Coconut Curry Chicken
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1000x better than takeout! Tender chicken + veggies in a heavenly curry sauce. Serve over rice to sop up everything!
We savor every single drop of this curry. EVERY DROP. On a bed of white rice (or any rice/grain of your liking), you can let this heavenly coconut curry sauce get completely sopped up.
With boneless, skinless chicken thighs and some hearty veggies (feel free to throw in all the lingering fridge veggies as needed – mushrooms, snap peas, broccoli, green beans, etc.), this comes together lightening fast. And the finishing touches of the freshly squeezed lime juice, cilantro, and Thai basil leaves simply takes this to the next level.
Serve over rice, over noodles, over all the things.
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Coconut Curry Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
We personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
If you cannot find Thai basil, a combination of sweet basil and mint leaves gets very close!
Coconut Curry Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 (12-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Thai basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 1 1 /2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken and shallot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is evenly browned, about 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, red curry paste, garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in coconut milk and chicken stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly reduced, about 7-10 minutes.
- Stir in bell peppers until softened, about 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in cilantro, basil and lime juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve warm over rice.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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This was a great recipe! My whole family ate it including my kids. I used chicken breast vs thigh and they didn’t come out dry like I had expected. I will for sure add this recipe to our rotation.
I made this with Blue Dragon brand curry paste in the recommended amount and it was bland and oily. I was so dissapointed that I made a do-over meal the very next night with the Thai Kitchen brand curry paste, and I used the ENTIRE 4oz jar. It was tasty and had just a little spice to it. My brother in law, who jokes that he enjoys ethnic food like Swiss Chalet, would have liked that one. I still wasn’t satisfied with the heat, so I bought the Mae Ploy brand on Amazon and used 4Tbsp and the flavour was amazing, and the heat was just right (for me).
All that to say, the brand of curry paste you use is going to determine the heat level as much or more than the amount of curry paste you use.
I also modified this recipe by using coconut cream instead of coconut milk. It’s actually not a ton thicker than the coconut milk but it adds a richness to the sauce and really helps it cling to the rice and naan bread.
Was great! We used thai kitchen brand curry paste and did the recommended amount and came out great and not very spicy. My family ended up adding cyanne pepper to make it spicier. It must be the other brand that is causing the heat.
Can this be made with green curry paste, rathere than red?
This was a solid recipe. I’ve made several Indian dishes and this was by far the easiest and quickest to make. I’d probably add a small amount of pineapple the next time to add to the flavor profile. But overall it was delicious.
Absolutely delicious. I used chicken breast instead of thigh and still turned out great.
This was loved by the whole family. I will definitely be making this again.
Soo good! So delicious! And I love it that its a quick recipe.. being pregnant that’s very helpful..
I will definitely be saving this recipe for the next cold, rainy day we have! I love a good chicken curry when it’s cold outside!
Made this recipe last night and it was Damn Delicious. I used a store bought red curry paste and canned lite coconut milk. Also had it with a good quality Pinot Grigio which I thought paired well. It was so good! I will be making it again soon. Thank you for the recipe.
Excellent recipe. I’m a weakling with hot spice so I used a Thai roasted red pepper pasted instead and turned out excellent. I also used a little extra tomato sauce. The recipe has a lot of wiggle room. So good.
Made this dish this past week. My husband and I could not get enough of this. I’ve enjoy curry and don’t get to eat it a lot, I also have never attempted it because I thought it was a harder process. This recipe is so delicious and an easy week night meal.
WAY TO SPICY! I bought the recommended Mae Ploy curry paste and added 3 tbsp. Next time I’ll try 1.5 tbsp instead.
I agree, was a bit spicy. I ended up adding a little bit of sweet (Splenda, but sugar could also be used), to tone it down a little. The overall taste was good. I didn’t have the fresh spices but still turned out fine.
This is excellent! Can it be frozen?
This was delicious and we will make again!!! One comment — should the curry paste be 3 teaspoons instead of 3 tablespoons? Even on the curry paste jar, the ratio was 3 tsp to the same amount of coconut milk. We LOVE spicy but the 3 tablespoons was a lot of heat!
The amount of heat, I have learned, is a direct result of the BRAND of curry paste you use, not the amount. I made this recipe with Blue Dragon brand paste first with the recommended amount and it was oily and flavorless. It was so disappointing I needed a do-over I made it again the next night with Thai Kitchen brand red curry paste. I used the entire 4oz jar and it was nice and flavourful but still lacked any real heat. My brother in law, who jokes that his enjoyment of foreign foods stops at Swiss Chalet, would have enjoyed that one. I then bought Mae Ploy brand off of Amazon and used the recommended 3Tbsp and it was perfect for me, great flavour and good heat.
I also found coconut cream next to the coconut milk and it made the recipe just that much more appealing. The coconut cream adds a bit of thickness, but not too much, to the sauce and really helps the sauce stick to the rice and naan!
Another winner! Comes together super fast and packed with flavor. I added a heaping spoonful of brown sugar and a few glugs of fish sauce, as well as some bamboo shoots and water chestnuts for some extra veg and crunch.
This was so good! I followed it exactly and it turned out wonderfully. I’ll definitely make it again.
Coconut curry chicken was wonderful. We gave it a 9 1/2. I only used 1 1/2 tabs curry and it was perfect. It is alot of work but worth it.
Super easy and the whole kitchen smelled amazing.
For those concerned about spice level, take note: I used only 2tbsp of the curry paste and it was still fire so added some plain yogurt as a topping. I would suggest starting with 1tbsp if you’re a lightweight like me and then tasting after adding the coconut milk, adding more if you want more at that point.
Can you substitute chicken with tofu? I assume we would cook the tofu for a shorter time.