Thai-Inspired Red Chicken Curry
Whip up this Thai-inspired Red Chicken Curry any night for a taste of takeout in 30 minutes at home. The simple curry is easy to make mild for kids or spice up for fire enthusiasts, and poaching the chicken keeps it deliciously tender and full of flavor.

Fake your next takeout night.
This Thai-inspired red chicken curry is surprisingly flavorful for something so easy to make in about 30 minutes, and is a great way to enjoy a takeout favorite prepared at home to your liking. Poaching the chicken directly in the sauce is a terrific tip I learned from Once Upon a Chef, which keeps the bite-sized pieces of chicken very tender and subtly infuses them with the delicious flavors of red curry, fish sauce, brown sugar, and garlic. This is a delicious meal to cozy up to on a busy night, and a great way to diversify your use of chicken breasts beyond a standard skillet meal.
Ingredients & Substitution Notes
- Chicken: You’ll want approximately 1 and 1/4 pounds of chicken breasts, which you will cut into bite-sized pieces. You can start with regular chicken breasts, thin-sliced, or chicken tenders, since either way you’ll be cutting them yourself.
- Fresh Veggies: bell pepper, shredded carrots, green onions, fresh lime juice and cilantro for a fresh, bright finish.
- For the Sauce: unsweetened coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, and fresh garlic. I prefer full fat coconut milk but reduced fat will work, also, just yielding a thinner sauce. I use Thai Kitchen brand red curry paste, which is fairly mild and very widely available. If you use a custom blend or a paste from a local Thai grocer, it may be significantly more spicy, so proceed with caution if you’ve got picky eaters at the table.
- Kitchen Staples: canola or another neutral cooking oil.
If you want to add extra heat in a controlled way, add a small amount of jalapeno pepper — just the green parts, chopped, for a bit of heat, or a few of the seeds for more — hot sauce, red pepper flakes, or a genuine bird’s eye or Thai chili, if you can find one.
How To Make Thai Red Chicken Curry
Sauté the veggies. A quick cook of the veggies in a drizzle of oil will get them nice and tender-crisp, and bring out the flavor of the garlic.
Next, add the sauce ingredients — coconut milk, brown sugar, fish sauce, and curry paste — to the veggies and stir into a smooth sauce. Bring to a bubble.
Add the chicken pieces. Stir so that they are all covered, then let them cook in the sauce as it bubbles gently. If the bubbling becomes very rapid, bring the heat down a bit, as you don’t want to risk overcooking the chicken, and small pieces leave relatively less margin for error.
The chicken should take roughly five minutes to cook through to 165°F.
Finally, stir in the lime juice for fresh flavor and top with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve over steamed rice or rice noodles, and enjoy!
Top Tips for Success
- Start your rice or noodles first. These typically take about the same length of time as the curry, and you don’t want to have the curry all ready to go, then be waiting on your base.
- Add the chicken just before ready to serve. If you have extra time, let the sauce simmer over the lowest heat setting before adding in the chicken pieces. It’s important that they do not overcook.
- Add extra veggies for bulk if you like. More bell peppers, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, you name it.
Storage & Reheating
Thai red chicken curry keeps and reheats very well. In fact, it is one of my favorite dishes to have leftover for weekday lunches!
- Storage: Leftovers keep very well for 3-4 days. Store in any airtight container in the fridge. (These are our favorite meal prep boxes.) If possible, store the curry separately from extra rice or noodles, or just on separate sides of the container.
- Reheating: Warm everything in the microwave or over medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add a few drops of water to help loosen the curry, only if needed. Garnish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice and sprinkling of freshly-chopped cilantro to make the old new again.
Related Recipes
For more Southeast Asian-inspired favorites, try this Thai green curry with shrimp or sweet Thai basil chicken. For more takeout-inspired dishes at home, we love a quick bourbon chicken, honey teriyaki chicken bowls, or this super easy ground beef and broccoli over rice and with toasted sesame seeds.
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Thai-Inspired Red Curry Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 medium red bell pepper cut into thin strips
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onions
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (14 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk I prefer full-fat
- 2 Tablespoons Thai red curry paste see note
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 and 1/4 pounds chicken breasts thinly-sliced and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
- 2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the bell pepper and carrots. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the white parts of the chopped green onions and the minced garlic. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, until the veggies are beginning to soften but not yet turn brown.1 Tablespoon canola oil, 1/2 medium red bell pepper, 1/2 cup shredded carrots, 1/4 cup thinly-sliced green onions, 3 cloves garlic
- Stir in the coconut milk, curry paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Whisk into a smooth sauce and increase the heat slightly to bring everything to a rapid simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it bubble gently for 3-4 minutes, until slightly thickened.1 (14 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk, 2 Tablespoons Thai red curry paste, 2 Tablespoons fish sauce, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- Keep the sauce at a gentle simmer and add the pieces of chicken. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, just until the chicken is cooked through.1 and 1/4 pounds chicken breasts
- Stir in the lime juice, then sprinkle cilantro on top. Sample and season with more lime juice, if desired, or a touch more brown sugar if you want it more sweet.1 Tablespoon lime juice, 2-3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- Serve right away over rice or rice noodles, with extra cilantro and the green parts of the chopped green onions on top. Enjoy!
Notes
- Curry Paste: I use Thai Kitchen brand, which is fairly mild and very widely available. If you use a custom blend or a paste from a local Thai grocer, it may be significantly more spicy, so proceed with caution if you’ve got picky eaters at the table.
- Heat: If you want to add extra heat in a controlled way, add a small amount of jalapeno pepper — just the green parts, chopped, for a bit of heat, or a few of the seeds for more — hot sauce, red pepper flakes, or a genuine bird’s eye or Thai chili, if you can find one.
- Recipe: Adapted from Once Upon a Chef.