Coconut Curry Chicken
by Chungah
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This Thai coconut curry chicken is 10x better than takeout! With tender chicken and veggies in a dreamy, creamy curry sauce. Serve over rice!
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Why you’ll love this coconut curry chicken
- Take-out favorite. Restaurant-quality coconut curry chicken can be made right at home using better quality ingredients.
- Flexible, lightning fast recipe. With boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts) 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 so so fast. Serve over rice, over noodles, over all the things.
- So much flavor. The finishing touches of the freshly squeezed lime juice, cilantro, and Thai basil leaves simply take this Thai curry to the next level.
- Leftovers are even better. The curry becomes even more flavorful as it sits since the flavors really get a chance to marry overnight!
what is red curry paste and where can i find it?
Commonly used in Thai dishes, red curry paste is made from a blend of red chili pepper, garlic, lemongrass, Thai ginger, and various spices.
Red curry paste is typically used for stir-fry, soups, or mixed with coconut milk for curry. It is readily available in most grocery store chains, particularly the Thai Kitchen brand, and online, with some brands containing shellfish (shrimp paste).
how to make coconut curry chicken
- Cook the rice. Start cooking the rice first so it finishes just before the curry.
- Brown the chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper before browning in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Stir in the aromatics. Add the tomato paste, red curry paste, garlic, and ginger.
- Simmer. Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock, simmering until slightly reduced. The longer it simmers, the more it will reduce and thicken.
- Add the bell peppers. Stir in the bell peppers until tender.
- Add the finishing touches. Stir in the cilantro, basil, and freshly squeezed lime juice, seasoning one last time with salt and pepper.
- Serve. Serve warm over rice for sopping.
variations and substitutions
- Chicken: substitute with shrimp or tofu
- Vegetables: add carrots, broccoli, eggplant, sweet potatoes, bamboo shoots, baby corn, or sugar snap peas
- For serving: serve over rice noodles or cauliflower rice (low-carb alternative)
what to serve with coconut curry chicken
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Coconut Curry Chicken: Frequently Asked Questions
I personally love Mae Ploy (contains shrimp paste). Thai Kitchen is also great, and more readily available at most grocery stores.
Full fat coconut milk is best, yielding a richer, creamier consistency. “Lite” or low fat coconut milk will be diluted with water, resulting in a thin, watery curry sauce. Always shake the can well before opening.
If you cannot find Thai basil, a combination of sweet basil and mint leaves gets very close!
Let it continue to simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until the desired consistency is reached.
Store leftovers in an airtight container separate from the rice (if possible) in the fridge for 2-3 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop until warmed through.
No, I do not recommend freezing this as coconut milk tends to separate when frozen.
Coconut Curry Chicken
Video
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.
Equipment
Notes
- Use long grain rice. Long grain rice, such as jasmine rice or basmati rice, will stay light and fluffy, soaking up the rich coconut curry sauce without becoming mushy or clumping together.
- Use your favorite protein. This recipe will work well with chicken thighs, chicken breasts, shrimp or tofu.
- Full fat coconut milk will be creamier. Although lite coconut milk can certainly be used, full fat coconut milk will yield a much more rich and creamy sauce.
- Make it thicker. Simmer for longer, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, for a thicker curry sauce.
- Mix it up. Swap the red curry paste for green, add in more veggies (potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, mushrooms or bok choy) or serve over rice noodles or naan bread instead of rice.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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.