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This ultra-delicious Thai-inspired butternut squash red curry is creamy, spicy, rich, and comforting! The sweet butternut squash pairs beautifully with all the red curry spices.
And here it is!
Thai butternut squash red curry has always been one of the most popular recipes on my blog. And the taste is incredible!
Maybe it’s the fact that it’s loaded with vegetables, but it’s also very customizable? Like chickpeas? Throw in a can! Let it bubble and simmer away with thai curry paste until the whole house smells delicious. Top the curry recipe with fresh herbs like chopped cilantro and serve it up with brown rice or white rice.
Thank goodness it’s butternut squash season again—AKA the best season there is, in my very humble opinion. Because, um… hello! Butternut squash red Thai curry is actually a thing. And it’s creamy, spicy, sweet, crunchy, comforting, and just downright addicting. Something I’ve been waiting all summer long to share. But who makes spicy curry in the summertime other than me?
Everything we love about food in general all rolled into one easy curry recipe. What I need you to know is that this is weeknight curry. We’re using store-bought red curry paste and really amping up the flavor with a little yellow curry powder. WHAT.
Yes friends. The yellow curry powder adds so much spice and flavor to this easy one-pot butternut squash curry.
How to Make Butternut Squash Curry:
Butternut squash curry ingredients:
- Basmati Rice: You can also serve this with naan, quinoa, white rice, or brown rice!
- Coconut Oil: I like to cook curry recipes that naturally use coconut milk in coconut oil to help enhance the flavor. You could also use avocado oil or any other oil that you typically cook with.
- Shallots: I like to use shallots for most Thai recipes that I make. If you happen to have a red or yellow onion on hand, you could make that swap too!
- Butternut Squash: We’ll dice the squash and simmer it in the curry until it’s fork-tender! Even my never-vegetarian hubby loves this recipe!
- Fresh Ginger: We’ll add grated ginger to the curry to amp up the flavor.
- Red Curry Paste: Buy a good brand of red curry paste, as most of the flavor in this recipe comes from it. This is my favorite brand.
- Yellow Curry Powder: contains ingredients like cumin, turmeric, and other seasonings. You can use any mild yellow curry powder you like. Here’s what you need.
- Coconut Milk: I like to use full-fat coconut milk for this recipe, but a low-fat version will work too. Coconut milk helps thicken the curry, so this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
- Vegetable Broth or Chicken broth: This is what helps thin out the coconut milk and makes a delicious curry that you can spoon over your rice.
- Fish Sauce: adds umami to the recipe. Feel free to omit this if you follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet. This is my favorite brand.
- Sugar: helps balance the salt in the recipe.
- Baby Spinach: adds color and is another source of fiber and nutrition.
Making Butternut Squash Curry:
- Serve it up. Grab a bowl and load it up with your favorite rice or quinoa. Then top it with this freshly made, extremely fragrant curry recipe! Sprinkle some crushed peanuts or cashews on top and cilantro. Squeeze on fresh lime juice to really wake up the flavors!
- Saute the aromatics. Start by heating the oil in a skillet. Once melted, add the shallots and give them plenty of time to sweat down and become golden. Then, add the butternut squash and grated ginger.
- Simmer the curry. Once the butternut squash is well coated in the oil, we’ll add in the red curry paste and curry powder and stir until the squash cubes have a chance to get nicely coated in these ingredients. Continue to cook until the curry starts to get fragrant. Add the broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar. Bring the curry to a simmer, then lower the heat and allow the squash to cook until it’s completely fork-tender. You’ll know it’s done when a fork pierces through the cubes without any resistance. Stir in the baby spinach.
FAQs about this recipe
Swap it for sweet potatoes if you’d like.
Keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave before serving.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- 20-Minute Panang Chicken Curry
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- Creamy Coconut Curry with Shrimp and Corn
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup
- Finger Lickin’ Butter Chicken
Thai Butternut Squash Red Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoons coconut oil or any oil really
- 1 shallot chopped
- 2-2 1/2 cups diced butternut squash about 1.5 pounds
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
- 2-3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
- 15 ounce can coconut milk
- 3/4 cup vegetable stock or chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce omit for vegans/vegetarians
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3-4 cups fresh baby spinach
- cooked basmati rice
- for serving crushed cashews/ peanuts, cilantro, lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Add the shallots and saute them for 5-6 minutes or until they just begin to get golden. Add the butternut squash and grated ginger, stir to coat with the oil.
- Add the red curry paste, yellow curry powder and stir until all the butternut squash is nicely coated. Continue to cook the curry paste for 2-3 minutes or until it's fragrant. Add the broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and sugar. Let the sauce come to a simmer before covering.
- Lower the heat and allow the squash to cook all the way through, about 12-18 minutes. You'll know it's done when you can easily pierce the butternut squash with the tip of a knife. Stir in the baby spinach and allow it to wilt.
- Serve with basmati rice topped with crushed nuts, cilantro, and lime wedges.
Notes
- Kale can be used in place of the spinach in this recipe but keep in mind you’ll need to add it in earlier so that it has enough time to wilt.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
I adore this recipe and have passed it on! Making it again tonight 😉
I tried this curry tonight and my god it is amazing! Was so tasty and light my family loved it and my daughter loved it also!
My house smells amazing!!! This is a keeper recipe with so many ways to twist it. Thank you, stay safe.
I’ve tried a number of red thai curry recipes this is the best!
The only change I made was to add some mushrooms & we ate it with oven roasted salmon, it was delicious. Thank you
Made this tonight. It was great!! Made no changes except to add crushed red pepper to my serving.
This was DELISH!!! I added 1 pound of shrimp for my meat-loving husband, right at the end with the spinach, and it couldn’t have been better. Warm, rich, sweet, creamy, savory… Everything I want in a curry on a cold fall night!!
I just wasn’t feeling this recipe. I LOVE thai curries, i make a red curry on the regular. I don’t like the addition of the indian yellow curry, i don’t think it fits with the flavors. I think some kafir lime leaves would be awesome. I like the idea of adding chick peas for a different texture and protein. Also, depending on which brand of red curry you using be aware that some are spicer than others. 3 Tbs of my traditional thai paste would be too much whereas the Thai Kitchen brand is much milder.
Excellent! You cannot go wrong with the basic elements of this recipe and spices. I doubled everything except coconut milk and sugar and this was so good, quick, and easy. I used four cups of water and two large vegetable bouillon cubes and added a few previously roasted carrots and potatoes which also worked well. Used a large yellow onion instead of shallot and threw in a few pressed garlic cloves. Omitted fish sauce since I didn’t have it. Will make this again and again, thanks!
I made this tonight for dinner it turned out amazing! I doubled the butternut squash and coconut milk and I put a whole packet of red curry paste in and 3 tbs fish sauce. I love how the lime juice brought out the flavors. So creamy and delicious. I’m obsessed
Can you make this with green curry paste instead of red?
I have tried lots of online recipes and this is by far the best tasting Thai recipe by far
Thanks for submitting this
It will be part my go to vegan Thai dishes
Awesome dish! I added in a couple ribs of finely chopped celery when I sautéed the shallots. Used beef stock since I was unexpectedly out of chicken and it was fine. The proportions of the curry are just right and could serve as the base for many proteins and veg.
My absolute favorite curry recipe – I have made it dozens of times. It freezes well (minus cilantro, lime and cashew toppings) for curry in a hurry later. Sometimes I throw in a few dried chiles early on to add pizazz or use chili oil instead of coconut oil. Thank you for this gift of a recipe!!!
Is there an alternative to the red curry paste? The one suggested has “shrimp” as an ingredient making it a shell fish allergen and non vegetarian. Thank you
Hi Gigi! Not all red curry pastes have shrimp paste. This one mentions it’s vegan on the packaging so hope this one will work for you 🙂
I made this tonight and it was delicious! The husband agrees. I added some tamari instead of fish sauce and served it with chili flakes and toasted sesame seeds. Yum!
Delicious, easy to make and tweak to ones taste. I am trying to go more vegetarian and tasty nutritious food like this sure helps.
WOW! As a family of meat-eaters, I’ve been looking for a recipe to expand my repertoire of veg meals.
The ingredients for this recipe is easily accessible, it’s a easy to make and it’s so delicious that nobody missed meat. Can’t wait to try the leftovers tomorrow!!!
Had some butternut squash lying around and wanted to spice up my parents’ vanilla taste buds… SUCCESS!! My mom tried curry 20 years ago and has been scared to venture out of her comfort zone ever since… until now! Both my parents absolutely loved this amazing, flavorful dish. The only ingredient I didn’t have was the yellow curry powder (couldn’t find it), and it was still PACKED with flavor.
I love this recipe! When I’m in the mood for some warm comforting food I make this! I add ground turkey too! My sister recommended this recipe to me and it’s a winner!
Great idea on adding ground turkey, April!
We loved this recipe! I have the ingredients to make it again. Can u freeze it?
This was otherwise tasty, but my husband and I love spice and with 3 tbsp red curry paste it was way too spicy to even be edible. Such a shame.