The best red curry sauce is fragrant, creamy, and a little bit spicy (it’s red because of chile peppers, after all). In an ideal world, the best red curry tastes like the red curry you’d get at a really good restaurant. While I always recommend getting Thai food at a locally owned Thai spot, sometimes you just don’t have the dough to dine out.
We tried all the store bought red curry sauce options we could find online and at the grocery store to decide which you should be putting in your shopping cart. Whether it’s red curry sauce in a bottle or a red curry kit, these are the best red curries you can buy. (Oh and if yellow curry is your preference, check out our list of the best yellow curry sauce at the grocery store.)
- Trader Joe’s Thai Style Red Curry Sauce
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While this Trader Joe’s red curry sauce isn’t as nuanced as the other two on this list, it’s a great, affordable, accessible option for red curry lovers. It has a little heat, a nice gingery flavor, and a creamy texture from the coconut milk. Obviously, you could make a regular bowl of Thai red curry with this sauce and eat it over rice, but I also want to slather this on some Trader Joe’s garlic naan and top it with some shredded mozzarella, green onions, and rotisserie chicken to make a funky pizza. It’s inexpensive, so it’s the best red curry sauce to experiment with.
Credit: Merc / Trader Joe’s
- Aplenty Thai Red Curry Kit
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If you’re someone who’s into Blue Apron or Home Chef, this red curry kit is going to be your vibe. You get coconut milk, red curry paste, and dried whole herbs and spices so you can concoct your own red curry at home. It feels like cooking, but there’s actually very little to do since everything is already portioned and seasoned for you. That being said, you can have fun customizing your at-home red curry with the proteins, veggies, and starch of your choice. Make this together for date night! It’s like cooking but with less time, effort, and mess, making it one of the best red curry options for people who are busy but still want to spend some time in the kitchen.
Credit: Merc / Amazon
- Blue Elephant Thai Premium Red Curry Sauce
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I had never heard of Blue Elephant until our yellow curry sauce taste test, but let me tell you what: These people know how to make curry. They describe their brand as “restaurant quality” and that’s 100% true. This red curry is better than some restaurant curries I’ve had. You can taste each ingredient coming together to make this delicious sauce. You get kaffir lime. You get fish sauce. It has the perfect level of heat. I could sing the praises of Blue Elephant red curry all day long because it’s truly the best red curry sauce you can buy at the grocery store.
Related: Merc / Instacart
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