Thai Red Curry inspired coconut chicken – chicken pieces swimming in a rich, coconut sauce with blended up herbs and spices and sliced red bell pepper. Ready in under 30 minutes! | Gluten Free + Whole30
If you’re ready to get punched in the mouth with flavour then have I got a recipe for you! I promise it’s more appealing than that probably sounds.
Seriously though this Thai Red Curry inspired sauce is on another level it’s so damn good.
Let’s get to it!
Curry Paste
It all starts with a quick, red curry inspired paste. If you’re like me and never think to buy things like curry paste until it’s too late – then this recipe is for you because we’re making our own!
Making the curry paste is pretty easy – it’s really just a matter of throwing all your ingredients together in a blender or small food processor and blending until you have a thick, smooth paste. The consistency should be very similar to that of a pesto.
Coconut Chicken
Moving on to the chicken – start off by wrapping and pounding the breasts into flat, even pieces. This will not only make the chicken more tender in the long run but will make sure that it all cooks evenly. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and quickly brown the sides in a large skillet.
After browning the chicken remove it from the pan for the time being to begin working on the sauce. Wipe down the pan and then gently sauté the onion. Cook for about 5 minutes to begin softening the onion and bell pepper. Add in the curry paste and cook a couple of minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and chicken stock. Mix it all together and bring the mixture to a boil before reducing down to a simmer to thicken up. After a few minutes add the chicken back to the pan, cover and let it finish cooking through, soaking in the juices as it goes.
Taste the sauce and season as needed – add a little more salt more salt and pepper as needed. Top with fresh cilantro and that’s it!
This is a very saucy kitchen so make sure to serve it over a side of rice/cauliflower rice to soak up all the extra flavour.
Altogether this dish takes about 30 minutes to prepare making it a great dinner option for busy weeknights. If you like this Thai Red Coconut Chicken you’ll probably also like my:
Enjoy!
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Thai Red Coconut Chicken
Thai Red Curry inspired coconut chicken - chicken pieces swimming in a rich, coconut sauce with blended up herbs and spices and sliced red bell pepper. Ready in under 30 minutes! | Gluten Free + Whole30
Ingredients
Curry Paste
- 3 cloves garlic, about 1 heaping tablespoons
- 1 inch ginger, about 1 tablespoon
- 1 red chili, deseeded
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves + stems, (roughly the size of a small handful)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil, avocado oil or vegetable oil
Chicken
- 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 4 pieces)
- 1/2 teaspoons salt & pepper, each
- 1 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 cup chopped red onion
- 1 sliced red bell pepper
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk, (or coconut cream)
- 1/2 cup chicken stock*
- fresh cilantro for topping
Instructions
Curry Paste
- Add all of the ingredients listed under 'curry paste' to a mini food processor or powerful blender and process until you reach a pasty, purred mixture. The texture should be something similar to a pesto - a little more grainy in places.
Chicken
- Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic cling wrap and pound them down to make them even in thickness. This will help the chicken cook evenly and make for more tender chicken. Sprinkle each side of the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet over a medium high heat on the stove. Add the chicken breasts and cook each side for 5-7 minutes or until browned on each side. Remove the chicken from a skillet and set aside on a plate. The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked yet because you'll be returning it to the heat shortly. Wipe down the pan with a paper towel to remove black/brown bits.
- Add a little more oil back to the pan along with the chopped onion to the same skillet and sauté for a few minutes to soften. Add the bell pepper. Sauté another couple of minutes.
- Mix in the curry paste and cook a minute or two. Stir in the coconut cream and chicken stock until combined. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce down to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5 minutes to let reduce down.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet, cover and let cook for another 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
- Serve over rice/cauliflower rice with the sauce spooned over the top. Top with fresh cilantro and enjoy!
Notes
*If you need this recipe to strict Whole 30 make sure to check the labels on your chicken stock for hidden sugars.
DG says
The Thai Red coconut chicken is both dairy free AND gluten free? Trying to cook for a family and I have no idea what I’m doing
Sarah Nevins says
Sorry it took so long to get back to you! I was out of town last week and am just catching up.
Yes! This is recipe both gluten and dairy free 🙂 All of the recipes on this site are gluten free and most of them are also dairy free. If it helps, I’ve got a category section on my site that lists all of the recipes that are both gluten and dairy free here: https://www.asaucykitchen.com/category/gluten-free/dairy-free/ If the recipe does list something like butter or milk, make sure to check the recipe notes because I’ll include recommendations & swaps for dairy free alternatives.
Hope that helps! Feel free to comment or email me if you’d like more specific recommendations or recipe requests too by the way!
Michelle Ridgway says
I have a small 4oz jar of Thai red curry paste. Will that be enough for this recipe?
Since it’s premade, I’m not sure how much to use.
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Michelle! That will work! The curry paste here makes roughly 1/3 cup (about 5-6 tablespoons). Since you’re using a pre made one you may want to start with 1/4 cup or about 4 tablespoons. This way you can always taste and add more paste to the sauce as you go since the spiciness of your paste will be different from the one here. I hope that helps!
Jane says
How much of prepared red curry paste does this recipe call for? Looks really good!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jane! You’ll need about 1/2 cup
Jui Sawant says
Hi can I use ready made red Thai curry paste? And also what is measurement of 1 cup to ML … Thanks!
Sarah Nevins says
Hi Jui! That’s totally fine to use premade curry paste! 1 cup of liquid comes out to 240 ml