This Speedy Thai Peanut Chicken Curry is a one pot dish I love to make at least once a week because it's so delicious and easy to make. The curry sauce is made by combining red thai curry paste, peanut butter, fish sauce, and coconut milk with a few pantry ingredients. The flavour is unreal and it comes together in less than 30 minutes. I hope you love it as much as I do!
I absolutely adore anything peanut sauce, so when I first started recipe testing for this Thai Peanut Butter chicken curry, I knew I was onto a winner! I've made this chicken curry very simple, using chicken breast, but I'll go into more detail on what you could add in to boost the nutrition level of the curry!
Looking for some more easy curry-inspired dinners, check out my curry noodles, quick egg curry, or my butter beans and spinach curry.
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Why You'll Love This Thai Peanut Chicken Curry
Made by an ex-chef who loves home cooking: yep, that's me, Hi!! If you're new here, welcome!! My name's Emily and I'm an ex-chef who now has a career in making deliciously simple recipes for you to make at home, every day of the week. So, this recipe is easy without compromising on flavor.
One pot: I love a one pot recipe, and this thai peanut chicken curry is all made in one pan, meaning low effort and minimal washing up!
Customisable: I've kept this recipe really simple with chicken as the main protein and bulk of the dish. You can totally add in more ingredients like tofu, eggplant, beansprouts, baby corn, prawns, whatever you fancy!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Red Thai curry paste: the better the quality of the thai curry paste, the tastier your curry will be. I use Mae Ploy red thai curry paste as I love its intense and aromatic flavour.
Sugar: this adds balance and sweetness to our thai peanut chicken curry. White sugar is my preferred option, but you could use brown sugar if you'd like.
Curry powder: I'm using madras curry powder, but any mild curry powder would work! Alternatively you could use ground cumin.
Chicken: we're using chicken breast for this recipe and slicing it into large cubes. The goal is to maintain a juicy chicken bite. If you're worried about the chicken drying out, you could totally use boneless and skinless chicken thighs. For a plant-based option, you could use extra firm tofu and slice it into cubes.
Onion: white onion or shallots are a great option for this coconut chicken curry.
Garlic: fresh garlic cloves are always best. We're using around 4 cloves, but feel free to use more if you're a garlic girl!!!
Ginger: once again, fresh ginger is fabulous for great flavor. You could alternatively add in finely chopped lemongrass for additional aromatics.
Peanut butter: I've used smooth peanut butter but crunchy peanut butter would work just as well! I adore peanut sauce dishes like my spicy peanut butter noodles and my spicy peanut butter ragu so give them a go if you love peanut butter too!
Fish sauce: the goal is not for the thai coconut chicken curry to taste of fish. The goal is for the fish sauce to add a saltiness that takes the dish to the next level. Feel free to use vegan fish sauce if you're plant-based.
Coconut milk: this is our stock base for the curry. If you wanted to use a smaller amount and make it less creamy, you could ½ coconut milk and ½ chicken stock (or vegetable stock).
Rice: I highly recommend serving this with either basmati, jasmine, or sticky rice. But you could also serve this with noodles.
Garnishes: I'm keeping it simple here, we're gonna garnish with cilantro and finely sliced red chillies. Other garnishes include lime (squeezed), steamed pak choi, sesame seeds, scallions, crispy onions.
The full list of ingredients and measurements is at the bottom of this blog, just scroll down to find the recipe card!
How to Make Thai Peanut Chicken Curry (with Photos)
Step 1: Let's start by making the chicken marinade. In a large bowl, combine the red thai curry paste, sugar, flaky salt, curry powder, olive oil, and water until a paste has formed. Then add in the large cubes of chicken. Stir to combine and leave to marinade for around 20 minutes.
Step 2: Once marinated, place a large pot on medium-high heat and drizzle with ½ tablespoon olive oil. Add in the marinated chicken pieces and fry on each side for 3 minutes until browned (the chicken will NOT be cooked through).
Step 3: Remove the chicken and set aside and place the pot back on medium heat and drizzle with ½ tablespoon oil.
Step 4: Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the pan and stir fry for 5 minutes until aromatic and softened. Then, add in 1 tablespoon red thai curry paste, ½ teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, and 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce. Stir to combine.
Step 5: Add in the coconut milk, stir to combine, and bring to the boil.
Step 6: As soon as the sauce is bubbling, reduce the heat to simmer and add back in the browned chicken. Leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. You do NOT want to overcook the chicken because it will go dry.
Step 7: Once the chicken is cooked, taste the curry sauce and season according to your preferences. Serve up your rice, chicken thai peanut coconut curry, and garnish with cilantro and sliced red chili! Enjoy!
What to Serve with Thai Peanut Chicken Curry
I love serving it with a side of steamed vegetables, basmati/sticky/jasmine rice, rice noodles, or wheat noodles.
What To Do with Leftovers
Storage: once the chicken coconut curry has cooled, place in airtight containers and into the fridge for up to 3 days. Feel free to keep the rice and the curry in separate containers.
Freezing: place the curry in airtight containers once cooled and place in the freezer for up to 3 months (don't forget to label with the date and contents). Leave to thaw/defrost in the fridge overnight before reheat.
Reheating: place the airtight container into the microwave (leave the lid ajar) and heat for a few minutes until piping hot.
FAQs
I love using chicken breast or skinless and boneless chicken thigh. Thigh will stay juicier for longer, whereas using breast, you risk it drying out if you over cook it.
You can add in sliced eggplant, mushrooms, or lentils at the same time you add in your chicken to cook for the last 8-10 minutes.
This depends on your thai curry paste. The more authentic the red thai curry paste, the more spicy it will be. I've suggested adding 1 tbsp. You may need to add more or less depending on the strength of your thai curry paste.
For sure. Make sure to use vegan thai curry paste, swap out the chicken for extra firm tofu, and omit the fish sauce or use a vegan fish sauce (make sure to season with extra salt if you're skipping the fish sauce).
If you tried this Speedy Thai Peanut Chicken Curry or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thank you!
Speedy Thai Peanut Chicken Curry
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade
- 1 tablespoon red thai curry paste
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon flaky salt ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1-2 tablespoon water
- 650 g chicken breast sliced into 1 inch cubes
For the curry
- 1 white onion finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 1 tablespoon red thai curry paste
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce
- 600 ml coconut milk
To serve and garnishes
- 4 portions cooked rice basmati/jasmine/sticky rice
- 15 g cilantro roughly chopped
- 1 red chilli thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Let's start by making the chicken marinade. In a large bowl, combine the red thai curry paste, sugar, flaky salt, curry powder, olive oil, and water until a paste has formed. Then add in the cubes of chicken. Stir to combine and leave to marinade for around 20 minutes.
- Once marinated, place a large pot on medium heat and drizzle with ½ tablespoon olive oil. Add in the marinated chicken pieces and fry on each side for 3-5 minutes until browned (the chicken will NOT be cooked through).
- Remove the chicken and set aside and place the pot back on medium heat and drizzle with ½ tablespoon oil.
- Add the onion, garlic, and ginger to the pan and stir fry for 5 minutes until aromatic and softened. Then, add in 1 tablespoon red thai curry paste, ½ teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoon peanut butter, and 1 ½ tablespoon fish sauce. Stir to combine.
- Add in the coconut milk, stir to combine, and bring to the boil.
- As soon as the sauce is bubbling, reduce the heat to simmer and add back in the browned chicken. Leave to simmer for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. You do NOT want to overcook the chicken because it will go dry.
- Once the chicken is cooked, taste the curry sauce and season according to your preferences. Serve up your rice, chicken thai peanut coconut curry, and garnish with cilantro, sliced red chili!, and sesame seeds. Enjoy!
Kathrine
Adding this to the weekly rotation, great recipe we love it!