Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
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Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors!! Low-cal, low-carb, and HEALTHY but tastes like comfort food!!
A few months ago I made Sweet Potato and Chickpea Coconut Curry and since then have fallen in love with all things Thai curry.
This is an easy Thai chicken curry that’s made in one skillet, ready in 20 minutes, and is naturally gluten-free. According to the computer-generated nutrition stats, there’s only 141 calories and 4 carbs per serving – no rice or naan included.
With cold weather upon us, nothing is better than diving into a bowl of this hearty yet healthy comfort food that’s layered with flavors. I could just drink the coconut milk-based sauce.
The curry is savory, salty, there’s natural sweetness from the sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and coconut milk. There’s perfect acid balance from lime juice and a very gentle heat from the Thai red curry paste.
Thai red curry paste adds a richer and smoother flavor profile than curry powder (Indian) does, but if all you have is curry powder, go for it knowing that the flavor of Thai versus Indian curry products is vastly different and your dish won’t taste like mine.
As with all curry pastes and powders, they vary in intensity and everyone’s preferences for spice and heat vary, so adjust to taste. I used 2 rounded tablespoons and I wouldn’t call it spicy at all but very flavorful. My 10-year-old wasn’t at all phased by it but we like spicy food.
If you have extra veggies you want to incorporate such as cauliflower, bell peppers, tomatoes, or edamame, add them when you add the coconut milk and carrots.

Thai Chicken Coconut Curry
Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors!! Low-cal, low-carb, and HEALTHY but tastes like comfort food!!
Ingredients:
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut oil (olive oil may be substituted)
- 1 medium/large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 2 to 3 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- one 13-ounce can coconut milk (I used lite; full-fat will deliver a richer/thicker result)
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 1 to 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, or to taste (curry powder may be substituted, to taste)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- about 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar, optional and to taste
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
- rice, quinoa, or naan, optional for serving
Directions:
- To a large skillet, add the oil, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion begins to soften about 5 minutes; stir intermittently.
- Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is done; flip and stir often to ensure even cooking.
- Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir frequently.
- Add the coconut milk, carrots, Thai curry paste, salt, pepper, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, and allow mixture to gently boil for about 5 minutes, or until liquid volume has reduced as much as desired and thickens slightly.
- Add the spinach, lime juice, and stir to combine. Cook until spinach has wilted and is tender, about 1 to 2 minutes. Taste and optionally add brown sugar, additional curry paste, salt, pepper, etc. to taste.
- Evenly sprinkle with the cilantro and serve immediately. Curry is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Adapted from Sweet Potato Chickpea Coconut Curry
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447 Comments on “Thai Chicken Coconut Curry”
Gorgeous and so easy to make
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad it was gorgeous and easy!
This was an amazing recipe! Tastes just as good as the local restaurants!
I’m glad that it tastes just as good as your local restaurant and now you can make it at home!
I’ve been trying different recipes for this dish, and so far THIS IS THE BEST ONE!
Easy to follow and wonderful aroma, texture and taste!!!!!
Glad you love it and that my recipe has turned out the best for you!
This is one of the best thai curries that I have tried. One of my family’s favourite. The spinach and the ginger and coriander adds a lovey flavour to it. Very easy to make and definitely worth 5 stars for sure. Will want to try your other recipes too.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it’s one of the best curries you’ve tried and a family favorite!
I/ve done Thai curry dishes many times but never very satisfied with the results. Saw this recipe and its high ratings and thought I’d give it a try. It was so easy, super quick and tasted so good. Deserves its 5 stars! Thank you! (Note: I modified by using the existing ingredients I had (Swiss chard instead of spinach as well as used shrimp instead of chicken (add shrimp last minute after the veggies since you want to avoid overcooking it.) I also didn’t have coriander powder and left that out).
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it it turned out great for you and you were able to make it given what you had on hand.
Absolutely wonderful! Tastes just like Cheesecake Factory’s Bang Bang chicken!! Deelish!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this turned out absolutely wonderful!
Hi! Could this be made with tofu instead of chicken?
yes
A weekly staple for my household! Obsessed with this recipe and it is super quick and easy. Thanks so much for sharing. I don’t change ANYTHING and it is perfect. I use Thai curry paste from an Asian market, that really elevates the dish but any curry paste works.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it is a weekly staple for you and that it’s perfect without any changes!
Do you think I can substitute kale for spinach? Excited to make this for dinner tomorrow!
awesome recipe- my husband and I really liked it- we had some Jasmin rice with it. just one remark- we are not huge eaters but ate it all- so in my opinion to say that this is a recipe for 6 is not quite right- unless u r getting full on Naan.We printed it out and keep it in our “favourites” folder! Thank you!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this is going in your favourites folder!
My son loves this and wants me to double the chicken. Do I then double all of the ingredients?
That’s a tricky question. If you just double the chicken, you will have a much drier/less brothy curry if you don’t make adjustments to the amount of coconut milk. Plus the extra chicken will throw off the spice ratios. You will have to play it by ear based on what your end goal is for the amount of broth/sauce, spice level, etc.
I love this recipe I make it all the time
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad you love it and make it all the time!
Delightful and easy! I only modified it this way: used thighs instead of breasts…reduced spinach to two cups and added one half cup of shiitake mushrooms. The coconut and curry blends wonderfully with the smokey, earthy flavor of the shiitakes.It’s as good as you would find in most Thai restaurants for lunch, takes no time to prepare and is inexpensive to boot.
Thanks for the five star review and glad this turned out great for you with thighs and I would love shitakes in here as well…yum!
Absolutely delicious and so easy! Me and 2 kids eating and there was not a bite left!
Thanks for the five star review and glad it was a hit with the kids too with not a bite left!
Has become one of my favorite recipes!! Make it at least once a week. Thank-you!!
Thanks for the five star review and glad it has become one of your faves and that you make it weekly!
Yummy! I made this last night with shrimp instead of chicken. I caught one kid eating it off the plate with her mouth like a puppy (I guess to get all the flavor or maybe the fork wasn’t working fast enough, Lol). My kids don’t care for spinach but they still enjoyed this dish. I may try to use broccoli instead next time or maybe chop the spinach to disguise it and add some broccoli as well. I stumbled upon this website trying to find a good coconut curry or malai recipe. All the recipes look so yummy. Can’t wait to try more.
Thanks for the five star review and glad this worked out great with shrimp and it’s a very flexible recipe and you can easily mix and match the green veggies to your liking (or your kids’ liking)!
Thank you so much for such a delicious and oh-so simple Thai curry. I’ve made this twice in the last two weeks, and my husband, who always says he doesn’t like curry, absolutely loved it…both times! The only variation I did from the recipe was omit the spinach bc I didn’t have any on hand. I will definitely be making this again! Love love!!!
Thanks for the five star review and glad this was delicious and simple and that you’ve made it twice in the last two weeks!
I had to come back and say thank you for this recipe. It was wonderful! I have always loved the smell of curry but I’ve never really liked it until now. This has a wonderful taste and the directions were easy to follow. A thousand thank yous!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this had a wonderful taste and now you like both the smell AND taste of curry!
Yooooooo!! Just made this. It’s AMAZING. 10/5 stars. This will be one of my go to’s from now on!
Thanks for the 10 star review :) and glad tis will be one of your go-to’s from now on!
This was absolutely delicious and we make a fair amount of curry. I had some left over poached chicken so shredded it and added some julienned yellow and orange peppers and snow peas in addition to carrots and spinach. Also added about a tsp of fish sauce because as smelly as it is there is just something about it in Thai food. I had more chicken than i thought so also added another half can of coconut milk and about half a cup of chicken broth just for consistency. Crushed some peanuts for the top just to gild the Lily Huge hit here : )
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was absolutely delicious and that you make a fair amount of curry! Great that you were able to use what you had on hand, too.