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Get It NowHave you been missing your favorite Indian takeout meal? Then this easy chicken curry recipe is for you! It’s surprisingly simple to make at home. Chicken coconut curry is rich and warming, with a little spice and a whole lot of coconut cream curry flavor, just like my coconut curry soup. Serve it over rice for a classic taste, but it would also be fantastic over cauliflower rice.
Why This Is My Best Chicken Curry Recipe
- Creamy coconut sauce with spicy curry flavor
- Juicy, tender chicken
- Natural, common ingredients found in any grocery store
- Made in one pan or pot, for easy cleanup
- Done in 30 minutes
- Naturally gluten-free and healthy
Chicken Curry Ingredients
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for this Indian chicken curry recipe, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Olive Oil – Used for sauteing. Any heat-safe cooking oil, such as avocado oil, also works.
- Onion – Traditional chicken curry recipes typically use red onions, but I used a white onion. Feel free to use red or yellow if that’s what you have on hand.
- Chicken – I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, but boneless skinless chicken thighs also work if you prefer dark meat. Cut into bite-sized pieces. If you only have bone-in chicken, you can cook it whole without cutting into pieces, but it will take longer to cook through.
- Canned Diced Tomatoes – To prevent the curry coconut chicken from getting too watery, be sure to drain the diced tomatoes before adding them to the coconut chicken curry.
- Coconut Milk – You won’t need the entire can of coconut milk, just the cream part. Place the can in the fridge overnight — this will separate the coconut cream from the coconut water and you’ll be able to skim the cream from the top. Alternatively, you can just buy canned coconut cream, or Greek yogurt should also work.
- Chicken Broth – I use reduced-sodium store-bought or my homemade chicken broth. You could also use chicken bone broth as well.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic adds the best flavor, but you could use jarred minced garlic for convenience. If you don’t have any of either, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Curry Powder – This spice blend of turmeric, chili powder, coriander, cayenne pepper, and other spices is a must for this dish! If yours doesn’t have cumin in it, add 1 teaspoon of cumin to the recipe.
- Other Spices – Ground ginger, paprika, and sea salt.
Some curry chicken recipes add sugar as well, but I don’t find this necessary. The tomatoes and coconut milk add a little natural sweetness on their own.
How To Make Curry Chicken
This section shows how to make chicken curry with coconut milk, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Saute the onion. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent and browned.
- Sear the chicken. Push onion to the side. Increase to medium-high heat. Add another tablespoon oil and add chicken in a single layer. Saute the chicken only to brown the outside.
- Make the chicken curry sauce. Add diced tomatoes, coconut cream (skimmed from the top of canned coconut milk), chicken broth, garlic, curry powder, ground ginger, paprika, and sea salt. Stir everything together.
TIP: Only use the cream portion of your canned coconut milk.
This is the important secret trick! If you want your curry to taste like it came from an Indian restaurant (which you do!), only use the cream. Most cans of coconut cream will have directions to shake the can before using. DON’T do this. Simply open the can and scoop out the thick cream portion. Thanks to my friend, Emily from My Everyday Table, for this tip!
- Simmer. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, sauce is thick, and flavors develop to your liking. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Allow coconut curry chicken to cool completely. Store leftovers in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. (Curry will stain some plastic storage containers — beware!)
- Meal prep: Chicken coconut curry is similar to soups and chilis where it gets even better after a day in the fridge. Simply make the full recipe ahead of time and store.
- Reheat: Warm on the stove or in microwave until hot. If it’s too thick, you can thin it out with a bit of water or broth, or even a bit more coconut cream.
- Freeze: Chicken curry recipes freeze quite well. Once it has cooled, store it in an airtight container in the freezer. Or, to save space, store in a freezer bag and lay it flat so that it freezes flat. Once it’s solid, you can stand it up.
What To Serve With Chicken Curry Recipes
This is important… because you don’t want to lose any of the flavorful curry sauce! Here’s what I like to pair with this dish:
- Rice – Serve chicken curry over a bowl of basmati rice, or for lighter options, try cauliflower rice (shown in the photos above) or shirataki rice.
- Naan – Classic Indian curry dishes include a side of naan.
- Vegetables – A side of roasted cauliflower, sauteed broccoli, or garlic roasted bok choy pair well with Indian cuisines. You can also add Indian spices, such as curry powder, to roast potatoes.
More Indian Chicken Recipes
If you like dishes with a little kick, try these other spicy Indian-inspired favorites:
Tools To Make Chicken Coconut Curry
- Large Saute Pan – To make the best chicken curry recipe, be sure to use a nonstick saute pan. This will prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan while it cooks.
Chicken Curry Recipe (30 Minutes!)
This easy chicken curry recipe makes the best chicken coconut curry, with simple ingredients like chicken, coconut milk, tomatoes and spices.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for about 7 to 10 minutes, until translucent and browned.
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Push the onion to the side. Increase heat to medium high. Add another tablespoon oil and the chicken in a single layer. Saute the chicken for just 1 to 2 minutes per side, only to brown the outside.
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Add the diced tomatoes, coconut cream, chicken broth, garlic, curry powder, ground ginger, paprika, and sea salt. Stir everything together. Adjust salt to taste.
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Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through, sauce is thick, and flavors develop to your liking.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers, or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 3/4 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
219 Comments
Sandi
0This was an awesome recipe, the whole family loved it.
Sagren
0Can you substitute chicken broth with chicken stock instead..?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sagren, Yes, you can use chicken stock.
Laila
0This is a solid curry recipe! I added more of all of the spices and some garam masala (just a personal preference. I like my curry spicier). Thank you!
Dawn Tracey Lewis
0Absolutely lush. Did add extra onions and a red and a green pepper. Forgot to drain the tomatoes, but it was amazing.
lisa belen
0I love this recipe, make it with cauliflower verses chicken, a great vegetarian dish!
Will be one of my favorite meals when unsure of what to cook!
Carlos Calvi
0This is by far the best recipe. Since I hate veggies. I cook the onions and garlic then add them and everything else to a blender and have the perfect creamy sauce to add back to the chicken. Try it. Trust me
Catherine
0I made this recipe tonight and it tasted absolutely amazing. Thank you for a tasty dinner.
Em
0Low-carb, easy, and flavorful! We loved this recipe. Needs a bit more salt than recommended. I prefer a lot of sauce, so I almost doubled up on everything besides the chicken. I topped mine with fresh green onion, sliced chilies, and cilantro. I will definitely make this again!
Bebe
0Does this dish freeze well? Should I do anything different in preparation for freezing? Thanks!
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Bebe, You can find the freezing instruction in the post.
lisa belen
0Can I substitute cauliflower for chicken? What it vegetarian cauliflower curry.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lisa, Yes you could use cauliflower.
Steve
0Very very tasty. This is perfect either on a keto diet or not. So easy to make and tastes great.
Lynne
0You would have a more pleasant website experience for people to enjoy if it were not so “busy “ . Everything is messy with too many ads, and too many hyperlinks. Most of the time if my search engine suggests this site, I will scroll on by because it causes me anxiety to look thru here. Its too bad because you have wonderful ideas and recipes. It is like when the page opens, everything just hits me in the face at once. Too much and overwhelming
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lynne, Thanks for your feedback. Ads keep the Wholesome Yum website running and allow me to develop recipes that readers like you can access absolutely free. However, you may be interested in Wholesome Yum Plus, which includes an ad-free version of the website, along with other perks.
Dawn
0Hi, Lynne,
The business is ads to pay for all the money spent on web hosting and, undoubtedly, her testing and retesting the recipes to perfection. She has a paid option without ads that are a lot busier. The most stressful thing for many of us disabled folks is not being able to see any recipe at all. So, I am so grateful for all the ads and the free recipe! Thank you, WholesomeYum, my FAVORITE recipe site! Welcome, hope to see you make some things, Lynne!
Emmy
0I have often made coconut curry chicken but this was so much more rich and creamy than ever. It was truly delectable and super easy and fast. I used 4 fresh tomatoes rather than a can because that’s what I had. Thank you!
Gary Paine
0Can you combine the chicken with the cauliflower rice and freeze them together?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Gary, Yes, you can do that.
Andrea
0Can I substitute Thai curry paste for curry powder?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Andrea, I think that should work for you, let me know how it turn out.
Leanne Curtis
0Delicious!!! The entire family loved this! ♥️♥️♥️
Mike
0I didn’t drain the tomatoes so I just cooked it down till it was the right consistency.
Suzana
0Lovely!
Enjoyed by the whole family. Not particularly spicy but you could spice it up to your own requirements
Anne
0How do I print this recipe? It looks great
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Anne, The print button is to the right of the word “ingredients” at the top of the ingredients list.
Rose
0Made this morning in my Instant Pot using the sauté function and glass lid. Easy way to cook the curry and the keep warm function allows the flavours to develop until it’s time to eat later in the day. I used coconut oil in place of olive oil, a full 250 ml carton of coconut cream, 1 knorr chicken stock pot, added 1 tspn garam masala, 1 tspn ground cumin 1 tspn garlic granules as well as the fresh garlic, a few curry leaves and a couple of dried birds eye chillies to add extra depth of flavour. I used Costco curry powder Madras mild and the garlic granules and ground cumin were also from Costco. As others have mentioned, there’s quite a lot of sauce…I added 1/2 tspn coconut flour as a thickener. That was plenty I found and stuck with the coconut theme. Delicious, easy keto meal…smells amazing too.
DENISE KELSEY
0So you didn’t actually make THIS recipe, then.
LizzieD
0Tried this last night and absolutely delicious!
I was a little short on chicken so added some chunky slices of mushroom to pad out and worked a treat, albeit still a bit too much sauce. Bonus is that I saved the sauce and will be frying up some chicken/onion and aubergine (love that in curries) tonight to use up. Coconut rice works a treat with this, as suggested. My husband absolutely loved it too!
I’m embracing keto and have lost over a stone in a month and this is now going to be a weekly staple/treat.
Thank you!
jill
0Thank you for this recipe. It was delicious. I used chicken thighs and used coconut oil instead of olive oil. I put the tinned tomatoes through the blender, because my hubby doesn’t like the pips. Also I added two small chopped chilies, two curry tree leaves and some chopped cabbage, mushroom and kale. I made cauliflower rice as an accompaniment.
Christina
0My 14 yr old loves to cook and wanted to try curry chicken. My husband and I eat low carb so we used your recipe and it was delish! So easy with a super depth of flavor. This will definitely go on our menu rotation.
Glad
0Oops! I was supposed to drain the diced tomatoes! Darn 🙁
Melanie Smith
0Absolutely love this dish..
Glad
0I experienced too much sauce & not enough coconut or ginger flavouring 🙁
Anita
0I made this last night and it was fabulous! I did add some chopped red, green and yellow peppers during the simmer (& reduced the sauce a bit), and a small handful of frozen peas at the end. I also upped the stock to 1/2 cup, and didn’t drain the delicious juice from the canned tomatoes. While it was simmering, I made a couple of Indian-spiced chaffles to serve with it. For those (2 large ones), 2 eggs, 2 T. almond flour, 1.5 t. of baking powder, 1/3 C. of shredded mozzarella, curry powder and about 1/4 cup of very toasted (blackened), diced onion. The chaffles tasted like curry naan! (Not a fan of cauliflower rice.) Big-time keeper!
Prissy
0Oh my gosh this was so good & really easy! My son walked in and said it smells so good in here! Next time I’ll add some extra heat but still such a great dish! Thank you for sharing!
Theresa
0I made this recipe expecting it to taste heavy and coconut “creamy” … but it was a taste and flavour sensation. I followed the recipe and added half a chopped green pepper fried with the onions. What I will do differently next time is to add a touch more heat but it’s winner! Going to pair with cauliflower rice. Being new to keto it was a wonderful surprise! Thank you.
Jason Schick
0Thank you so much, for the detailed recipe. It turned amazing my neighbor rang my bell and told me he had to know what was smelling so good lol. Gave him a link to here. Thanks, I will have fun customizing this recipe.
Alexia
0I just read all the instructions about only using the cream in the coconut milk tin! My bad lol
Alexia
0Can you milk coconut milk with heavy cream,
or does it have to be coconut cream
Rosalie
0Hello good recipe can u make this without coconut
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Rosalie, You can sub heavy cream for the coconut cream, just keep in mind it will alter the overall flavor without the coconut.
Lexington
0One thing I love about Wholesome Yum is how Maya makes good on her core promise: natural gluten-free low carb recipes 10 ingredients or less. Don’t let the few ingredients in this recipe fool you. Follow Maya’s lead and you get a tasty chicken curry that is *to die for*. I’ve loved so many of her recipes on Wholesome Yum I bought her cookbook.
You have to try this! It’s so freakin’ good! Hey Maya! Guess what? Here’s another one going into my rotation! Love it!
Joann
0I did use To tel tomatoes to give an extra kick and it was very good!
Trista
0This is my favorite curry dish. It is so good.
kelle
0Easy and delicious! The boyfriend who loves curry but doesn’t do Keto loved it as well. There were no leftovers.
Alex
0Super delicious and also really easy to make! The only change (outside of substituting the meat products for their vegetarian counterparts) is that I used 1/2 cup of pasta sauce, reduced to the consistency of tomato paste. I also cannot stress the importance of only using the coconut cream part.
Carol
0Delicious, easy and just like she says, it’s better the next day. 🙂
Karen Wilson
0This was absolutely delicious- rich and warming with just the right amount of spice.
Maria
0Keto or not, this curry recipe looks really tasty! The tip about using the coconut cream part only is true indeed. I’m sure to give this a try.
Dannii
0I love anything with coconut and this chicken curry looks so creamy and delicious.
Shanna
0This is so delicious!! It is now one of my family’s favorite meals.
Beth
0I’m so excited to give this a try! My family and I are going to love this! So excited! Looks amazing and so tasty!
Jess
0Only 30 minutes for a delicious flavorful meal?! Yes, please!
Karrie Twombley
0It was so delicious and easy to make. I can’t wait to make it again! My daughter and sister even loved it. My husband hasn’t tried it but he is a picky eater so it probably won’t happen.
Jacinta Fallon
0Fabulous. Currently cooking it again for tomorrows dinner as flavour really evolves. And brownie points for me as hubby loves it too. Thank you for simple yet delicious recipe. J
Jay
0I haven’t tried it as yet but is there something I can substitute for the chicken broth? Like maybe just water?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Jay, You can use just water, but it may be a little lacking in flavor. The bone broth provides both flavor and nutrition, so it’s worth adding in my opinion.
Pauline
0So pleased with how this turned out .Had it yesterday for dinner. I’ve only been on Keto for a week and this was easily the best meal I had all week. Loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Kirsty Robertson
0Hi! I want to try and make this. I am from the UK and unsure on some of the measurements. For example, if I set it to 4 servings it says to use 0.6714.5 oz on tomatoes, and I have no idea what that converts too! Any help would be great thank you
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Kirsty, Sorry for the confusion. This recipe calls for 1 14.5 oz can of tomatoes. When you scale the recipe down, it asks for a partial can of tomatoes. .67 of a can is just over half a can of tomatoes. I hope this helps!
Jade
0This recipe was delicious , and so easy to make. It tasted amazing over cauliflower rice. I will definitely be cooking this again 🙂