This 30 MINUTE Thai Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables is wonderfully coconut creamy, bursting with layers of flavor, incredibly easy and all made in one pot! Definitely a new favorite at our house and better than any restaurant!
You guys HAVE to make this Thai Red Curry Chicken Recipe! I don’t beg often, so I hope you know I never cry wolf. If you are a lover of Thai Food, you will be a LOVER of this warm, comforting, multi-dimensional Thai Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables! Its a one pot wonder worthy of any weeknight or weekend and you should be able to find all the ingredients at your local grocery store!
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines with its depth of layered flavors that create a savory symphony in every bite. I’ve created several of my restaurant favorites into takeout fakeout versions from Chicken Pad Thai, Panang Curry, Yellow Curry, Tom Kha Gai. and now this INSANELY delicious Thai Red Curry Chicken Recipe!!! (update, this Red Curry Chicken Recipe made my Most Popular Recipes of 2017! AKA it’s a winner!)
As I was looking at my other “Thai” or “curry”recipes, many of them boast how quickly they come together in the title, “30 Minute Pantry Friendly Panang Curry,” “30 Minute Pineapple Red Curry Chicken Stir Fry,” “20 Minute Thai Red Curry Beef Tacos” – so apparently Thai food is quick and easy? YES IT IS!!! Thanks to to the magical store bought Thai red curry paste that packs a huge flavor punch. The premade red curry paste is comprised of finely ground coriander, peppercorns, Kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, cilantro, shallot, garlic, and fresh chiles – all combined for you. No wonder it adds tons of flavor with minimal effort.
The key to bringing the red curry paste alive and for its flavors to permeate the entire dish, is to saute it with plenty of onion, garlic and ginger. We also stir fry our chicken, bell peppers and zucchini directly in the simmering red curry paste to infuse it with the dynamic flavors all before we add the coconut milk. Feel free to change up the vegetables to whatever suits your mood or make Thai Red Curry Chicken – cleaning-out-the-fridge-style with whatever you need to use up. It will be the best use of miscellaneous veggies Ever.
To further the complexity of flavors, we also add Thai sweet chili sauce, and the classic cast of Thai food characters: soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, dried basil and a bay leaf. Its a somewhat long list of ingredients, but most of them you are just dumping into the sauce. You might notice we are not using Kaffir lime leaves which are responsible for the distinctive earthy lime-lemon flavor in many traditional Thai Red Curry recipes, but this exotic ingredient can be very difficult to find, and I want you to be able to make this Thai Red Curry Chicken recipe AT ALL TIMES. While there is no direct substitute for Kaffir lime leaves, it doesn’t mean other ingredients can’t be used to produce otherworldly flavors. This Thai Red Curry Chicken achieves a wonderfully fresh citrus zing by playing up the fresh lime juice, bright lime zest and simmering the sauce with a bay leaf. Done.
Finally, my authentically blasphemous key to gorgeously, thick, silky red curry coconut sauce is to whisk our quality coconut milk (I like Chakoah) with a little cornstarch. The end result is a rich, luscious red curry coconut sauce that is soooo creamy, so infused with flavor all cradling your tender chicken and crisp-tender vegetables. All in 30 minutes. And your house will smell incredible. This Thai Red Curry Chicken might be as good as it gets.
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©Carlsbad Cravings by CarlsbadCravings.com
| Prep Time | 18 minutes |
| Cook Time | 12 minutes |
| Servings | -6 servings |
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
- 1 pound chicken breasts sliced into 1/4” slices then 2” pieces**
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced then chopped into 2” pieces
- 1 orange bell pepper thinly sliced then chopped into 2” pieces
- 1 small zucchini, sliced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 13.5 oz. can quality coconut milk (I like Chaokoh)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon Asian/Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (like Mae Ploy)
- 2 tablespoons less sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- sriracha to taste (optional)
- lime zest to taste
- fresh basil
- fresh cilantro
- fresh lime juice
Ingredients
Garnish
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- Heat oil over medium high heat in large nonstick skillet. Add chicken, onion and red curry paste and cook just until chicken is no longer pink. Add bell peppers, zucchini, ginger and garlic and saute 1 minute.
- Add half of the coconut milk. Mix remaining coconut milk with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and add to skillet along with all remaining ingredients (expect Garnishes).
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the vegetables reach desired crisp-tenderness. If you would like a thinner sauce, thin with water (I don’t do this). Discard bay leaf.
- Garnish with additional optional fresh basil, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice and Sriracha to taste. Serve with rice.
**Chicken is much easier to slice if partially frozen. It will thaw quickly once sliced. You can slice your chicken and red bell peppers in advance for even quicker meal prep.
©Carlsbad Cravings Original
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Janet Taylor says
This was absolutely delicious! Easy to make and so full of flavor! My husband and son devoured it (as did I). My husband couldn’t say enough times that this was the best curry dish that I have ever made. And I agree. Thank you for this recipe!
Jen says
YAY! Thank you for the ultimate complement of being the “best curry” – that made my day! I’m thrilled it was such a hit! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!
Leanne says
This was the best red curry I have ever eaten and made! Best recipe ever! Thankyou so much!
Jen says
Wahoo! Thank you for the ultimate compliment Leanne! I am thrilled you loved it so much!
Shannon says
This was delicious! To save time chopping garlic and ginger, I just put all of the ingredients for the sauce, including curry paste into the blender, poured on top of cooked chicken and veggies. I added a few tablespoons of peanut butter to the sauce. Topped with honey roasted peanuts and served with coconut rice. So freaking good! Will be adding this to our regular rotation!
Jen says
Hi Shannon, I love your trick of blending the ingredients together and I’m sure the addition of peanut butter was outstanding – yum! I’m so happy this was a hit and a new regular!
Monica says
Hello Jen,
I made this dish last night and both my husband and I loved it!
It was so delicious and it tasted like what I order at the restaurant!
Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Jen says
Hi Jen, I am so happy hear both you and your husband loved it! Thanks for taking your time to comment and I hope you find more winners 🙂
janie says
Made this tonight. It was delicious! Even my picky 11 year old and 9 year old eat seconds. Thank you, looking forward to trying more of your recipes. Any suggestion on how to make it spicier?
Jen says
I’m so happy the whole fam loved it! To make it spicier you can either add chili sauce to taste at the end (like Sambal Oelek) or more red curry paste to start. Hope that helps and that you enjoy exploring my site!
Brentski says
Outstanding!!! The fish sauce and Thai sweet chili sauce really make it work. We used chicken thighs instead and substituted pineapple for the zucchini and it is a hit!!
Jen says
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, I’m thrilled you loved it so much! and I am DROOLING over the addition of pineapple and I’m sure the chicken thighs were outstanding! mmmm!
Kylie Bouvier says
Absolutely delicious recipe, was craving a yummy curry, will be making this again. Thank you.!
Jen says
Hi Kylie, I am glad I was able to help with the curry craving. Thank so much!
Cedie says
I made this dish a second time and it was still good! My apartment smells of curry! Thank you for providing this recipe. I forwarded to a friend and recommended it.
Jen says
Hi Cedie, I’m so happy you are loving this recipe! Thank you for taking the time to comment and for your recommendation!
Shepard says
I made this curry tonight and it was amazing! The taste is just spot on. I been looking for red curry recipe for a while, well I found it . This is a definite keeper. Iwas perfect for these cold nights we’ve been having. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe with us.
Jen says
YAY! I’m so happy you finally found a keeper Red Curry Recipe! Thank you for trying my recipes and taking the time to comment!
Sarah says
I made this tonight and it was hands down the best dinner I have made in forever. My husband said “OMG I could eat this every night!”. Delicious!! Definitely will be in our regular dinner rotation. I think it would be a great dinner to serve when we have guests too because I know it’s a winner! Thank you!!
Jen says
Whoa, that is the ultimate compliment, thank you Sarah for making my day!
Elisabeth says
I love how friendly this recipe is, with similar measurements of 2 tbs! So much easier to make when I don’t have to worry about 5 different measuring spoons and what size to what! I found it very pantry friendly yet also delicious. My roommate came out of his room wondering what smelled so good. It’s made it into my meal rotation and I’m looking forward to trying even more recipes!
Jen says
Thank you so much Elisabeth, it is always nice when you don’t have to fiddle with a bunch of measuring spoons 🙂 I’m so happy its made it into your rotation! I hope you have fun exploring the rest of my site!
Karie says
Can you make this with light coconut milk, or does it need to be full fat?
Jen says
Hi Karie, you can definitely make it with light coconut milk, full fat will just be creamier.
Kirsty says
Hi Jen,
This is an awesome recipe. I’m doing a dinner party and need to make it serve 10 people. Can I just double everything to get the same result? Thanks in advance!
Jen says
You are so welcome Kristy! Yes, you can just double everything – enjoy!
Julia says
Do you use light coconut milk in this recipe?
Jen says
I use regular coconut milk but light would also work-it just won’t be quite as creamy. You can add a little more cornstarch to help thicken it up. Enjoy!
Stephanie Burris says
Easy to make Whole 30 and utterly delicious. Love the idea of cleaning out the refrigerator! Thank you!
Jen says
You’re so welcome! I’m so happy you loved it!
Charlene Blengino says
This was AMAZING! My whole family loved it. And that’s rare. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us 🙂
Jen says
Yay! You are so welcome Charlene! Thanks for your awesome comment and making my day!