It wasn’t until I went vegan (almost 2 years ago!) that I tried coconut curry and loved the unique flavor.
Plus, it’s all veggies, coconut milk, warming spices and some type of whole grain. What’s not to love?!
Incorporating new flavors and trying foods you wouldn’t normally try can be liberating. You never know what you may end up liking. So if you have yet to try a curry dish, this Easy Vegan Coconut Curry is the recipe for you. It’s bursting with comforting flavor but is very basic at the same time. Plus, since the Chinese New Year is right around the corner (starts February 8th), I like the idea of celebrating renewal and coming prosperity with a symbolic dish. The color gold represents good fortune and prosperity so why not try it for a more prosperous year?!
My family used to gather at my grandma’s house every year and celebrate the Chinese New Year. She loved celebrating it and would go all out with her favorite Chinese dishes. While I’m pretty sure curry wasn’t served, traditional Chinese curry dishes often include green peppers, onions and potatoes with a mildly spicy yellow curry sauce, served over steamed rice. So of course I added a bunch of vegetables and plenty of turmeric for a golden sauce (represents good fortune!) and served it with brown rice. You can also use long noodles instead of rice to symbolize a long life.
For the veggies, I went with green bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash and edamame but you can use any kind of veggies you have on hand. I also used fresh minced ginger, a bit of garlic and onion. Anything will taste good with this golden sauce because it’s not overpowering with the spices which may come to mind as you think of curry.
Rather it’s comforting, satisfying, warming and rich but still healthy and loaded with vegetables and whole grains. I love adding Kikkoman Soy Sauce to my curries for more depth and flavor enhancement. It adds that extra savory element and really complements the spices in this Easy Vegan Coconut Curry. I love how versatile soy sauce is and can be added to stews, soups (like this Curried Cauliflower Soup), chili and more. By using 1/2 tsp. Kikkoman Soy Sauce in place of 1/2 tsp. table salt, the sodium content of the recipe is cut by 1000 mg which is something to think about when in the kitchen! I added only a pinch of salt when sautéing the onion, garlic and ginger and didn’t need to add extra salt whatsoever.
- 1 cup brown rice, uncooked
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth (or 1 tablespoon coconut oil; if you cook with oil)
- 1/2 white onion, diced
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- pinch of sea salt and black pepper
- 1-inch knob of fresh ginger, minced
- 1.5 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, florets
- 1 small head of broccoli florets (about 1 cup)
- 1 cup frozen edamame
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 tablespoons Kikkoman Soy Sauce
- 1 tablespoon raw coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha or hot chili sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or fresh)
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- cilantro
- green onion
- fresh lemon juice
- sesame seeds
- red pepper flakes
- Start by cooking the brown rice according to the directions.
- Meanwhile, heat the veggie broth in a large saucepan or pot to medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until transluscent. 3-4 minutes. Add a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Next stir in the ginger and red curry paste then sauté for 2 minutes.
- Stir in the bell pepper, cauliflower, broccoli and edamame. Cover with lid and let steam about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a splash more of veggie broth/water as needed, if you feel like its getting dry.
- Now pour in the can of coconut milk, 1/2 cup veggie broth, soy sauce, coconut sugar, Sriracha, curry powder, turmeric and garam masala. Stir until well combined. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer about 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat.
- Serve over brown rice and garnish with optional toppings.
- Enjoy!
- Store leftovers in refrigerator up to 4 days.
- Freezes well too!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Hi!
I have a soy sensitivity so, while it is easy to eliminate the edamame, do you have any suggestion s for eliminating the soy sauce?
This looks incredible, thank you!
So I just made this today and it was amazing! I didn’t have some of the ingredients such a cauliflower and edamame on hand so I subbed extra broccoli and potatoes. Added some red thai chilies for extra spice and it’s soo good! Will definitely make this again and hope to find some of your other vegan recipes that are also this good!
this sounds SO good! I have never made or even tried curry!!! this sounds like something I really need to try though 😉 all the flavors sound amazing! happy weekend girl!