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
CAN I USE CHICKEN BREASTS?
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
WHAT BRAND OF RED CURRY PASTE DO YOU RECOMMEND?
I personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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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.
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!
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.