This quick chicken curry has the most delicious creamy coconut curry sauce, and is made from simple pantry ingredients. Works great for meal prep and leftovers can be frozen!
When it comes to comfort food, nothing beats a delicious creamy chicken curry, right? Today I’m sharing my family’s new favorite curry chicken recipe with you!
This recipe was adapted from my Instant Pot Chickpea Curry Recipe, however I found that this chicken curry greatly benefited from sauteeing first.
The thing I love about this chicken curry recipe is that you can use dried spices that you probably already have in your pantry (and they are all on my Pantry Staples Checklist!). You don’t need any curry pastes or spicy chiles. It’s not spicy and the kids LOVE this recipe!
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We love this chicken curry recipe because
- leftovers are the BEST meal prep lunches and you can even freeze them
- you don’t need to track down any curry pastes or exotic ingredients
- you can customize the spice level, and this is great for kids
How to make curry chicken
For this recipe, you can swap out any number of the vegetables to what you happen to have in your fridge. I highly recommend boneless skinless chicken thighs as they stay nice and tender in this curry.
- Brown the chicken in olive oil, then remove from the pot.
- Sautee the onion, garlic and ginger.
- Add the spices and toast for 1 minute.
- Return the chicken to the pot with the coconut milk, diced tomatoes and all vegetables.
- Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until all veggies are cooked through.
- Stir in the green beans & lemon juice, adjust salt to taste.
- Enjoy!
Can I use this curry chicken recipe for meal prep? Yes! I was hoping this could be assembled ahead and frozen for a freezer to pot recipe, but the flavor was just lacking. Instead I would cook this as written and portion out with some rice. This chicken curry recipe freezes like a dream and makes such a great lunch!
Can I make this coconut curry chicken vegan? Sure, swap the chicken for chickpeas!
Is this coconut curry chicken spicy? I used mild curry powder and mine was not at all spicy. You can use a medium or hot curry paste, or add in some chiles if you like it spicy.
Can I cook this coconut curry chicken in the Instant Pot? I haven’t tested this exact recipe but I think it would work! I’d sautee everything in the same order as written, then pressure cook on high for 5 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes, then release the rest. *if you try this I’d love to hear how it works out for you!*
Tips & equipment for coconut curry chicken
- I used my 4L Paderno pot (similar to this one)
- Meal prep containers: I love these ones
- here’s my favorite chef’s knife that made chopping a breeze (I wish I had bought a good one sooner!)
- looking for more curry recipes? Check out this Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Lentil Curry, this Instant Pot Chickpea Curry, this Spicy Instant Pot Thai Chicken Curry and this Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chicken Curry
Easy Curry Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1-2 inch cubes)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 inch ginger (roughly 1 tablespoon; finely chopped or grated)
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon curry powder (I used mild curry powder)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 13.5 oz can of coconut milk (400 mL: full fat recommended)
- 18 oz can of diced tomatoes (540 mL; includes juices)
- 2-3 carrots (peeled & sliced)
- 15 baby potatoes (halved, quarter if they are larger baby potatoes)
After cooking
- 1 1/2 cups green beans (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 lemon (juiced; 2 tablespoons)
- rice (to serve)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a 4 L/ 4 quart pot.
- Add the chicken, and cook, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink. Transfer to a clean plate and add more olive oil to the pot if necessary.
- Add the onion, and cook until soft (5-7 minutes).
- Add the garlic, ginger, spices and salt. Cook, stirring frequently for one minute.
- Add the coconut milk and scrape up anything stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Return the chicken to the pot and add the diced tomatoes, carrots and baby potatoes.
- Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally.
- Stir in the lemon green beans and lemon juice and allow to sit for a few minutes, until green beans are slightly soft.
- Serve with rice or naan bread.
Storage
- Store in the fridge for up to 4 days or the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Ioleen
This curry was delicious, thank you! I look forward to trying the chickpea version of it soon 🙂
Denise
So happy to hear you enjoyed, Loleen! Thank you for reporting back!
Elizabeth B.
I made this yesterday to bring to work for lunches. I’m not a big fan of a thin sauce/soup, so I did let it simmer for a while to reduce, and used only 1 lb of chicken because that’s what I had, but other than that I followed the recipe closely. I definitely don’t think it’s 8 servings, but it will last me through 4 lunches for sure with rice. It’s delicious. In fact next time I will up the spices as mine was incredibly mild. Thank you!
Denise
Thanks for your review, Elizabeth 🙂
SC
Hello. Quick question: My curry powder already has cumin and coriander in it. But while in the store, another brand did not. Am I to add extra of these spices on top of my curry powder? Or do I just use my curry powder, and if so how much?
(Recipe calls for: 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp curry powder, 1 1/2 tsp coriander.)
Denise
Good question! I would just add them on top and follow the recipe as written. This is the curry powder I use and it says it has cumin and coriander in it as well.
Carmen Hayter
I had the opportunity to make this recipe last weekend for a planned meal prep lunch this week. My husband and I have enjoyed this all week. This recipe is amazing and so full of flavor. I will be making this one over and over. It is definitely one of my new favorite recipes!
Denise
I’m so happy you enjoyed, Carmen! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review 😀
John Fiala
Just made this, and it’s quite tasty. Somehow, I failed to add the garlic, but it’s still quite good.
One thing – I wasn’t sure how much ginger “1 inch” was, since I was using ginger paste. I went with 2 tbsp.
Denise
Hi John! I’m so happy you enjoyed! I find that 1 inch = around 1 tablespoon freshly grated, but I’m not sure how much that is in paste. I will clarify in the recipe card 🙂
Alex
Could I sub chicken breast for thighs?
Denise
Yes, but be careful to not overcook! Thighs are so much more forgiving. Hope you enjoy!
Jordan Campusano
Could you make this in the Instant Pot??
Denise
Hi Jordan! I bet that would work well! I would try 5 min high pressure and 10 min natural pressure release (that’s what I did for the IP chickpea curry and the potatoes were cooked through!)
Peter Nguyen
Hi, can we used brushed potatoes instead of baby potatoes?
Denise
Hi Peter! I had to look up brushed potatoes. If you are cooking them right away, they should be fine. You’d want to cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Unfortunately freezing raw potatoes causes them to brown, so they may not work well for freezer packs. Hope this helps!
Erika
There’s no ginger amount in the ingredients
Denise
Hi Erika! Thanks for pointing that out. I just updated the recipe!
Seán
Hi how much ginger is required?
Denise
Sorry about that! Recipe is updated now!