Simple shouldn’t mean bland – and this Chicken Curry recipe knocks it out of the park! A mild, creamy coconut curry sauce made with just 5 ingredients (from scratch!), it tastes so good for something so quick, you will be amazed.
If you want to go all out, serve this with Soft No-Yeast Flatbreads to slop up the sauce (it’s basically naan, but much easier to make!)
Chicken Curry
Curries are notorious for lengthy ingredient lists to achieve the richly spiced sauces and punchy flavours. And while we’d all love to be able to whip up a from-scratch Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken whenever the craving hits us, it’s simply not viable.
So today, I’m sharing the best SIMPLE chicken curry that I know. This recipe is a Western style curry – it’s not a traditional Indian curry, Thai curry, nor any other cuisine. And here’s why you’re going to love it as much as I do:
(Very) short list of ingredients
Curry powder is the only spice you need
Creamy curry sauce with mild coconut flavour
30 minute recipe – from scratch!
This chicken curry is the perfect way to get your curry fix without being in the kitchen all day!
What you need for Everyday Chicken Curry
Here’s what goes in this Everyday Chicken Curry.
Curry powder – the only spice you need! Any brand is fine here.
Garlic, ginger and onion – fresh aromatics add a flavour boost that makes all the difference with quick curries! It’s the same when making quick Thai Green Curry or Red Curry using store bought paste.
Chicken broth/stock AND coconut milk – for creaminess and flavour. We’re just using 1 cup of coconut milk here – this isn’t intended to be an overly rich, heavy coconut sauce.
Chicken – thighs are best because this curry needs to be simmered for 12 minutes for the flavours to develop. But yes, it can be made with breast – but the steps need tweaking otherwise you’ll complain that the chicken is dry!!
Peas – optional! Try other diced veg!
Coriander/cilantro – lovely freshness and flavour boost. Coriander haters – use chives or green onions instead.
Don’t let the short list of ingredients fool you. The curry sauce tastes SO GOOD!
Curry Powders
These are the curry powders I currently have in my pantry – but I’ve used plenty of other brands in the past. Curry powder is used in all sorts of recipes, not just Indian curries, including:
Satay Chicken Curry – basically it’s chicken satay skewers in curry form, with loads of peanut sauce!
Chickpea Potato Curry – very popular with readers!
How to make it
There’s nothing groundbreaking about how this chicken curry is made. The one key step is to fry off the curry powder. This brightens up the flavour of the spices + creates more golden bits on the base of the pan, and both of these things add more flavour into the curry sauce!
So don’t skip this step. 🙂
Make it your own!
This recipe is all about the curry sauce, so it’s really versatile in terms of what you can put in it, as well as extra add ins. Here are some options:
Other proteins or vegetarian – make this with beef, lamb, pork, turkey, shrimp/prawns, fish or vegetarian. See directions in the recipe notes;
Make it SPICY! This is not a spicy curry. So to add heat, either use HOT curry powder, or add cayenne pepper or ground chilli powder;
Make it richer – use coconut cream instead of milk. Or use more coconut milk and simmer to reduce for longer; and
Add tomato paste to thicken the sauce a touch and make the sauce a darker colour. Use about 1.5 tbsp.
Try this curry with a side of Green Bean Salad, my friend JP’s famous Iceberg Lettuce salad, or this no-mayo Cabbage Salad.
Serve it over rice, or even mashed potato or noodles. Basically anything that can be doused with that coconut curry sauce! ~ Nagi x
More cosy Chicken recipes
Slow Cooked Chicken Stew and a faster Chicken Stew (Casserole) – on the table in under an hour!
The Curry collection
Thai Red Curry or Green Curry – quick 30 minutes, or from scratch
Massaman Curry and Beef Rendang – two of the most iconic curries in the world
Biryani – the BEST chicken and rice in the world
Dal – Indian lentil curry
Goan Fish Curry – an authentic, spicy fish curry with coconut from the south of India
Indian Coconut Curry sauce – A stronger, more heavily spiced coconut curry sauce than this recipe
View all Curry recipes
Watch how to make it
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Easy Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp oil (vegetable, canola)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp ginger , grated
- 1/2 onion , finely chopped
- 500g / 1lb chicken thighs, sliced (Note 1)
- 2.5 tbsp curry powder (Note 2)
- 270 ml / 1.25 cups coconut milk , full fat (9 oz) (Note 3)
- 1.5 cups (375 ml) chicken stock low sodium
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup frozen peas
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro leaves , chopped
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Cook garlic, ginger and onion for 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add chicken and cook until it it changes from pink to white.
- Add curry powder and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add coconut milk and chicken stock. Stir, lower heat to medium and cook, simmering rapidly, for 10 minutes until sauce reduces and thickens.
- Add peas and salt. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then taste to see if it needs more salt. Garnish with coriander.
- Serve over rice, noodles or mashed potato!
Recipe Notes:
- Chicken breast – sprinkle with 2 tsp extra curry powder plus pinch of salt and pepper. Sear first in a bit of oil then remove (no need to cook through). Follow recipe – fry off curry with just the onion. Add breast back in towards end of sauce simmering, just to finish cooking.
- Shrimp/prawns or fish pieces – as above with breast.
- Other proteins (beef, turkey, lamb, pork) – use a quick cooking cut that’s tender and juicy, slice or dice. Follow chicken breast steps.
- Vegetables – add into sauce based on cooking time.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
I forgot to share this when I published Gozleme! (Turkish stuffed flatbreads) I took them down to Jeff, a local who lives down at the dog park and he gave them a big thumbs up.
And there’s Dozer. Being shameless!!!
So yum! Everyone loved it. Although mine was really runny so not sure what I did wrong. Still amazing though!
I followed the recipe precisely, with the the only difference I used chicken breastfeeding instead of thighs. I think that 2 cups Chicken stock & the Coconut milk may be too much as the sauce did not thicken. I will now have to use some cornstarch to help.
If you add a tablespoon of flour it makes it thicker !
I’m not sure what happened there Cass! N x
Easy to make and very tasty! We ended up adding shredded coconut and raisins (sultanas) to the top and it was WOW!
Beautiful curry. I double everything and added 2 large potatoes (pre cooked) in with the peas. Thanks Nagi!
I am glad that you enjoyed it Bec! N x
I cooked this and it was amazing I added a bit of paprika and turmeric and then potatoes xx and a squeeze of lime and omg amazing xx thankyou 😘
My Husband has just told me this is the best curry he has ever had!!!
Delicious and really quick to make.
Thank you for that recipe Nagi.
I made it for dinner tonight. Not only was it super easy but also very quick and so delicious😋
The only thing I added, and only because I had to use it up before it went bad, was a bit of baby spinach which went very well with the Chicken Curry
I made the chicken curry, the chick pea and potato curry, and the coconut rice as directed… and my family devoured it! They all raved about how good it was. Thank you for posting delicious simple to make fail proof recipes!!!
Hi Nagi,
Can you velvet the chicken for this recipe?
I made this but the curry flavor was pretty intense. Was it supposed to be 2.5 teaspoons instead of 2.5 tablespoons of curry powder?
Hi Amy – I use 2.5 Tbsp but as it says in the notes, curry powders vary wildly in intensity so try a bit then add more to your taste! N x
I love this quick curry and cook it for my family regularly. But just wondering Nagi if I could make this in the pressure cooker? I’ll thicken afterwards with a cornstarch slurry.
5 stars on this one, all the kids loved it, spiciness and all:)
Lucky kids!! N x
I can see myself making this. It is so simple and easy without that dreadful alphabet list of ingredients found in other “basic/simple” curry recipes.
I am definitely bookmarking this and trying it. I get easily put off by needlessly complicated recipes. This one is straight to the point and, as purported in the first sentence, simple. Well done, Girl!
I tried this tonight and it was so simple,yet it was the best curry I have ever made! All your recipes are amazing.
Is there a substitute for the coconut milk Nagi? I’m allergic, but want to try more of your curry recipes 😂
I am usually a 5 star person for Tineats but this was missing something. I did add spice and tomato paste but a little to thin. I did let cook more but did not help. next time less stock.
Thank you for the feedback Barbara! N x
Delicious! I made this with chicken thighs and they were so tender and tasty. I left out the coriander altogether, added some red capsicum, and only used 1tbsp of curry powder which was enough spice for the smallest of our kids. This curry was definitely easy, and was a hit with the family!
Would ground coriander be the same as coriander in the recipe or should I just use cilantro?
Hi Lisa – use cilantro…it’s the same thing – we call cilantro coriander here in Australia! N x
It’s true – so simple and so good! Ginger and garlic are key to bringing out the great favor of curry. Don’t forget to saute them til you smell the aroma, before adding the liquid. The sauce tastes great even with minimal salt.
I made this mid-week with chicken tenderloins. Followed Nagi’s notes and spiced the chicken with curry, salt & pepper before flash-browning in pan then made the sauce. Added the chicken back in with the sauce just before it was ready and WOW – SO moist! There were no leftovers and everyone raved!! Thanks for sharing Nagi xx
My 95-pound 15-year-old son who needs to gain weight wanted to make a tasty protein-rich dish that he would be happy to eat over and over (he hates leftovers). The curry chicken was quick! Easy! DELICIOUS! Thank you!
Used skin-on thigh and fried it to get the skin a bit crispier and then removed it before step 1. Then re-added with the coconut milk and stock to finish cooking. Then removed it after 10 mins to rest on a board and sliced it while the sauce simmered down. Loved it!
I made this vegan with Tofurky faux chicken, and it’s absolutely the yummiest and easiest! Thank you for posting it!