This thick and creamy massaman curry is the best kind of Thai-American fusion. It’s all about the texture of slow cooked beef merging with massaman spices, vegetables, and fresh herbs.
If you’re looking for a straightforward but contemporary recipe that’s special enough to impress any guest, then this is it! So, get your dutch oven out and ready because we are making Thai food tonight!
1-Pot Thai Beef Pot Roast with Massaman Curry
The beef pot roast part of the recipe involves searing and braising chuck roast in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until jiggly and tender. It takes a while to cook, but it’s a leave-it-and-forget-it step. Plus, it gives you plenty of time to gather those curry ingredients or make rice if you’d like.
Once the beef is cooked, you can use the same pot to layer the curry over the rendered beef fat (hey, that’s where the flavor is at!). 20 minutes later, and you’ll have an orange-hued coconut broth. At this point, I like to stir in a combination of fresh vegetables (carrot, mushrooms, cauliflower, snow peas all work).
When I think about really good Thai food, I always picture beautiful, fresh food. So, I like to add a handful of torn mint and basil right at the last moment. Then, I add a few slices of Thai bird chili for heat – watch out: they can be really spicy!
This recipe is gluten free, paleo, and aip so I decided to keep things clean (grain free) with cauliflower rice, but you could just serve it as-is for a nice stew.
What is massaman curry and what makes it distinctive?
In terms of Thai curries, massaman is particularly mild flavored and easy to make. It doesn’t have to be spicy, just rich from ground peanuts, coconut milk, and red curry paste. This recipe calls for the Thai Kitchen curry paste. Of course, you can make your own authentic massaman curry paste too if you have access to the ingredients.
You’ll notice that I used a dutch oven (lid on) for the beef. I like a heavy duty pot because it distributes the heat evenly.
cube the beef chuck 
sear and braise the beef 
make the curry
In my experience, Thai food is not the easiest cuisine to tackle. That being said, I think this version (with Thai kitchen curry paste) is friendly and approachable. I hope you love this rich, massaman curry as much as we do!
More Thai Recipes You Might Like:
Thai Beef Curry Pot Roast
Ingredients
Beef Pot Roast
- 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast cut into 2" x 2" cubes
- refined coconut oil (or olive oil)
- salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup beef stock or bone broth
Massaman Curry with Vegetables
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or ground dry thai chili pepper)
- 3 medium shallots thinly sliced
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 pinch each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg optional
- 2 cans lite coconut milk (full fat works too, but is very rich)
- 6 tbsp red curry paste
- 1/4 cup ground peanuts (or cashews)
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos (or light soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (or coconut sugar)
- 1 cup filtered water
- 1 tsp shrimp paste optional
Vegetable Add-In Options
- 2 cups chopped vegetables: carrots, snap peas, mushrooms any vegetables you want
Serving Suggestions
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- fresh thai chili (or jalapeno) thinly sliced
- thai basil (or any basil) torn
- fresh mint torn
Instructions
Cook the Beef
- Preheat the oven to 275°F.
- Warm a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add the oil, then the beef. Season with salt and pepper and turn every 2 minutes to brown. Deglaze with beef broth, scraping the bottom to release the brown bits. Cover with lid and move to the oven for 2 hours 30 minutes.
Cook the Massaman Curry with Vegetables
- In the same pot with the cooked beef, make chili oil by infusing red pepper flakes in the rendered beef fat for 2 minutes. Add the shallot and a pinch of salt. Toss for 2-5 minutes to sweat the onion until very soft but not brown.
- Stir in the cumin and coriander (including cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg if you like) and cook for 30 seconds. Add in the coconut milk, curry paste, ground nuts, coconut aminos, maple syrup, water, and shrimp paste (turn the heat off to avoid burning if you need to).
- Bring the curry to a low simmer and add the chopped vegetables. After 2 minutes, taste and season with lime juice or salt as needed.
Serve the Beef with the Curry
- Combine the tender beef (and braising liquid) with the massaman curry. Ladle over rice or steamed cauliflower rice. Serve with freshly sliced thai chili, and loads of fresh torn basil, and mint.
Video
Notes
Vegan Option for Massaman Curry:
You can leave the shrimp paste out and skip the beef step altogether for a vegan massaman curry with vegetables. You could also add in firm cubed tofu with the vegetables.Nutrition
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Excited to try this recipe. After cooking the beef, do you remove from the pot for the next steps (chili oil, shallots, etc?). It doesn’t say to but then you say to serve beef with the curry later so I’m assuming you removed it (and braising liquid) while making the curry in the same pot?
After cooking the beef, you can leave it in the pot for the chili oil and shallots step. You can see what each stage looks like in the recipe video, if you like. I’m excited for you to try this one!
I made this today. It is outstanding. We love to cook Thai in our house. I used snap peas, mushroom, carrot and scallions. Garnished with mint, Thai basil, lime and shaved green cabbage.
Definitely use Thai chilis if you can find them. Have never been able to find shrimp paste but I substituted fish sauce which I always have. Very authentic tasting Thai. The meat turns out so tender. I will definitely make this again.
Thanks Justin for your feedback. I would totally substitute fish sauce for the shrimp paste. Also, Thai chilis YES! They are unparalleled.