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Chicken Coconut Curry is warm, hearty, and layered with sweet and savory flavors. Restaurant quality and taste, but easier on the budget.
Featured with this recipe
This Chicken Coconut Curry is something my kids are always begging me to make. They love the tender potatoes, chunks of juicy chicken with the sauce made sweet with coconut milk and savory with warm Thai spices and stewed tomatoes. We serve it over Jasmine rice or just eat it in a bowl all on its own.
I love this recipe. It’s easy to make, with easy to find ingredients, and comes together quickly. It is also gluten-free. This curry is fancy enough to serve company yet simple enough to make for a weeknight dinner.
Ingredients in Chicken Coconut Curry
The main ingredients in this Chicken Coconut Curry Recipe are chicken, golden potatoes, onion, and tomatoes. The coconut curry sauce is made from the following ingredients:
- Coconut milk (full-fat coconut milk works best in this recipe)
- Garlic
- Cilantro
- Curry powder
- Tomato sauce
- Sugar
- Cayenne pepper (optional)
Additions and Substitutions
The beauty of this recipe is it can be switched up to suit your family’s tastes to perfection! Try a few of of these alternative ingredients and make it your own.
- Chicken thighs can be used in place of the chicken breasts. Shrimp or beef can also be used instead of chicken.
- Add any vegetables you wish. I like it with bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, shredded carrots, green peas or even green beans.
- Any kind of potatoes will work too: Yukon gold, red potatoes, russets, or sweet potatoes, whatever you have on hand.
- If you like it spicy, add sriracha to the mixture, or even a little bit more cayenne pepper.
- If you like ginger, add a pinch of ground ginger or fresh ginger to the curry when simmering.
- This curry is quite aromatic so if you make it be sure to open up your kitchen windows or you will be smelling curry for days (which may not be a bad thing!).
- Top with peanuts, cashews, chopped pecans or dried chickpeas for a delicious crunch.
- Serve over jasmine rice, basmati rice, white, or brown rice. Or try our Super Easy Yellow Rice recipe for even more flavor!
Frequently Asked Questions
Our coconut curry sauce consists of coconut milk, tomato sauce, onion, garlic, cilantro, curry powder, sugar, and cayenne pepper.
Coconut milk gives curry a creamy, delicious flavor. We specifically use coconut milk in this curry for this purpose. Use full fat coconut milk for best results.
This curry should thicken as it simmers, but if it needs to be thickened, prepare a slurry. In a small bowl, whisk 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup of the simmering curry. Stir the mixture back into the curry sauce and simmer a few more minutes.
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More Delicious Curry Recipes
We love curry dishes around here!! They’re so fun to make together when we’re craving take-out but want to stay at home. You’ll love these sweet and savory recipes:
How to Make Chicken Coconut Curry
Chicken Coconut Curry
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (see recipe notes)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4 golden potatoes
- 14 ounces coconut milk
- 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes stewed
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- Jasmine rice cooked
Instructions
- Cut chicken into ½ inch chunks or strips. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
- Thinly slice the onion and crush the 2 cloves of garlic.
- Whisk oil, curry powder, and cayenne in a large skillet over medium-high heat for five minutes. Stir in onions and garlic, and cook 10 minutes more or until onions are very clear. Add chicken, tossing lightly to coat with curry oil.
- Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in center and juices run clear.
- While chicken is simmering, dice the potatoes into bite-size pieces and chop the cilantro. Optional: Save a sprig or two of the cilantro to use as a garnish.
- Add potatoes to the simmering chicken, then stir in coconut milk, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chopped cilantro, and sugar. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 30-40 minutes or until sauce thickens.
- Serve Coconut Chicken Curry over white, brown, basmati or jasmine rice.
Notes
- Use cayenne pepper sparingly and according to your spice tolerance. Cayenne pepper is optional. Use 1 teaspoon for medium spice, use 2 teaspoons to make it hot.
- Sriracha sauce can also be added for more spicy heat.
- Keep leftovers in the fridge or freezer.
- Nutrition facts do not include rice.
I like the recipe, but the sugar is way too much. I only did 2 tbsps and it was still too sweet. I had to squeeze a whole lemon in it just to counteract the sweetness. It’s possible that using tomato paste instead of tomato sauce lead to the overly sweet taste too.
Less cayene, more curry. I usually make it as a sauce. Mixing it with all of the ingredients does sure sound a lot easier.
In the early 60s I found a curry blend recipe & adjusted it to my taste but have lost both long ago.
I have been searching ever since & haven’t found the basic list anywhere.
Curry is my favorite flavor.
Is there any way you may have an ingredient recipe? All I find are “use curry powder”.
WOW! This is a keeper, for sure!! I used 2.5 T of curry powder and a scant 1 tsp of cayenne. It was definitely warm in our mouths, even our 15 mo and 3 yo enjoyed it; we are not a spicy family so maybe next time I’ll just do 0.5 tsp cayenne instead! Serve with warm naan…SO YUMMY!
Quick question – I was intrigued by mixing the oil, curry powder & cayenne…reminded me of sand or dirt! Do you know why the recipe says to do that, and for 10 mins?? I also forgot to read through the entire recipe (note: simmer for 30-40 mins was skipped over, until it was time to simmer! Yikes, dinner at 7:30 pm!). Thanks again for a great recipe. I also tried the orange chicken (/2009/04/orange-chicken.html) and LOVED it as well!
Ive been making this frequently for about a year now and it’s definitely a family favorite! I started adding carrots and sliced red pepper in with the onions and garlic and it adds a lot to the meal. Yum!
I found this recipe on your site years ago and have been making it ever since, yet somehow I’ve failed to tell you thank you. We are a curry-loving family and this is a great one! Thanks!
love you site so don't get me wrong, this recipe is good but nothing like authentic coconut curry.
I'm totally going to adapt this recipe and make it in the slow cooker. On my list to try in the next couple of week! Thanks!
haha, I should have been more clear on that. I called it “curry oil” because you mix the curry with the oil in the skillet before adding the chicken. Once you are making it you will see what I mean 🙂
I don’t have a “official” scone recipe. The closest one I have is the “Navajo Tacos” recipe. That is our lazy way to make scones 🙂
Is there really something called curry oil? I’m going to try this tonight. I love your blog. Thanks for doing this. My family loves my cooking now. Do you have any recipes for scones?
I made this curry a few nights ago – it was amazing! I made some slight changes due to my family’s preferences (omitting cayenne) and what I had on hand but it was a winner. Thanks for the recipe! I hope you don’t mind that I posted it on my blog tonight.