Salmon Curry with Creamy Thai Coconut Cashew Sauce
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Cashew Coconut Salmon Curry is an easy-to-make and seriously delicious fish curry recipe. The salmon is poached in a simple coconut Thai curry sauce that begs to be poured over steamed rice. It’s a 20-minute dinner recipe everyone will love!
Thai coconut curries are my ultimate comfort food, and this salmon version has been on heavy repeat lately. It’s made with tender salmon gently poached in a creamy coconut sauce, and every time I serve it, people rave. Even my three-year-old happily eats a full portion, which pretty much seals the deal—this one’s a keeper.
The coconut sauce is rich and luxurious, with a little cashew butter stirred in to give it the perfect thickness. It’s full of flavor and practically begs to be spooned over rice or cauliflower rice. I love that the sauce can be made ahead of time, so dinner comes together fast, and the salmon stays beautifully tender as it cooks right in the sauce. From start to finish, it’s ready in about 20 minutes—and tastes like something you’d happily order again and again.
Why you’ll love this salmon curry
- Creamy coconut sauces are THE BEST! ← fully deserving of all caps.
- The extra creamy sauce thickens just right with the addition of cashew butter.
- The flavorful sauce begs to be sopped up with rice or cauliflower rice.
- You can easily make the sauce ahead of time. (Coming home to a nearly made dinner is awesome.)
- Salmon that stays nice and tender from being gently poached in the sauce.
- 20 minutes from start to finish.
- So delicious that you’d never guess this recipe is so good for you.
Salmon is my favorite fish to eat, but it can be a little tricky to cook. If overcooked even a little, it becomes dry. The easiest way to prevent this is to gently poach the salmon. In this case, we poached it in Thai coconut curry.
Many years ago, I shared the post Perfect Poached Fish with you. Poached fish may sound tasteless, but it is a great way to ensure the fish you’re cooking stays tender.
The trick is to cook it over very low heat. You want only a few tiny bubbles rising in the cooking liquid. If the pan is boiling, reduce the heat.
The other option is to use Steelhead Trout, which is similar to salmon but fattier. Fattier fish are easier to cook as they don’t dry out as quickly as their lean cousins.
What makes this salmon curry sauce special
One thing you need to know is that this salmon curry is EASY. The curry sauce is a simple, coconut-based curry that is unbelievably flavorful. We start with Thai red curry paste and coconut milk, then season with garlic, ginger, lime juice, fish sauce, and soy sauce. We also sneak in some cashew butter.
I’ve used a little cashew butter in this curry for two reasons:
- It makes the salmon curry extra creamy.
- As the sauce cooks, the cashew butter helps thicken it.
Salmon Curry with Creamy Thai Coconut Cashew Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 4 salmon fillets (skin removed)
- Toasted or spicy cashews and some cilantro (to serve)
Cashew Coconut Curry Sauce
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup canned coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons cashew butter
- Juice from ½ lime
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon EACH: fish sauce and soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon honey
- aalt (to taste)
Instructions
- Begin by whisking the cashew coconut curry sauce ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.¾ cup water, ½ cup canned coconut milk, 4 tablespoons cashew butter, Juice from ½ lime, 2 tablespoons red curry paste, 1 tablespoon EACH: fish sauce and soy sauce, 2 teaspoons grated ginger, aalt, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon honey
- Heat the coconut oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Dry the salmon fillets well with paper towels then add them to the pan skinless side down. Let them cook for 5 minutes.1 tablespoon coconut oil, 4 salmon fillets
- Reduce the heat to medium, then pour the curry sauce into the pan, cover the pan, and let it cook for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir the thickened sauce.Toasted or spicy cashews and some cilantro
- Serve the curry right away, preferably over rice. Top with cilantro and a few toasted cashews.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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My family loves salmon so I’m always looking for new unique delicious ways to make it. This recipe was amazing & did not disappoint. It was packed with SO much flavour & was a huge hit. Thanks for this, it’s a keeper!
Could you repost the original recipe? My paper recipe of it got destroyed and I loved the original!
I just used the Wayback Machine and found this for you!
2 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 salmon fillets, skin removed
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (plus extra for the sweet potatoes, to taste)
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 red pepper, diced small
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
THE CASHEW COCONUT CURRY SAUCE
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup raw cashews*
Juice from 1/2 lime
1 1/2 tablespoons red curry paste (Whole30, if needed)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 small garlic clove
1/2 tablespoon coco aminos (can sub soy sauce)
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the sweet potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until they are soft. Drain the water, mash the potatoes, and season to taste with salt.
While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the rest of dinner. Place all the cashew curry sauce ingredients plus 1 cup of water in your blender and blend on high until smooth.
Sprinkle the paprika and salt over the top side of the salmon. Heat the coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the salmon, top side down, and sear for 3-4 minutes, or until they are golden. Remove the pan from the heat, lower the heat to medium, flip the salmon over, then pour the sauce into the pan. Put the pan back on the heat and cook for 4 minutes more.
Serve the salmon over the mashed sweet potatoes with the sauce, the red peppers, and cilantro over top.
Delicious flavors! To note though, I found that the sauce is very watery to begin with and it did not thicken up to an acceptable level within 3 minutes. I ended up taking the salmon out of the sauce so I could continue to thicken it, about 5 minutes more.. afterward, I played everything as described and it was very very good! We had it with rice and roasted broccoli.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This salmon will keep well for 3-4 days in the fridge. 🙂
Hi – can you cut the salmon up into chunks before you
cook it ?
If you would like smaller pieces, then yes you can do that. Salmon is very tender when it is cooked though so you’ll have to be careful that the small pieces don’t break apart.
Absolutely delicious! Subbed peanut butter for cashew butter and Vadouvan curry powder for red curry paste.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Do you think it would be okay to marinate the salmon in the sauce prior to making?
I think that would work well!
Easy. Yummy. Fast.
Hi, do you think coconut butter would work as a good sub for cashew butter? Will it thicken the sauce still? Thanks! Looking forward to trying this out!
I’ve honestly never used coconut butter in cooking so I can’t say for sure. Even if you omit the cashew butter, it’s still a tasty recipe, just a lot thinner sauce.
So delicious! Fantastic recipe. My only confusion is that the instructions say to add the tuna “skinless side down” but your photo looks like it’s skin down. What’s the correct method?
Since I like to remove the skin from the salmon when making this recipe, I put the skinless side down – or the side that the skin was on before I removed it. Hope that clears things up!
Made it. It’s amazing.
How do I stop eating?????
Oh this recipe is so dope and tasty I had a successful dinner
Hi, is the sauce good to keep in a fridge or freezer for a period of time?
Yes! It will keep in your fridge for at least 5 days.
We have just eaten this for tea. I used tuna steaks, as I had them on hand and served them over riced-swede/ rutagaba. It was my first attempt at making a nut butter and I was stoked! I’ll definitely be making this again with salmon/ white fish/ prawns/ tempeh/ tofu. Thank you for sharing ?
You’re very welcome!
Can i sub the coconut milk with cashew cream? (Or combine coconut milk and cashew cream so its less coconut milk)
I wouldn’t use boxed cashew cream (the stuff that is a milk replacement). The cashew butter (like peanut butter) thickens as it cooks. You could omit it and the curry will still be delicious – just a little thinner.
How is the heat level on this recipe? I’m a little wary of using the red curry paste due to the spiciness, but if the other ingredients mellow it out a bit will definitely try it. Obviously yellow curry paste would change the dish a bit but thoughts on if it would still work?
Any type (green, red, or yellow) thai curry paste will use. Different brands vary widely in heat level so I suggest trying the one that you have first and adding less if you think it is too spicy.