Thai red curry with chicken
Rich, fragrant red curry with tender chicken, aubergine and courgette in creamy coconut — quick enough for a weeknight feast.
This Thai red curry is the proper weekday hero: fragrant, creamy coconut meets a confident hit of red curry paste and lime. It’s flexible — swap the chicken for tofu or prawns — but when done right the balance of salty, sweet and sour sings.
Use a good-quality store jar of red curry paste for speed, or make your own if you have a blender and ambition. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and lime wedges for a proper Thai finish.
Ingredients
- 45 ml red curry paste — use store-bought for speed; see tips for homemade alternative
- 30 ml vegetable oil
- 1 shallot — thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves — crushed
- 20 g fresh ginger — peeled and finely grated
- 400 ml coconut milk — full-fat, one standard tin
- 600 g chicken thighs — boneless, skinless, cut into 3cm pieces
- 30 ml fish sauce
- 15 ml light brown sugar
- 2 limes — juice of 2 limes
- 4 kaffir lime leaves — optional but highly recommended; tear once to release oils
- 1 red pepper — thinly sliced
- 1 aubergine — medium, cut into 2cm wedges
- 1 courgette — medium, sliced on the diagonal about 1cm thick
- 200 g baby corn — halved lengthways
- 200 g bamboo shoots — tinned, drained and sliced if whole
- 150 ml vegetable stock — or chicken stock
- 15 g fresh coriander — roughly chopped, to garnish
- 10 g Thai basil — leaves picked, to garnish
Instructions
Prepare everything: slice the shallot, crush the garlic, grate the ginger, cut the chicken and vegetables and drain the bamboo shoots. Having mise en place makes the cooking fast and calm.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium heat. Add the shallot and fry for 3 minutes until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and fresh ginger and fry for 30–45 seconds until fragrant, then add the red curry paste and fry, stirring constantly, for a further 2 minutes to bloom the spices.
Pour in the coconut milk and stir to loosen any paste stuck to the pan. Increase the heat slightly and bring to a gentle simmer, simmer for 5 minutes so the flavours combine and the sauce thickens a little.
Add the chicken thighs, stir so each piece is coated in the sauce, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is nearly cooked through.
Stir in the aubergine, red pepper, courgette, baby corn, bamboo shoots and the vegetable stock. Add the kaffir lime leaves. Simmer gently for 6 minutes until the vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through.
Stir in the fish sauce, light brown sugar and the juice of the limes. Taste and adjust seasoning — add a little more fish sauce for salt, more lime for brightness or more sugar to round the heat. Simmer for 1 minute to bring everything together.
Remove from the heat and stir in most of the fresh coriander and Thai basil, reserving a little to scatter on top. Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice or rice noodles.
Tips
- Bloom the paste in oil until aromatic — this transforms a jar of paste into something far more vibrant.
- If the sauce looks too thin, simmer uncovered for a few minutes to reduce; if it’s too thick, loosen with a splash more stock or coconut milk.
- Cut the chicken and vegetables into uniform pieces so they cook evenly; aubergine soaks up flavour but cooks quickly, so cut it slightly larger.
- Make ahead: the curry keeps well in the fridge for 2 days and often tastes even better the next day; reheat gently over a low heat, adding a splash of stock if the coconut milk has tightened.
- For a gluten-free dish, use a gluten-free fish sauce or replace with tamari (note tamari will change the flavour slightly).
Substitutions
red curry paste → homemade red curry paste made in a blender (use dried chillies, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, galangal/ginger, shrimp paste optional)
Stays closechicken thighs → firm tofu, pressed and pan-fried (use 400 g tofu)
Noticeably differentfish sauce → tamari or light soy sauce (use 2 tbsp tamari)
Noticeably different
Nutrition
Per serving · estimated
- 620
- Calories
- 35 g
- Protein
- 18 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 900 mg
- Sodium
FAQ
Can I make this curry vegetarian?
Yes — replace the chicken with firm tofu or extra vegetables and swap the fish sauce for tamari or a vegetarian fish-sauce alternative. Flavour will be slightly different but still very tasty.
Why did my coconut milk split?
High heat can cause coconut milk to separate. Keep the simmer gentle once coconut milk is added and stir frequently. If it splits, a short blitz with a hand whisk off the heat can bring it back together.
Can I make the curry milder or hotter?
Yes — reduce the red curry paste to make it milder, or add a little extra paste or finely sliced fresh chillies for more heat. Balance with lime juice and sugar after adjusting.
How long will leftovers keep?
Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, leftovers keep for up to 48 hours. Reheat gently on the hob and add a splash of stock if the sauce has thickened.
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