The Spiced Life

Musings & Recipes From My Kitchen

  • Home
  • About Me
  • FAQ
  • Dishes By Region
  • Archive and Index
  • Creative Cookie Exchange
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / beef / Thai Inspired Peanut Curry

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry

September 14, 2015 By Laura 10 Comments

Sharing is caring!

  • Facebook
  • Yummly
  • Twitter
  • Email
Jump to Recipe  ↓ Print Recipe  ❒

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry is a healthy, delicious and easy dinner that makes the most of the late summer harvest while welcoming the brisker chill of fall. Affiliate links have been used to link to items I am discussing in this post. 

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry with summer veggies, ground beef, coconut milk and a little red curry paste! Easy, delicious and fast!

There are many reasons I love fall the best. Football (Go Blue!). Sweaters. Jeans. My birthday month (September). The Holidays. Baking. But there is one reason that often gets overlooked because it is a little more subtle. When the weather cools off, but has not yet frozen, suddenly you have at your fingertips the “summer’s” bounty to use in cooler weather cooking. Curries, stews and casseroles that are full of delicious veggies straight from your garden or maybe a nearby farmer’s garden. Heaven. This Thai Inspired Peanut Curry is one such dish.

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry with summer veggies, ground beef, coconut milk and a little red curry paste! Easy, delicious and fast!

Because it uses ground beef, this curry is also super simple and fast cooking. And if any vegetable that I have used or not used does or does not sound good to you, leave it out or try it (holy wow did that sentence even make sense?). What I mean is, this dish is flexible. I could easily see mushrooms in it. I meant to add cherry tomatoes and forgot. Have some greens or root veggies to use up? Throw ’em in! Thai Inspired Peanut Curry makes no pretensions to authenticity, which makes it a great blank slate for playing.

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry is also one of my best arguments for making your own curry paste. It does not call for quite as much curry paste as a traditional Thai red curry would, so you might be able to get away with storebought if you have high heat tolerance. But guys, frozen curry paste is one of my single biggest weapons in the kitchen. Once you have made the paste, it is so easy and often fast (cut of meat depending) to whip up amazing curries, some traditional and some, like this one, more out of my own head. If you have a wet dry grinder like a Preethi, or maybe even a Vitamix Blender type machine, making the paste is also pretty easy and fast. I am not as certain about the Vitamix or its Western competitors, but I am guessing they will work because I have been told you can make homemade tahini with them, and if you can grind a sesame seed, you can probably grind a curry paste. It is certainly worth trying anyway!

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry with summer veggies, ground beef, coconut milk and a little red curry paste! Easy, delicious and fast!

We adored this dish, the entire family. If you are curious, the above picture is how my children prefer their rice dishes. I actually do not think it is because they are nervous of the curry or avoiding it (although it may have started that way). I think it is because they love plain rice so much that they prefer to eat the curry plain! Yes, crazy, I know. But everybody had seconds, and maybe even thirds. It was a perfect early September dish, especially with the brisk weather we have been having. Bring on fall!

Thai Inspired Peanut Curry with summer veggies, ground beef, coconut milk and a little red curry paste! Easy, delicious and fast!

5 from 1 vote
Thai Inspired Peanut Curry with summer veggies, ground beef, coconut milk and a little red curry paste! Easy, delicious and fast!
Print
Thai Inspired Peanut Curry

Here is my recipe for homemade Thai red curry paste, which I highly recommend making and keeping in the freezer.

Course: Entree
Cuisine: Thai
Author: TheSpicedLife
Ingredients
  • 2-3 T extra-virgin coconut oil
  • 1/4 cup red curry paste, preferably homemade
  • 5 small onions, roughly chopped
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
  • 2 small pinches salt, divided
  • 2 sweet bell peppers, roughly chopped
  • 3 medium-small zucchini, insides scraped out, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup natural peanut butter, preferably freshly ground
  • 1 19-oz can of coconut milk
  • 1 15-oz can of coconut milk
  • 1 t garam masala
  • kernels from 2 ears of corn
  • 2-3 T brown sugar, to taste
  • 1-2 T fish sauce, plus more to taste
For serving:
  • Thai basil (or sub a purple basil like global basil)
  • Chopped roasted and salted peanuts
  • Sriracha sauce
  • Jasmine rice
Instructions
  1. Melt the coconut oil over medium high heat in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot. When it is hot, add the curry paste. Mix into the coconut oil and fry, for about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the onions with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the ground beef with a pinch of salt. Stir, mixing into the onions and curry paste. Brown the ground beef, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
  4. Add the peppers and zucchini. Cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes.
  5. Stir in the peanut butter to melt it and mix it in evenly.
  6. Mix in both cans of coconut milk and add the garam masala and corn kernels. Bring to a boil.
  7. Stir in the sugar and fish sauce, starting with lesser amounts. Cover the pot and turn the heat down to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes to blend the flavors.
  8. Taste for more fish sauce and brown sugar. Serve over Jasmine rice, garnished with basil, chopped peanuts, and Sriracha sauce for those who like some heat.

 

Filed Under: beef, coconut milk, corn, curry, easily made vegetarian, ground beef, peanut butter, peanuts, Thai dishes, zucchini Tagged With: beef, corn, curry, curry paste, ground beef, peanut butter, peanuts, red curry, s.e. asian, summer harvest, summer squash, Thai, zucchini

« Spiralized Calabacitas with Salsa Negra Glazed Chicken
S’mores Graham Cracker Bundt Cake: #BundtBakers »

Comments

  1. Debra @ Bowl Me Over says

    September 14, 2015 at 11:55 pm

    Yummy recipe, delicious combo – two bowls please! 😀

    Reply
  2. Marye says

    September 15, 2015 at 7:30 am

    Peanut Curry is so good! This looks perfect!

    Reply
  3. Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says

    September 15, 2015 at 8:35 am

    I love everything about fall too…definitely the best time of the year! This looks delicious – you can’t go wrong with Thai flavors!

    Reply
  4. Kristina says

    September 15, 2015 at 6:32 pm

    fall is my favorite time of year… I love what October smells like. my birthday is in September too… happy birthday!

    we love peanut sauce here, your recipe sounds very good!

    Reply
  5. Manila Spoon says

    September 15, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    5 stars
    You cannot go wrong with peanut butter and coconut milk in a curry dish! This looks absolutely delicious!

    Reply
  6. Joanne says

    September 16, 2015 at 8:15 am

    I recently started making my own Thai curry pastes and it is amazing how much tastier they are than anything from the store! Peanut curries are my favorite, so I will definitely be giving this a try.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      September 16, 2015 at 4:20 pm

      YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

      Reply
  7. Laura @MotherWouldKnow says

    September 16, 2015 at 10:14 am

    Love this recipe – so simple and flexible. Just one question – 2 cans of coconut milk, 1 – 15 ounce and 1- 19 ounce?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      September 16, 2015 at 4:19 pm

      Yep. Mae Ploy tends to be 19 oz cans and is a thicker milk. 15-oz cans are several different brands (and honestly feel free to use a different brand from Mae Ploy). If you cannot find the Mae Ploy, some of the brands do sell tiny little cans to make up that 4 ounces.

      Reply
  8. Abida says

    October 16, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    I am just getting into South East Asian cooking, and just purchased some red curry paste the other day. This looks like a great recipe for to try out, can imagine the peanuts being super crunchy! And I do hope to make my own paste after I get a bit familiar with the cuisine lol

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Instagram
Enter your email here and never miss a post!

Popular Posts

  • Restaurant Style Beef Vindaloo
  • Taralli Dolci di Pasqua (Southern Italian Easter Cookies): #CreativeCookieExchange
  • Moroccan Inspired Couscous Bowl with Ground Beef, Veggies and Caramelized Onions (redux)
  • Mexican Ramen Bowl
  • Grandma’s Beef and Noodles
  • North Indian Baked Eggs: Review of Seven Spoons
  • Bengali Mahi Mahi with Mustard Seeds
  • Saag Gosht (Beef in Fragrant Spinach Sauce)
  • Ash-e Anar (Persian Pomegranate Soup with Meatballs)
  • Goan Influenced Goat Stew in the Slow Cooker

Copyright © 2008–2023 The Spiced Life