Creamy Coconut Curry is so simple to make at home.

This Creamy Coconut Curry with fresh Thai basil is a go-to meal in our home especially on busy weekdays. It’s creamy, full of fresh flavors and very filling without being too heavy. The spiciness level is totally adjustable to your liking. It has fresh delicious ingredients and always makes great leftovers. I’m so excited for you to try it.

Ingredients:

2 cans coconut milk
Thai curry paste depending on the brand and heat level desired use 1 teaspoon up to to 3 tablespoons
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 bell pepper cut in 1-in pieces
1 onion cut into 1-in pieces
3 carrots peeled and cut into 1/4 in thick slices
1-2 potatoes, baked, peeled and cut into large cubes
1-2 chicken breast cooked, sliced or shredded
1 cup Thai basil leaves
1-3 teaspoons fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Serve with: steamed jasmine rice

How to make Coconut Curry with chicken:

In a large pot, heat one can coconut milk, brown sugar and curry paste until the milk begins to simmer and the curry paste becomes fragrant (3-4 minutes). We prefer to start with a smaller amount of curry paste and add more later if desired).
Add the second can of coconut milk, carrots, peppers and onions. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook until veggies are tender (approx. 10 min).
Add the cooked chicken and cooked potatoes. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Turn off heat and add in the fish sauce and finish with the fresh Thai basil leaves.
Serve warm over jasmine rice.

Why is Coconut Chicken Curry sweet?

This recipe is a little sweet for three reasons:

Brown Sugar: just a tablespoon + of brown sugar adds a little sweetness
Coconut Milk is a little sweet by nature, and we love the flavor it adds.
Onions: this step is optional, but you can slowly sauté the onions before adding to the mixture to add more of a caramelized sweetness that only onions can add.

Make Ahead Coconut Curry with Chicken:

There are a few ways to make this recipe fast on a busy night, and it is all about the things you prep ahead of time:
Cook the chicken: shredded rotisserie chicken is a great short cut for this recipe. OR cook a few chicken breasts in a crock pot ahead and then just keep the cooked chicken in the freezer to be ready when needed.
Bake a bunch of russet potatoes: Have peeled, cooked and cubed potatoes ready to go in the fridge or you can keep them in the freezer and just thaw a day in advance before cooking.
Steam the Rice: precooked steamed rice is a nice thing to have on hand in the fridge for different recipes during the week. It’s super easy to warm up with a little water in a skillet to re-steam or in the microwave.
Prepare all the veggies: chop, peel, and remove seeds and stems to have all the veggies ready to go.

Variations of this recipe:

Add more vegetables: more sliced bell peppers of varying color or spinach would be great in this recipes
Leave out the potatoes: We love the potatoes in this recipe, but because it’s served over rice, it can feel like too much starch. You really can customize this recipe to your preference.
Use shredded chicken thigh meat: if buying a rotisserie chicken, don’t let the thigh meat go to waste, you can use easily just use chicken thigh meat, breast meat or both.
Toppings: When it comes to finishing off this delicious curry, you can sprinkle it with roasted and salted cashews, chopped cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime juice or a few more dashes of fish sauce. It’s really up to you.

Yellow or Red Curry Paste to make Curry?

There are three kinds of curry paste: green curry, yellow curry and red curry and they each vary in heat. Green is the most mild, while yellow is medium heat and red is the hottest. You can also vary the heat in this recipe by the quantity of the curry you choose to add. We used yellow for this recipe with a medium heat.

Coconut cream or coconut milk to make curry?

There are three different kinds of coconut options in a can at the store:
1-coconut milk
2-coconut cream
3-cream of coconut.

We use coconut milk in this recipe, it’s the perfect consistency that you need to make curry. Coconut cream is too thick, and cream of coconut is a sweetened version of coconut cream which is primarily used in dairy free drinks and desserts.Make sure to use the Full Fat option of coconut milk for this recipe. The lite coconut milk option will not thicken the curry like it needs to.

Creamy Coconut Curry with Chicken

Creamy coconut curry with fresh veggies, fresh Thai basil and a bit of heat served over delicious jasmine rice.

Course Main dish

Servings 5 -6 servings

Author Kami | NoBiggie.net

Ingredients

2 cans coconut milk
Thai curry paste Use 1 teaspoon up to 3 tablespoons depending on the brand and heat level desired
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 bell pepper cut in 1-in pieces
1 onion cut into 1-in pieces
3 carrots peeled and cut into 1/4 in thick slices
1-2 russet potatoes baked, peeled and cut into cubes
1-2 chicken breasts cooked, and sliced or shredded
1 cup Thai basil leaves
1-3 teaspoon fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Serve over:

3 cups jasmine rice cooked

Instructions

In a large pot, heat one can coconut milk, brown sugar and curry paste until the milk begins to simmer and the curry paste becomes fragrant (3-4 minutes). We prefer to start with a smaller amount of curry paste and add more later if desired).
Add the second can of coconut milk, carrots, peppers and onions. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook until veggies are tender (approx. 10 min).
Add the cooked chicken and cooked potatoes. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
Turn off heat and add in the fish sauce and finish with the fresh Thai basil leaves.
Serve warm over jasmine rice.

Recipe Notes

For the cooked chicken: cook a few chicken breasts in a crockpot, and then freeze... or shredded rotisserie chicken works great too. Just thaw one day ahead in the freezer to use needed.

Making This Recipe? Tag us on Instagram: @NoBiggie using the hashtag #NoBiggieRecipes, so we can see what you are making in the kitchen!

If you have any leftovers try it as a coconut curry soup. To give you an idea of what I would add to it to make soup I’ll give you an example. If I ended up with half the curry left I would add an additional can of coconut milk along with 1 cup chicken broth and 1 teaspoon curry paste. Then add 2-3 cups of cooked rice and voila: Coconut curry soup! It is so delicious and worth trying. If you like Thai coconut curry you will love making these in your home and for a fraction of the cost a restaurant would charge. Enjoy!