Creamy coconut chicken curry
Tender chicken simmered in a golden, gently spiced coconut sauce with spinach, spooned over cauliflower rice.
- 45 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.61 a serving
- 490 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can coconut milk, shaken
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 3 cups baby spinach
- ½ lime, juiced
- 12 oz frozen cauliflower rice
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
Each serving has about 490 calories, 39 g protein, 17 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.61 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No frozen cauliflower rice? Riced cauliflower works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion, the garlic, the ginger, and cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Dolly’s tip: Scrape the ginger’s skin off with the edge of a spoon, then grate it on the small holes.Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the onion and of the salt, and cook 5 minutes, now and then, until .
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
in the garlic, ginger, curry powder and tomato paste and cook 1 minute, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Dolly’s tip: The spices should smell toasty right away. If they start to stick, add a splash of the broth.Add the chicken and the rest of the salt and for 2 minutes, until the outside of every piece turns white.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Pour in the coconut milk and broth and .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium-high heat
and 15 minutes, until the biggest piece of chicken is white all the way through.
Reduce the heat. It means turning the burner down, usually to medium-low or low, so food cooks gently instead of hard. Electric burners cool slowly, so lift the pan off for a moment if it’s bubbling hard.
How you’ll know: Within a minute the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer, or the sizzle turns quiet.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Small, lazy bubbles are right. A hard boil can split the coconut milk.Food safety: Chicken is done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Heat the cauliflower rice as the bag directs while the curry .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
the spinach and lime juice into the curry and cook 1 minute, until the spinach , then taste and add salt if it needs it.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Low heatTimer: 1 min
Spoon the curry over the cauliflower rice and scatter cilantro on top if you like.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
