How to Make Thai Red Curry Paste
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If you want to make your own homemade Thai red curry paste, THIS is the recipe you need. I’ve crafted it to be as close to an authentic red Thai curry paste as possible, while using ingredients easily found in North American grocery stores. I’ve done all the testing and tweaking, so you can create a bold, flavorful paste in just 10 minutes – far tastier than anything from a jar!
I LOVE learning how to master new recipes at home, but I have to admit, I ran into some speed bumps when first crafting my red curry paste from scratch. While I’m passionate about staying as true to authentic recipes as possible, living in a small mountain town north of Vancouver, Canada, means some specialty ingredients are out of reach (unless I drive a few hours to the city and back)! Items like fermented fish paste, makrut limes, or galangal just aren’t sold within a 3 hour round trip of my home.
This led me to develop the red curry paste recipe I’ll share with you today – it’s made with some substitutes that are easily accessible, in case you can’t get your hands on the authentic ingredients. Now you can whip up a delicious paste, creating bold and vibrant flavors in just 10 minutes, using easy-to-find ingredients from your local grocery store.
Is this an authentic Thai curry recipe?
An authentic red Thai curry paste, or prik gaeng ped, if we call it by its Thai name, is delicious in so many recipes. However, the ingredients can be hard to find where I live. This curry recipe marries the flavors of Thailand with ingredients readily available in North American grocery stores. I’ve provided several ingredient substitutions below; the more you make, the less authentic the recipe will be. BUT it is delicious and will remind you of the red curry from your favorite Thai restaurant.
Red curry paste ingredients
I adored Thai food, even before I spent several weeks in Thailand with my family. While I appreciate authentic Thai recipes, sometimes I do find it can be tricky to replicate it with what’s available at my local grocery store in my little mountain town. So, this recipe aims to make the most of what’s readily available in North American supermarkets to get as close to those beautiful Thai flavors as possible. Let’s go through the ingredients, and talk about what is in Thai red curry paste:
- Chili de arbol: Adjust the heat by using more of less chili peppers. I’ve put a guide to how many chilies to use in the notes section.
- Guajillo chili peppers: I like them because they add flavor without much spice. You can also use prik yuak chilis, if you can find them, which are more common in Thailand.
- Ginger: This isn’t an ingredient in authentic recipes, which would opt for galangal instead. I use ginger as I can’t source galangal anywhere near my little town, and it’s similar in flavor. Galangal is a little bit more spearmint-y in flavor, but ginger really does have a similar taste.
- Limes: Makrut limes (which is the politically correct term for kaffir limes) are less tart than standard North American limes. If you can find them, do use them to make this recipe. But if you can’t, a standard lime will work well.
- Fish sauce: Authentic recipes will use fermented fish paste or shrimp paste instead – if you can get your hands on some, use it! Fish sauce is the best substitute I’ve found in my grocery store. You can always omit this if you’re vegetarian or vegan, knowing that the flavor will be less robust.
- Lemongrass: Fresh lemongrass is best, but if you can’t find it, the tubes of lemongrass paste in the chilled produce section will work great, too.
- Other ingredients: Shallots, cilantro stems, sea salt, whole black peppercorns, and garlic cloves.
How do you make Thai red curry paste
Traditionally, this red Thai curry paste would be made with mortar and pestle. But, to save some time (and my arm), I like to use the food processor, so it takes a total time of just 10 minutes. This is how it’s done:
- Prep: Get your products ready, removing stems, seeds, and membranes from the chili peppers, then soak them in tap water for 20 minutes. Then, pop everything into a medium-sized food processor or blender.
- Blend: Pulse to combine, then scrape the edges, and keep on pulsing till the texture is like a paste. That’s it!
Recipes with thai red curry paste
You can use Thai red curry paste recipe in so many meals! On this blog, you’ll find it as an ingredient in a myriad of inspired Thai dishes:
- Proteins: You must try these Thai curry meatballs! Or these Thai chicken wings.
- Soup: When it’s soup weather, try this Thai-inspired curry meatball soup. Speaking of soup, this pretty Thai beet soup is delicious!
- Curry recipes: Whether you’re having your curry with fish or beef, it’s always going to taste amazing with this as the flavor base. Make this Thai fish curry, this Thai beef curry recipe. Serve up your favorite curry with some jasmine rice.
- Vegetarian: Add some satay flavors with this Thai peanut curry. Veggie lovers will adore this coconut curry no cook veggie noodles or this vegetarian Thai curry recipe!
- Seafood: I LOVE these Thai fish cakes, or for something different, make this Thai coconut shrimp eggs benedict.
How to store red curry paste
Transfer it from the food processor into a clean glass jar and store it in the fridge for up to a week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
Is Thai red curry paste spicy?
That really depends on how many chiles de árbol you opt to use. If you like it mild, use just 1-2. For medium heat, go for 5 chilis. If you like it hot, 10 chilis will do the trick. If you LOVE spicy food, increase it up to 20 chilis.
How to Make Thai Red Curry Paste
Ingredients
- 5-20 dried chili de arbol (see notes)
- 5 guajillo peppers (see notes)
- 1 cup chopped shallots
- ¼ cup chopped lemongrass (white parts only or lemongrass paste)
- ¼ cup cilantro stems
- 2 tablespoons chopped ginger (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 10 cloves garlic
- Zest from 1 lime
Instructions
- Remove the stems, seeds, and membranes from the chili peppers – both chili de arbol and guajillo chilis. Soak the chilis in hot tap water for 20 minutes.5-20 dried chili de arbol, 5 guajillo peppers
- Place all the ingredients into a medium-sized food processor.1 cup chopped shallots, ¼ cup chopped lemongrass, ¼ cup cilantro stems, 2 tablespoons chopped ginger, 2 teaspoons sea salt, 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns, 10 cloves garlic, Zest from 1 lime, 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- Pulse to combine, then scrape the sides of the food processor and continue pulsing/ scraping until a paste forms.
- Transfer the curry paste to a clean glass jar and store it in your fridge for up to 1 week or your freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
5 chilis = medium
10 chilis = hot
20 chilis = very hot Guajillo chili peppers: I like them because they add flavor without much spice. You can also use prik yuak chilis, which are more common in Thailand. Ginger: This is not an authentic ingredient in Thai curry. If you want an authentic flavor, look for fresh or frozen galangal. I use ginger as it is similar, and galangal is nearly impossible to find outside of big cities and isn’t available anywhere in my little town. Lemongrass: If you are lucky enough to find fresh lemongrass, remove the tough outer leaves and then thinly slice the tender (bottom) part. You can save the tough upper part for stock or discard it. Lemongrass paste also works great. It’s usually found in the produce section of your grocery store. Lime: Makrut limes (which is the politically correct term for kaffir limes) are less tart than standard North American limes. If you can find them, do use them to make this recipe. But if you can’t, a standard lime will work well. Fish sauce: An authentic Thai curry should be made with fermented fish paste, and if you can source it, I highly recommend it. In Thailand, I could tell when the touristy restaurants didn’t use it – the curry was just not as tasty. But fish sauce makes a decent substitute and is widely available. Servings: This makes about 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of curry paste.
Nutrition
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Thank you – this worked soooo well
your curry paste recipe is amazing!!! I’ll dilute this paste down w/Trader Joe’s organic veggie broth and use it as a bar-b-q sauce on my grilled chicken. It should make a delicious bar-b-q sauce, ya think? wallace
I’m so happy you like it! And heck ya, I bet it would be AMAZING in bbq sauce. Might just have to try that myself!
Hi, great recipe! I wonder if I can make a greater batch and store it. How long would it last? Only in the fridge?
Thank you for sharing, Jutta
You sure can make a larger batch! I’ve stored mine in 1/4 cup portions in small resealable bags in the freezer. If you add the paste and flatten the bags out they store easily in the freezer. Just run a bag under hot water for a few seconds to loosen the paste when you need it. 🙂
This looks and sounds amazing! I am compiling a list of ingredients to have on hand to make many of your recipes..just WOW! Can I ask if I understand the recipe here correctly..that in place of using 1/4 cup of fresh lemongrass…the substitute would be 1/4 cup of the lemongrass paste found in tubes? Can’t wait to make this and don’t want to mess up my first try! Thanks for all that you share!
That’s right! I hope you like the homemade Thai curry paste as much as we do. I love how fresh it tastes compared to store-bought. 🙂
You will love it! It’s so crazy easy to make and so much tastier than the store bought stuff!!
I so APPRECIATE THE PRINTABLE VERSION , because ‘my’ computer skills would never be able to retrieve the recipe out of “files’ . Thank you, Lana
No problem at all!!! 🙂