Instant Pot Thai Peanut Tofu Pineapple Curry
Apr 06, 2017, Updated Jul 26, 2018
Vegan Thai Peanut Tofu & Pineapple Curry - all made in the Instant Pot!
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The next recipe in the Instant Pot series – Thai Peanut Tofu Pineapple Curry. The recipe is vegan and all made in the instant pot!
If you love all the Instant Pot vegetarian/vegan recipes that I share on the blog, please join me on this Facebook Group – Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes. The group would share/feature vegetarian instant pot recipes and ideas from all around the web!
Raise your hands if you like thai flavors! Raise your hands if you like curry! Well if both your hands went up, then you need to try this recipe. It’s really flavorful and the best part is that it comes together so quickly in the instant pot. My IP has been working overtime these days, so much so that I have “almost” ditched my traditional Indian pressure cooker.
The concept of pressure cooker is deep rooted in Indian culture and cooking. We have been cooking our lentils, beans, rice in the pressure cooker since eternity. Have I told you guys my pressure cooker story? So this is one kitchen gadget which every Indian carries along when they leave India. Yes, we are almost handicapped without a pressure cooker in the kitchen.
So what happened was when I was going to Scotland for masters, my mom packed my tiny pressure cooker in my carry on luggage. I didn’t even check my bag and mom thought such an important thing cannot be placed in the check in baggage! (of course!!) Well the cooker ended up being taken out at the airport security. I remember requesting them to let me take it since I was a student and going to a new country but they didn’t budge.
I was so disappointed and then couldn’t cook anything there because a) I hardly knew any cooking! and b) without pressure cooker, whatever I knew was also a challenge. Mom dad ultimately couriered the cooker to me! Well now you understand the importance of a pressure cooker for an Indian!
Moving on to this curry, the inspiration for this dish comes from a dish that I ate at a local Thai restaurant. The curry had cashews and pineapple and I really liked it. So I thought of adding some tofu, peanut butter and making it more wholesome! Here’s the thing with peanut butter in curries, it can get really overwhelming.
For this recipe, I would suggest starting with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter. If you like a stronger flavor, you may add 2 tablespoons more. But don’t start with 4 tablespoons in the first place. This thai peanut tofu pineapple curry is a sweet and spicy curry. You may adjust the flavors to taste. Prefer a spicier curry? Add more of the dried red chili, thai red curry paste and sriracha. Like a sweeter curry? Add more pineapple and coconut sugar!
This instant pot recipe is vegan and can be made gluten-free by using tamari (gluten-free substitute for soy sauce). Now before someone says that the thai red curry paste has fish sauce so how come it’s vegan,? Well I use “Thai Kitchen” red curry paste and it’s completely vegan and easily available at most grocery stores and also on amazon.
Hope you guys give this curry a try and if you do, please don’t forget to share feedback with me and tag #cookwithmanali on social media.
PS: Thanks for all the feedback on the Instant Pot series! Because you guys really liked the idea of this series, I am going to continue doing it and also do videos, so stay tuned for that.
Method
Press saute mode on instant pot, once the pot heats up add olive oil. Break the dried red chili into two and add to the oil.
Add onion and saute for a minute. Add cashews and saute till they start changing color.
Add grated ginger and garlic and saute for a minute till you get nice aroma.
Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, water and thai red curry paste. You might need to heat this mixture a little so that the peanut butter mixes completely.
Add this mixture to the pot once ginger-garlic are fragrant. Give it a good stir.
Then add soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, coconut sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
Now add cubed tofu pieces to the pot and mix. I used extra-firm tofu and pressed it with a hard object for 20 minutes prior to using it in the recipe.
Cover the lid, cancel the saute mode. Press the manual button, adjust pressure to high and and cook on manual high pressure for 2 minutes.
Quick release as soon as 2 minutes are up.
Cancel “keep warm” mode and press the saute mode again.
Add pineapple pieces and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. You can adjust consistency of the curry at this point. Add water if it’s too thick for your liking.
Squeeze in some fresh lime juice.
Garnish with cilantro and serve the thai peanut tofu pineapple curry with rice!
* Adjust the spice levels of this thai peanut tofu pineapple curry to taste.
* I used canned pineapple here, if you use fresh pineapple, it might need some more time for cooking.
Instant Pot Thai Peanut Tofu Pineapple Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 dried red chili broken into pieces
- 1 small white onion chopped
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 2 teaspoon grated garlic
- 2 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2-3 tablespoons peanut butter or more for a stronger peanut flavor
- 14 oz can coconut milk I use light you may use full fat
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon thai red curry paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce or tamari if gluten-free
- 3 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1.5 teaspoon sriracha adjust to taste
- 1-2 teaspoon coconut sugar adjust to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- 200 grams extra-firm tofu cut into cubes
- 1/3 cup pineapple cubes I used canned pineapple cubes
- juice of 1 lime
- cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Press saute mode on instant pot, once the pot heats up add olive oil. Break the dried red chili into two and add to the oil.
- Add onion and saute for a minute. Add cashews and saute till they start changing color.
- Add grated ginger and garlic and saute for a minute till you get nice aroma.
- Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, water and thai red curry paste. You might need to heat this mixture a little so that the peanut butter mixes completely.
- Add this mixture to the pot once ginger-garlic are fragrant. Give it a good stir.
- Then add soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, coconut sugar, turmeric powder and salt. Stir to combine.
- Now add cubed tofu pieces to the pot and mix. I used extra-firm tofu and pressed it with a hard object for 20 minutes prior to using it in the recipe.
- Cover the lid, cancel the saute mode. Press the manual button, adjust pressure to high and and cook on manual high pressure for 2 minutes.
- Quick release as soon as 2 minutes are up.
- Cancel "keep warm" mode and press the saute mode again.
- Add pineapple pieces and let it simmer for 1-2 minutes. You can adjust consistency of the curry at this point. Add water if it's too thick for your liking.
- Squeeze in some fresh lime juice.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve the thai peanut tofu pineapple curry with rice!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Instant Pot Thai Peanut Tofu Pineapple Curry
Oh my! This was one of the best dishes I’ve ever made!! Just the right amount and f spice. Absolutely will make again and again!
How would you make this without an InstaPot?
everything remains same, in place of pressure cooking, just let it cook for 10 mins on medium heat. Same steps on medium heat in a pot
Hi Manali, Thank you. Loved this recipe. I added some other vegetables, as others have suggested, and omitted the Sriracha sauce as the readymade thai red curry sauce had enough heat. Oh, and I cooked it in a pan. The peanut butter really upped the flavour; that was a stroke of genius!
glad you enjoyed it Geetha!
Turned out wonderful. My chili’s were not as spicy as I thought so I will add more next time. I did add carrots and cauliflower for more veg and it was just amazing!
Perfect! Made it the first time following the recipe to a T but I think adding a splash of fish sauce would deepen the flavor. Making again next week. It’s that simple and awesome.
glad to know! Since I am a vegetarian, I have never worked with fish sauce but feel free to add whatever you like.
can you substitute with frozen mango, if I don’t have pineapple.
Sure!
If I want to avoid tofu and add other vegetables like carrots instead of tofu, what should I do? Also, If I just want to make this recipe with pineapple only and no tofu/paneer/other vegetables then how should I change the cooking time?
do 2 mins high pressure for carrots. And if you make it only with pineapple, then you might as well not use the IP, since pineapple is canned and already cooked
Looks delicious! I can’t do tofu (no soy), wonder if you have suggestions for replacement and how that would affect cooking time.
If you are okay with dairy, try paneer (Indian cottage cheese). cooking time would be same.
Thanks!
Hi just tried it on a regular pot and it turned out fabbb…thanks for such a super recepie..just my cashew r tasting a big soggy though they were fresh when I opened the pack…maybe I should have fried a bit..also I used regular sugar and fresh Thai herbs to
Make red paste..but overall was amazing..thanks
Just last rice vinegar means sushi vinegar right!!
Hi Megha, glad you liked it! And rice vinegar is rice vinegar..that’s what it is called! Sushi vinegar is different
I think Thai food is great although I have never tried before
Thai Food is great. Spicy and Yummy.
Made this a couple of weeks ago but forgot to leave a review. Another huge dinner hit from this blog! Totally delicious!!! 😀
I love this one too, mostly because of peanut butter haha
What would you suggest substituting for dried chilis? They aren’t available at my local store.
Skip! no worries
Have you tried making this in a slow cooker?
No I haven’t
Yo…you should put rice in the ingredients list! It’s a bit of a bummer to get to the bottom and realize you didn’t buy rice, which is snuck into the last step in the instructions, but not the ingredients!
rice is a serving option and not an ingredient for this recipe..the recipe is for Thai Peanut tofu Pineapple Curry and there’s no rice in it. I served it with rice, one may serve with any grain they want. So I am not sure why rice should be a part of ingredient list..
Hi Manali
Is the Red curry paste used in this recipe also vegetarian? I know a lot of store-bought curry pastes (red or green) use anchovies or shrimp pastes. Do you have a vegetarian version of the red curry paste that you can share? Thanks
Hi Neela..it is vegetarian..I have used thai kitchen red curry paste..its vegan https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Kitchen-Gluten-Curry-Paste/dp/B000LKVSDM/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1548705252&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=thai+red+curry+paste&psc=1
Could you use crispy tofu for this dish?
you may, I have not tried it personally
Amazing! So delicious, our whole family gobbled this up and requested it move into regular rotation. Super easy too! Thanks so much.
I am glad to hear that Neil!
Hi! This looks fantastic, however could I make this in my slow cooker instead? If so, do you know about how long I would set it for?
Thanks!
No idea sorry, have never made this in the slow cooker..
Do you have the nutritional values for these please?
yes, its updated now
What would you suggest using in place of the cashews? I am allergic to tree nuts but want a full flavored meal. Would this still taste good without the cashews?
It would still be good without cashews, use other veggies if you want like peppers, carrots etc.
Peanuts!
Can’t wait to try this! Thank you!
Could you use brown sugar instead of coconut sugar? I cannot find small bags of coconut sugar, so I don’t want to buy a ton of it. Thanks!
of course why not, brown sugar will work well!
This was so delicious! My boyfriend actually requested that we have it every week. 😀
Manali,
Next time you list weights/volumes would you do it in oz, cups/ml and oz lbs./grams.
Do not know who your target audience is but your fans in the US would appreciate this.
Have just eaten and am reviewing your recipes and am drooling. Get out the hankies.
Thank you for the encouragement for a beef eater to look closer at the joys of vegetarianism. You are a life saver.
Hi Jerome! Thanks for appreciating my work, I am trying to include measurements in ml and grams in more and more of my recipes. I hope that helps and I hope you enjoy some of the recipes here!
Looks great! How many 14oz blocks of tofu is this? How would you adjust the recipe if I’m going to cook 2 blocks?
Thank you.
Hi Samantha, this wasn’t even one 14 oz blok of tofu..one 14oz block of tofu has 396 grams and I have used only 200 grams of tofu here . So I have used half of the 14 oz block..If you are cooking 2 block means you will have to quadruple/4 times this recipe! Not sure how that would work!
I have been doubling the recipe and it works perfectly in my 8 qt.
good to know!
How would you adjust cooking time/order of ingredients if you added vegetables like carrots or potatoes? Thanks!
probably 4-5 minutes at high pressure
How long would it take to cook if I used chicken?
I am not sure, I am a vegetarian so I have never cooked chicken!
I put 1/2″ cubes of potatoes in and they were totally cooked in the 2 minutes.
Hi Manali,
Would love to try this! Could this be made easily on the stove top (I don’t have an instant pot)? What changes, if any, would u suggest for that?
Thanks!
Of course! refer to this recipe https://www.cookwithmanali.com/vegetarian-thai-red-curry/ and proceed accordingly. If you want you can pan fry the tofu before adding to the curry or simply end towards the end and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Hope this helps!
It looks like spicy! I love Thai foods 🙂
Thanks dear!
Thanks Angie, pineapple is my favorite!