Easy Green Curry Paste

This homemade Thai green curry paste makes meal prep easy! It comes together quickly with aromatic spices and fresh ingredients like lemongrass, green chillies, garlic and shallots. Bright and balanced, it’s the perfect flavour base for authentic Thai green curry, soups, marinades and more.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Quick and easy – fresh herbs and spices come together easily in a blender or mortar and pestle.
• Freezer friendly – one batch makes 3-4 curries. Make yourself a batch and freeze it in portions, ready to make curry any time with minimal prep!
• Versatile – green curry paste is the flavour base for Thai green curry, but it can also be used as a marinade or in dressings and soups. It also goes with a variety of proteins and vegetables.
• Making your own curry paste means you can control the heat levels and achieve the most flavourful curries.
• Fresh, vibrant and flavourful – it tastes so much better than store-bought curry paste.

Ingredients you will need

** This post contains tips and instructions to achieve the best possible results. This photo is a great guide for when you are in the supermarket, but for full ingredient quantities and methods, please scroll down to the detailed recipe card below!

Most of these ingredients are readily available in Asian grocers and most supermarkets. Each ingredient plays a role in balancing the curry paste, so I don’t recommend skipping them. But I have provided ingredient substitutions, where possible.

• Green chillies – chillies come in different shapes, sizes and levels of heat. The type of chillies you use will ultimately determine how hot your curry paste is. Our aim is to mix a combination of mild, fruity chillies with a small number of hot chillies so that it is balanced and not overly spicy.
  
  Long green Cayenne chillies or medium-sized jalapenos provide mild heat and form the base of the curry paste. Green capsicum (bell peppers) or bullhorns are very mild and can be used, if preferred.
  
  The colour in the curry paste comes from long, green Cayenne peppers and the heat comes from the smaller, hotter Thai green chillies, Birdseye or serrano peppers. You can personalise the spice level by adding more, or less of the spicy green chillies, to your preferred taste.
  
  De-seeding the chillies and removing the pith (membrane) will also lower the heat level. For a very mild curry, just use one Thai green chilli or skip them altogether.
  
  I use Cayenne chillies for the bulk of the curry paste and then add 2-3 jalapenos and 1-2 hot chillies to customise the heat.

• Lemongrass – a staple ingredient in curry paste, lemongrass adds fragrance and a light citrusy flavour. Peel away the outer, dry leaves and use the white part of the stalk. It will need to be very finely chopped before adding to the paste. Fresh lemongrass is best, but lemongrass paste will also work.
• Garlic and shallots – the aromatic base of the paste.
• Galangal – a spice native to Southern Asia. It has a peppery, citrusy, ginger-like flavour and is commonly used in Thai dishes. Galangal looks like ginger, but with red skin. It can be found in most Asian grocers and some supermarkets, but if you can’t source it, ginger can be used instead along with a little lemon or lime zest.
• Coriander root – buy a bunch of coriander (cilantro) and use the stems and roots for the paste. The leaves can also be used, but the roots have the best flavour for curry paste. Be sure to wash the roots and stems first, to remove any grit.
• Kaffir lime leaves – a traditional ingredient in green curry paste that provides a fresh, citrusy flavour. The leaves are tough, so fold them and very finely chop them before adding them to the paste. Kaffir lime leaves can be grown fresh, or found in the fresh herb section in the supermarket. If you can’t access them, swap for the zest a lime or extra lemongrass.
• Shrimp paste –shrimp paste (belachan/belacan) are blocks of salty, pungent dried shrimp. The smell can be off-putting, it doesn’t taste the way it smells and is a key ingredient in green curry paste. It provides so much flavour and umami to the curry paste and I highly recommend you don’t skip it. Shrimp paste can be found in Asian grocers and major supermarkets in the international food aisle. For a vegetarian option, try some red miso paste.

Spices;

• Turmeric – ground turmeric is used for convenience, but freshly grated turmeric could also be used if preferred. It provides warmth, and colour and spice to the curry paste.

Coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper and salt are also used. The spices are lightly toasted before adding them to the paste, to enhance their flavour.

Step by step instructions

Full ingredient notes and quantities can be found in the detailed recipe card below. But here is a brief overview of what you can expect;

Traditional curry paste is made by pounding and grinding the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle until they blend into a fine paste. For this recipe, either a mortar and pestle, high powered blender or powerful food processor will work. A Vitamix or Thermomix can be used.

Finely chop all of the herbs before crushing them. The smaller and finer they are, the easier it will be to break them down in the food processor (or mortar and pestle).

Step 1. Toast the dry spices in a pan over low heat. The goal is to toast the spices slowly to bring out their flavour, without burning them.

Grind the dry spices into a powder.

Step 2. Add all of the chopped ingredients and the toasted spices into the mortar and pestle or food processor and crush (or blend) until the paste is smooth and fine, without any chunky bits.

The paste is ready for use immediately, or can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Expert tips

• The green colour comes from the Cayenne peppers, which are quite mild. The spiciness in the curry paste comes from the Thai green chillies or serrano peppers. For a mild curry paste, leave the hot chillies out altogether. For a medium curry paste, only add 1-2 hot chillies. For a hot curry paste, add hot chillies, to taste.
• Where possible, use fresh ingredients for the best taste.
• Thinly slicing the fresh ingredients releases their aromatic natural oils and makes it easier to form a fine paste.
• Toast the spices before adding them to the paste, to enhance their flavour.
• Use a high powered blender, food processor or mortar and pestle for best results.
• Get the paste as fine as possible. Otherwise, there will be chunky bits of lemongrass or galangal in your curry. Grind or blend the paste as finely as you can.
• Store the paste in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 1 week if you’re not using it right away.
• For convenience, the paste can be frozen in individual portions.
• This recipe yields just over 1 cup of curry paste, which will make about 3-4 curries.

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Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in February 2019, but was re-published with new information and photos in May 2023.