Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken — Better-than-takeout yellow curry is EASY and ready in 25 minutes!! Healthy comfort food with the PERFECT amount of heat and lots of textures and flavors in every bite! Impress your friends and family and make this DELICIOUS curry at home!!
Table of Contents
No need for takeout from your local Thai restaurant when you can make an authentic-tasting curry this good in 25 minutes at home. The curry is hearty yet healthy comfort food that’s layered with Thai-inspired flavors and is naturally gluten-free.
I could drink the coconut milk broth or prepare it as a soup – it’s so good and it keeps the chicken so juicy and moist. I used full fat coconut milk but have used lite in previous curry recipes and it may not be quite as rich, but it’s still great.
There’s natural sweetness from the sweet Vidalia onions, carrots, and the coconut milk, the lime juice add the perfect acidic notes to balance the flavors.
I love all the textures and flavors in every bite from the tender carrots, wilted spinach, and of course the perfectly juicy chicken.
Recipe Ingredients
For this yellow chicken curry recipe, you’ll need:
- Boneless skinless chicken breast
- Sweet Vidalia onion
- Garlic
- Ground turmeric (essential to impart a bold yellow color)
- Ground ginger
- Coriander
- Yellow curry paste
- Coconut milk
- Shredded carrots
- Fresh spinach
- Pepper
- Cilantro
- Brown sugar
- Lime juice
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Thai Yellow Curry
Homemade Thai yellow coconut curry is so quick and easy to prepare! Here’s how the recipe is made:
- Add the onion and oil to a large skillet and sauté until softened.
- Add the diced chicken and cook until no longer pink inside (about 5 minutes.)
- Add the spices and garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Stir in the yellow curry paste, carrots, and coconut milk and let the mixture bubble away until the liquid is reduced.
- The remaining ingredients are then stirred in and the curry is ready to serve!
We enjoyed this both on it’s on as well as served over jasmine rice. Basmati rice or naan would be my other serving suggestions.
Adjusting the Spice Level of This Curry
To really deliver a punch of yellow curry flavor, I used this Mekhala Organic Yellow Curry Paste. Unlike the Thai Kitchen brand of Red Curry Paste or Green Curry Paste that I’ve used in the past for respective red and green curry recipes, the Mekhala packs way more heat per tablespoon.
With the Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste, I use a full 4-ounce jar for my typical red curry recipes and don’t sense much heat.
However, with the Mekhala Yellow Curry Paste, half of a 3.5-ounce jar was plenty to sense a fair amount of heat. We love heat and I was pleasantly surprised the kind of punch this curry paste packed. It’s not spicy if you use a teaspoon but if you use half the jar like I did, the heat creeps up on you.
If you’re heat-sensitive or don’t like your food as spicy, start with 1 to 2 teaspoons and work up from there. You can always add more, but you can’t undo it.
Recipe Variations to Try
The great thing about Thai curries is that you can add whatever vegetables or legumes you like!
Try incorporating:
- Cauliflower
- Bell peppers
- Sweet potatoes
- Chickpeas
- Edamame
- Frozen peas
- Kale rather than spinach
- Basil rather than cilantro
- Cashews
- Or whatever you have in your produce drawer or freezer
I think of curries as a stir-fry-meets-soup, and there are no rules with what to add to either those in my book. Enjoy all the wonderful flavors and dig in.
Recipe FAQs
You can use full-fat or lite coconut milk to make this recipe. Just make sure to use coconut milk that comes in a can and not the kind in a carton.
If you’d like to keep this recipe vegetarian or are short on time, you can add a can of drained chickpeas in place of the diced chicken. The curry will cook up faster but still be packed with protein.
I used this Mekhala Organic Yellow Curry Paste, but Thai Kitchen yellow curry paste will also work. Note that the Mekhala brand curry paste is much spicier than Thai Kitchen’s!
Yellow coconut curry is generally milder than either red or green curry, but this recipe still has a kick to it. To us, it was fairly mild but if your family doesn’t like spicy foods simply add less curry paste than the recipe calls for, taste the sauce after a few minutes of simmering, and add more if desired.
What to Serve with Yellow Curry
Video Tutorial
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, (coconut oil may be substituted)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced small (a sweet Vidalia may also be used)
- 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into bite-sized pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
- 2 to 3 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger , finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger)
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 to 4 tablespoons Mekhala Organic Yellow Curry Paste, or as desired
- 13.5 ounces full-fat coconut milk, (lite may be substituted)
- 1 ½ cups shredded carrots
- 2 to 3 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed (2 to 3 heaping handfuls)
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 to 2 tablespoons lime juice, (optional but recommended)
- ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
- 1 to 4 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed (optional and to taste)
- salt, (optional and to taste)
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the oil, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion begins to soften about 5 minutes; stir intermittently.
- Add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is done; flip and stir often to ensure even cooking.
- Add the garlic, turmeric, ginger, coriander, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir frequently.
- Add the curry paste, coconut milk, carrots, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium, and allow mixture to gently boil for about 5 minutes, or until liquid volume has reduced as much as desired and thickens slightly.
- Add the spinach, pepper, and stir until the spinach has wilted.
- Taste the curry and add the optional but recommended lime juice (brightens the flavor of the dish), cilantro, optional light brown sugar (balances the heat), optional salt (I did not add any because the curry paste has salt in it), and add extra of any of the spices already used or more curry paste, if desired and to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Easy Curry Recipes:
Chicken Korma – An EASY Indian recipe you can make at home in 25 minutes that tastes like it’s from a restaurant!! Chicken, cashews, and spices are simmered in coconut milk for the WIN!!
Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors!! Low-cal, low-carb, and HEALTHY but tastes like comfort food!!
Green Thai Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than from a Thai restaurant!! It’s healthy comfort food that tastes AMAZING!!
Coconut Lime Chicken and Sweet Potato Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than a restaurant!! Juicy chicken and tender sweet potatoes simmer in a lime-scented coconut milk sauce that tastes AMAZING! Healthy comfort food!!
Sweet Potato and Chickpea Coconut Curry – An easy one-skillet curry that’s ready in 30 minutes and is layered with so many fabulous flavors! Healthy comfort food that tastes amazing!
Chickpea and Kale Thai Coconut Curry – An easy one-skillet vegan curry that’s ready in 15 minutes and has amazing Thai-inspired flavors! Low-cal, low-carb, and healthy but tastes like hearty comfort food!
Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Chicken Coconut Curry – An EASY, one-skillet curry that’s ready in 20 minutes and tastes BETTER than a restaurant!! The Thai-inspired coconut milk broth makes this healthy comfort food taste AMAZING!!
Originally posted April 27, 2020 and reposted July 21, 2021 with updated text.
Just a question, If I want more sauce in this recipe should i just add more coconut milk or what ? Thanks..
Thanks for the 5 star review, Paul! If you want more sauce, yes you can add more coconut milk, but if you don’t also increase the other spices, curry paste, etc. it won’t have the same rich flavor. So if you add a half of a can of extra of coconut milk, I would then also increase the other ingrdients, too. So rather than 2 to 4 tbsp curry paste, I would say use at least 3 or up to 5. Add another 1 tsp of ground ginger and of turmeric, give or take. Curries are very flexible recipes so just taste as you go.
sorry forgot to rate the recipe
Really good and tasty. Thanks.
Excellent, never made curry before. My husband always made curry but since he passed away a year ago, we haven’t had curry. Followed the recipe exactly omitted the brown sugar. Found the curry paste at Whole Foods. The flavors were wonderful. My adult sons loved it would definitely make again.
Thanks for the 5 star review, Margie, and I am glad your first venture into homemade curry was a big success and your adult sons approved as well!
I made this recipe, loved it…
But I didn’t add the spinage… I also bloomed the spices before adding the coconut cream because that’s what is recommended from spice experts. I also added green onions, pineapple chunks, and cashews at the end. Served over jasmine rice… YUMMM?
Thanks for letting me know you loved this recipe, Dawn! That’s so great and I am glad you put some twists on it to ‘make it your own’ and that it turned out wonderfully!
Avery this looks awesome. I can’t wait to try it 😋
I hope you do, Shirley! It’s great!
This looks delicious. Can I make the curry in a slow cooker?
I never have because it’s such a quick recipe, about 30 minutes, so I don’t tend to like to drag things out for hours and hours if I can just whip it up quickly on the stove. You’d have to play around with it since I have never done a curry in a slow cooker. Possibly just add everything together, but again, I have not tested it. It’s soooo good as written I highly recommend you just make it as written!
Wow, wow, wow. I was excited to make this dish, but was a little skeptical of how it would turn out. I’ve tried to make curry before and it didn’t quite turn out like my favorite curry that I get at a local restaurant. But I am blown AWAY! This recipe was amazing and exceeded my expectations! I’m currently on keto so I subbed the carrots for broccoli. I am a huge fan of spice and surprisingly this had the PERFECT amount of heat. Thank you for sharing this absolute comfort in a bowl. This recipe makes my heart happy, and I can’t wait to share it with my family. I also won’t need to go out to eat anymore to get my favorite dish lol
Wow, wow, wow. I was excited to make this dish, but was a little skeptical of how it would turn out. I’ve tried to make curry before and it didn’t quite turn out like my favorite curry that I get at a local restaurant. But I am blown AWAY! This recipe was amazing and exceeded my expectations! I’m currently on keto so I subbed the carrots for broccoli. I am a huge fan of spice and surprisingly this had the PERFECT amount of heat. Thank you for sharing this absolute comfort in a bowl. This recipe makes my heart happy, and I can’t wait to share it with my family. I also won’t need to go out to eat anymore to get my favorite dish lol
I am so grateful for amazing comments from satisfied readers like yourself after making a recipe of mine. Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a great comment! So happy this was was amazing and exceeded your expectations!