Enjoy this creamy, rich, and aromatic Thai Chicken Curry recipe at home with just one pan, simple ingredients, and in under 30 minutes.
Other simple, flavorful weeknight meals we love are this yellow chicken curry and Instant Pot butter chicken.
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I’m here to tell you, there’s absolutely no need to rely on restaurants or takeout to achieve a delicious Thai chicken curry worthy of praise by all who try it.
I love making Thai food at home like Instant Pot Thai chicken soup and Thai chicken butternut squash soup because it’s so easy!
For this Thai red curry chicken recipe, I decided to make it with coconut milk and Thai red curry paste.
It is ever so slightly sweet and wonderfully rich without weighing you down. It is savory, highly aromatic and moderately spicy.
This Thai coconut curry chicken is also one of those healthy dinners that taste indulgent while remaining light and easy.
Ingredients for Thai Chicken Curry
One of the best things about this Thai chicken curry recipe is that it contains mostly kitchen and pantry staples.
- Chicken: Use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs diced into 1.5-inch pieces.
- Canned coconut milk: Use full-fat coconut milk for rich and creamy results. Also, refer to my FAQs on choosing the best brands.
- Curry paste: I use Thai Kitchen red curry paste. Depending on whether you want your Thai chicken curry recipe mild or spicy, you can even increase the amount of the curry paste used. So, everyone can enjoy it. You can even swap out the red paste with yellow curry paste or green curry paste and follow the same recipe.
- Tomato paste: I use low sodium tomato paste. If yours is not, add less salt.
- Ginger and garlic: Classic aromatic additions to Thai recipes. You can use 1-2 teaspoons of dried ginger if that’s all you have.
- Kaffir lime leaves: Used for authentic Thai chicken curry flavor and are sweet, savory, and citrusy. They may be hard to find in some grocery stores but are available in most Asian supermarkets. Substitute with fresh basil leaves or omit.
- Oil: I use avocado oil for its healthful fats, mild flavor, and high smoke point. Swap with another cooking oil if preferred.
- Maple syrup or honey: To balance the savory and spice.
- Salt and pepper: To season the dish.
- To garnish: You can use fresh cilantro or Thai basil, and lime as a garnish.
Recipe Tip
I skipped lemongrass on purpose to see if this Thai chicken curry recipe would still be amazing. And it is! However, if you can buy lemongrass, then feel free to bruise and chop it and add to the curry.
How to Make Thai Chicken Curry
Here is a quick overview how to make Thai chicken curry recipe. Full recipe card is located below.
- Sauté garlic and ginger for 30 seconds, continually stirring, in a large skillet.
- Add the cubed chicken breast and cook for 5 minutes. It doesn’t have to be cooked through at this point.
- Add the remaining ingredients: Coconut milk, red curry paste, tomato paste, maple syrup, kaffir lime leaves, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Garnish Thai chicken curry with fresh basil or cilantro, and possibly sliced chilies, then squeeze fresh lime juice on top. Ready to serve!
Tips for Best Results
Here are my top tips for the best Thai coconut curry chicken in the world!
- Canned coconut milk naturally separates into cream on top and liquid at the bottom. Don’t worry, this is normal. Just add it to the pan, and it will eventually melt.
- Don’t skip the aromatics: You might think you can get away with just using the red curry paste, but the extra ginger, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves really boost the flavor.
- For yellow or green Thai chicken curry: Simply swap out the curry paste and omit the tomato paste. Note that yellow curry paste is usually the most mild and rich option, and green curry paste is the most spicy.
- Vegetables: If you want to add even more nutrients, then feel free to add in veggies like bell peppers, mushrooms, mini corn, sugar snap peas and zucchini. Make sure to choose vegetables that take similar time to cook.
- For a lighter meal: You can swap out some of the coconut milk for low sodium vegetable broth instead. It will affect the flavor but is enjoyable.
What Do I Serve Thai Chicken Curry with?
Traditionally, Thai chicken curry is served with steamed white rice or jasmine rice. I like to make my jasmine rice in Instant Pot or Instant Pot coconut rice. However, you can also enjoy it with Instant Pot quinoa, Instant Pot long grain white rice or Instant Pot brown rice.
Serve with Indian flat bread like Naan or with egg noodles in a deep bowl.
For a low carb option, serve with spaghetti squash noodles, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice or alone.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Transfer any Thai chicken curry leftovers to an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Freeze: Freeze in freezer-safe containers for 2-3 months. Allow Thai red curry chicken to thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Reheat: To enjoy this chicken curry warm again, reheat by simmering on the stove or in the microwave until heated through. You may need an extra splash of coconut milk or chicken broth.
FAQs
Whether you want a mild, medium, or spicy Thai chicken curry, here is a helpful guide on how much spice to add. For very mild curry, add 1 tablespoon. For mild-medium curry (aka kid-friendly but with a kick) add 2 tablespoons. I usually add this much. For spicy curry add 4 tablespoons.
Use full fat coconut milk for truly creamy results. My favorite brands include 365, Thai Kitchen, Trader Joe’s, and Compliments. It has smooth, creamy consistency without small lumps. Also try to buy coconut milk without guar gum and preservatives, in BPA-free cans.
No. Curry powder is an Indian dry spice mix made with ground turmeric, ground coriander, cumin, and other spices. It is very different from Thai curry paste.
Transfer it to a glass jar in the fridge for up to 10 days. You can add it to borscht and many other recipes.
More Thai and Curry Recipes
- Thai chicken salad
- Thai crock pot chicken thighs with crazy good homemade Thai sweet chili sauce.
- Crockpot butter chicken
- Green lentil curry
- Pad Thai zucchini noodles
- Chicken curry salad
You may also love to browse these 65 healthy chicken recipes!
Thai Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts or chicken thighs cut into 1.5″ cubes
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 inch ginger knob minced
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 14 oz can coconut milk full fat
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 3 oz tomato paste low sodium
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 5 kaffir lime leaves or basil leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt + more
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Cilantro and lime for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat large deep skillet or wok on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. It burns fast.
- Add chicken sprinkled with a pinch of salt, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Doesn't have to be cooked through.
- Add coconut milk, curry paste, tomato paste, maple syrup, kaffir lime leaves (if using), salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Garnish Thai chicken curry with fresh basil or cilantro, and a bit of lime juice. Traditionally, Thai chicken curry is served with steamed rice. However, you can also enjoy it with Instant Pot quinoa or Instant Pot brown rice. For a low carb option, serve with cauliflower rice or alone.
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate chicken curry in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
- Freeze: For up to 3 months.
- Reheat: To enjoy chicken curry warm again, reheat by simmering it on the stove or in the microwave until heated through. You may need a splash of extra coconut milk or chicken broth.
- Canned coconut milk: Use full-fat coconut milk for rich and creamy results like Thai kitchen brand.
- Kaffir lime leaves: Used for authentic Thai chicken curry flavor and are sweet, savory, and citrusy. They may be hard to find in some grocery stores but are available in most Asian supermarkets. Substitute them with basil leaves, if that’s all you have.
- (Optional) Lemongrass: I skipped this on purpose to see if this recipe would still be amazing – it is! However, if you can source it, then feel free to bruise and chop it and add it to the curry.
OMG this was so good!! I only had one chicken breast in the freezer so I added a can of chick peas and it was delicious! This recipe could easily be vegan by just using chick peas and no chicken. Flavours are amazing!
Totally! Awesome!!! Happy to hear, Judy.
Oh man I love this. Delicious curry and easy to make. Thank you.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Pat!
Thanks to you and this recipe I’ll try making a curry recipe. I don’t like coconut but I just googled substitute for that after seeing your recipe and all I need is yogurt. All I have to get is the curry paste. Can’t wait to try something new.
Yay! Yes you can as long as you don’t cook it so it doesn’t curdle.
Excellent! Can’t wait to try it! :)….
Another family favorite!
YES!
WOW! The recipe was easy, and the food was great. I didn’t know if I would like curry. This is now a new favorite recipe. I’m so happy I discovered this website.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Shannon!
Who knew you could have delicious thai food on the table so quickly? This recipe was so easy and the food so good. Plenty of sauce to flavor the brown rice I served it with. I am excited to have some of the leftovers for lunch and even had some to freeze for my future self. Win-win!
Awe, you are so welcome! So happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes!
Delicious
I made this recipe for my family last night…WE LOVED IT! I doubled the batch so we would have leftovers for lunch but I ended up Turing the leftovers into soup for dinner tonight. This has been a huge hit – Thank you. Will definitely make again.
** for soup, I sautéed onion, celery, fennel, carrots in olive oil. Diced potato, turnip, rutabaga (I know sounds weird but worked); then added 4 C chicken broth. Cooked the veg in simmering broth then added left over Thai Chicken Curry. Added a knob of ginger, 1 t of curry paste to bump of flavor and left over brown rice. So good!
So happy to hear, Jill! You are smarter than me because you doubled the recipe. We had no leftovers. And your soup sounds amazing and something I would totally do!
Olena, I love all your recipes. Thankyou! And this one was super quick and delicious… Definitely making it again.
Yay! So happy to hear you loved my Ukrainian Thai chicken curry, Simone! SO do you mean you have an Instant Pot too? LOL Cause I post a lot of those recipes. I’m still obsessed with mine years later.
Simply delicious flavour.
So quick and easy to prepare?
Wow, speedy Wendy! So happy you enjoyed my Ukrainian Thai chicken curry. 🙂