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Chicken Massaman Curry is one of the most delicious, savory Thai curry dishes. With chicken and potatoes cooked into a sweet, slightly spicy sauce, it’s a flavor explosion!
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What is Massaman Curry?
Chicken Massaman Curry is one of my favorite dishes! It is a mild, savory, and slightly sweet curry with the fragrant spice undertones of cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. It typically isn’t a spicy curry, but like most curries, it is easy to adjust the spice level.
The name itself can be spelled a few different ways: Massaman, Masuman, Masumun, Matsaman. No matter how you spell it, the delicious Thai dish tastes the same. I came up with my own version of this tasty Thai cuisine after a girls’ night to our favorite restaurant. My husband helped himself to my leftovers and was hooked. Making your own curry is easy, fun, and rewarding as well as economical.
How to Make Massaman Curry
1. Start with the right Massaman Curry Paste. Massaman Curry Paste is the key to making this recipe successful, it’s the one thing you really don’t want to leave out. Don’t substitute for another curry paste like yellow curry or red curry paste . Using store-bought curry paste is so much easier than trying to make your own paste from scratch. Curry paste is very thick and similar to the consistency of tomato paste. It is quite fragrant and will fill up the room with a strong, yet delicious smelling aroma. Don’t worry, once you stir in the coconut milk, it will mellow out.
You can find Massaman curry paste at most Asian Markets and even at many specialty grocery stores. We use the Maesri brand because it is what’s available at the Asian Market closest to us, but I know there are other brands available. You can’t really go wrong. The kind we use is usually in a small, yellow 4 ounce. can (pictured). It can also sometimes be found in lidded plastic or paper containers, glass jars, or vacuum-sealed packages. You can also find it on Amazon, using the link above.
2. Heat vegetable oil in an extra large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in curry paste; cook and stir for about 2-3 minutes. This is strong, make sure your windows are open and a fan is blowing.
3. Add 1 can coconut milk (shake well and open from the bottom of the can) and stir until well blended. Add ginger, cilantro, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil.
4. Add thinly sliced onion and thinly sliced chicken. A tip here is to use slightly frozen chicken to get really thin slices. Reduce to a simmer. When chicken is white and cooked through (about 5 min or so) add another can of coconut milk and bring back to a boil.
5. Add remaining ingredients (except for the rice) and stir until everything is well mixed. Cover and simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are no longer crunchy in the middle. See our tip in the recipe notes for pre-cooking the potatoes. Serve hot over Jasmine rice and garnish with extra cilantro and/or limes if desired.
Tips For Making Chicken Massaman Curry
Boil potatoes ahead. It’s not a bad idea to boil your potatoes for three-four minutes before adding them to your curry. This is a great trick for when you are in a hurry and just trying to get dinner on the table and don’t want to wait for the potatoes to soften in the curry sauce.
Soften vegetables in the sauce. If you are adding extra vegetables, allow the vegetables to soften in the sauce for optimal flavor. If you are in a hurry, stir-fry the veggies until tender before adding to the sauce.
Shake the coconut milk really well before opening. If not, it can come out in one big clump. You can also avoid this by opening the coconut milk can from the bottom.
Adjust spiciness to your preference. Make it as spicy or as mild as you would like! Add sriracha while cooking, or serve it on the side if people prefer different spice levels.
Use soy sauce. Instead of adding salt (if needed), try adding soy sauce. It gives you the salty flavor while also deepening the overall flavor of the dish.
Don’t forget the limes! Adding a squeeze of fresh lime right before serving ties all those delicious flavors together. This gives it a little extra boost over other Massaman curry recipes I have had.
Frequently Asked Questions
Massaman curry is very sweet due to the coconut milk and nutty due to the peanut butter. If you like sweeter curries, then you will love this one!
Massaman curry is mild, sweet, and full of Indian spices like cinnamon and cardamom.
The best rice to use with any curry is Jasmine rice. It is a long-grain, dry rice that goes well with every Thai dish. It is more fragrant than most varieties, which is why it is also known as “aromatic rice”. Brown Jasmine rice can also be used. Basmati rice is a common substitute for Jasmine rice as well. If you can’t find any of these varieties, you can just use a simple, long-grain, white rice.
Yes! This chicken massaman curry recipe freezes beautifully. Just make sure to freeze it on its own without rice (the rice won’t freeze as well and will just absorb all the sauce). Just put the curry into a freezer safe container or Ziplock baggie and keep it in the freezer for up to three months. To reheat, let it thaw in the refrigerator then heat on the stove in a frying pan.
According to National Geographic, Massaman curry dates back as far as the 16th century when chillies were first introduced to Thai cooking from the Americas through Portuguese traders.
More Delicious Curry Recipes
No need to reach for the takeout menus, just try one of these flavorful recipes and enjoy a good curry right in the comfort of your own kitchen!
Chicken Massaman Curry
Video
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Massaman curry paste (see notes above)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cans (14 oz each) unsweetened coconut milk, full fat
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 onion
- 1 pound chicken
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
- 1/2 cup peanuts
- sriracha sauce to taste
- red pepper flakes to taste
- jasmine rice (cooked)
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in an extra large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in curry paste; cook and stir for about 2-3 minutes. This is strong, make sure your windows are open and a fan is blowing.
- Add 1 can coconut milk and stir until well blended. Add ginger, cilantro, sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil.
- Thinly slice the onion and chicken, then add them to the sauce. Reduce to a simmer. When chicken is white and cooked through (about 5 min or so) add another can of coconut milk and bring back to a boil.
- Peel and dice potatoes Peel and slice carrots. Add the potatoes, carrots, and remaining ingredients (except for the rice) and stir until everything is well mixed. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are no longer crunchy in the middle. Serve hot over Jasmine rice and garnish with extra cilantro and/or limes if desired.
Notes
- It’s not a bad idea to boil your potatoes for three-four minutes before adding them to your curry. This is a great trick for when you are in a hurry and just trying to get dinner on the table and don’t want to wait for the potatoes to soften in the curry sauce.
- If you are adding extra vegetables, allow the vegetables to soften in the sauce for optimal flavor. If you are in a hurry, stir-fry the veggies until tender before adding to the sauce.
- Shake the coconut milk really well before opening so it doesn’t come out in one big clump. You can also avoid this by opening the coconut milk can from the bottom.
- Make it as spicy or as mild as you would like! Add sriracha while cooking, or serve it on the side if people prefer different spice levels.
- Instead of adding salt (if needed), try adding soy sauce. It gives you the salty flavor while also deepening the overall flavor of the dish.
- Don’t forget the limes! Adding a squeeze of fresh lime right before serving ties all those delicious flavors together.
Nom nom nom 😋
Delicious! And Easy 😊
Very good recipe. Complex flavors and yet simple to make.
Five star 🌟
My kids loved this dish 👌thank you
So delicious…
Fantastic. Easy and fun to make. Would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat.
This is delicious, however, it’s missing something. Pineapple! It needs pineapple!
I think the ingredients and ratios are spot on, my suggestions are more about the order of the process. My recommendation is to use fresh ginger, and to heat all your aromatics (onion, ginger, and garlic) in the massaman curry paste mixture. I cooked the potatoes and carrots and coconut milk together until the veg were almost perfectly done, then added in the chicken and a sliced cubanelle pepper until chicken was done. I let it rest for a couple of hours, before reheating, and served with steamed jasmine rice, a little chopped cilantro, dry roasted peanuts, and lime wedges. Absolutely sublime.
Tried this tonight and absolutely love it. Used a 2 lb. package of chicken thighs, added a 14oz can of fire roasted tomatoes and a bell pepper to the veggies. Instead of rice, served it over cornmeal waffles which I wanted to use up. Rich and flavorful. The Maeseri brand curry paste is a tad on the hot and spicy side. Little people might not be able to handle that.
So So delicious. My family loves this and tastes just like our local restaurant. Thanks for an amazing recipe. I wish we could have leftovers, but there is never any left ha ha.
This recipe damn near brought my boyfriend and I to tears. So. Good. Literally could not stop talking about how delicious it turned out! We made a vegetarian version with lots of potatoes, carrots and delicata squash – WOW. Delicata squash in this recipe is a must-try. It tastes verrrrrry much like the Massaman from my local Thai place. This will be on repeat in our house. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!! Thank you!
Ok recipe, a bit too sweet though, peanut butter has no place in any curry, a handful of peanuts roasted in the oven and blitzed in a blender will suffice. Also there is absolutely no substitute for fresh grated ginger, powdered just will not do, completely different flavour profile. I like the inclusion of Worcester Sauce, adds that kick of tamarind. I think the chicken needs to be cubed, same size as the potatoes.
I must add though that I disagree with your comment “The best rice to use with ANY curry is Jasmine”. This simply cannot be true, it is indeed perfect for this dish but anyone competent in cooking South East Asian food knows the base rice is a good quality Basmati, eg Biryani, Jasmine rice with a Rogan Josh or Jalfrezi just won’t work.
Poor shaun. It must have been tough, but he managed to make this recipe even though it was far beneath him! He clutched his pearls the whole time while scooping the blasphemous peanut butter into his curry.
We aren’t sure why he pressed on to accomplish this task when he knows that the opinions of whoever posted this recipe are *simply* factually incorrect. But he did! And we are glad because shaun is actually a wealth of knowledge. If he could only share it in a less insulting way we would all be following shaun!
OMG! This was amazing. My wife told me this was the best thing I have ever made. This is our favorite dish when we go out for Thai food and exceeded any of those meals. Followed the recipe exactly except for a different brand of curry paste.
WOW! Thank you so much! Glad we could help you score points with your wife!
I have made Massaman Curry for at least 30+ years. I am from Thailand. You do not need to put ginger, worcestershir sauce, peanut butter past (use whole peanuts), siricha sauce, red pepper flakes, or lime juice (use tamarind juice).
I am sorry that this recipe isn’t to your taste.
I made this last night for dinner and we were over the moon happy! I’ve only just recently tried this for the 1st time at a restaurant and am thrilled to be able to make it at home now. We are eating Keto, so I used an acceptable sub for the sugar and lots of fresh veggies instead of potatoes, but left the rest as is.
The left-overs are calling me! THANK YOU for sharing!
So good! This will be my got to from now on!
This started out as Indian makhani chicken. I didn’t have the Indian curry paste, but I did have Massaman curry paste. I started looking for recipes and came up with this! I used one and 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs, sautéed an onion, added the curry paste and a can of fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies. I cooked it for eight minutes in the instant pot, and quick released the steam. I didn’t have coconut milk, so I used one can of coconut cream, and one can of chicken broth, and cashews instead of peanuts. I added everything else, including the borrowed peanut butter and lime juice from my neighbor, and cooked on the stove as written! I served this over brown and wild rice, and it was absolutely delicious! I will definitely make this again, and do it the same way that I just did it!
This recipe is so ridiculously delicious that I had to come back and comment on it, a first for me. Massaman is one of the few Asian dishes that my wife adores, and this turned out even better than the (overpriced) version from our local Thai place. It is is seriously hard to limit one’s self to a reasonable portion, it’s that good! Thanks for the killer recipe (also, ignore Jon, the dish needs no “saving”)
I lived 8 years in Thailand. Thought it was odd to add vegetable oil. Did it.
But, my Thai friend said “don’t put in vegetable oil”. Oil is from coconut milk. ***Add peanut butter. (PB saved this dish).
What an oddly constructed comment. The vegetable oil is just fine, and the recipe already has peanut butter in it