Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Beef is a melt in your mouth delicious set and forget homemade curry! With juicy beef, a ton of veggies and a flavor packed curry sauce you won't need to order in. This Thai red curry with beef will be your can't wait to slow cook it easy family dinner meal.
Recipes like the Slow Cooker Beef Massaman Curry, Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Shoulder, Slow Cooker Massaman Lamb Shanks and the Slow Cooker Curried Sausages are flavor packed crockpot family meals.
The Slow Cooker French Onion Beef, Beef Pesto Pasta, Beef Yaki Udon and the Beef Ribs explore a wide variety of beef cuts and different cooking methods.
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🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the beef curry recipe in the points below:
- Homemade: when you order in Thai food you know you are going to eat some delicious take away. But doing so gets expensive really fast! Knowing how to make your favorite red curry in the slow cooker keeps things budget friendly from the comfort of home!
- Simple ingredients: everything you need to make the recipe can be sought from your local grocery store or supermarket. They are each year round available ingredients that will be easy to get your hands on.
- Taste and texture: Thai curries (like this one and the Slow Cooker Yellow Curry) are synonymous with a wide variety of flavors and textures. We honor that tradition by ensuring that this crock pot red curry offers maximum flavor with a wide variety of textures too.
🥗 Ingredients For Thai Red Curry
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper to season the beef.
- Lime juice
- Brown sugar
- Bay Leaf
- Fish sauce
- Cinnamon
- Curry paste: we use store bought Thai Curry Paste will will indicate if it is 'red', 'green' or 'yellow' on the jar. The brand I like to use is Ayam. Another popular brand is Maesri.
- Onion
- Beef stock: beef stock, also known as been broth. This combines with the coconut milk and curry paste for the rich red curry sauce.
- Sweet potato
- Coconut milk: we want to use a full fat coconut milk so that it doesn't split as it cooks.
- Beef: we use beef chuck or chuck steak for the recipe. It is an excellent cut to slow cook and is reasonably priced.
🌶️ Slow Cooker Beef Red Curry
We also then add some more veggies towards the end of the cook time and get our garnish on with a few colorful options as seen below.
- Peanuts: roasted and salted.
- Coriander/cilantro
- Red chilli
- Limes
- Red capsicum
- Green beans
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- Vegetables: for alternative vegetables to the ones I use you can add bok choy, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, sugar snap peas (each at the end in place or addition to the capsicum and green beans).
- Heat: to increase the 'spice factor' you can up the amount of red curry paste used to ⅓ of a cup. You can also garnish the dish with thin slices of red chili.
- Less heat: or to decrease the intensity of the curry you can reduce the amount of curry paste used to 2 tablespoons and omit garnishing with red chili.
- Fresh herbs: where I am using fresh corinader (cilantro) you can use fresh basil if you prefer it.
👩🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Beef
To make the Thai Red Curry we start by preparing the vegetables.
🍳 Instructions
- Dice the onion (Photo 1)
- Peel and chop the sweet potato (Photo 2)
- Slice the capsicum (Photo 3)
- Chop the green beans (Photo 4)
Grab a sharp knife and cutting board. Then use this to peel and dice the onion, peel and chop the sweet potato, slice the capsicum and chop the green beans.
Once this is done, we move on to preparing the beef. To do this lay the beef onto the chopping board and use the same knife used for the vegetables to chop it into one to 2 bite sized pieces.
- Dice the beef (Photo 5)
- Add the beef, salt, pepper and curry paste (Photo 6)
- Add the onion and sweet potato (Photo 7)
- Pour in the beef stock (Photo 8)
Once you have diced the beef, spray the slow cooker insert with cooking oil. Then add the diced beef, salt, pepper and Thai red curry paste. Use a wooden spoon to toss this so that the beef is consistently coated in the curry paste. Then once it is, use the wooden spoon to transfer it back out of the slow cooker and into a bowl (temporarily).
Next layer the sweet potato, diced onion and coated beef into the slow cooker like you see in the photos above. Once done pour in the beef stock followed by the creamy coconut milk.
- Pour in the coconut milk (Photo 9)
- Add the fish sauce (Photo 10)
- Add the lime juice (Photo 11)
- Sprinkle in the brown sugar (Photo 12)
🍚 Thai Red Curry
After adding the coconut milk we add the fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar.
- Add the cinnamon and bay leaf (Photo 13)
Next place the cinnamon stick and bay leaf on top like you see in the photo above. Then pop the lid on and cook the curry for either 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
Once that initial cook time is up, remove the lid and use the wooden spoon to gently stir the curry. You can see what it will look like at this point in the photo below.
- Remove the lid and stir (Photo 14)
Next add the green beans and capsicum strips as shown in the photo below.
- Add the beans and capsicum (Photo 15)
Then put the lid on and let the dish cook for a further 1 hour on high or 2 hours on low. (Yup, by now your home is going to be smelling like a Thai restaurant and don't be suprised if people coming knocking! 😉👌)
🍽 Serving Suggestions
When it comes to serving your Thai Red Curry Beef rice is a natural pairing! I like to serve it with my Microwave Coconut Rice. This only takes 12 minutes and can be done in the last 15 minutes of the curry's cook time.
Some alternatives are brown rice, Jasmine rice, steamed rice or cauliflower rice. Each of these will also pair nicely.
For fun extras and a nice way to garnish and finish the dish, try adding some fresh cilantro leaves, salted peanuts, red chili slices and or lime wedges. Each of these suggestions are optional of course but they do look pretty and add additional pops of color and fragrance, citrus or crunch.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- Flour: I don't use flour to thicken the curry sauce for this recipe. It is not as common to use it in red curries as it is in a massaman curry. If however, you do want to use it you can add 2 tablespoons of flour when adding the curry paste and toss it with the beef (see my Beef Massaman Curry as a reference).
- Cooking oil: I do like to spray the slow cooker insert with cooking oil. I do this at the start before adding the beef to the slow cooker. This is not essential but I like to do it to ensure that nothing sticks during the cook time. If you want to do this using peanut oil (more commonly used in Asian recipes than olive oil) you can.
- Vegetables: you will see from the photos and video that we don't add all of the vegetables at the start of the cook time. This is because the beans and bell peppers take less time to cook and we don't want them to go mushy. So we add them in the final hour if using high heat or final 2 hours if using low heat.
- In a hurry? If you are in a hurry to get the dish on and cooking then a handy tip is to save preparing the beans and bell peppers till later. This means you can get the curry on and use the time that it is cooking to prepare these without it adding to the prep time. I do this in the video to show you this process.
- Slow cooker recipes: do you love slow cooking and want to do more of it? Then you might also like the Slow Cooker Coke Ribs, Slow Cooker Pork Belly, Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs, Slow Cooker Chicken Drumsticks And Potatoes, Slow Cooker Chicken And Corn Soup or the Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Soup.
👍 How to Guide
Let the leftover curry fully cool. Once it has portion it into an airtight container (or multiple and pair with with rice). These can then be stacked in the refrigerator and removed and reheated before being consumed.
Or to freeze portions of the curry, follow the step above to cool and transfer into containers. Then stack these in the freezer. Frozen portions of the dish can be kept for 3 months.
For leftovers or portions that have been in the fridge, remove these and transfer them to a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and reheat on high in the microwave for 1-3 minutes until warmed through. Or for frozen portions of the curry, thaw these then reheat following the step giving them an extra minute or so to heat through.
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Some vegetables to add to your Thai Red Curry are potatoes or sweet potatoes, pumpkin, green beans or sugar snap beans, bell peppers, mushrooms, onion and or corn spears.
Thai Red Curry leans more towards a spicy curry than a sweet one. You can also either increase the intensity of the sauce by using more curry paste and garnishing with chili slices or reduce the curry paste and omit the chili slices to moderate the flavor to a more mild curry.
You can use either coconut milk or coconut cream to make Thai Red Curry. Using coconut cream will increase the texture and thickness of the curry sauce. Both are great options.
Yes, you can use coconut milk in the slow cooker. When doing so it is best to use a full fat premium quality coconut milk as this will reduce the chance of it splitting as it cooks.
😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you love serving up a hearty dinner and switching it up to keep things inspired and interesting then I have some more ideas to share with you. Below are a number of dinner recipes that offer easy family meals with different proteins, cook times and methods.
- More slow cooker recipes: Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken, Slow Cooker Dahl, Slow Cooker Pork Belly, Slow Cooker Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Slow Cooker French Onion Pork Chops.
- More rice pairings: Thai Minced Pork, Tuna And Rice Casserole, Chicken And Rice Tray Bake, Baked Chicken Drumsticks And Rice, Pork Mince Fried Rice.
- Pasta or noodle options: Pork Mince Noodles, Fettuccine Alfredo With Tuna, Meatballs Alfredo, Fettuccine Alfredo With Scallops.
- Other types of beef recipes: Beef And Bean Enchiladas, Savoury Mince Pasta, Savoury Mince Pies, Slow Cooker Savoury Mince, Mince Pasta Bake, Italian Short Ribs.
It is time to get our Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry on my friend! You can also find all of my dinner recipes or slow cooker recipes in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Beef
Ingredients
- 500 grams/1.1 lb beef chuck Note 1
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup Thai red curry paste Note 2
- 1 large brown onion peeled and diced
- 1 kg/2.2 lb sweet potato peeled and diced into 1-2 bite size pieces
- 1 cup/250 ml beef stock (beef broth)
- 400 ml/14 oz coconut milk Note 3
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 500 grams/16 oz green beans trimmed and cut into small pieces, Note 4
- 1 large red capsicum thinly sliced into long thin strips, Note 5
Instructions
- Beef and curry paste: liberally spray the slow cooker insert with cooking oil. Then add the diced beef, salt, pepper and red curry paste. Use a wooden spoon to toss, ensuring that the beef is consistently coasted in the paste. When it is, use the same wooden spoon to remove the beef and place in a medium sized bowl (temporarily).
- Vegetables and beef: next spread the diced onion across the base of the slow cooker and spread the chopped sweet potatoes pieces across the top. Then transfer the coated beef back in as a layer on top.
- Liquids and aromatics: next pour the beef stock over the ingredients in the slow cooker followed by the coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Once done place both the bay leaf and cinnamon stick on top. Then put the lid on the slow cooker and set the time and temperature to 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
- Additional vegetables: in the final hour or two of cook time (after 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low) remove the slow cooker lid and use a pair of tongs to discard both the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Use a wooden spoon to gently stir the curry then transfer in the green beans followed by the sliced red capsicum. Put the lid back on and let the curry continue to cook for a final hour (high heat) or 2 hours (low heat).
- To serve: once the final cook time is up, remove the lid of the slow cooker and use the wooden spoon to stir the curry. Spoon into bowls with coconut rice and garnish with slices of red chili, peanuts, coriander leaves and lime wedges (optional).
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Beef: we use beef chuck or chuck steak for the recipe. It is an excellent cut to slow cook and is reasonably priced. Another added bonus is that I always see a wide variety of portioned sizes of it available so if you want to use a smaller amount of beef or larger amount you can.
- Note 2 - Thai Red Curry Paste: this will be in the Asian foods aisle in the supermarket. I use Ayam as my preferred brand. Another popular choice is Maesri. We use ¼ cup of curry paste. For a hotter curry use ⅓ cup and garnish with red chilli slices. Or for a more mild curry use 2 tablespoons of the curry paste and omit the red chili slices.
- Note 3 - Coconut milk: we want to use a good quality full fat coconut milk. This is to ensure that it won't split as the curry cooks. Recently when I have been making curry I have been spending $5 on the coconut milk which seems crazy compared to back in the day when it used to cost around $2. But quality for this ingredient does count.
- Note 3: Green beans: to ensure that the beans don't get mushy over the cook period, we add these in the final hour of the cook time (or 2 hours if using low heat).
- Note 4: Red capsicum: as above.
Jean says
For sure trying this!
Adrianne says
Thanks Jean 😊. Enjoy!