Thai-Style Red Chicken Curry
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This fragrant Thai chicken curry is a one-pan dish that comes together in just 30 minutes.
I love cooking Thai-style food at home because there are so many recipes that you can create with just a few staples from the Asian food aisle of your neighborhood supermarket. This red chicken curry is case in point: a one-pan dish of tender chicken simmered in a rich, red curry-infused coconut milk sauce, it comes together in just 30 minutes with minimal prep work.
In developing the recipe, the biggest challenge was determining the best way to cook the chicken. Most recipes call for sautéing the chicken first and then warming it in the finished sauce. But the problem with that method, if you’re using white meat, is that the chicken tends to dry out quickly. I found that gently poaching the chicken in the coconut sauce is not only easier but also foolproof. You’ll be so pleased with how tender the chicken turns out when cooked this way!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Thai-Style Red Chicken Curry
Before we get to the step-by-step instructions, a few words about the ingredients:
- Red curry paste is a blend of lemongrass, galangal (Thai ginger), fresh red chilis, and fragrant spices. The spice level will vary depending on the brand of curry paste you use. The brand I use above (Thai Kitchen) makes for a mild, family-friendly dish. For more heat, you can always add a drizzle of Sriracha, some of the seeds of the jalapeño, or some crushed red pepper flakes.
- Be sure to use full-fat coconut milk. The sauce won’t have the same smooth, thick consistency with the reduced-fat variety.
- Fish sauce is a salty, savory condiment often used in East Asian cuisine. It adds a rich umami flavor to sauces, marinades, and salad dressings.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large nonstick pan. Add the light scallions, garlic, and jalapeño. (The dark green scallions are used as a garnish at the end, as they are mild in flavor and pretty, too.)
Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not brown.
Add the coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar.
Bring to a gentle boil and simmer until thickened, a few minutes.
Add the chicken pieces.
Simmer, stirring occasionally to promote even cooking, until the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes.
Stir in the lime juice, dark scallion greens, and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lime, if necessary.
Serve with jasmine rice.
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Thai Red Curry Chicken
This fragrant Thai chicken curry is a one-pan dish that comes together in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 small bunch scallions, thinly sliced, light and dark green parts divided
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (see note)
- 1 (14-oz) can coconut milk (unsweetened)
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2½ tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 1½ pounds chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon lime juice, from 1 lime
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a large nonstick pan. Add the light scallions, garlic, and jalapeño and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Do not brown.
- Add the coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar and whisk together. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, a few minutes. Add the chicken and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally to promote even cooking, until the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. (Do not let the sauce boil; the idea is to cook the chicken gently so that it's tender.) Stir in the lime juice, dark scallion greens, and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning with more lime, if necessary. Serve with jasmine rice.
- Note: As always, take care when working with jalapeño peppers. If you touch the seeds or ribs, be sure to wash your hands well and avoid touching your eyes.
- Note: It's important to wait until you're ready to eat to cook the chicken. If you want to get a head start, prepare the sauce up until the point when the chicken is added. Take it off the heat and then poach the chicken right before serving. If the chicken sits in the hot curry sauce for too long before serving, it will overcook.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 649
- Fat: 51 g
- Saturated fat: 26 g
- Carbohydrates: 16 g
- Sugar: 10 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Sodium: 886 mg
- Cholesterol: 128 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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Comments
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Hi Jenn,
Look forward to making this one soon! Regarding the coconut milk. Thoughts on Sweetened or Unsweetened?
Thanks!
Hi Lisa, Definitely unsweetened. Enjoy!
I was watching some recipe videos on YouTube (Hot Thai Kitchen) and she made the comment that boxed coconut milk is what they have in Thailand and that it tastes much better than canned due to the temperature ranges and processing time for each method. I managed to find a box of coconut milk at an Asian market and tried it for myself. I was FLOORED… it is so much more flavorful coming from the box! I highly recommend trying it if you have access to an Asian market.
It’s also cheaper than using canned, at least where I shop. I’ve found it at Bulk Barn and Walmart.
I use it all the time to make Jenn’s Thai Chicken & Rice Noodle soup. That soup is delicious BTW.
Jenn,
Is there a substitute for the fish sauce? I tried another Thai recipe that called for Fish sauce and the odor was almost more than I could handle. Maybe if I hadn’t smelled the fish sauce first and just used it – but after smelling it, it was the only thing I could smell/taste after that.
Hi Stephanie, I understand that fish sauce does NOT smell appealing! 🙂 That said, it really is important here — it adds a lot of flavor and all of the salt. You could try adding half as much and then salt to taste. Hope that helps!
Hi Jennifer,
I love your blog of recipes each week and recently purchased your new cookbook.
Thank you for making cooking fun!
Question: On the Curry Chicken recipe many of the ingredients are not included.
Thank you, Jill! Looks like there was a glitch with the recipe – it has been fixed. Sorry about that!
Hi, love you recipes! Just a quick question, what part of the chicken is the tenderloin?
Thank you
Giselle in NB, Canada
Hi Giselle, Chicken tenderloins are the little strips of meat that are attached to the underside of each breast (they are about 1-1/2 inches wide and 5 inches long). They are usually sold separately from the breasts. They are tender and easy to work with but if you can’t find them, it’s perfectly fine to use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Why do some recipes have conversions into metric and not others.
Being on the other side of the world (Australia) we are metric and it’s annoying to have to stop and go look up the change over.
Is it possible to have metric and the other on all recipes.
Thanks for listening to my whining and love the book.
Look forward to next one.
D.H.
Lake Macquarie. Australia.
So sorry, Dianne! All of my newer recipes have metric; I just forgot to add them on this one. It’s fixed now. 🙂
Hello Jenn, I would like to make this recipe this weekend. Sounds delicious. Not able to but the tenderloins separately from the breasts, I will have to use breasts instead. Should I cut them in strips or chicks ?
Thank you so much.
Yvonne Adams
Hi Yvonne, Either is perfectly fine – whichever you prefer.
I think I would prefer to use boneless chicken thighs. If I did would the cooking method be the same.
Hi Marjory, I’ve made this with chicken thighs and it’s wonderful. Since they take longer to cook, you’d go about it a bit differently: Sauté the chicken pieces in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat first for 6 to 8 minutes (they will be almost cooked but not fully), then transfer them to a plate while you make the sauce. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce once it’s thickened, and then simmer until cooked through, a few minutes more. Please let me know how it turns out. 🙂
Could I substitute basil for the cilantro? My basil is plentiful right now!
Sure, Tonya – I’d love to know how it turns out.
Hi Jen, will it be alright to not put in the jalapeno? I have a 2.5 year old so I’d like to make it kid-friendly.
Thanks so much for your recipes!!
Sure Beatrice – then if you’d like a little heat, you can add some crushed red pepper flakes or sriracha to individual servings. Hope you enjoy!