A fragrant and creamy Thai green prawn curry recipe with plump and juicy prawns and nutty edamame beans. Make your own Thai green prawn curry at home with this simple recipe and this easy to make Thai green curry paste. Better than a takeaway any night of the week.
👩🏻🍳 Why make this recipe
A creamy and aromatic curry recipe that can be on the table in 30 minutes. Prawn curry is a great option for a healthy meal and its super easy to just throw the prawns in the pan. No need to chop up any raw meats, so it saves you time and the mess.
This Thai green prawn curry is adapted from the Thai recipes I made in 2012 in Thailand when attending the Siam Rice cookery school in Chang Mai, Northern Thailand. I've closely match ingredients where I can and used pre ground spices.
🥘 Ingredients
To make this easy Thai green prawn curry you will need:
Ingredient notes
Coconut milk: The best replacement for coconut milk in terms of consistency and flavour is cream. This can be a little heavy so you can also use yogurt or milk. If using milk I would recommend adding flour as well, as described in the recipe, to help keep the sauce thick.
Fish sauce: Fish sauce is the main seasoning ingredient in Thai cooking and completely transforms the dish. I highly recommend using fish sauce in this recipe for the best flavour. If you can't get hold of any or if you are making a vegetarian curry, you can substitute with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce or seaweed paste.
Prawns: The prawns can be substitute for your preferred meat or fish. See Thai green chicken curry option. For a vegetarian option replace the prawns with extra veggies and remember to replace the fish sauce with either soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce or seaweed paste.
Thai green curry paste: For best results I recommend making the Thai green curry paste yourself. However, if you don't have time to make the paste the best alternative is to buy a jar of pre-made paste. Bear in mind that the homemade paste can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.
Edamame beans: Any type of green bean will work well here. I usally opt for soy or green beans. If you want more veg try with tenderstem broccoli, pak choi, baby corn, red onion, finely chopped carrot, aubergine, or courgette..
Flour: The flour is used in this recipe as a thickening agent. If you prefer a Thai green sauce with a thin consistency or if you are making a gluten free version then leave this out. See expert tips below for alternative ways to thicken a curry sauce.
🔪 Step by step instructions
- Place a wok or large shallow pan onto a medium heat. Add 3 tablespoon of Thai green curry paste and cook for 1 minute to release the flavours.
- Next add a can coconut milk and stir well until fully combined with the paste.
- Continue to stir until heated through.
- Next add a small amount of cold water to 1 tablespoon of plain flour and mix into a paste. Add this to the sauce and stir in. Continue to heat and stir until sauce starts to thicken. (Skip this step if gluten free and see expert tips below for other ways to thicken the sauce)
- Add the raw king prawns to the green sauce and bring to a gentle simmer. TIP: do not boil as this will cause the sauce to thin out.
- Season with lime juice, lime zest, brown sugar and fish sauce (if you're making a vegetarian curry replace the fish sauce with a vegan fish sauce or seaweed paste). Stir well and cook at a simmer for 2-3 minutes or until prawns are bright pink.
- Next, add your choice of vegetables (I added edamame beans) and heat for a further 1-2 minutes or until veg is cooked but still crisp and bright green.
- Top with fresh basil, fresh chillies and Crispy onions. Dish up and serve with rice.
💭 Expert tips
Extra spiciness: If you like your Thai green curry spicy then add chopped, fresh green chillies during cooking or as a topping. Taste the chillies first so you have a rough idea of how much heat you're adding. Use the smaller, thinner finger chillies for extra heat or use the larger green chillies for a milder flavour.
How to make curry sauce thicker: Use full fat coconut milk in the recipe. The reduced fat versions are more watery and so will ultimately thin out the sauce. Coconut milk can also lose its consistency when boiled rapidly over a prolonged period. So even though reducing a sauce does thicken it, rapidly boiling in this instance will not help.
Other options for thickening the Thai green curry sauce include: Add full fat yogurt to the sauce. Instead of serving rice at the side, mix it directly into your curry whilst still in the pan. If adding vegetables that release water during cooking (e.g. courgettes, mushrooms) roast these in the oven first and then mix into the finished curry. Or add flour to the curry. To avoid flour lumps forming I usually mix 1 tablespoon of flour with a bit of water to form a paste. Then add the flour paste to the curry and mix well.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Out of all the Thai currys, Thai green curry is the hottest, despite the belief that Thai red curry is the hotter of the two. This is mainly down to the chillies used in the paste. Green chillies (particularly green birds eye chilli peppers) tend to be hotter than red. So whether the paste is hot or too spicy for you, is dependent on the ingredients used and the amounts.
The main difference between Thai green and Thai red curry is the colour and the heat, both of which come from the type of paste used (Thai red curry paste or Thai green curry paste).
2-3 tablespoon of paste is usually enough when making a curry for 2-4 people.
Once made, allow the Thai green curry to completely cool then transfer to a sealable container and keep in the fridge for 2 days or or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight. Reheat in a pan or in the microwave until piping hot throughout.
Yes its gluten free, as long as you don't use the above flour option for thickening. But do always check the packets of the individual ingredients you are using. Generally the main ingredients in this curry are naturally gluten free.
🍛 Other Thai curry recipes:
- Thai green curry paste
- Massaman Curry
- Thai green chicken curry
- Chicken Panang curry
- Thai red curry paste
- Massaman curry paste
- Thai red curry
- Thai yellow curry paste
If you've tried this recipe, let me know what you think by leaving a star rating in the recipe card or comment section below. I always appreciate your feedback! You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram or Sign up to my email list!
📖 Recipe
Thai Green Prawn Curry
Equipment
- Wok or large shallow pan
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon of homemade Thai green paste or shop bought green paste if you’re short on time
- 400 ml can of full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon plain flour for thickening - optional do not use if making a gluten free version
- 250 g king prawns
- Juice and zest of half a lime
- 2 teaspoon soft brown sugar
- Few splashes of fish sauce
- 150 g frozen edamame beans
- Basil leaves fresh chillies and crispy onions to serve (optional)
- Rice to serve optional
Instructions
- Place a wok or large shallow pan onto a medium heat. Add 3 tablespoon of Thai green curry paste and cook for 1 minute to release the flavours.
- Next add a can of coconut milk and stir well until fully combined with the paste.
- Continue to stir until heated through.
- Next add a small amount of cold water to 1 tablespoon of plain flour and mix into a paste. Add this to the sauce and stir in. Continue to heat and stir until sauce starts to thicken. (Skip this step if gluten free and see expert tips below for other ways to thicken the sauce)
- Add the raw king prawns to the green sauce and bring to a gentle simmer. TIP: do not boil as this will cause the sauce to thin out.
- Season with lime juice, lime zest, brown sugar and fish sauce (if you're making a vegetarian curry replace the fish sauce with a vegan fish sauce or seaweed paste). Stir well and cook at a simmer for 2-3 minutes or until prawns are bright pink.
- Next, add your choice of vegetables (I added edamame beans) and heat for a further 1-2 minutes or until veg is cooked but still crisp and bright green.
- Top with fresh basil, fresh chillies and Crispy onions. Dish up and serve with rice.
Martin
There's so much wrong with this recipe. Green curry should not be thick. It's the consistency of a soup. If you really want it thick like Choo chee or Penang then simply just reduce. There's no need to add in thickener which ruins taste and texture. It's unnecessary! Even if you really really want to then use cornflour because it's tasteless. Ordinary flour clumps and beings an unwelcome taste. There are other issues but those are the worst.
Debbie Jones
Hi Martin, Thanks for taking the time to visit my site and leave a comment. However, please do reread the recipe post and notes. You will see that I mention that the addition of flour is optional and to leave out if you prefer a thin consistency or if you are making gluten free version.The addition of flour is to my own preference as I like it a little thicker. The recipe notes also provide other options for thickening such as mixing with rice etc. I have tried to provide as much information as possible so that the reader can make this recipe as they would like it, including making to a thin consistency. As for flour clumping and adding an unwelcome taste.....yes this is the case if you add it directly and don't give it time to cook out. However, i suggest adding a bit of water and making into a paste before adding gradually and stirring until thickened (and therefore cooked out). Like all recipes everyone has their own slant and preference. I always add optional extras to my recipes in the hope that I will give people the opportunity to make the recipe in the way they prefer. AND I always state when these things are optional......as is the case here with the flour. I hope you do give the recipe a try and leave out the flour (as to your own taste). Debbie