Easy Red Curry Chicken

Thai Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables is packed with delicious fresh ingredients and the most amazing coconut curry sauce. This easy recipe comes together quickly, making it ideal for all those evenings you’re craving takeout.

Curry lovers, also try my Vegan Pumpkin Curry, Chicken Massaman Curry, 30-Minute Thai Green Curry with Avocado, and Red Curry Salmon and Vegetables. 

Welcome to my go to red curry recipe that I make whenever the craving strikes.

Creamy coconut milk with fresh aromatics, tender chicken and fresh vegetables come together in this wonderful recipe with an amazing flavor profile that rivals Thai curries in Thai restaurants.

Because this Thai red curry chicken recipe is so quick and easy, tossing it together requires less time than ordering and picking up takeout!

Curry in a hurry!

While authentic Thai curry involves creating your own curry spice blend or homemade curry paste, my trick to keeping this meal straightforward and low-fuss is to use store-bought curry paste.

I do this with red curry, green curry, yellow curry, and Panang curry because there are some amazing authentic tasting curry pastes out there and they simply make life so much easier and more flavorful.

Let’s discuss the simple ingredients needed to make red Thai curry.

Ingredients for Thai Red Curry Chicken:

Coconut Curry Sauce: The easy curry sauce is a combination of full-fat canned coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, garlic, fresh ginger, and fish sauce. You can even skip the garlic and ginger since the red curry paste already has them if you’d like.

Chicken & Veggies: For the solids, we use one large chicken breast (increase this to two if you want a lot of protein), zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper, and eggplant. I often use a combination of onion, carrots, broccoli and zucchini as well.

While classic Thai red curry typically includes bamboo shoots, and a few vegetables, I load it up with all sorts of veggies for an infusion of fiber, Vitamins, and antioxidants. 

Use this as your base recipe for all your homemade Thai curries. Here are some great options using different ingredients to change it up for different results every time.

Optional Recipe Adaptations:

• Add in bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, cherry tomatoes, butternut squash, green beans, or sweet potato if you like them.
• Incorporate fresh Thai basil or a little brown sugar or palm sugar for some sweetness.
• For added spice, add a red chili pepper or two.
• Replace the chicken breasts with chicken thighs if you prefer.
• If you can find kaffir lime leaves at your local grocery store, be sure to add some in!
• Use green curry paste or yellow curry paste instead of red curry paste to change the type of curry.
• Lemongrass paste is an amazing addition to Thai red chicken curry! If you have some on hand, add 1 to 3 tablespoons, to your personal taste.
• If you don’t keep fish sauce on hand, you can replace it with some soy sauce to keep the umami flavor.
• Use homemade Thai red curry paste instead of store-bought.
• Serve with your choice of vegetable based rice (such as broccoli rice, cauliflower rice, or sweet potato rice). If you do regular rice, choose your favorite and steam it up!

• Substitute beef, pork, or shrimp for the chicken.
• Add another can of full fat coconut milk for more sauce.
• If you prefer a more watery consistency for the creamy red curry sauce, add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of chicken stock.

Why This Recipe Works:

This Thai red curry recipe comes together in a flash and contains all the comforts of an authentic Thai meal. 

Even if you’ve never made curry or are inexperienced with Thai cooking, this is such a simple approach that it’s nearly impossible to mess up. 

From start-to-finish, this is a 45 minute max meal, but will take even less time to prepare if you’re savvy at chopping vegetables. 

As the photos in this post suggest, you can keep it grain-free by enjoying the curry with cauliflower rice, or you can enjoy it with your choice of steamed white rice, jasmine rice, brown rice, or fried rice.

Fried rice lovers, try my Red Curry Fried Rice, Pineapple Fried Rice, or Vegetable Fried Rice. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s make some curry!

How to Make Thai Red Curry Chicken:

Heat ¼ cup of the canned coconut milk over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok. Note: we’re using coconut milk instead of oil to begin the cooking process. Fun, right?

Add the bell pepper and eggplant to the skillet. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.

Stir in the remaining coconut milk, the garlic, ginger, red curry paste and bring to a full boil.

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the yellow squash, zucchini, sliced chicken, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, and sea salt.

Cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables have reached desired doneness. 

Serve with cauliflower rice or steamed white rice or brown rice with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and fresh chopped cilantro. 

Store any leftover curry in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Meal Prep Option:

For my friends who love making big batches of food to enjoy throughout the week, any of the curry recipes on my site, including this one, are fabulous for doubling or tripling for meal prep.

This recipe comes together very quickly, so no prep ahead work is needed. 

The meal saves well, so it can be prepared up to 4 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator inside of a sealed container.

I will say, curry always tastes better the next day (or next two or three days), so if you have the patience, you can make this whole meal a day or two in advance and refrigerate it to allow it to soak up more flavor.

And that’s it!

Everything you need to know about making this easy Thai curry recipe in a hurry!

Enjoy it any night of the week for a comforting meal that is rich in authentic flavor to please your taste buds.

Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables

Vegetable loaded Red Chicken Curry is so quick and easy to make and oh so satisfying to eat!

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Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

4 Servings

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 14-ounce can full-fat coconut milk
• ▢ 1 red bell pepper, cut into match sticks
• ▢ 1 small Japanese eggplant, peeled and chopped
• ▢ 3 tablespoons red curry paste
• ▢ 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ▢ 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• ▢ 1 small zucchini squash, chopped
• ▢ 1 small yellow squash, chopped
• ▢ 1 large chicken breast, sliced into strips
• ▢ 2 tsp fish sauce
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, to taste

Instructions

• Heat ¼ cup of the canned coconut milk over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok. Add the bell pepper and eggplant. Cover and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  
• Add the remaining coconut milk, the garlic, ginger, red curry paste and bring to a full boil.
  
• Reduce the heat to medium, and add the yellow squash, zucchini, sliced chicken, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, and sea salt. Cover and cook 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables have reached desired doneness.
  
• Serve with cauliflower rice, sesame seeds, and fresh chopped cilantro.
  

Notes

Add 1/2 yellow onion and/or 3 cloves garlic if desired

Use green curry paste or yellow curry paste instead of Thai red curry paste if you want to change up the type of curry.

Incorporate your favorite vegetables, such as carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.

Substitute beef, pork, or shrimp for chicken, or use chicken thighs instead of breasts.

Nutrition

Serving: 1of 2 – Calories: 639kcal – Carbohydrates: 18g – Protein: 43g – Fat: 40g – Fiber: 4g – Sugar: 13g

Course: Lifestyle

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: paleo, red curry chicken, Thai curry recipe, Thai red curry with chicken, whole30

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 639kcal

Author: Julia

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