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Healthy Thai Butternut Squash Curry

By February 6, 2023Recipes
Reading Time: 2 minutes
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When I first started the Whole Life Challenge, I was concerned I would not get to eat my favorite Thai food — red and green coconut curry. But with just a few substitutions from the original recipe, anyone on the Lifestyle or Kickstart levels can enjoy this blend of sweet, tangy, and healthy ingredients without feeling like you’re bloated and doing wrong by your body.

Feel free to add in any other steamed vegetables you like, as well as any cooked protein like chicken, shrimp, or beef. You can prep the butternut squash a day or two in advance so the actual making of this dish can be done in segments, whenever you have time. I also recommend freezing the curry in individual containers for those extra busy weeks with little time to cook. Enjoy!

Thai Butternut Squash Curry
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Thai Butternut Squash Curry

Feel free to add in any other steamed vegetables you like, as well as any cooked protein like chicken, shrimp, or beef.

Category Dinner, Vegetarian
Compliance Level Kickstart, Lifestyle
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 6
Author Alma Schneider

Ingredients

  • 2 medium butternut squash
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp red Thai curry paste sold in most supermarkets
  • 1 15- oz. can coconut milk
  • 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
  • 2 cups fresh Thai basil or regular basil Thai basil is sold at Asian food stores
  • 5 kaffir lime leaves or the juice of one small lime you can also get kaffir leaves at Asian food store
  • 1/4 cup pureed dates

Instructions

  1. Peel the butternut squash, and roast for about 1 hour at 450 degrees Fahrenheit or until tender. Allow to cool. To save time, you can do this step the day before.

  2. In a blender, place the roasted squash and chicken or vegetable broth. Puree until smooth.
  3. Place mixture in a large pot over a low flame.
  4. Add the coconut milk, curry paste, dates, and lime juice or kaffir leaves.
  5. Stir until combined and hot.
  6. Add basil and let simmer while stirring for about 15 minutes until it reduces a bit (gets thicker).

  7. Serve over a mound of cooked white or brown rice or quinoa.

  8. If you are not vegetarian, then add chopped chicken, beef, or shrimp if you like.

Recipe Notes

This basic curry sauce freezes well. I like to portion it into small containers so I can prepare quick dinners any time in the future.

Alma Schneider
Alma is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, cooking coach, and food blogger. She is the founder of Take Back the Kitchen, a lifestyle program created to help people recognize and overcome common and unique obstacles to planning and preparing healthy meals. Alma provides demonstrations, workshops, and speaking engagements for individuals and non-profits, as well as for corporate wellness workshops, lunch and learns, and company retreats.

Alma has presented at TEDx and is the recipient of The American Red Cross award for Community Service. She has been featured on the Today Show, TV Land, CBS News and is a frequent contributor for CBS local.com, Diabetic Lifestyle, and Knowmore.tv. She has been featured in Family Circle Magazine, Family Fun Magazine, and numerous other websites and publications. Her syndicated recipe column appears in more than twenty print and online newspapers. Alma has been on the Whole Life Challenge for a year and a half and has never felt better.