Thai Beef Curry with Coconut Milk and Butternut Squash
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Thai Beef Curry is a simple-to-make and absolutely delicious Thai curry recipe. The beef is simmered on the stovetop in a flavorful coconut curry broth until super tender. I add butternut squash, which thickens the curry and adds the perfect sweetness. You’ll love it!
Thai beef curry has become one of my absolute favorite Thai dishes to make at home. The beef simmers gently in a fragrant red curry broth until it becomes melt-in-your-mouth tender, soaking up all those rich, vibrant flavors along the way.
When the winter squash goes in, the broth transforms into a naturally thick, creamy sauce with just a hint of sweetness. It’s deeply comforting and full of layers, but still wonderfully simple to make.
A can of coconut milk stirred in at the end ties everything together and gives the curry its signature silky finish. Every time I make this recipe, I’m reminded just how special it is — bold, cozy, and so satisfying. You don’t want to miss this one!
What ingredients do I need to make beef curry?
- Stewing beef – this is inexpensive and, when cooked for a longer time, becomes deliciously tender.
- Onion, ginger, garlic – flavor!
- Curry paste – I like to use red Thai curry paste in this recipe.
- Fish sauce – hold your nose – this stuff is smelly! But it sure makes Thai curry taste amazing!
- Beef stock – I love using our homemade beef bone broth, but store-bought works well, too.
- Winter squash – butternut, red kuri, kabocha, or blue hubbard all work well.
- Coconut milk – creamy and always delicious!
- Lime juice – added at the very end adds a bright flavor to the curry.
A Few FAQs
Can I use curry powder instead of curry paste? Using curry powder will dramatically change the flavor of the curry. Curry powder is Indian, while curry paste is Thai.
To keep this a Thai beef curry recipe, use curry paste. We like it with red curry paste, but green and yellow are tasty, too.
What kind of beef is best for curry? We like to use stewing beef in this recipe. It’s a tough cut of beef that has been cut into smaller pieces and is quite inexpensive.
You can also use any cut of beef meant for slow cooking or braising like chuck, shank, or brisket. Simply cut it into bite-sized pieces before cooking.
How long does Thai beef curry last in the fridge? This curry will last for 3–4 days in the fridge, making it an excellent choice for meal prepping!
Can I freeze beef curry? Yes! This recipe freezes incredibly well. Put some into large reusable Stasher Bags (our favorite for freezer storage), so you’ll have an easy dinner for a night when you don’t feel like cooking!
Variations to try
- Instead of butternut squash, try potatoes or sweet potatoes.
- Add some bok choy in the last few minutes.
- Stir some kale, spinach, or swiss chard into the curry at the very end.
- Use green or yellow curry paste instead of red.
Thai Beef Curry with Coconut Milk and Butternut Squash
Ingredients
- 2 lb stewing beef (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 1 teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil (see notes)
- 1 medium onion (minced)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 4 cups beef stock
- 4 tablespoons red Thai curry paste
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 medium butternut squash (chopped into 1-inch pieces – see notes)
- Juice from 1 lime
- 15 ounce can coconut milk
- Sea salt (to taste)
- Minced Thai basil or cilantro (to serve)
Instructions
- Dry the beef with paper towels then season it with salt and pepper.2 lb stewing beef, 1 teaspoon EACH: salt and pepper
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the beef on all sides. Remove the beef from the pot.2 tablespoons cooking oil
- Add the onion, ginger, and garlic and cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beef stock, curry paste, and fish sauce and scrape off the dark bits (the fond) from the bottom of the pot.1 medium onion, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 4 cloves garlic, 4 cups beef stock, 4 tablespoons red Thai curry paste, 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- Add the beef to the pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer gently for 1 hour.
- Add the squash to the pot and continue to cook for 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Add the coconut milk and lime juice and season to taste with salt. Serve with Thai basil or cilantro on top.1 medium butternut squash, Juice from 1 lime, 15 ounce can coconut milk, Sea salt, Minced Thai basil or cilantro
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Kristen,
This Thai beef curry is amazing thank you so much for this recipe. We are so happy with the flavour.
Thank you so much for coming back to comment, Leonard! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Would this work ok with ground beef?
It would be quite a different recipe with ground beef. While you could, I don’t think it would taste quite as good. If you decide to give it a go, cook the beef first and then add the stock and squash and cook it just until the squash is soft. Hope that helps!
Has anyone this with yellow curry? I’m not sure how much of a difference it will make.
Yellow curry will be a little bit more mild, but it will still taste delicious!
Making this for the 3rd time, great recipe
I’m so happy that you like the recipe, Luke!
Great recipe. I used moose meat and added butternut, sweet potatoes and rutabaga. Not a fan of ginger so used cinnamon and allspice. Now a family favorite.
Soooo. You made something completely different…
I made this twice. The first time it was AMAZING!! The second time it was not so good because I replaced beef broth with chicken broth. So, I will be following the recipe exactly next time!
We love this recipe at our house. It is a regular quick meal that I always make sure i have ingredients for to make with canned cubed beef that I have processed. Cuts the cooking time down by an hour. I also regularly make this with sweet potatoes instead of squash. I will cook extra sweet potatoes to make this recipe super easy.
Surprisingly delicious. I replaced ginger with cinnamon 1/2 tps and allspice 1/4 tsp. Be sure to include time to cook rice. The butternut only took about 10 min. i didn’t have fish sauce so used about -1/2 tbs of soy.
Oh man this is SO good!! My 10 year old is getting into cooking and we made this together tonight. I’m the only squash lover in our house, so we subbed potatoes and bok choy. The only other change we made was increasing the curry paste a bit, but I imagine it just depends on the brand.
Thank you!
This was delicious! I completely forgot to add the coconut milk at first and it tasted just like Mongolian hotpot. Was already great till I realized and added it. Love the tenderness of the beef with the flavour too! My boyfriend added some Gochujang for extra kick but loved it both ways. Thanks!
I had some venison thawed that I needed to cook. I did not have butternut squash but I had canned pumpkin. This recipe was amazing regardless! A definite keeper. Thank you so much for sharing this. I love recipes that taste better than any restaurant around!
Fabulous recipe. I will add another 1/2 can of coconut next time. Better than I’ve had in any restaurant!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe and your excellent directions
followed recipe to a T. 3 adults, all agreed it was a very tasty meal and one that i’ll be making again One side note; recipe calls for ginger, however instructions makes no note of what to do with it. I added it with the garlic and onion
Thank you for letting us know about the missed ingredient! It has been added now. 🙂
Oh this was good! Easy to make too. Added it to my recipe list so I can make it again.