Thai-Style Red Chicken Curry
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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.
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Absolutely delicious! And easy! I added mushrooms, broccoli and peppers. Was a little worried about adding raw chicken , but it cooked just fine (did 10 minutes) and was flavorful, juicy and tender.
My family is allergic to fish. What can we use in place of the fish sauce?
Hi Debra, You can replace the fish sauce with soy sauce. It won’t have that authentic Thai flavor without the fish sauce but will still be delicious. Enjoy!
I love this site but this recipe was not for me. Maybe it was because I substituted the chicken with tofu, but the taste was a bit bland and it had too much sugar and fish sauce for my taste.
Delicious recipe….Have you ever tried freezing this curry?
Hi Nancy, no, I haven’t but I think you could get away with it. (And glad you enjoyed it!)
Hi! I’ve frozen it before and it was just as delicious!
Good to know Sisi — thanks for weighing in! 🙂
The Thai Red Curry Chicken recipe looks delicious. Have you tried making it in a slow cooker? If so, do you have any tips/suggestions?
Thanks
Gayle
Hi Gayle, I haven’t tried this in a slow cooker but I think you could get away with it. I’d cook the scallions, garlic, and jalapenos on the stove as the recipe indicates and then add everything to the slow cooker. And I don’t have a lot of wisdom to share regarding timing because I don’t have experience with a slow cooker, but these tips may help you convert the recipe. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
It was very hot! Are there different heat levels of red curry paste? The one I used had two chilis on the label and called for two tsp for its own recipe – should have checked before adding two tbsp!
Hi Catherine, sorry you found this to be too spicy! Yes, I think that different brands of curry paste can have different levels of heat. The one that I use is Thai Kitchen and I don’t find it to be overly spicy.
Delicious just as is.
Love this recipe!
Absolutely delicious as always!
This recipe is wonderful! I have made it a few times for my family.
I wanted to make it for a friend who can’t eat garlic. Will it still taste good without garlic? Should I add something else?
Hi Agnes, the garlic definitely adds to the flavor here, but you can get away with omitting it or replacing it with a little diced celery.
I don’t know how sensitive she is but you may want to make sure there’s no garlic in the paste too!
This is a winner! So flavorful, so delicious! Doesn’t need more salt as some reviewer said. Perfect as is! We will be making this again and again. I added snow peas in with the chicken and it was yummy. So glad I tried it!
I doubled the amount of curry paste, used coconut cream and added pineapple. It was epic!
Does the chicken really only require 5-6 minutes of cooking? Surely that’s not right?
Hi Ami, because the chicken is cut into 1-inch pieces, it cooks pretty quickly. Feel free to pull a piece of chicken out at the end of the cooking time and cut into it to make sure that it looks cooked through. Hope that helps and that you enjoy if you make it!