Magical Red Curry Sauce
Around these parts, we love a good bowl. And this Magical Red Curry Sauce is the star of one of our favorite bowls.
Have you noticed that many times when you look for bowl ideas online, you find a bunch of complicated recipes that make you want to throw up your hands and make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich instead? No bueno!
We live in an RV and have a tiny kitchen. So we like fuss-free meals that don’t skimp on flavor.
Now, I’m not going to lie to you. What makes a bowl fuss-free is having some of the components prepared ahead of time. For me, that means having pre-made grains and beans on hand. It’s just as easy to make 6 servings of rice as 2. Same with quinoa. Same with beans. Even easier, canned beans!
Nowadays, you can even get quinoa or rice in frozen bags or shelf-stable packets that cook up quickly in the microwave. Do what makes sense for your budget and time constraints.
Oh, I also have some cheat codes, of course. Have you ever had couscous? It’s a tiny nugget (actually, it’s pasta!) that you basically just rehydrate with boiling water. It’s almost instant! And, it’s not easy to find, but it comes in whole wheat. We get ours at Trader Joe’s. (There’s also Israeli couscous. They’re small balls but not quite instant. Great in salads, though!)
Another nearly instant option for the bottom of your bowl is mung bean noodles. I find them in an 8-pack of single-serving bundles. Like couscous, you pour boiling water over them until they’re soft. Then rinse and use.
Okay, so back to this specific bowl. What you need for an amazing bowl is a sauce that you love. Then everything else just falls into place.
The first amazing sauce I’m going to introduce you to is our Magical Red Curry Sauce.
This sauce isn’t too spicy but is super flavorful. You can easily mix it up in a bowl with a fork. No blender required! And the ingredients are easy to keep on hand.
Okay, let me give you the recipe, and then I’m going to show you a couple of our recent bowls and components.
Magical Red Curry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 ½ tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 2 teaspoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or tamari, or soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
- Whisk together all ingredients through Bragg Liquid Aminos in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in garlic powder and basil. Refrigerate until needed. Thin with additional water, if needed, to desired consistency.
I’ve written the recipe for the red curry sauce above how I normally make it. But there are a few easy swaps you can make. Yes, you can use peanut butter instead of almond butter if that’s what you normally have. Use bottled or fresh lime juice, whatever is on hand. Try a small clove of minced garlic instead of garlic powder if you prefer.
Red Curry Paste
There are two different brands of red curry paste that I use. The Maesri has more flavor and neither one is painfully spicy. Definitely test them before using for your own spice tolerance. If your sauce does end up too spicy, try adding a little more almond or peanut butter and water to thin again.
Thai Kitchen
The one we buy the most is Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste. This one is widely available. We see it in Publix, Kroger, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and more. You’ll find it on the shelf in the international section. It’s on Amazon as well. This paste is also vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, and sugar-free.
Maesri
I’ve only found Maesri red curry paste in international markets and on Amazon. Not all of their pastes are vegan but a few of them are.
I was buying several cans of Maesri once at an Asian market in Atlanta and the clerk told me that this is what most Thai restaurants use. I’m not sure that’s true but it is really tasty.
This red curry paste is vegan, oil-free, and doesn’t show any gluten ingredients but also doesn’t claim to be gluten-free. It does contain sugar but based on the nutritional information it seems to be a very small amount.
I keep the unused portion of each of these in the refrigerator or freezer.
Let’s make bowls!
We make bowls with this Magical Red Curry Sauce all the time but they changed based on what ingredients I have on hand. So I thought I’d show you a couple of our bowls so you can get some ideas on how to build your own.
Bowl configuration 1:
For this one, I heated up leftover brown rice. Then I prepped a large crown of broccoli and then steamed it in the microwave. After that, I made the sauce. There was a leftover half a brick of tofu in the fridge, so I fried that up in my non-stick pan. And we had an ear of corn leftover from our cookout Saturday so I sliced off the kernels and threw them in. And, we added a big spoonful of kimchi to each of our bowls.
Bowl configuration 2:
This bowl had quinoa on the bottom, broccoli and kimchi again, leftover tofu scramble, and pre-cooked lentils.
Some other additions we enjoy: adzuki beans, red bell peppers, sliced carrots, spinach or romaine lettuce, baby bok choy, soba, or mung bean noodles on the bottom, etc.
I hope you enjoy this Magical Red Curry Sauce as much as we do! Do you make bowls at home? What's in your favorite bowl?
