond butter to the curry.
For a similar vibe, turn it into a squash Thai curry by using butternut squash or a pumpkin instead of sweet potato.
Change up the veggies - make it colourful by swapping out some of the sweet potato for other vegetables. Add some carrots, cauliflower or broccoli. In a recipe like this, you can even use the stem of the broccoli. Chop it up into small bites and they will be soft after simmering.
If you want to add some snap peas or mangetout, don’t add them from the beginning. Instead, cook them in the curry for just a few minutes towards the end of the cooking time, so they retain some of their crisp freshness.
Instead of the lime, you can use lemon. It might not have quite the same flavour, but it sure has the sour tang to balance out the sweet and salty.
If you like a bit more heat to your curries, you can add some chopped fresh red chili peppers and Sriracha on top or use a less mild curry paste. You can also sprinkle on some red pepper flakes.
Serving
Rice is the perfect classic side dish to a Thai curry. While we prefer the more aromatic basmati rice, the type most often used in Thai cuisine is Jasmine rice. Brown rice is a great option too.
As an alternative to rice, try some vegan noodles. We love them with anything saucy and spicy.
As a nice addition, some stir fried or steamed greens like kale or pak choi would be a colourful, nutritious idea!
A garnish of Thai basil, cilantro / coriander or scallions / spring onions is a delicious addition too.
Storage
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Reheat in the microwave, or in a saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly until thouroughly heated through. Add a splash of water if necessary.
Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer friendly container.
More curry recipes
We hope you like this easy Thai sweet potato curry recipe! If you are big curry fans like us, you might also enjoy these other vegan curries:
Easy Vegan Korma (It's simple and packed with veggies)
Vegan Pumpkin Curry (Creamy and cozy for fall)
Vegan Tikka Masala (An incredibly rich and delicious Indian dish)
Vegan Katsu Curry (Japanese curry with breaded tofu)
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Thai Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp ginger grated
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste vegan
- 3 cups (400 g) sweet potato cubed
- 1 red pepper pointed or bell, sliced
- 1 can (400 ml / 13.5 oz) coconut milk
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp lime juice
Garnish (optional)
- spring onion / scallion
- small red chili
- fresh Thai basil, mint or cilantro / coriander leaves
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan or frying pan (with a fitting lid), melt the coconut oil on medium to medium-high heat.1 tbsp coconut oil
- Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a minute until aromatic.1 tbsp ginger, 2 cloves garlic
- Stir in the curry paste and fry for another minute.4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- Add the sweet potato, red pepper and coconut milk, gently bring to a simmer and stir in the salt, sugar, soy sauce and lime juice. If necessary, add some water to the pan to so that the veggies are covered in the sauce.3 cups (400 g) sweet potato, 1 red pepper, 1 can (400 ml / 13.5 oz) coconut milk, ½ tsp salt, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tsp lime juice, 2 tsp brown sugar
- Cover the pan with a lid, reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the sweet potato is completely soft and tender.
- For serving, garnish on the plate with chopped or finely sliced spring onion, red chili, fresh Thai basil, mint or coriander leaves.
Notes
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
Nicole says
I made this recipe today and it was absolutely delicious. I threw in some spinach too, for extra colour and flavour - it worked great. I was surprised how quickly the sweet potato chunks cooked, it didn't take long at all! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Sophie and Paul says
Fantastic, thanks for your lovely feedback Nicole. We sometimes toss in some chopped kale too.
Bex says
Fantastically easy and delicious! Added courgette that needed using up and it was lovely.
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much Bex. It's a great recipe for using up veggies, we had some leftover kale in the last one we made too. Yum!