Green Curry Beans and Greens

By Kristina Felix

Updated March 24, 2026

  • Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Media 1 of 1
Ready In
30 min
Rating
5(267)
Comments
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Store-bought Thai curry paste is a delicious convenience that can be further enhanced with just a few fresh ingredients. In this recipe, it’s freshened up with serrano, ginger and garlic, then simmered with coconut milk and creamy butter beans. Baby spinach gets stirred in at the end, but you can use baby kale too — just cook it until it wilts. Serve the curry over rice or spoon it onto flour tortillas and eat it as a burrito. Use as much serrano as you’d like or remove the seeds before mincing to suit your tolerance for heat.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

  • 1 or 2 serrano chiles, stem removed

  • 2 garlic cloves

  • 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as avocado

  • ½ cup green curry paste (4 ounces)

  • 1 (15-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk, preferably gum-free

  • 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, such as butter or cannellini, drained

  • 1 bunch basil (preferably Thai, if available; about 4 ounces)

  • 1 (5-ounce) container baby spinach

  • Salt

  • Cooked white rice or flour tortillas, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat a deep 12-inch cast iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium while you mince the serrano chile (seeds included), garlic and ginger together to make a chunky paste.

  2. Step 2

    Add the oil to the skillet along with the serrano, garlic and ginger and the curry paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the paste is very fragrant, about 5 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Stir in the coconut milk, then fill the coconut milk can with water and pour it into the skillet. Add the beans and turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer, mash half of the beans and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the curry thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. 

  4. Step 4

    Meanwhile, pluck the basil leaves off of the stems. Stack half of the leaves and thinly slice into ribbons, leaving the rest whole.

  5. Step 5

    Stir the spinach and whole basil leaves into the skillet and simmer until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Taste for salt. 

  6. Step 6

    Ladle into bowls over rice or on a flour tortilla like a burrito, and serve topped with basil ribbons.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
267 user ratings
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Comments

Kate

Delicious! Made it as is, no substitutions. Used 2 Serranos as we like "hot" and it was. I only had 2 oz of Thai basil leaves which was perfect. I used 1 oz in the dish and less than 1 oz as the garnish. Also, it read more as a soup using the full can of water so next time I'll try ½ a can of water for more of a stew.

Sarah

So good! I skipped the chiles because my curry paste is pretty spicy. Also, I didn’t add a can of water and I used an immersion blender to blend one of the cans of beans before adding it. The texture turned out a good thickness.

MB

I agree with the suggestion to use less water, even with half a can it was quite liquidy. I would also recommend using less than 1/2 cup of curry paste if yours is strong. I used Aroy-D and it was almost too much. I wish I had some fresh lime to squeeze over it too!

RLR

This is delicious but I would cut the water in half next time (I agree with may of the other commenters).

Julie

After reading the comments, I only added a quarter can of water and the consistency was perfect over rice. We are admittedly/unfortunately spice intolerant, but even without any added peppers the Maesri curry paste we used was very spicy. Adults got through it, but we had to feed our toddler something else.

Julie

@Julie also I used light coconut milk and it was totally fine!

Rhianna

BEWARE THE SAUCE! I accidentally bought Watcharee's Thai Green Curry SAUCE and used that instead of paste. Yuck. I'm looking forward to trying this again with the correct ingredients. I agree, hold the water and spoon in as needed. And have lime or lemongrass on hand if it needs more acid.

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