In the realm of curries, it is hard to pick my favorite. There are so many different flavors that one could highlight through fresh herbs and spices. One of my go-to sauces in the past year has been this green curry sauce. It’s a loose riff on Thai green curry. Traditionally, green curry that comes from central Thailand is made with shrimp paste, kaffir limes, and green thai chilies (specifically prik kee noo suan).
My green bean curry variation leaves out the shrimp paste and uses readily available ingredients like regular limes and jalapeño peppers. If you can find the more traditional ingredients, I recommend making your own green curry paste (this is a shrimp version and this is one without). However, you can often find green curry paste at the store (the flavor just isn’t as strong/good as homemade!)
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A flavorful green bean curry using a riff on thai green curry sauce with help from store-bought curry paste.
Ingredients
Green Curry Sauce:
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/2 cup minced white onion
- 1 small jalapeno deseeded and minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoons thai green curry paste
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Salt, to taste
- 1 cup whole-fat coconut milk
- 1/3 cup loosely packed cilantro
Base:
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1 small white onion
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/2 pound green beans, thinly sliced
- Sea salt, to taste
For Serving:
- 2 cups Brown rice for serving
- Toasted coconut for serving
- Fresh cilantro for serving
Instructions
- Heat a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the coconut oil and melt. Measure in the onion and jalapeno, cook until fragrant and soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger, cooking for another minute or so. Add in the remaining ingredients for the sauce. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 5 minutes. Using a blender or immersion blender, puree the sauce until mostly smooth. Set the sauce aside and wipe out the pot.
- Return the pot to the stove over medium heat. Add the olive oil to the pot, followed by the onion, peppers, and pinch of salt. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes then add the green beans along with a splash of water. Cover and cook until the green beans until they are just about tender and bright green, 4 to 5 minutes. Add a bit more water as needed. Uncover and continue to cook for another few minutes to evaporate any leftover water and lightly brown the green beans.
- Add in the curry sauce and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the sauce is hot. Divide the rice into 4 bowls and top with green beans.
Notes
Tips & Tricks: make the sauce ahead of time for a quick weeknight dinner.
Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: limes, green beans, coconut milk
Nutrition: see the information.
Nutrition
- Calories: 376
- Sugar: 9.8
- Sodium: 63.7
- Fat: 33.3
- Saturated Fat: 29.3
- Carbohydrates: 20.3
- Fiber: 2.9
- Protein: 4.4
- Cholesterol: .7
Step by Step
Green Bean Curry
variations
Given I’ve made a similar curry from potatoes, it’s pretty easy to swap out the vegetables and/or grains. I recommend not playing too much with the sauce (but that’s just because I love it so much!)
Vegetables: swap out the green beans for other summer produce like eggplant or potatoes. Sweet potatoes are also lovely in this dish.
Grains: Serve this green bean curry over your favorite grains: millet, quinoa, or sorghum just to name a few of my favorites.
Coconut Milk: This sauce is rich, try cutting the coconut milk down slightly and swapping it for vegetable broth.
Explore
A true summer delight, green beans are a wonderful addition to every meal. I love using them sautéed with eggs, on their own as a side, or tucked in summer rolls. A few of my favorites:
Green Bean Stir-Fry
Green Bean Summer Rolls
Roasted Green Beans with Romesco
Maria says
I’ve never thought of adding green beans to curry, but this sound delicious!! Green curries are my favorite:)
federica says
Made it for dinner last night: while it was a little too spicy for me (the green curry was prob “the culprit”, so next time I will start with a heaping 1/2 tablespoon), it came out really really good! I really enjoyed it a lot. The only sub was sweet potatoes instead of the red pepper that I didn’t have in-house.
Stephanie says
This was so good! Definitely doubling the recipe next time 🙂
Maggie K says
I made this for dinner last night and it was great! My jalepenos were huge, so it was quite spicey, but my husband loved that (a little spicier than I am comfortable with, oh well). This dish really smells and tastes authentic, and I would highly recommend it.
Brynn says
I made this last night and we loved it! It’s definitely the best homemade green curry I’ve had. Our jalepeno wasn’t very spicy so it wasn’t spicy at all. Can’t wait to try it again with different veggies.
★★★★★
esi says
Made this last night with frozen beans from my in-laws garden. Very very nice and even my husband who does not like green beans too much was happy.
★★★★★
Alison says
look good – am making it today. Just wondering about the onion in the recipe – is it split half and half between the sauce and then the beans? Recipe just says add the onion, but then says it again later for the peppers and beans part??
Erin Alderson says
I used about 1 1/2 onions. A half in the sauce and a full onion with the peppers!