This Thai Red Chicken Curry is incredibly delicious, so easy to make with bite size chicken pieces, snow peas and simmered in a red curry and coconut milk sauce. Thai cooking in under 30 minutes and all in one pot!
My love for Thai food knows no bounds. It’s a love affair that started over 20 years ago and have never looked back since. My biggest challenge has always been to make it myself at home, but I’ve discovered a few years ago that Thai food really isn’t very complicated.
I especially love all coconut curries and with a few ingredients you can have quality Thai restaurant meals right in your home, made by you nonetheless.
Thai Red Chicken Curry Ingredients
There are a few ingredients you’ll need to ensure you get the most flavor out of this curry; coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass. I can find them all at my local grocery store, but I’ve provided you with links on the ingredients to get the products on amazon if you cannot find any of these items. I also find the kaffir lime leaves at the farmer’s market.
What Are Kaffir Lime Leaves
Kaffir lime leaves are a member of the citrus family and they give off a lime-lemon aroma and flavor. They really are an indispensable part of Thai cooking, as well as Indonesian cooking.
There’s a little Indonesian kiosk at my local farmer’s market and I eat there almost every chance I get. Their food is so nicely fragrant and delicious. One day I asked them what gives off that nice lemony flavor and they told me all about these Kaffir lime leaves. They’re amazing, however, if you cannot find them anywhere just go ahead and skip them in the recipe. The lemongrass stalks also have a citrus flavor and again they are often used in curries.
How to Make Thai Red Chicken Curry
This dish is so great, you literally only need about 20 minutes to make and you will be so happy you made this.
Start by cooking the chicken first with the garlic and ginger first in a large skillet. Once the chicken is cooked, all you have to do is add the rest of the ingredients to the pot. Simply simmer for another 10 minutes and you’re ready to eat.
The flavors are out of this world, a creamy sauce which packs some heat from the curry paste, the more curry paste the better, it’s really not that spicy. I used 4 tbsp in this recipe and it flavored the dish nicely giving it just a bit of a spicy kick.
For 20 minutes of total time you cannot beat this dish, delicious Thai flavors, not to mention your house will smell incredible.
Looking for More Thai Dishes? Try These:
- Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Easy Thai Steak Salad
- Skinny Thai Chicken Meatballs with Peanut Sauce
- Pad Thai Zoodles
- Spicy Thai Chicken and Veggie Noodles
- Thai Meatball Lettuce Wraps
- Pad Thai
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Thai Red Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger root peeled and finely grated
- 1 lb chicken breasts boneless and skinless and cut into bite size pieces, about 3
- 13.5 oz coconut milk (1 can)
- 2 to 4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 3/4 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 5 oz snow peas roughly chopped
- 4 leaves kaffir lime
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 stalks lemongrass bruised *
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch Oven or a large wok or skillet until hot. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for about 30 seconds over high heat, until it gets aromatic.
- Turn the heat down to medium-high and add the chicken pieces to the pot and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink.
- Stir in the coconut milk, curry paste, chicken broth, snow peas, kaffir lime leaves, sugar and lemon grass. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Remove the kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass from the pot. Remove from heat and garnish with fresh cilantro.
- Serve immediately over cooked rice.
Video
Recipe Notes
- *To bruise the lemongrass, use a meat mallet or the back of a knife to lightly crush it. This will ensure you get the most flavor into your curry.
- You can leave the kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass stalks in the dish, and just push them to the side of your plate when eating, since they are too tough to eat.
- You can store remaining kaffir lime leaves in the refrigerator for at least 2 weeks. You can also freeze them in a sealed ziploc bag or airtight container.
- Nutritional information does not include cooked rice.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
The flavors of this recipe are spot on BUT, there are two problems. 3/4 broth and a can of coconut milk are the only liquids so you will get about 2 cups of sauce from this…its delicious and you will definitely want more sauce! I would plan for 1/2 cup of sauce per person. This calls for 4 tbsp of red curry paste which is quite a bit considering the small amount of liquid. So if you make it with say 4 cups of broth then 4 tbsp of curry paste is totally fine. 1 can of coconut milk should be ok but if you want it creamier do 2. Also substitute coconut oil for olive oil. I just now read some comments before posting…too watery???? LOL
I doubled the chicken broth and thought it should be doubled again! Add more coconut milk if you want it creamy but agree it’s typically more soupy.
Yes, the sauce is EVERYTHING to this delicious dish! Thanks for sharing your input with doubling the recipe for this sauce. We can’t have enough of it either 😀
This was EXCELLENT! The only thing I did differently was slice the Kaffir leaves very, very thinly and added well-drained and cubed firm tofu during the last 5 minutes of the simmer.
***FYI, for those of you that cannot find Kaffir lime leaves, offer to buy some from your local Thai restaurant. They generally don’t charge for them and can even suggest where to find them.
Thanks for the outstanding recipe Jo!
So glad you liked it!! Awesome tip on the Kaffir lime leaves 🙂
I’ve made this recipe numerous times and have always had excellent feed back, saying how much everyone enjoyed it. To all the ones saying it was too watery, that’s how all thai sauces are, they are more a soup than a sauce. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!!
Thank you for this recipe , I have been craving Thai food for month . Could not find kaffir lime leaves ( I live in a small town) so just substituted with lime zest . Turn out very good.
So fast and easy and SO GOOD
Way too watery, sorry! The chicken broth is too much. Maybe a chicken bouillon would fair better to stay true to texture. I’ll try it next time. It’s not supposed to be watery :/
But on a positive note, the flavor is on point! So I do appreciate this recipe for the lemon grass, ginger, garlic, and cilantro!! This recipe thickened would literally be perfection! 🙂
If you’ve been to a Thai restaurant, the curries are quite liquid. If you search it up you’ll see what I mean! Feel free to thicken it up if that’s your preference.
I am obsessed with the red curry chicken at my chinese/thai place, and this recipe sounds amazing so I will try it in the near future. They also include summer squash but the one thing that makes it for me is the pineapple! MMmmmm so good! Adds a nice sweetness to the heat!
This was a great and easy recipe! I’ve tried many and this one will be my go to in the future.
I used light coconut milk, substituted red bell pepper for peas, used 3 tablespoons of red curry paste. I like a runnier consistency which this recipe offers but I did need to thicken it up just a hair and added 1 tsp (about) of cornstarch. My 11 year old daughter loved it but said it was a little spicy. Next time, I may use 2 tablespoons of of curry paste. I’ve tried many red curry recipes – this one is the keeper!
Light coconut milk is much more watery than regular coconut milk so adding cornstarch is a great idea! We’re so happy you love the recipe 🙂
This curry is so good and it does not take long to put together. Used ginger paste and also lemongrass paste as that is what I had in my fridge. Did not have snow peas so used some red, orange and yellow peppers plus some onion. I used 4 tablespoons of the curry paste and next time will add a shake of red pepper flakes for more heat! Highly recommend this recipe even without the lime leaves which I didn’t have but wIll try to get next time. Excellent!
This recipe is amazing!! I am a…..”throw every vegetable in the bottom drawer in” kind of girl and it always turns out amazing!!! I ALWAYS add potatoes cause I love how they taste in Currys. This is definitely a favourite! Thanks 🙂
This sounds amazing. Would it work with beef stew meat, do you think?
Beef stew meat requires low and slow style cooking! Otherwise it comes out very tough. Id try ground beef or cubed up steak instead.
LOVED IT!! I cant get lemongrass or Kafir lime leaves so substituted lime and lemon zest. As good or better than Indian restaurants! Simple one pan cooking!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was so easy to make and chock full of flavor. I made my rice in the Instant Pot along with chicken stock and a good amount (~ 1 tbsp) of red pepper flakes and I also increased the amount of curry paste to 6 tbsps. It was spicy, but not hot. This is now in my arsenal
I’ve made the recipe probably 10 times in the past 2 months, it’s absolutely fantastic. Thank you!