Vegan Panang Curry with Tofu
This popular vegan panang curry recipe is easy to make in under 30 minutes with simple pantry ingredients and a hit with everyone who makes it!
What is Panang Curry?
Panang curry, also spelled phanaeng or panaeng, is a thick Thai curry with a sweet, salty and nutty peanut flavour.
Traditionally, Thai panang curry is made with chili peppers, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, shallot, shrimp paste, salt and peanuts.
This recipe is my version of Thai panang curry. I use light coconut milk, curry powder, tomato paste and peanut butter instead of traditional ingredients.
Ingredients
- coconut milk – you can use light or full-fat coconut milk, I tend to lean towards light coconut milk because I find full-fat to be a bit too heavy…plus this recipe already had added fats from the peanut butter
- tomato paste – any canned tomato paste works
- broth – use homemade or store-bought, carton broth or bouillon cubes work
- peanut butter – be sure to use a good quality, natural peanut butter with just 1-2 ingredients (peanuts or peanuts and salt)
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Step by Step Instructions
Before You Start: If you plan to serve over rice, which is recommended), start preparing that now so it can cook while you make the curry.
Step 1. Cook the onion, garlic and carrot in a skillet over medium heat until they start to soften. This should take 6-7 minutes. After that, add the zucchini and bell pepper.
Step 4. Add the tomato paste, curry powder, turmeric and salt, stir well and cook for a couple more minutes then add the broth and coconut milk and simmer until the carrots are tender and the curry is thick and creamy.
Step 5. Add the maple syrup, cilantro, peanut butter and tofu, mix it all up and cook for a few minutes until the tofu is heated through. That’s it!
Serve the finished curry over a bowl of your favourite rice.
Notes and Tips
- Storage: Let cool then serve in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It will thicken when it cools and can be thinned with additional broth or coconut milk if desired when reheating.
- Veggies: Carrot can be omitted or subbed with sweet potato or squash. Broccoli works well in addition to or in place or peppers and zucchini.
- Peanut Butter: Can be substituted with almond butter if needed but I really prefer peanut butter in this recipe.
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vegan Panang Curry Tofu
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Thai
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This creamy vegan curry is easy to make in about 20 minutes. All you’ll need to make it is basic pantry ingredients plus some tofu and vegetables. It’s thick, creamy, full of flavour and amazing served over a bed of basmati rice ready to soak up all the goodness.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion, diced (2 cups, approx. 300g)
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups chopped carrots (approx. 300 g)
- 1 small zucchini, sliced (approx. 1 heaping cup)
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup tomato paste (60 g)
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can light coconut milk
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup (substitute coconut sugar or other natural sweetener of choice)
- 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (100 g)
- 1 350 g packaged firm tofu, cubed
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- cooked white or brown rice, for serving
Instructions
- Add 2 tbsp of oil, water or broth to a large skillet with the diced onion, garlic and carrot. Cook for 6-7 minutes over medium heat, stirring often, until starting to soften and become fragrant.
- Add the zucchini and red pepper and stir to combine, adding a bit more cooking liquid if the pan is drying out.
- Add the tomato paste, curry powder, turmeric and salt and cook for a few more minutes, stirring to combine.
- Add the vegetable broth and coconut milk and simmer lightly until the carrots are tender and it’s thick and creamy, about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally as it cooks.
- Stir in the maple syrup, peanut butter, cilantro and cubed tofu and cook for a few more minutes until the peanut butter is combined and the tofu is heated through.
- Serve over basmati, brown rice or quinoa.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 244
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fat: 16 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 11 g
Update Note: Originally published on May 3, 2018. Updated with new photos and text on September 4, 2020.
Love this recipe. Foolproof! I didn’t have veg broth, so I used water. I didn’t have maple syrup and I didn’t have cilantro. I baked the tofu before putting it into the recipe – but in the future I think I might not do that. I used full-fat coconut milk because I couldn’t find the light. Instead of zucchini, I used green beans and I added mushrooms, too. I LOVED this recipe. It tasted so good! I had it with Jasmine rice. I will make this curry regularly. I encourage everyone to try it!
haha, that’s awesome…I love all the subs you made! Always my goal with recipes I share – that people take them and make them your own! Glad you enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t call this Penang since it’s missing the necessary Thai seasonings which you can easily find them all in a jarred container. I just made this and am really disappointed, it’s not anything near what I always order from Thai restaurants.
This was delicious! I will definitely be making it again!
So glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
I have never left a review for a recipe ever and I make a lot of recipes but this was seriously AMAZING!! I have tried making lots of curry recipes and they’re always good but not as rich or in depth as the restaurant BUT this one tastes just like my favorite Thai restaurant, it is amazing.
Yesss! So happy to hear that. I love this recipe too and it’s so quick and easy! Thanks for leaving your review.
Wow! So good and so easy to make! Thanks.
This looks great! I want to make this tonight and have everything I need except that I only have Cocunut Milk “beverage” from So Delicious and not canned coconut milk. Thoughts on if it might work?
It will work it just won’t be as thick and creamy. 🙂 It’s up to you, it will still be good but just not quite as creamy as if you use canned coconut milk.
Just made this! SO easy and tasted amazing. Served with coconut rice and it was such a yum meal!
So glad you liked it, Lucy!!
If I could have fit it in my belly, I would have eaten the entire pot! Instead, I look forward to eating the leftovers tomorrow. This was absolutely delicious!!!
On an editing note, I didn’t see in the instructions when to add the turmeric and salt. I could have just overlooked this but thought I’d bring it up in case it isn’t there.
So glad you enjoyed it! And thanks, I’ll add that to the instructions. Thanks for your comment!
I made this last night — so good, really easy, and I love that it didn’t need to simmer on the stove for very long. This will be a regular recipe — thanks!
Awesome!! So glad you liked it. I agree, I love how easy this one is. Thanks for the feedback!
Amazing!!! We added chickpeas instead of tofu, added more maple syrup and sriracha for a more spicy/sweet kick. This has definitely landed on our regular rotation list!! Super quick, like set the rice cooker and they almost finished at the same time quick! I did a total of about half an hour and the veggies were the best consistency!!! Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe!
THANK YOU THANK YOU for trying it 🙂 so glad you enjoyed it. I love it with chickpeas too! Good call on the extra sweetener and sriracha…yum!!
Do I need to press the tofu before using it?
You can if you want but it’s not necessary. Enjoy!
Love all the veggie goodness in this!! And I love any sauces with peanut butter!