Thai red curry chicken
Silky coconut red curry with tender chicken, sweet peppers and zucchini, spooned over jasmine rice with a squeeze of lime.
- 40 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.37 a serving
- 690 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 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
- 1¼ lb chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 can coconut milk, not shaken
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 1 zucchini, cut into half-moons
- 1 lime, juiced
- ¼ cup fresh basil, leaves (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
Each serving has about 690 calories, 40 g protein, 69 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $3.37 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No jasmine rice? Long-grain white rice or basmati rice works.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No coconut milk? Light coconut milk works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the rice and water in a medium and bring it over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 15 minutes, then take it off the heat with the lid on.
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.
Low heatTimer: 15 min
the chicken into thin strips and wash your hands and board.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Heat the oil in a large, deep over medium heat and fry the curry paste for 1 minute, , and a shade darker.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
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: Frying the paste first wakes up the spices. It’s the step most shortcuts skip.Spoon in the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk and until the paste into it, about 2 minutes.
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.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Add the chicken and for 2 minutes to coat it in the curry.
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 rest of the coconut milk and the broth, then add the fish sauce, brown sugar, pepper and zucchini. 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken reads 165°F.
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 heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are 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.
in the lime juice, taste, and add a little more fish sauce if it needs salt.
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.
Low heat
Serve over the rice with the basil torn on top.
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.
More dinners like this
Thai green curry chicken
40 min
Thai red curry noodle soup
40 min
Thai-style coconut chicken soup
35 min
Chicken massaman curry
50 min
High-protein dinners ›Cozy comfort food ›What to make with chicken and rice ›What to make with rice and bell peppers ›What to make with chicken and bell peppers ›