Vegan Green Curry Paste

Homemade curry paste is so much better than store-bought, and super easy to make! This vegan green curry paste is made from a blend of Thai spices, hot peppers, and fresh basil and cilantro. It whips up in minutes and can be used for seasoning your favorite Thai curries.

This is my third Thai curry paste recipe on the blog, and it seems like with this post I've at least gotten the really important ones out of the way. By "really important ones," I mean the big favorites. I had to at least get those covered!

After I posted a recipe for massaman curry paste (my favorite), I got a bunch of requests for red. So I posted red curry paste, and then got a bunch of people asking for green. I guess we're a divided bunch when it comes to our favorite curries.

Why Homemade?

Curry paste is a great thing to have around. A few spoonfuls pack a ton of flavor and are key to some amazingly delicious and easy to prepare meals. And yes, you can just go out and buy pre-made curry paste at the store, and I do that myself pretty often, but I like to make my own whenever I can, for a few reasons.

First, vegan and even vegetarian curry paste can be tough to find. Many store-bought varieties contain shrimp paste or fish sauce.

Also, I just like making stuff. It's fun to produce something in your own kitchen and feel all proud that it tastes just like that thing you got at a restaurant and were so impressed with.

Finally, homemade curry paste is so much better than store-bought, and you can make it to suit your very own personal tastes!

The main feature that most people seem concerned with customizing is the heat level. Green curry paste is one of the easiest when it come to controlling the heat. While green curry paste is usually pretty hot, it really stands out in my mind for those flavors that create its vibrant green color: cilantro, basil, and lime.

Green curry paste is made with hot peppers, but you can play around with the amount and variety, and this recipe gives you some options. For my batch, I went with a mild version, using just four jalapeño peppers, because I my husband, who I rely on for taste testing, isn't into the heat. For a hotter variety, increase the number of peppers and/or go with a hotter variety like serrano or Thai chilies.

Green Curry Paste Ingredients

For the most authentic homemade curry paste, a trip to an Asian market may be in order. Bonus points if it's a Thai or Vietnamese market! It's the best place to get some of the tougher to find ingredients like galangal (which is an aromatic root, similar to ginger) and kaffir lime leaves.

If you can get your hands on some galangal and kaffir lime leaves, please do, because they really do make a difference in the flavor of your curry paste. If you can't, go for regular old ginger and lime zest. It'll still taste good.

You'll also need those hot peppers we talked about, as well as shallots and garlic, lemongrass, fresh basil and cilantro, and ground cumin and coriander seed. Oil is an optional ingredient. It helps to smooth out the paste during blending, but you can leave it out if you prefer.

How to Make Green Curry Paste

It's pretty darn easy! Most of the work is in prepping your ingredients: peeling the garlic and shallots, measuring the herbs and spices, and seeding the peppers.

The only step that might be tricky is prepping the lemongrass, if you've never done it before. You'll notice that the outer layer is pretty tough. Grab your stalk and slice a long slit along this outer layer so you can peel it off. The remaining inner core will still be pretty hard, but not quite as dry. Chop it up into a few pieces.

Next, place everything but the oil into a food processor bowl.

Blend it up! If you're using oil, drizzle it in while you blend.

FAQ & Tips for Making Perfect Green Curry Paste

• Always wear gloves when prepping hot peppers! The juices will burn your skin if you don't.
• To adjust the heat level, try varying the number and variety of hot peppers. Of the three varieties suggested in the recipe, Thai chiles are the hottest (but also the smallest, so you can probably get away with using a larger quantity), followed by serrano, and then jalapeño.
• It may take a few batches to find your preferred heat level. If you're sensitive to heat, start out conservatively. You can always add extra heat by including a few hot peppers in any curries you make with the paste.
• Homemade curry paste is super freezer friendly! I usually stick mine in a small mason jar for freezing, but you could also portion it out using an ice-cube tray (just don't plan on using the tray to make ice for your drinks after that!).
• Fresh kaffir lime leaves are probably the toughest ingredient to locate for this recipe, but I can usually find jarred leaves at Wegmans, and they work well as a substitute. Dried kaffir lime leaves, which are available on Amazon work as well. You'll need to soak them in warm water for 20 minutes or so before using.

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5 from 4 votes

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Vegan Green Curry Paste

Homemade curry paste is so much better than store-bought, and super easy to make! This vegan green curry paste is made from a blend of Thai spices, hot peppers, and fresh basil and cilantro. It whips up in minutes and can be used for seasoning your favorite Thai curries.

Course Sauce

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 16

Calories 18 kcal

Author Alissa

Ingredients

• 1 (4 to 6-inch) lemongrass stalk
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3-6 fresh green hot peppers*, seeded and stemmed (wear gloves!)
• 2 medium shallots, quartered
• 2 kaffir lime leaves (about 1 tablespoon if using jarred leaves), or 1 teaspoon fresh lime zest
• ¾ cup fresh cilantro stems and leaves, packed
• ½ cup fresh basil leaves (use Thai basil, if available), packed
• 1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated galangal, (about a 2-inch piece) or fresh ginger**
• 1 tablespoon lime juice***
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon canola oil, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. Cut a slit down the length of the lemongrass stalk, and then peel off and discard the rough outer layer. Cut the remaining inner portion into 1-inch pieces.

2. Place the lemongrass into the bowl of a food processor fitted with an s-blade. Add all remaining ingredients except for the oil. 

3. Turn on the food processor and blend the ingredients to a thick paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Optionally, drizzle in a tablespoon of oil with the food processor running, in order to smooth out the paste.

5. Store the paste in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Recipe Notes

*I used 4 jalapeño peppers, but Thai chiles or serrano peppers would work well too.

**Galangal has a citrusy flavor. If you substitute ginger, consider using an extra teaspoon or so of lime juice and an extra small lemongrass stalk.

***Traditionally, kaffir lime juice would be used, but I've never come across it. If you can get your hands on some, go for it!

This recipe makes about 1 cup.

If you make this and would like some recipe ideas to put it to use, try my Thai Green Curry with Tofu and Veggies or Easy Green Curry Potato Soup.

Nutrition Facts

Vegan Green Curry Paste

Amount Per Serving (1 tablespoon)

Calories 18 Calories from Fat 9

% Daily Value*

Fat 1g2%

Saturated Fat 0.1g1%

Sodium 252mg11%

Potassium 55mg2%

Carbohydrates 2.3g1%

Fiber 0.3g1%

Sugar 0.2g0%

Protein 0.4g1%

Calcium 10mg1%

Iron 0.4mg2%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.