When cozy, decadence comes together in an ultimate feel-good dish, you know it’s going to be a goooood night. This easy to make Instant Pot (or Stove Top) Thai Vegetable Massaman Curry is brimming with curry flavors and plant powered ingredients. It’s perfect for a quick weeknight dinner in the Instant Pot. Stove top instructions make this recipe versatile. This tasty curry is totally satisfying, and the whole family will love this hearty, filling dish!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
This Massaman curry is a delicious combination of the Thai and Indian cuisines. It uses both red curry paste and curry powder creating an utterly tasty fusion of full bodies flavors.
Red Curry Paste
We used Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste. You can find it in most large grocery stores in a small red jar located in the Asian aisle. It is Whole Food Plant Based and works great in this recipe.
It packs a punch of red chili peppers, garlic, lemon grass, and ginger. We cannot get enough of this delicious blend of goodness.
Curry Powder
What’s your favorite curry powder? We would love to know as we are always looking for fun blends to try.
Some curry powders can get heavy with the turmeric, which isn’t a spice we are overly in love with. We like turmeric, but sometimes curry blends can get a little heavy handed, which is why we love with Penzeys The Now Curry Powder. It has a great earthy flavor with a pow of cumin and a little less turmeric. The beauty of this dish is you can use your favorite curry powders in this recipe.
Peanut Butter
Our Massaman curry has just a hint of peanut butter flavor; however, if you are really into that yummy peanut butter flavor, feel free to ramp up the peanut butter. We recommend waiting until the end to add more after tasting the finished dish.
We totally devoured this Massaman Curry! We hope you give it a try!
I’ll let Mom tell you more!
Hi! Robin here.
Oh my goodness! This curry is divine! I always get excited when Monkey starts messing around in the kitchen making curry dishes. She has a flair for them and this one sure did not disappoint!
Making it in the Instant Pot really made life a whole lot easier! I love that darned thing. Do you have one too?
It’s funny because I fought tooth and nail on purchasing one. I just wasn’t sure there was a real benefit. Boy, do I stand corrected. It’s amazing! It does make life easier, especially meals like this one where you just throw everything in there and go. Check out more of our Instant Pot Recipes Here.
We hope you give this deliciousness a try! We just know you are going to love it!
If you try this cozy curry, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- Instant Pot or Ceramic/Enamel Lined Dutch oven or similarly sized large stock pot with a tight-fitting lid.
Thai Vegetable Massaman Curry
- Prep Time: 12 Minutes
- Cook Time: 16 Minutes
- Total Time: 28 Minutes (+Rest Time)
- Yield: 4-5 Servings 1x
- Category: Stew
- Method: Instant Pot/Stovetop
- Cuisine: Fusion of Thai and Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This easy to make Instant Pot (or Stove Top) Thai Vegetable Massaman Curry is brimming with curry flavors and plant powered ingredients.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 cup yellow onions, fine dice
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 1 ½ cups water (or broth)
- ½ cups low-sodium vegetable broth *
- 1 Tablespoon reduced-sodium tamari *
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted, unsweetened peanut butter (+/-) *
- 4 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon red curry paste (+/-) *
- 1 lb. 8 oz. Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes *
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- 2 teaspoons curry powder *
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
Other Ingredients:
- 1 cup light coconut milk *
- 1 cup frozen peas
Optional Toppings:
- Freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients into a small bowl, mix well. Set aside.
- Add all the Base Ingredients and the Spice/Herb Mix into the Instant Pot. Stir well to combine all the ingredients. Set the Instant Pot to Manual Pressure High for 14 minutes. When finished, press Cancel, unplug the Instant Pot,and allow to sit for 2 minutes, then do a Quick Release
- Once all the pressure is released, carefully remove the lid. Stir in the peas and light coconut milk, allow to set for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
- Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and steamed rice.
Stove Top Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- Add all the Base Ingredients and Spice/Herb Mix, stir well to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the carrots and potatoes are perfectly tender, stirring occasionally.
- Once the carrots and potatoes are tender, remove the pot from the stove. Stir in the peas and light coconut milk, allow to set for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to marry.
- Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and steamed rice.
Notes
*Tips for Success:
- 6-quart or 8-quart Instant Pot: We used an 8-quart Instant Pot. If using a 6-quart Instant Pot, you may need to slightly adjust the pressure times accordingly – largely based upon the size of the cut of potato.
- Spices/Herbs: We recommend adding the spices/herbs as listed, then ramping up any favorite spices at the end if desired.
- Sautéing the Veggies: You can take the time to sauté the veggies and if you wish. We tried this recipe both with and without sautéing the vegetables and noticed only a tiny bit of discernable flavor difference, so we elected to throw everything into the pot to make it easier.
- Light Coconut Milk: We used one cup of light coconut milk in this recipe. If you find the spices too strong, feel free to add more coconut milk to mellow out the flavors. We enjoyed the bold flavor of this Thai Massaman Curry perfect.
- Peanut Butter Mixing: We recommend mixing and distribution to dissolve/lighten the peanut butter. Peanut butter tends to lump up and sink to the bottom of the mixture. It helps if you do not add the chickpeas and potatoes until after you have mixed the peanut butter and red curry paste into the broth to dissolve as much as possible. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to break up anything that may have got stuck there to avoid the “Burn” warning on the instant pot.
- Taste Preferences: The beauty of this curry is that it is so easy to adjust, if it is too spicy, add more light coconut milk, if not spicy enough, add a little more red curry paste or curry powder. Also, we recommend waiting until the dish slightly cools before tasting. The Instant Pot really intensifies heat so initially the flavors are not fully developed until the curry starts to slightly cool off.
- Adding to the Dish: The liquids after cooking in the Instant Pot are super hot so if taste testing at the end and adding spices, etc. to it will automatically cook the new additional spices, etc.; however, if you find you need to cook the curry a little more because of new spices added at the end, then simply use the Sauté If the “Hot Warning” kicks on while using the Sauté feature, then simply cancel and unplug. This means that the IP is already super hot and will adequately cook the new ingredients.
*Notes Continued:
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Red Curry Paste: We used Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste. It has great flavor and is Whole Food Plant Based. Feel free to use your favorite red curry paste.
*Curry Powder: We used Penzeys The Now Curry Powder. Feel free to use your favorite curry powder.
*Beans: You can use your favorite white bean in this dish.
*Peanut Butter: We used an unsalted, unsweetened peanut butter. The peanut butter is very subtle in this dish, but you can totally ramp it up if you’d like a stronger peanut butter flavor. We recommend waiting until the end and taste testing before adding more peanut butter.
*Yukon Gold Potatoes: You can use your favorite potato in this curry. We used Yukon Golds simply because the skins are very thin and do not require peeling. Other types of potatoes may require peeling off the skin, i.e. Russets, etc. If you do not have a scale, 1 lb. 8 oz. of potatoes comes out to about 4 cups.
*Light Coconut Milk: Make sure you use light coconut milk (in the can) and not full fat coconut milk. Light coconut milk is Whole Food Plant Based, while full fat coconut milk is not. You can also use unsweetened plain plant milk with or without a splash of coconut extract, but you may need to adjust the spices (not use as much) as the lite coconut milk is thicker and tempers the spices more than plain unsweetened plant milk.
*Sea Salt: You may need to add some sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences. We added an extra teaspoon of sea salt.
*Servings: 4 to 5
*Storage: about 5 days in the refrigerator and freezes well.
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We LOVED this. It will definitely be in a regular rotation.
Hi there Chris 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe and plan to add it to your regular rotation – *doing a happy dance.* We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi! I made this for my family last night and everyone liked it, even my 3 year old. It was also super filling. After trying it we did add a bit of hot sauce to our plates (not the 3 year old) but that’s just we prefer a spice to most of our foods. We will definitely be making it again. Thank you so much!
Hi there Sarah 🙂
Woot!!! We are so glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful feedback with us! We truly appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Wow, I made this last night for dinner and it was fantastic! It was quick to put together, and the curry flavour was delicious. I served it with brown rice and dinner was served (and finished by the whole family). Thx
Hi there Frances 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so excited that you and the whole family enjoyed this curry. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome feedback with us. We appreciate you taking the time to write!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Oh my goodness! This was absolutely delicious! We loved it. I could lick my bowl clean it was so good.
Hi there Pat 🙂
YAYYY!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for leaving us an awesome review of this recipe.
-Ameera and Robin
This is delicious. Can the leftovers be frozen?
Thanks!
Hi there Judy,
WOOO HOOO!!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Yes, this dish can be frozen. Thank you so much for the great review.
-Ameera and Robin
Can this massaman curry be made in a slow cooker?
If so, on what setting and for how long?
Hi there Sue,
Thank you for your question. We have not tested this recipe in a slow cooker so we don’t have anything to offer. If you give it a try, please let us know.
-Ameera and Robin
The link for instant pot recipes “here” is not working.
Hi there Jeannie,
Thank you so much for letting us know. We fixed the broken link.
-Ameera and Robin