This one-pot Vietnamese curry (or Cà ri) is loaded with veggies and infused with aromatics like ginger, lemongrass, garlic, and lime. It is super creamy, flavorful, hearty, and takes less than one hour to prepare!
Jump to:
I have many curry recipes, but most of them are Indian-inspired. While Vietnamese curries are not as popular as Indian curries, they definitely need more recognition!
Are you in for a rustic, comforting, and perfectly balanced curry?
📘 What is Vietnamese Curry
"Cà ri" is a popular dish in Central and Southern Vietnam. It is said that curry was introduced to Viet Nam by Indian and Khmer traders in the 18th century. Vietnamese then tweaked it to their taste by adding taro, sweet potatoes, and different veggies, as well as a toned-down curry powder.
It usually consists of meat and/or vegetables cooked in coconut milk, spices, and aromatics like lemongrass, shallots, or garlic.
This vegetarian version recipe was given to me by a Vietnamese family, so it is as authentic as possible.
🥣 How to Make Vietnamese Curry
This vegetarian curry requires basic ingredients, 30 minutes, and it's made entirely in one pot. Here is what you will need:
- Garlic and shallots
- Lemongrass - For lemony and floral notes. You can use minced lemongrass as noted in the recipe, or two whole lemongrass stalks crushed.
- Ginger - Use fresh ginger root for a spicy and citrusy flavor.
- Mushrooms - Any type of mushroom will work, you can use cremini, shiitakes, or even oyster mushrooms.
- Eggplant - Any type of eggplant will work, I personally use Chinese eggplants as I find them less bitter than regular ones.
- Taro - While optional, Vietnamese curry often includes taro for a heartier meal. You can usually find taro in produce markets, or in the frozen section of Asian grocery stores. Never heard of taro? Check out our guide on What is Taro!
- Potatoes - I recommend using starchy baby potatoes. They will stay whole and won't crumble in the curry.
- Coconut milk - Use full-fat coconut milk for a rich and thick curry. I would advise against using coconut cream as it tends to separate during cooking and won't yield a smooth consistency.
- Salt and sugar - To balance with the spiciness.
- Curry powder - Vietnamese curry powder is different than most Indian curry powders. It is usually milder and has a more pronounced anise flavor. You can find Vietnamese curry powder online or check out my recipe for Vietnamese Curry Powder!
- Optional: Feel free to add tofu, vegan chicken, or your favorite meat-substitute for a meatier curry.
First, it starts with the aromatics that are sautéed until fragrant. Then, we add the mushrooms and sauté for another 3-5 minutes.
Once mushrooms are cooked, add the remaining vegetables: eggplants, potatoes, taro, and carrots. Cover with the full-fat coconut milk and water.
Season with the Vietnamese curry powder for flavor and spiciness, soy sauce and salt for umami and saltiness, and sugar for sweetness.
Finally, let simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the veggies are cooked and tender. Top with fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime juice, and enjoy!
🍚 What to Serve with this Curry
Vietnamese curry is often served with either:
- Bread: Enjoy with crusty baguette or bánh mì by dipping the bread into the curry sauce. Definitely my favorite way to serve this curry!
- Rice: White rice (like this Clay Pot Rice) or brown rice for extra fiber.
- Noodles: You can also serve this curry with your favorite rice noodles.
💬 FAQ
- Is this curry spicy? If using homemade Vietnamese curry powder, then this curry is mildly spicy. If using store-bought curry powder (the Ba Tam brand for example), the curry will be slightly more spicy.
- How long does this curry keep? This curry will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can reheat it over medium heat on the stovetop.
- I can't find taro, can I omit it? Of course! This curry is super versatile so feel free to use the vegetables you have on hand.
If you are looking for a hearty, cozy, and delicious one-pot meal, you are going to love this Vietnamese curry! It's probably one of the recipe from the blog I make the most!
🍛 More Curry Recipes
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Update October 2022: Recipe has been updated with brand new photos and an improved recipe.
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Vietnamese Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil use annatto oil for a deeper color
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 1 tablespoon minced lemongrass
- ½ inch ginger grated
- 4-5 mushrooms quartered
- 1 medium carrot sliced into thick chunks
- 1 small eggplant diced into 1.5-inch cubes
- ½ medium taro root diced into 1.5-inch cubes
- 3-4 baby potato peeled
- 1 block fried tofu diced, optional
- 1 13.5-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 and ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 and ½ tablespoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 2 tablespoon Vietnamese curry powder see notes
- optional: lime juice, fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan or pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic, shallot, lemongrass, and ginger. Sauté for about 3 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots, taro, eggplants, potatoes, and tofu if using, to the pot. Pour in the coconut milk, water, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and curry powder.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes partially covered. The vegetables should be fork tender. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Serve with rice, noodles, or crusty bread! Before serving, top with chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime! Curry will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Notes
- You can find Vietnamese curry powder in most Asian supermarkets. Otherwise, you can replace it with: 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ teaspoon ground coriander, ½ teaspoon chili powder, ¼ teaspoon anise, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
- This curry is quite versatile so feel free to use the vegetables you have on hand!
- You can substitute sweet white potatoes for baby potatoes.
I was trying to cut calories and used low fat coconut milk. I don't think mine was a rich as your but it still tasted very good.
ok, where do you get Taro?!?
I get it at the Asian store, usually sold frozen. Otherwise, just use sweet potato!
Will make this tonight as it looks so delicious. I have an asian market just around the corner that sells fresh Taro. Can't wait for dinner... Thanks for another great recipe.
Great! Hope you will like it!
lovely recipe! Absolutely loved it, I actually used peanut satay paste instead of plain satay paste and lo and behold, it added a certain kick to the recipe! thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your rating! Glad you liked this curry 🙂
AMAZING!!!!!! (And I’m Vietnamese!)
Thank you KC 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous dish!
Thanks Mari!
How do I make this recipe using satay sauce instead of paste? I couldn't find any paste at my asian supermarket 🙁
You can make your own saté! I have a recipe for it.
OMG!! I made this today and it was so good. It is very much like the tofu curry at my fave Vietnamese restaurant in my town. I used sweet potato, and extra broccoli and carrots since I don't like eggplant.I also added a little extra chili powder because we like spicy in mu house. So good!!
So happy to hear you liked this curry 🙂
Hello,
As someone from Vietnam I am very impressed with your recipe, I like trying nontraditional recipes and yours was the only one I found that was close to our Ca Ri Chay. Keep up the good job!
Thanks Jasi, I'm so glad to hear that!
Sooo Good!!! We loved it so much
Thanks for your feedback Lisa 🙂
Amazing recipe. My wife loved it. Thanks.
Awesome! Thanks for your feedback Dharmin 🙂
This is wonderful. Mine has some different vegetables and the seasoning might be a bit different because I didn't have all specified in the recipe, but this is so good, and hot! I really love a splash of lemon juice on top just before serving.
Thanks for your feedback Keren!
This recipe is versatile, so it's all good 😉
This dish was delicious. Thanks for sharing
Thanks Lauren!
I was looking for a vegan recipe to the Vietnamese chicken curry I loved so much and came across yours...it did not diappoint. Thank you for coming up with this recipe it was wonderful.
You're welcome Marjorie! Thanks for your feedback!
This curry is SO delicious!
Thanks Rebecca 😉
Hey!
I made this curry quite a lot last year and noticed that the recipe and instructions has slightly changed. i really liked the old one but cannot quite remember, any chance i could have a copy of the old one?
Hey El,
You can find the old version using Wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20210303013045/https://fullofplants.com/easy-vegan-vietnamese-curry/
Just note that this updated version tastes, in my opinion, even better! Plus it's even more authentic 🙂
The link to the old recipe isnt working. I miss the old recipe too, I was craving for the old recipe all day and I came to your site and its no longer here. That was my favorite recipe off your whole entire site. Why did you have to take it down, you could have still left it up.
Hi Nevaeh,
If you compare it with the older recipe, it's 95% the same. I only slightly tweaked it to make it more authentic and a bit less watery (plus removed the broccoli as it's not common in Vietnamese curries). The main ingredients and the process remain the same. To make it easier for you, here is the ingredient list from the old recipe:
1 tbsp (15ml) oil
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 shallot finely diced
1 lemongrass stalk* minced
1/2 inch ginger grated
1 tbsp (15ml) saté paste (or chili paste)
1 block (around 200g) fried tofu (can use white tofu)
4 mushrooms sliced
1 tbsp (15ml) soy sauce
1 carrot sliced
1 small about (280g taro), diced into 1-inch cubes
1/2 broccoli cut into florets
1/2 eggplant peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
1 13.5- ounce can of full-fat coconut milk
2 cups (500ml) water
2 tbsp (25g) coconut sugar
1/4 and 1/8 tsp salt or more to taste
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp each: ground coriander chili
1/4 tsp each: anise cinnamon, cloves
optional: lime juice fresh mint, cilantro
I was looking for a Vietnamese satay soup and found the bon bo hue (the next recipe I'll try). I feel like I hit the jackpot finding your site with all the Vietnamese recipes you have. I just made the curry and it tastes so yummy, just like I've tried in restaurants! I love that you have the curry powder recipe. I had all the ingredients for the curry so started with this recipe. Thanks so much!
Thanks so much for your kind words Tetyana!
Hi Thomas,
Thank you so much for this recipe!! I made this today for my Sunday meal prep and it was SO delicious! I especially love the taro. I subbed the curry powder with Vietnamese curry soup base powder my family had on handle and it worked like a charm! Topping off with lime really adds a certain brightness to the dish and brings it together. Will be staple in my curry rotation for sure.
Hi Amanda,
You're welcome! Yes, taro is so good in curry!
Thanks for your rating and feedback 🙂