This Thai inspired coconut milk curry chicken recipe is creamy, full of flavor, and made in one pan. It makes a great weeknight dinner that can be ready in about 30 minutes.
Why you'll love it
It's quick and easy. Did you know you know you can make a great tasting Thai inspired curry at home in only 30 minutes? That's faster than a trip to a restaurant-even for takeout! There are no complicated steps involved in making this dish so it's great if you're just starting out in the kitchen or are making curry for the first time.
It's made with easy to find fresh and pantry ingredients. Sometime globally inspired dishes will require unique ingredients. I love finding ways to capture those unique flavors with everyday ingredients that are easily available at most large chain grocery stores.
It's rich, creamy and full of flavor. The earthy, smokey flavors along with the creaminess of the coconut milk will make your palate sing! If you're craving a simple way to step out of your weeknight dinner routine, try this flavorful Thai inspired chicken curry dish.
Ingredients
Step by step instructions to make coconut milk curry with chicken
In a medium bowl, toss chopped chicken pieces with ½ tablespoon curry powder, salt and pepper.
Heat one tablespoon coconut oil in a large skillet oven medium-high heat. When melted, add chicken and cook until lightly browned but not cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan to a plate and set aside.
Melt one to two tablespoons of coconut oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until softened and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and ginger, stir to combine.
Add tomato paste, remaining curry powder, cumin, coriander, and ancho chili powder to the skillet. Mix everything together to form a thick paste.
Add coconut milk and chicken broth to the skillet, stirring to combine. I like to use a flat whisk to get it to come together.
Turn heat to medium high to get bubbling. Turn heat down so it simmers gently. Simmer for about 8 minutes.
Add brown sugar and return browned chicken to the skillet. Bring heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes more or until a meat thermometer registers 165º F.
Serve with hot cooked rice, lime wedges, and chopped cilantro.
Recipe notes and tips
Coconut oil helps to give this curry dish it’s rich flavor and texture. I highly recommend it, but you can use your favorite oil instead.
You can use regular or chipotle chili powder if you can’t find ancho chili powder. I have made this dish without ground coriander, and it is totally delicious!
This curry sauce recipe is mild. If you like to spice things up, add ground cayenne or red pepper flakes to sauce when you add the other spices. Adjust amount to your taste preference.
I like the additional sweetness from the brown sugar, but this step is optional and depends on your taste preference.
Peas are a nice addition. Add 1 cup frozen peas when adding liquids.
My favorite way to eat this curry dish is with hot cooked jasmine rice.
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📖 Recipe
Coconut Milk Curry with Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2-3 tablespoon coconut oil canola or vegetable
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 2 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoon curry powder divided
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup yellow onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped, about 2 tsp
- 2 tablespoon fresh ginger about a 2 inch knob, finely chopped (not powdered)
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste about half a 6 oz can
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1-15.25 oz can coconut milk full fat, not reduced fat
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar optional
For Serving
- Hot cooked rice
- Warm naan
- Lime wedges
- Cilantro leaves
- Crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, toss chopped chicken pieces with ½ tablespoon curry powder, salt and pepper.
- Heat one tablespoon coconut oil in a large skillet oven medium-high heat. When melted, add chicken and cook until lightly browned but not cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Remove chicken from pan to a plate and set aside.
- Melt one to two tablespoons of coconut oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes or until softened and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and ginger, stir to combine.
- Add tomato paste, remaining curry powder, cumin, coriander, and ancho chili powder to the skillet. Mix everything together to form a thick paste.
- Add coconut milk and chicken broth to the skillet, stirring to combine. I like to use a flat whisk to get it to come together.
- Turn heat to medium high to get bubbling. Turn heat down so it simmers gently. Simmer for about 8 minutes.
- Add brown sugar, stir to combine. Return browned chicken to the skillet. Bring heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 3-5 minutes more or until a meat thermometer registers 165º F.
- Serve with hot cooked rice, lime wedges, and chopped cilantro.
Notes
- Coconut oil helps to give this curry dish it’s rich flavor and texture. I highly recommend it, but you can use your favorite oil instead.
- You can use regular or chipotle chili powder if you can’t find ancho chili powder. I have made this dish without ground coriander, and it is totally delicious!
- This curry sauce recipe is mild. If you like to spice things up, add ground cayenne or red pepper flakes to sauce when you add the other spices. Adjust amount to your taste preference.
- Peas are a nice addition. Add 1 cup frozen peas or canned peas along with the coconut milk and broth.
- I like the added sweetness of brown sugar, but it's optional.
- My favorite way to eat this curry dish is with hot cooked jasmine rice.
Alice Carlson
Not my favorite and most likely my error. The sauce has a bitter taste. I am thinking the curry powder I used.
How can I “fix” this dish?
Nikole Berg
Adding something sweet like sugar, honey, maple syrup etc can help. Also you can try something like a fruit puree, in small amounts. Salt can also help balance out the flavor. If the curry is too strong then add more coconut milk. Add in small amounts and taste, taste, taste! But if it's bitter due to an ingredient that has gone bad or was burnt, then it might not be as salvageable. Hope that helps!
Deb Alcatrao
Read through all the comments trying to understand what curry powder to use as I only know of powder = Indian dishes and paste = Thai dishes. No one asked the question!! Can you tell me what powder everyone is using?
Thank you!
Nikole
Hi Deb-I use curry powder found in the spice aisle. It comes labeled "curry powder" and is typically a blend of curry with other spices like cumin and coriander. The spices listed in the recipe are all separate spices, not a blend. I will try to attach a picture of the bottle. If you can't find it, you can try the a curry paste instead. Hope that helps!!
Kathy Smith
Delicious! I only used 2TBS curry, reduced chili powder 1/2 tsp and brown sugar to 1/2 TBS. I added regular sugar until it had the sweetness I desired that didn’t alter the delicious flavor of the original dish. Also added pan toasted sweetened coconut as a topper. Used rice noodles too. OMG Yum!!
Nikki
I love this recipe, definitely my go to if I want a quick, easy curry. I get excited when I add this to my weekly meal plan.
C
I think I would use less chili powder making this again, I feel like the chili taste overpowered the other flavors. I did use regular chili powder, and I did double the recipe. It was very good, just very chili-
Jackie
This is YUM! I had a bag of frozen peas and carrots and added about a cup...I will probably leave out the brown sugar next time... the carrots add enough sweet. I will definitely make this again!
Whitney
It was pretty tasty! Used a bit more salt and used ketchup instead of tomato paste.
Kaitlynn
Any suggestions for how to keep it warm for a bit? I am making it for a church potluck but I have to cook it early and keep it warm. Just wrap the dish, crock pot, etc?
Nikole
Hey Kaitlynn! You can keep this in the crockpot on low and give it a stir every so often. I think it could go a couple hours that way. Or you could just wrap in up and microwave it in 30 second increments, stirring it in between, before serving. Or, you could try covering a baking dish with foil and keeping it in the oven on 200-250. Hope this helps.
Kaitlynn
Thank you!
Jen
This is delicious and so easy for a week night meal. Made enough for leftovers. I used less chili powder as I don’t like dishes super spicy.
Em
Fiancé said it was the best thing I’ve ever made. Added potatoes and peas. Would this freeze well?
Nikole
Yay! Glad to hear you and your fiancé enjoyed the dish... yes, you can freeze it. I thaw it overnight in the fridge then reheat on low heat on the stove top or microwave (low power) stirring to keep the sauce together.
Courtney
I added Brussels sprouts (quartered), sliced small yellow potatoes, and coined carrots. I didn’t add the chili, but it turned out amazing.
Becky
I made this last night for the first time and absolutely loved it! I used 2 chicken breasts and next time I will use 3 as I had a lot of sauce left over. It went well with Jasmine Rice and asparagus.
Charlene
Too much heat for it to be truly enjoyable. I even used less Curry powder than called for. Next time and there will be a next time I’m going to reduce the curry by half and try again. We love the flavor not the heat.
PTB
Delectable! I couldn’t stop eating it😀
Kasey
I added a half a can of canned carrots and frozen brocolli heads. My entire family enjoyed it! Even the 7 year old!!!
Greg Divine
Made this tonight for dinner and WOW ! This was better than I had in New York when we went to Niagara Falls and out for dinner at an Indian Restaurant a few years back. This one is a definite keeper and I’ll certainly be making this again and again . I used chicken thighs instead of breasts because they have more flavor in my book . I would bet this would be incredible with Shrimp as well . Thanks for sharing the recipe with us!
Shirley
This recipe was easy and delicious!! I will definitely be making this again !!
Mia
This was delicious! Subbed NM red Chile for the ancho and skipped the brown sugar. Very easy to make and was so flavorful!
Gail
Loved it! I substituted the chili powder with regular chili powder and cayenne. Still came out great!
Kristen Shields
I just made tonight because for my diet chicken breast is great for the amount of protein but it is a meat I need to
spice up. I finally made this recipe and it is BOMB! Full of flavor and super easy. I ate it with green beans because I am doing low carb. It was super delicious and filling. I will make this again in the future. I reduced the can of milk but only did 10 oz of chicken breast. Thanks for this awesome and simple recipe.