This Thai Peanut Coconut Curry Chicken will remind you of Satay Chicken with Peanut Sauce. It’s a quick and easy recipe to prepare in ~ 30 minutes. I made a video so you can see exactly how to make this dish.
Thai food intrigues me – the ingredients sounds so tropical and exotic (remember the Grilled Thai Chicken with Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce recipe I posted last week?). Years ago, when I tasted my first Thai curry, I immediately fell in love with the lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and spicy chili flavors seeped in a coconut milk based sauce.
Up until that first Thai curry, I thought curries were all generally the same. I’d had Japanese curry, Jamaican curry, Vietnamese curry and Indian curry, and although they do have slightly different flavor profiles, they are cousins, whereas Thai curry bears no semblance to any of these.
Thai curry pastes come in lots of varieties – red, green, yellow, and more. My favorite is red curry paste, but I have some new curry pastes in my pantry that I still need to try.
I’ve been teaching myself how to make a few Thai dishes over the years and today, I’m sharing my most recent addition to our family menu – Thai Peanut Coconut Curry Chicken. This is an easy recipe that can be whipped up in about 30 minutes.
Thai curry pastes are readily available in most Asian grocery stores these days, and although you can certainly make your own curry paste, it is convenient on busy nights to have some ready-made Thai curry paste in your pantry. There’s something about curry and coconut milk that just sings – whether it’s Jamaican curry or Thai curry, this combination works magically.
Here’s a video I made to show you exactly how to make this dish.
More Thai Recipes:
Grilled Thai Chicken with Sweet Chili Garlic Sauce
Grilled Salmon with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce
Grilled Thai Coconut Curry Chicken with Peanut Sauce
Stir-Fry Thai Chicken with Basil and Peppers
Three Thai Chili Sauces
Thai Peanut Coconut Curry Chicken (Gai Pad Nam Tua)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 slice ginger peeled and minced, about 2 teaspoons
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 scallions cut into 2" lengths
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts crushed, or 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
- 2 teaspoons organic sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups broccoli florets steamed or blanched for 2 minutes
Instructions
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Combine the garlic, ginger and red curry paste in a small bowl and rub on chicken pieces. Set aside for 20 minutes.
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Heat wok or large skillet and add oil. Add scallions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Remove and reserve. Add chicken pieces, browning on both sides. You may have to do this in a few batches. Return all chicken pieces to pan and add crushed peanuts, sugar, fish sauce, coconut milk and water. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook on medium-low for 10 minutes. Add broccoli florets and cook until heated through.
I adore Thai food and the balance of flavors in Thai cuisine! I’d be all over this beautiful meal!!
Faith – Thai food is one of my favorites too – love the sweet, salty, sour and spicy notes.
What a gorgeous, delicious looking curry! This is fantastic, Jeanette! I’d love to try it sometime soon for myself and my hubby.
Thanks Georgia – this dish has the best sauce!
Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines and this looks delicious~Even better yet, is the simplicity to make! LOVE the big pile up of broccoli in the bowl 🙂
EA – I love Thai food! This is a great one pot meal with the broccoli tossed in with the sauce. Hope you enjoy!
Such a beautiful looking curry dish! We love Thai food and this chicken dish sounds amazing! Pinned to give this dish a try soon. Thanks Jeanette 🙂
Kelly – hope you like this as much as my family did. I love red curry paste!
This is exactly the type of dish I like to have for dinner – light and so full of flavor! That bowl is so pretty too 🙂
So many wonderful flavors here, I think I could eat this every day!
This looks wonderful!
Wow love this one
Thanks Alison – this is easy and the gravy is delicious!
Except for broccoli, all of the ingredients for this dish are permanent fixtures in my pantry (and scallions in the garden!). I love weeknight dishes like this — and pretty much anything with red curry paste gets me.
I love Thai food and this looks so good! And I really enjoyed watching your video. The recipe makes it so easy when I “see” how it’s cooked visually! 🙂
I just love your website!
Thanks Karen – I appreciate you stopping by – hope to see you return!
I was wondering, can the sugar could be left out without ruining the recipe? I am trying to cut out anything white so I would leave that out.
Sheryl, you could certainly leave the sugar out – it will have a slightly different taste, but I think it will still be very good. Thai food is traditionally a combination of sweet, sour, salty and spicy flavors, so that’s why there is sugar in the recipe. But, I’m sure it will be just fine without it.
I’ve only made a few Thai curries, and have loved each one. It’s been forever! This looks amazing Jeanette. And easy enough for weeknight meal!
Aggie, I love Thai curry pastes – they’re such an easy way to add a punch of flavor without a lot of work. There are so many different kinds – I have a few in my pantry that I still need to try.
Oh my gosh this was amazing! I just made it last night with a few tweeks based on what I didn’t have. I used a tsp of curry powder and a tsp of turmeric instead of curry paste, and I didn’t have coconut milk, so I blended raw cashews and rice milk. I also added sriracha, salt and pepper. This was by far the most delicious homemade Thai dish I have made!! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!
Sarah
excitinglittlethings.blogspot.com
Sarah, so glad you tried this recipe and liked it. I’ve gotten rave reviews from friends who’ve made this too. It’s easy and delicious! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out with your modifications.
This look so good , but didn’t turn out so well. Was very bland and I don’t know enough about Thai cooking to fix it. Followed the recipe with all ingredients too.
So sorry to hear this was too bland for you. Perhaps it needed more red curry paste (spicy) or fish sauce (salty). The red curry paste may vary depend on the brand.
I used to make a Thai curry similar to this, but I lost the recipe. I’m really looking forward to making it again! Thank you!
I hope you enjoy this recipe Kim – people who have tried it have loved it!