Thai-Style Salmon Curry

Fish is always a great protein to work with for dinner because it cooks so quickly. On a busy night, you can balance nutrition and restaurant-quality flavor by making salmon curry. It has the bold and bright flavor of Thai food, rich with aromatics, and a creamy texture that makes it nearly impossible to stop eating. 

I prefer salmon with the skin on because you can sear it to a crisp, adding an edge in texture to this savory and lightly sweet dish. However, if you’d rather use salmon without the skin, you can simply simmer all the ingredients together in one pan and speed up the process of getting it onto the table and into your belly!

The bright colors look beautiful together so this is the kind of dish you could make for company. It’s also something you might find adds a light spice to those date nights at home.

I use green beans and Japanese eggplant in my recipe, however, you can customize this salmon curry recipe with the vegetables you may have already, like asparagus, spinach, or broccoli. I strongly recommend that you not skip the basil leaves, though, as they harmonize with the green curry and coconut milk to give it an authentic Thai flavor. 

Whether you cook the salmon curry with the skin or without it, the salmon comes out tender and juicy. It’s a perfect match to the colorful green curry sauce, which is divine served over rice. The rice soaks up the flavors, making it one of my favorite meals, bite for bite. If you’re craving Thai food and want to eat healthfully, salmon curry is an excellent choice!

Big thanks to Copper River Prince William Sound Marketing Association for providing the wild-caught Alaskan salmon for developing this recipe. You can read more about their stories on their website.

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Thai-Style Salmon Curry

By Maggie Zhu

5 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes minutes

Total Time: 23 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

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Delicious and balanced, this salmon curry features crispy skin and plenty of veggies in a creamy green coconut curry inspired by Thai cuisine. {Gluten-Free}

Ingredients 

• 1 lb (450 g) salmon , skin on & cut into 4 fillets
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Curry

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons green curry paste (*Footnote 1)
• 1 can (13.5 oz/ 382 g) coconut milk
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup green beans , trimmed and cut in half
• 1 small Japanese eggplant , halved & cut into half-inch chunks
• 6 basil leaves , sliced

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Instructions

• In a large skillet or a wide saucepan add the 2 teaspoons of oil and heat over medium heat until warm. Add the curry paste. Cook and stir to release the fragrance, about 1 minute.
• Add the coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir to combine everything. Taste the mixture and adjust the fish sauce and sugar to your preference. (*Footnote 1)
• Bring the broth to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low to reduce it to a simmer. Cook until the curry is mostly thickened, 10 minutes.
• While the broth simmers, sprinkle a pinch of salt evenly onto both sides of the salmon. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil to a separate pan over high heat until it is just smoking. Place the salmon, skin-side-down into the hot pan. Cook until the skin is brown and crisp, about a minute. Once done, transfer the salmon to a big plate and set it aside.
• Once the broth is reduced, add the green beans and eggplant. Stir to mix well. Continue to simmer for another 4 minutes.
• Arrange the vegetables to create 4 wells, about the size of the fillets. Place the cooked salmon skin-side-up in the wells. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked through.
• Remove the pan from the heat and add the basil leaves.
• Serve hot over steamed rice as a main dish.

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Notes

1. Every brand of curry paste is different, so you may need to adjust the seasoning depending on the ingredients of the curry paste you are using.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 430kcal, Carbohydrates: 14.4g, Protein: 21.3g, Fat: 34.1g, Saturated Fat: 21.7g, Cholesterol: 40mg, Sodium: 870mg, Potassium: 730mg, Fiber: 3.9g, Sugar: 6.6g, Calcium: 63mg, Iron: 3mg

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Other salmon recipes

• Steamed Salmon in Black Bean Sauce
• Salmon Poke Bowl
• 30-Minute Salmon Noodle Bowl with Coleslaw
• Honey Soy Sauce Glazed Salmon
• Crispy Salmon with Ginger Soy Sauce

Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.