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!!!
This easy chicken curry was delicious! I’ll definitely make it again. Family loved it!
Prior to printing I increased the servings to allow me to cook 1.3kg of chicken. I added the coconut milk and stock which added up to over 7 cups of liquid. Whilst the flavour was lovely it was like a soup. Have I done something wrong?
No Robyn, it is ‘soupy’, but it gives you scope to either add more chicken and veg, or thicken it up with something (cornflour) if you prefer it that way. I LOVE lots of juice to drench mashed spud or rice. And I up the curry powder for more of a kick (no kids to feed!)
I found this chicken curry really boring and not worth the time spent. Sorry, I normally love all the recipe tin eats recipes but this one is a dud. Well, you can’t like everything!!
That’s because this is a curry in a hurry and super simple.
I actually cook a lot of curries and most are more complicated and have more fresh herbs including curry leaves. I also use a heck of a lot more dried curry powder or more spices.
I suggest you go to the more proper curry recipes then. I cook a lot and I cook a lot of different cuisine. I actually use this when I am in a rush on a weekday like now.
This curry doesn’t have the omph of a proper authentic curry but it also is safe and it takes very little time. Its tasty though.
Two thumbs up for replying to that comment. Almost 200 5 star reviews and over 450 positive comments back up Nagi..
Loved this and so did my family . They are requesting it once a week.Our go to chicken curry .So delicious!
Great Easy chicken curry & rice
Plus I bought your latest RECIPE book DINNER and Enjoying all h lovely recipes
Evelynne
Made for the first time last night and everyone loved it. So simple but so tasty. Will definitely become a regular in our household.
Absolutely love this. A big hit. I added diced potatoes and celery during the simmering phase and some sultanas at the end with the peas, for that retro curry sweetness.
So delicious.
I know I have posted about this one a couple of times, but I have to again. Because this is, hands down, the best chicken curry recipe I have ever used! It tastes different every time (probably because I use different curry powders & because I use different chicken cuts each time) – but it’s one of those never-fail recipes that is just beautiful every time! Thanks genius Nagi 🙂
This was amazingly good!
I substituted the salt for fish sauce bc I had it in the pantry & I added a zucchini and it was great 😊
Thank you so much Nagi. You are star. I made curry for dinner it was amazing. Fast, tasty and colourful. xx
My family are chicken curry freaks & I have 3 favourite alternates that vary in taste & inclusions. Well now make it 4!! Absolutely delicious!! Like many, I add extra veg, diced cooked potatoes, red capsicum fried up with the onion & chicken, parboiled sliced carrots & green beans all stir fried through before adding the scrumptious creamy coconut milk & stock & what a yummy filling meal on rice it was. Another Nagi ripper recipe! Thanks heaps x
This very quick and easy. I went 50:50 veg and chicken and added a some corn flour to thicken the sauce (my preference). Will definitely do this again and try some other protein,
So easy to make and yet so tasty! Love the recipe book too!
Hello,
I made this recipe today and everyone just loved it! Thank you so much!
Quick easy dinner
Made this today and omg heaven!🤤 Didn’t expect it to be this good because the word simple was used. The flavour of this dish is anything but simple, it’s really flavourful despite curry and salt being the only spices used. So must be magic. Maybe it’s the combination of the other few ingredients that somehow makes it perfect.
This was fantastic. My husband is a chef and wanted to know to make it for his clients!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Amy!! Thanks for taking the time to let me know – N x
Ohh, we’ve just had this for dinner and it was sooooo good! I had to use a bit of thickener as the sauce was quite thin but it tested so nice! Another great recipe from the queen of the kitchen!
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Thank you Nagi! I made this recipe for Christmas Eve and my husband really liked it, From Melbourne, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2024.
I love this recipe, and have had it on repeat for years. Always a success. Also works for Keto, as, without the rice etc, it’s relatively low carb and so, so tasty (sub Cauliflower rice). Question? How is Geoff from the dog park doing now you are no longer around the corner? I think of him a lot.
Xx