Thai Red Curry Chicken

This Thai red curry chicken recipe is a restaurant-quality dish with a great variety of flavors and textures. Serve with steamed rice, and dinner is set. This is also a great meal prep recipe, as leftovers are easy to heat up, and the flavors just keep developing as it sits! 

A Recipe Overhaul

We posted our first recipe for red curry chicken on August 15, 2015. Since then, I’ve not only learned a thing or two about cooking, I’ve eaten a lot more Thai food! Looking back on the old version of the recipe, I felt it needed a bit of an overhaul. 

The original recipe was tasty and simple, with less than 10 ingredients, and many of you have loved it over the years. However, it just didn’t feel like the red curry chicken you get when you eat out at a Thai restaurant.

(If you enjoyed the original version, don’t worry! I’ve included it at the end of this post, so you can still make it!)

So what sets this recipe apart? 

• I’ve sliced the chicken more thinly, and applied our velveting and stir-fry techniques to ensure you get juicy, tender chicken in the final dish. The cornstarch in the chicken marinade not only keeps the chicken moist, it also helps thicken the sauce later in the cooking process. I decided to use chicken breast for this version, but you can also use thighs. 
• We’ve added more vegetables to the dish, including onion, pepper, green beans, and bamboo shoots, making the dish more balanced in terms of protein/veg, and also giving the dish more texture. 
• I added Thai basil leaves, which I think really gives it something extra! (I find myself digging for Thai basil when I eat it.) You can find Thai basil in Asian markets, but if you can’t find it, you can either omit it, or use whatever variety of basil you have on hand. Some consider this a no-no, but I say, any basil is better than no basil!
• We use a whole can of Thai red curry paste, so you don’t have any pesky leftover paste to deal with. 

Still A Fast Recipe, and a Major Keeper

The recipe still only takes about 30 minutes to make, and it’s a quick and easy one-pan dinner with your protein and vegetable all in one. All you need is some steamed jasmine rice to serve it with! 

This Thai red curry chicken was love at first bite for me. It was so rich and satisfying from the coconut milk, the slight sweetness from the palm sugar/brown sugar, and the umami of the fish sauce. At the same time, it was fresh and light from the crisp vegetables. I know I’ll be making it often!  

About Thai Red Curry Paste

Canned Thai curry pastes are a wonderful invention. They allow you to get the complex flavors of a Thai curry without necessarily having access to all the raw ingredients. 

There are many different types, from red curry paste, to green curry paste, to massaman curry paste. Here, we’re using red curry paste, which is made with chilies, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, sugar, makrut lime, galangal, and various spices. 

It can be a bit spicy, so if you’re spice averse, you can start by using half the can of curry paste, and then add more from there to taste. 

You can find Thai curry paste at Asian markets, or online. Our favorite brand (which also happens to be one of the most widely available brands here in the U.S.) is Maesri curry paste. 

Thai Red Curry Chicken Recipe Instructions

Combine the sliced chicken with the water, cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce. Mix well to combine, and set aside for 15 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients for the dish. 

When you’re ready to cook, heat a wok or cast iron/carbon steel skillet until it just starts to smoke. Add 1 tablespoon oil, and spread it around to coat. Add the chicken, and stir-fry until the chicken is mostly cooked and lightly browned.

Turn off the heat, remove the chicken to a bowl, and set aside. Over medium-low heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan, along with the garlic and ginger, and fry for 1 minute until fragrant.

Increase the heat to medium-high, add the curry paste, and fry for another minute. Stir in the brown sugar. 

Add the onion, bell pepper, green beans, bamboo shoots, and fish sauce, and fry for 2 minutes, until the onions begin to wilt.

Then reduce the heat to medium-high, and add the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. (From this point on, keep the curry at a simmer. Avoid boiling it too high, or the coconut milk may split and have a grainy appearance.)

Stir in the chicken, and simmer for 1 more minute.

Finally, stir in the Thai basil, just until it wilts.

Garnish with cilantro if desired, and serve!