Yellow Thai Chicken Coconut Curry

Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken — Better-than-takeout yellow curry is EASY and ready in 25 minutes!! Healthy comfort food with the PERFECT amount of heat and lots of textures and flavors in every bite! Impress your friends and family and make this DELICIOUS curry at home!!

No need for takeout from your local Thai restaurant when you can make an authentic-tasting curry this good in 25 minutes at home. The curry is hearty yet healthy comfort food that’s layered with Thai-inspired flavors and is naturally gluten-free.

I could drink the coconut milk broth or prepare it as a soup – it’s so good and it keeps the chicken so juicy and moist. I used full fat coconut milk but have used lite in previous curry recipes and it may not be quite as rich, but it’s still great.

There’s natural sweetness from the sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and the coconut milk, the lime juice add the perfect acidic notes to balance the flavors.

I love all the textures and flavors in every bite from the tender carrots, wilted spinach, and of course the perfectly juicy chicken.

Recipe Ingredients

For this yellow chicken curry recipe, you’ll need:

• Boneless skinless chicken breast
• Sweet Vidalia onion
• Garlic
• Ground turmeric (essential to impart a bold yellow color)
• Ground ginger
• Coriander
• Yellow curry paste
• Coconut milk
• Shredded carrots
• Fresh spinach
• Pepper
• Cilantro
• Brown sugar
• Lime juice

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Thai Yellow Curry

Homemade Thai yellow coconut curry is so quick and easy to prepare! Here’s how the recipe is made:

1. Add the onion and oil to a large skillet and sauté until softened.
2. Add the diced chicken and cook until no longer pink inside (about 5 minutes.) 
3. Add the spices and garlic and cook until fragrant.
4. Stir in the yellow curry paste, carrots, and coconut milk and let the mixture bubble away until the liquid is reduced.
5. The remaining ingredients are then stirred in and the curry is ready to serve! 

We enjoyed this both on it’s on as well as served over jasmine rice. Basmati rice or naan would be my other serving suggestions. 

Adjusting the Spice Level of This Curry

To really deliver a punch of yellow curry flavor, I used this Mekhala Organic Yellow Curry Paste. Unlike the Thai Kitchen brand of Red Curry Paste or Green Curry Paste that I’ve used in the past for respective red and green curry recipes, the Mekhala packs way more heat per tablespoon. 

With the Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste, I use a full 4-ounce jar for my typical red curry recipes and don’t sense much heat.

However, with the Mekhala Yellow Curry Paste, half of a 3.5-ounce jar was plenty to sense a fair amount of heat. We love heat and I was pleasantly surprised the kind of punch this curry paste packed. It’s not spicy if you use a teaspoon but if you use half the jar like I did, the heat creeps up on you.

If you’re heat-sensitive or don’t like your food as spicy, start with 1 to 2 teaspoons and work up from there. You can always add more, but you can’t undo it.

Recipe Variations to Try

The great thing about Thai curries is that you can add whatever vegetables or legumes you like!

Try incorporating:

• Cauliflower
• Bell peppers
• Sweet potatoes
• Chickpeas
• Edamame
• Frozen peas
• Kale rather than spinach
• Basil rather than cilantro
• Cashews
• Or whatever you have in your produce drawer or freezer

I think of curries as a stir-fry-meets-soup, and there are no rules with what to add to either those in my book. Enjoy all the wonderful flavors and dig in.

What to Serve with Yellow Curry

Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Roasted Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad

Easy 30-Minute Mushroom Vegetable Soup

Green Powerhouse Salad with Sesame-Ginger Vinaigrette

Video Tutorial

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4.49 from 362 votes

Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken

By Averie Sunshine

Better-than-takeout yellow curry is EASY and ready in 25 minutes!! Healthy comfort food with the PERFECT amount of heat and lots of textures and flavors in every bite!

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

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Ingredients  

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• ▢ 3 tablespoons olive oil, (coconut oil may be substituted)
• ▢ 1 large yellow onion, diced small (a sweet Vidalia may also be used)
• ▢ 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons ground turmeric
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground ginger , finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• ▢ 2 to 4 tablespoons Mekhala Organic Yellow Curry Paste, or as desired
• ▢ 13.5 ounces full-fat coconut milk, (lite may be substituted)
• ▢ 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
• ▢ 2 to 3 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed (2 to 3 heaping handfuls)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice, (optional but recommended)
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
• ▢ 1 to 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed (optional and to taste)
• ▢ salt, (optional and to taste)

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Instructions 

• 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, turmeric, ginger, coriander, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir frequently.
• Add the curry paste, coconut milk, carrots, 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, pepper, and stir until the spinach has wilted.
• Taste the curry and add the optional but recommended lime juice (brightens the flavor of the dish), cilantro, optional light brown sugar (balances the heat), optional salt (I did not add any because the curry paste has salt in it), and add extra of any of the spices already used or more curry paste, if desired and to taste.

Notes

Storage: Curry will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Adapted from Thai Chicken Coconut Curry.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 705kcal, Carbohydrates: 41g, Protein: 51g, Fat: 39g, Saturated Fat: 23g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g, Cholesterol: 120mg, Sodium: 1409mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 16g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Originally posted April 27, 2020 and reposted July 21, 2021 with updated text.