Dinner, but with less effort, and in 30 minutes flat. Because, Babe, we’re busy!
Try this Red Curry Cod & Rice, with a little added convenience of a one pot meal, this is gonna’ get you through your week. We’ve got places to go, homework to help with, soccer practice, and only so much time in a day.
A Fast, Saucy Red Curry Dinner
Tender cod fillets and rice simmer gently in a fragrant red curry coconut sauce with crisp red pepper, cauliflower, and fresh snow peas. The sauce comes together quickly with coconut milk and fish fumé—or water, if that’s what you have on hand—and a couple of bags of prepared rice makes getting dinner on the table even faster.
The result is saucy, fragrant, colourful, and deeply satisfying without being complicated.
Tender Cod Simmered in Coconut Curry
I finish everything with fresh herbs, sliced green onion, and a generous drizzle of chili crisp oil. The creamy coconut curry sauce is rich and warming, while the vegetables keep the dish fresh and crunchy. And because cod cooks quickly, the whole thing comes together in about 30 minutes.
This is exactly what I mean by 30 Minute Meals: fast, easy, saucy food for real life.
The 30-Minute Strategy
The trick to making this a genuine 30-minute meal is sequencing.
Start the curry sauce first. While the vegetables simmer, get your prepared rice heating. Add the cod once the vegetables have started cooking, and everything should finish at roughly the same time.
Using prepared rice isn’t cheating. It’s dinner.
Is prepared rice high in sodium? Yes, it can be. Depending on the brand it can also be higher in fat than fresh, cooked rice. Is it going to compromise our health if we occasionally lean into convenience? No. Occasionally is the key word here. Because I am an “eat real food” kinda’ gal. It’s kind of a pivot here. But if we are talking short cuts, this is a much healthier short cut than takeout.
The whole point of a 30-minute meal is to make smart decisions about where your time is worth spending. Here, the flavour comes from the curry, coconut, fish, vegetables, herbs, lime, and chili crisp—not from waiting 25 minutes for rice to cook.
Why This Is a 30 Minute Meal
Fast cooking doesn’t have to mean fast food. The secret to a good 30-minute meal is choosing ingredients that cook quickly and building flavour efficiently. Cod needs only minutes to cook, prepared rice eliminates a major time-consuming step, and canned coconut milk creates an instant creamy sauce.
The vegetables cook directly in the curry, so there’s no need for multiple pans or complicated preparation.
One pan. One seriously good dinner.
Notes on Cooking in Cast Iron
While this recipe looks great in this big cast iron skillet, it was a poor choice as cooking vessels go. Because cast iron retains heat. It’s one of it’s best properties, but that meant that my rice… kept on cooking. Because it kept cooking, it quickly absorbed all of that glorious sauce and became a little mushy. Delicious, but, not what I was going for.
We all make mistakes. Particularly when we’re moving fast. So, word to the wise; unless we are consuming everything, and quickly, let’s use stainless steel on this one. Shall we?
Why I Love It
I love a dinner that gives you maximum flavour for minimum effort. Fish cooks fast, so we cut everything to finish as fast as that fish. Zero shame in using smart shortcuts—prepared rice, canned coconut milk, prepared Red Curry Paste, a can of fish fumé—to build a meal that tastes far more complicated than it actually is.
The cod cooks right in the sauce, which means fewer dishes and more flavour. The vegetables bring colour and texture, and a little chili crisp at the end adds that little hit of heat and crunch that makes you go back for another bite.
Fast enough for a Tuesday night and good enough to serve to company.
Red Curry Cod & Rice
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: serves 4
- Diet: Pescatarian
Description
Easy Red Curry Cod & Rice is a saucy 30-minute meal made with cod, coconut milk, red curry, fresh vegetables, prepared rice, herbs, and chili crisp. Fast, easy, and full of flavour.
Ingredients
- 4 cod fillets, approximately 5 to 6 ounces each
- 2 packages prepared rice, approximately 8 to 10 ounces each
- 1 can (13.5 ounces) full-fat coconut milk
- 1 cup fish fumé or water
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cauliflower florets, cut into small pieces
- 1 1/2 cups fresh snow peas
- 4 green onions, sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil or Thai basil, roughly torn
- 2 tablespoons chili crisp oil, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Build Your Curry Sauce: Heat the neutral oil in a large, deep skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add red curry paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add your coconut milk and fish fumé or water. Whisk until the curry paste is fully incorporated. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer.
- Add the Vegetables: Add the cauliflower and red pepper to the curry sauce.
• Simmer for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften but still have some bite. - Add The Rice and Cook the Cod: Season the cod fillets lightly with salt. Breakup prepared rice in the bag, so it’s not lumpy, then add directly to sauce and stir to combine. Nestle the cod on to the wet curried rice. Add the snow peas on top of rice. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the cod is opaque and flakes easily. Add snow peas to the top in the final minutes of cooking. NOTE: Avoid vigorous boiling, which can cause the fish to break apart.
- Finish: Squeeze lime on to the dish or serve at the side. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Spoon saucy rice, mixed with vegetables, into a bowl or plate. Top with a cod fillet. Finish with sliced green onion, fresh cilantro, basil, and a generous drizzle of chili crisp oil. Serve immediately.
Notes
Make It Your Own. This is an extremely flexible dinner. Try swapping in:
• Broccoli instead of cauliflower
• Sugar snap peas instead of snow peas
• Baby spinach at the end
• Bok choy
• Thinly sliced carrots
• Mushrooms
• Baby corn
• Shrimp instead of cod
• Chicken thighs instead of fish
For extra richness; add a splash of additional coconut milk.
For more heat; increase the red curry paste or finish with more chili crisp.
For more brightness; add extra lime juice just before serving.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Braising
- Cuisine: Thai
