Canned coconut milk flavored with red curry paste, ginger, and garlic creates the perfect creamy base for this 30-minute Thai red chicken curry.
Why Order Takeout When You Can Make Chicken Curry in 30 Minutes?
With a silky smooth coconut curry sauce, a rainbow medley of veggies, and succulent strips of chicken, this red chicken curry is what weeknight dinner dreams are made of.
Like my Thai Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Red Curry Sauce and Thai Green Chicken Curry, this recipe comes together in about 30 minutes but tastes like it’s been simmering all afternoon.
My secret? A blend of fresh aromatics deepen the flavor of the red curry paste, with a high-quality fish sauce and a few spoonfuls of sugar balancing out all the umami flavor.
Feel free to mix and match the veggies to use up whatever’s in your produce drawer. This is a flexible recipe that’s easy to adjust as needed.
Enjoy!
Heidi’s Tips for Recipe Success
A high-quality fish sauce makes all the difference. Not all fish sauce brands are created equal! If you buy a a cheaper or poor-quality bottle, it will taste overwhelmingly salty and fishy. The only I brand I use in my curries in Red Boat, which has a much deeper flavor profile that adds the umami flavor we’re going for.
Sauté the curry paste in hot oil to wake up its flavors. The (many) spices in curry paste are fat-soluble, and when they come into contact with the hot oil they “bloom” and their flavor automatically deepens and becomes more complex. This is such a simple — but often overlooked — way to make store-bought curry paste taste a million times better.
Thinly slice the chicken for maximum juiciness. If you’ve ordered red chicken curry at a Thai restaurant before, you’ve likely noticed how wafer thin they shave their chicken. The reason they do this is so the chicken cooks evenly in a very short amount of time. If you cut the chicken breasts into larger cubes, it’ll wind up tough and chewy on the outside from the extended cook time.
The Key Ingredients
The full recipe, with amounts, can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken — Since we’re thinly slicing the chicken and cooking for just 5 or so minutes, we can get away with using lean chicken breasts rather than thighs.
- Fish sauce — If you’ve never cooked with fish sauce before, don’t let the name scare you off. It doesn’t make the chicken curry taste fishy in the slightest, it just adds that deep umami flavor that Thai curries are famous for.
- Fresh aromatics — This is one recipe where dried herbs and spices will not work. You need the garlic and ginger to be fresh to create a more nuanced tasting curry.
- Canned coconut milk — Check the ingredients list to make sure it contains just coconut milk and possibly water as the second ingredient. Avoid any coconut milks with a long list of ingredients that include thickeners, preservatives, etc.
- Brown sugar — Doesn’t make the curry taste sweet, it just balances out all of the salty, umami flavors from the fish sauce and curry paste.
- Vegetables — You can use almost any veggie you’d like, but I used a mix of bell pepper, sweet potato, green beans, and carrots. Curries are a great way to sneak in those veggies!
- Lime juice + Thai basil — When you taste the coconut curry after it’s finished simmering, it’ll taste like it’s missing something. That “something” is a hit of acidity from the fresh lime and herbaceousness from the Thai basil.
Ingredient Swaps and Substitutions
- Swap out the red curry paste for green to make green chicken curry
- Sub the chicken with a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas or crispy tofu
- Mix and match the vegetables to use whatever you have on hand (white potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, spinach, pumpkin, etc. can all be used)
How to Make Thai Red Chicken Curry
- Sauté the aromatics. Heat the oil in a large skillet and add the curry paste, garlic, and ginger. Stir constantly for about 2 minutes to really wake up everything up and create a more fragrant curry.
- Build the coconut curry sauce. Stir in the coconut milk, brown sugar, fish sauce, and a little water. Let the mixture bubble away for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Add the veggies, then the chicken. You’ll want to add the hardier carrots and sweet potato first since they need more time to soften, then the green beans. Add the chicken last to avoid accidental overcooking.
- Garnish and serve. A final squeeze of lime juice and a handful of torn Thai basil bring everything together.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below, leave a comment to tell us what you think, and tag me on Instagram @foodiecrush.
Thai Red Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 3 tablespoons red curry paste
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 (14-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 carrots , peeled and sliced
- 1 red bell pepper , seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 sweet potato , peeled and cubed
- 4 ounces green beans , trimmed and cut (about 1 cup)
- 6 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast , thinly sliced
- ½ lime , juiced
- ½ cup Thai basil , roughly torn
- 1 red chile or jalapeño , sliced
- White rice for serving
Instructions
- Cook the aromatics for their flavors to bloom. In a large skillet over medium, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil. Stir in 3 tablespoons red curry paste with 2 pressed garlic cloves, and 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add the saucy ingredients. Add 14 ounces coconut milk, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons fish sauce, and ⅓ cup water. Stir well to combine and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the vegetables and chicken to the sauce. Add 2 sliced carrots, 1 sliced red bell pepper, and 1 cubed sweet potato. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables soften. Add 1 cup cut green beans and 6 ounces thinly sliced chicken breast. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 3-5 minutes.
- Add the final touches. Stir in the juice of ½ lime, and ½ cup torn Thai basil leaves. Taste and add more lime juice if needed. Serve with white rice and chopped red chile or jalapeño if desired.
Nutrition
FAQs
I suppose you could! You’d want to brown it in a separate skillet and then add to the curry at the very end of the cook time to prevent it from becoming tough or chewy.
Not too spicy, don’t worry! I always want my Thai curries to have a kick of heat to them, but nothing that will have your eyes watering.
What to Serve With Thai Chicken Curry
Storage Tips
You can store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 4 days. Curry is like chili, in that it tastes even better after it’s been refrigerated overnight. The veggies have time to soak up the flavorful coconut curry sauce and wowza the flavor is amazing.
More Easy Thai Recipes
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