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.
This was last night’s dinner and it was SO delicious! It felt like the ultimate comfort food yet still nourishing which is 100% my favorite kind of meal. I topped it with some red pepper flakes to give it a little kick; with the leftovers I might throw in a little sriracha instead.
Awesome! Thanks, Bethany! So glad you enjoyed it.
Made this last night and absolutely loved it! So tasty and my whole family loved it. Definitely going to be making again xx
So glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for the review.
Wanted to challenge myself during this time sheltering in place and decided on your recipe for my vegetarian penang curry craving.
It did not disappoint!
The batch I made will taste even better at 3am wheni get bored and decide to eat again ! Ha!
Thanks for sharing!
Yum! Added a little shrimp too. Will make again. Easy & delish. Served it with brown rice
I was looking for something different as we have company staying with us, and I received an email with a link to this recipe. The Pictures and description enticed me to give it a whirl. It looked so good that I doubled the recipe. So glad I did. I am pretty critical but there was nothing but positive comments from my company, I also enjoyed this curry, (albeit I am a serious “Spicehead” so I added some Thai Chili peppers from my garden to my serving). I have saved this recipe and will make it again and again, really wonderful colour, texture and flavour. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that! I’m so glad you all enjoyed. Love that you made yours spicy…no heat for me, I can’t handle it these days! Thanks for the review!
Do you know what the macros would be without the quinoa for someone who is also looking to be low carb?
The nutrition facts are listed above and below the recipe – they do not include quinoa. Enjoy!
This was amazing! So easy and good!! Neither pepper nor zucchini in my version today, and I added some extra maple suryp for that delicious panang flavor. Added frozen cut up kale as well, which was an excellent addition.
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it!
My boyfriend, aka the chef in our house, made this recipe tonight. I tend to like dishes that combine peanut butter, tomato and curry but this one was especially good! Our tofu went bad so we added a large head of broccoli instead and it came out wonderful! There is a nice balance with the flavors and the sauce was nice and creamy. We are priniting this recipe right now so that we can make it again.
Just made this, and it’s really, really good. Definitely adding to my rotation. I didnt have any zucchini, so I folded in a bag of fresh spinach along with the tofu and cilantro.
Awesome!! So glad you liked it! Great idea to add spinach. 🙂 Thanks for the review.
sooo yummy and healthy. i used PB2 instead of peanut butter and added some butternut squash. mmmm SO GOOD
That sounds awesome. Glad you enjoyed it!
Loved this dish! I made it last night, and even my 9 year old son loved it!
Wonderful! Sounds like a win to me! Glad you enjoyed it.