A simple easy chicken red curry dish made in less time than it takes to get takeout.
If I had to pick one type of food to live off of for the rest of my life, it would be Thai.
I can’t pick a favorite food to save my life (seriously, how can people actually narrow it down to one thing and answer that question?!) but I can easily say with confidence that as a “cuisine”, Thai is the winner.
The funny thing about that assertion is that up until last week, I’d never actually cooked anything Thai at home.
Curry pastes, fish sauce, bamboo shoots…not things I ever have on hand and honestly, they scared the heck out of me. It all seems so foreign and overwhelming.
But last week I’d had enough.
The closest Thai place is 25 minutes away from us so takeout is pretty much impossible unless eating cold pad thai is your thing and the ghetto produce store I go to all the time has an entire 2 aisles dedicated to Asian ingredients.
So after staring at the shelves for at least 10 minutes trying to make sense of it all, I realized there are way more intimidating things in life than cooking Thai food, grabbed the red curry paste and fish sauce, threw it in the cart and walked away pretending like I knew what I was going to do with them.
Fake it till you make it.
And guess what? All of that intimidation…totally unwarranted.
Thai really couldn’t be easier.
Bamboo shoots are lovely, lemongrass is great, but you don’t need any of that stuff to get a delicious curry at home.
Curry paste, coconut milk, a ton of veggies and you’re all set.
Is it the most traditional recipe? Probably not, but it beats cold take out.
Give me a week and the fish sauce is next to be tackled.
MORE CURRY RECIPES TO TRY:
Chicken Saag Curry
Winter Vegetable Curry
Coconut Red Curry Shrimp
Coconut Red Curry Shrimp
Easy Chicken Red Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 15 ounces canned coconut milk
- 1 pound chicken breasts, cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- salt & pepper
- 4 bell peppers of different color, chopped
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped plus more for garnish
- juice of 1 lime, divided
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium high heat, saute olive oil and curry paste, pressing the paste into the oil for 1 minute.
- While that sautes, combine chicken, curry powder, salt & pepper in a small bowl and toss to coat. Set aside.
- Add half the coconut milk into the pan and whisk together until it’s incorporated with the curry paste. Then add remaining coconut milk and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add seasoned chicken and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add vegetables, cilantro and half of the lime juice to the pan, stir, cover and cook for about 5-7 more minutes until chicken is fully cooked.
- Remove lid, squeeze remaining lime juice on top just before serving.
- Serve over brown rice and garnish with additional cilantro.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I love food that’s so full of colour and flavours like this!
I’m with you on the Thai food – definitely my cuisine of choice. I love all of the bright flavors, lime, coconut, curry…so good!
yum!!! we’re on the same wavelenght! i’m posting my go-to lentil & veggie curry tomorrow!
Can’t wait to see it :)
I don’t think I’ve ever had red curry. Looks great!
I love the color combination in your dish! It sounds fantastic!!
I’m kind of shocked you didn’t say Mexican!
I’m with you – thai food is just so good. And while I’m not usually a curry fan, I have to admit, this looks amazing.
anything with curry and coconut milk, I am in love with. Though I’ll probs sub tofu. I do a tofu curry with both red and green curry pastes, I lovvvve it.
you what’s weird…I like tofu (wouldn’t say love, but strongly like) but hate it in Asian dishes. Full out hate. I think b/c it’s usually the silky kind which grosses me out. Miso soup makes me want to throw up. haha
How does anyone pick any favorite food? There are so many yummy ethnic foods out there, it’s so hard to choose! I think for me, it’s Thai, sushi, Indian (of course) and comfort foods :) Thai is probably highest on the list after Indian food. My hubby is the one responsible for making Thai curries in our house. I’m too intimidated to try, but this one sounds like a no brainer, so maybe I’ll give it a shot..sans chicken though :D
That entire asian aisle overwhelms me! I’ve always wanted to make curry stuffs at home but never felt like stocking up on all those ingredients that would likely go bad before I get around to using it again. It’s nice to know that you can get away with just the paste. Which means I may get around to that asian aisle ;)