Whether you are an adventurous foodie or a meat and potatoes type, this easy Coconut Curry Chicken is totally for you.
Easy Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe
If you would have offered this easy chicken curry to me as a kid, there’s no way in heck I would have eaten it. I was dumb. I still am not a crazy adventurous eater (I don’t have any desire to try calamari or tongue), but I do enjoy trying different ethnic foods. I mean, one of our most popular recipes is my sister’s honey baked chicken, which uses curry. Ha! Look at me go!
Homemade coconut curry is not at all scary. In fact, with the coconut milk in there it’s actually creamy and really easy on the palate. Our oldest daughter was a little weirded out by that orange color at first, but our eight-year-old dug right in and was singing its praises.
In the end, this chicken curry with coconut milk was a success for the whole family and now it’s one of our favorite meals.
Coconut Curry Chicken Ingredients
We kept the ingredients list for the coconut curry sauce and chicken as short as possible. Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy chicken curry recipe:
- Chicken breasts
- Peanut oil
- Curry powder
- Garam Masala
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Coconut milk
- Tomato paste
- Salt and pepper
- Sugar
- Water
- Cornstarch
How to Make Coconut Curry Chicken
This chicken coconut curry comes together quickly. Here are the basic steps for this recipe:
- Dice the chicken into cubes, then season with curry powder, garam masala, salt, and pepper.
- Thread the chicken onto skewers and grill.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Add more curry powder and garam masala and cook until fragrant.
- Stir in the chopped onion and cook until translucent.
- Whisk in the remaining ingredients and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the grilled chicken.
- Serve over rice.
Can I Make Curry in a Slow Cooker?
Yes, to make this coconut curry chicken in a slow cooker simply combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.
What’s the Best Coconut Milk for Coconut Curry?
We prefer using sweetened canned coconut milk by a brand called Thai Kitchen. If you can’t find sweetened coconut milk, unsweetened will also work.
Tips for Making Coconut Curry Chicken
Grill the chicken — I think it’s because our spices aren’t as good as the authentic stuff, but giving that chicken a little smokey awesomeness is totally going to change this dish. If you must, just cook it in a pan, but grilling is better.
Bloom the curry — I’ve tried a few curry recipes both ways and hands down the best coconut curry starts by letting the curry powder cook in the oil for a minute or two, then adding the onion and finally moving on with the recipe. This allows the true flavor to “bloom,” or come out.
Opt for coconut milk — It’s creamy like heavy cream, but it’s also lighter and melds well with the curry.
To see all of our family dinner recipes, head here! These are a few of our favorites…
Easy Coconut Chicken Curry
Description
Ingredients
- 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, (about 1 pound of chicken)
- 1-2 Tablespoons Peanut Oil, or Canola
- 2 Tablespoons Curry Powder, divided
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala, divided
- 1 Onion, Medium Yellow, diced
- 2 Cloves Garlic, smashed
- 1 Can Sweetened Coconut Milk, (14 ounces) full fat, never lite
- 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 Teaspoon Granulated Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- White Rice , for serving
- Cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Chop the chicken into large chunks.
- Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and half of the curry and half of the garam masala.
- Toss to coat evenly.
- Thread the chicken onto skewers (if wooden make sure you soaked them first) and place on a medium high heated grill.
- Turn the chicken every 1-2 minutes until grilled on each side, about 6-8 minutes.
- Set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat add the oil and heat until shimmering.
- Add the remaining curry and garam marsala.
- Cook, stirring occasionally for 1 minute, add the onion and a little more oil if the pan is dry.
- Continue to cook for 2 minutes or until the onion is tender, stirring often.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds then add coconut milk, paste, salt, pepper and sugar.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch.
- Whisk into the sauce.
- Simmer for 15 minutes and add the chicken into the sauce.
- Stir to combine and heat for 3 minutes then serve over rice with fresh cilantro.
Jeanne Intondi
I loved the chicken teriyaki bow tie pasta salad. Fantastic. Thank you
Sweet Basil
It is one of my favorites! So glad you enjoyed it Jeanne!
Karla
I bought unsweetened coconut milk? How much sugar should I add ?
Karly
Delish! Thanks for sharing.
Sweet Basil
You will love it!!
Kate
I made this tonight, my first curry dish, and it was amazing! I realize now I forgot the sugar. But it was fine. I used three chicken breasts because it was the smallest package I could find and increased the spices to coat them for the initial grilling. I didn’t have to thicken the sauce, but I’ll keep that cornstarch trick in mind! I also added a teaspoon of chili paste for a little spice! This will be one of my go to recipes when I want to treat myself. Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Hurray! Love to hear this! Thanks for taking time to leave a comment!
Kimberly @ iwishiwasamuffin.com
Our family loves coconut curry! We like adding sweet potatoes to ours. Not necessarily authentic, but very yummy. 🙂
Sweet Basil
Oh yum! I love the sound of that!
Sandra
One more question. Do you use just the milk or the milk and the cream from the can of coconut milk?
Sweet Basil
Milk and cream
Sandra
Can you tell me how much chicken in pounds the recipe calls for? I have chicken tenders so not sure how much to use.
Sweet Basil
Hi Sandra! It’s about 1 lb of chicken, maybe a little less.
Greg Freund
Just looking so much Good we can use the same curry with Paneer or Tofu Love it with rice also combination Good
Sweet Basil
Enjoy!!
Liteblue
Just looking so much Good we can use the same curry with Paneer or Tofu Love it with rice also combination Good
Sweet Basil
Thank you!
Liteblue
Woow, Just looking so much Good we can use the same curry with Paneer or Tofu Love it with rice also combination Good. I will try at home this today Thanks.
Sweet Basil
Hope you enjoyed it!!
liteblue
Hahaa, curry has one of the best smell I love enjoying even when I was a little girl so I missed out anythin xo
Sweet Basil
Curry is so good!!
Brianna
This looks delicious, thanks for the recipe! I’m a California gal living abroad, and I can’t really make any of my usual rotation meals, so I have been experimenting with curries and can’t wait to make this. Could I omit the Garam Masala? Anything you might suggest using in it’s place? Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Unfortunately, that is a spice that it really needs.
Dee
Hi! Happy New Year!
I love cooking with curry, my favorite dishes. I’ve cooked with coconut and curry a few years back for a Hawaiian chicken and actually used grape jelly to sweeten ( just experimenting at that time), turned out to be delicious. Of course, I told no one there was grape jelly in their dinner😂.
I so look forward to trying your coconut curry chicken. Always fun to try others recipes. Thanking you in advance. Love from NY!
Sweet Basil
Hello Dee! Happy New Year to you too! We would love to hear what you think about this recipe! We sure love it!
Sreya
Really it was very easy to make Chicken curry. You did a great job everything you mentioned very clearly. Thanks for the post.
Sweet Basil
Thank you!
Liteblue
Can you substitute red curry paste for the tomato paste?
Sharon
Can you substitute red curry paste for the tomato paste?
Sweet Basil
Great question! I would say yes, but I have never tried it to be sure. If you try it, let us know how you like it! Sounds delicious!!
Healthy Kitchen 101
Hahaa, curry has one of the best smell I love enjoying even when I was a little girl so I missed out anythin xo
Anyways, I have to say that curry is one of the best-ever cuisine!!!
– Natalie
Sweet Basil
Yay!!! This is a favorite in our house!! So happy you enjoyed it!
Hotmail password
very good. Thank you for sharing!
Katie
This was the best meal I have ever made. I can’t even describe how delicious this was so I won’t even try! I will just say that I made it with easy Thai coconut rice and it was mind blowing. I will also say that I did not have corn starch so I left out the corn starch and water. The texture suffered a bit but the flavor was on point and it will be that much better next time. I will be making this recipe a lot.
Sweet Basil
Yay! You have made our day! It is so so soooo good! So happy you loved it!
Karla
I bought unsweetened coconut milk. How much sugar should I add ?
Sweet Basil
I’ve used unsweetened before and it turns out fine. If you are worried about it, add a couple of tablespoons. Enjoy!
Jacqueline
Could I use brown sugar in place of white sugar with this recipe? Thanks!
Sweet Basil
We have never tried that, but it is worth a shot! I bet it would give it a yummy caramel taste!
run 3
It’s great, thank you for sharing the cooking.
color switch
It’s great, thank you for sharing the cooking.
Sweet Basil
You’re welcome and thanks for commenting!
Beth K
Yum I absolutely love this recipe it looks amazing!
Sweet Basil
Thanks Beth!!
Sabrina
This is one of our favorite dishes when we go out….can’t wait to try your recipe at home! Looks amazing!
Sweet Basil
I love when you can make your favorite restaurant dishes at home! I think you will love this!!
Jamielyn
Looks so yummy and flavorful!
Sweet Basil
Thank you!! It does have SO much flavor!
Liz Latham
What an easy dinner! Looks great!
Sweet Basil
Thanks Liz!
Jeannette
I am definitely going to try this…even though I don’t have a grill. I have a Naan recipe too. I really like ethnic food!! THANK YOU!
Sweet Basil
You could totally grill the chicken on the stove in a pan! Oh man, we LOVE naan too! I think you’re going to love this dish!!
Kimberly
This recipe looks delicious. How do you adapt it for a crockpot?
Thanks in advance
Sweet Basil
Hi! You can make it in the crockpot by merely dumping everything in and allowing to cook on low for 4 hours.
Niki
This has become one of my favorite recipies ever! I’ve passed it on to family and friends and all have found this dish DELICIOUS!
Instead of using skewers, I undercook the chicken in a pan and then let it finish cooking in the sauce.
I also usually double the sauce cause it’s just so yummy!
Absolutely perfect, highly recommended! Thanks so so much 🙂
Sweet Basil
Isn’t that sauce so good?! We need to find more ways to use it. Thanks for the kind comment!
Wendy
It’s “garam masala”.
Marsala is a fortified wine..you might want to fix that typo 🙂
Sweet Basil
WHOA! That could have been bad! lol thank you so much Wendy! You are my life saver!
Tami
What is “sweetened” coconut milk? I can find coconut milk both regular and lite, but nothing that is “sweetened”.
Sweet Basil
Hi Tami, just use regular coconut milk if you don’t see the cans with sweetened. The light doesn’t taste the same so we wouldn’t use that.
kara susice
Flavor was great,..but the texture was off…maybe no cornstarch or I maybe simmered it too long?
Sweet Basil
Over simmering can definitely break down a sauce. 🙁 Also getting too hot too quickly could as well.
Debbie
Would this work in the crock pot?
Sweet Basil
Absolutely! We prefer to cook on low for 4-5 hours
Vicky @ HowDaily
It’s looks so incredible. A perfect curry version!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much Vicky!
Shayna
I’m new to the curry making world, this recipe was phenomenal! I was just curious why you recommend full fat coconut milk, is it just a flavor preference or something else?
Sweet Basil
Oh thank you!! The reduced fat ends up a more watery and not as flavorful. 🙂
Amy
Could this be adapted to make in the crock pot/slow cooker??
Bethany
This was amazing! I’m definitely passing this recipe on!
Sweet Basil
So glad you enjoyed it Bethany!
Amy
Could you recommend a brand of coconut milk? I have had some in the past that we did not like.
Sweet Basil
Hi Amy, we use Thai Kitchen
Yanz
Do you keep the chicken on the skewers to take it off before adding to the sauce? This looks and sounds so delicious!
Sweet Basil
We take them off and add the sauce. 🙂 Thanks for checking
Baltisraul……
Had this for Sunday supper and it was restaurant quality dish. Adjusted down the curry to make everyone happy, but not much.
Sweet Basil
Love it! Thank you so much!
Deborah @ The Harvest Kitchen
This chicken coconut curry looks incredible! Great combo of ingredients (and flavors)!