Quick Chicken Curry

What You’ll Need

Chicken is the main ingredient in this quick curry chicken recipe, and you’ll need just a few more pantry and freezer staples to round it out into dinner. See what you’ll need below. Don’t forget to check the recipe card at the end of this post for the full ingredient amounts.

• Avocado Oil: You can use another neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil instead of the avocado oil.
• Butter: I use unsalted butter in this curry but you can use salted butter if you wish. Feel free to substitute vegan butter or just more oil.
• Onion: I prefer a yellow onion although a red onion will work, too.
• Ginger: Fresh ginger gives the curry a wonderful spicy and gingery bite, so try not to skimp on it!
• Garlic: You can add more garlic if you like a lot of garlic flavor.
• Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or save leftover chicken the next time you make a roast chicken and stir it in already cooked to save even more time.
• Ground Spices: Curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper.
• Tomato Paste
• Coconut Milk: I like light coconut milk – regular coconut milk is also fine.
• Chicken Broth: Substitute water if needed.
• Frozen Vegetables: Cauliflower and peas round out the curry.
• Greek Yogurt: Make sure to use plain yogurt so that it doesn’t compete with the other flavors in this curry. A non-dairy coconut-based yogurt would be a great dairy-free substitute.
• Fresh Cilantro: To garnish.

How To Make Quick Chicken Curry

Follow along with the photos below to get an idea of how to make this curry recipe. Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card lower down.

• Brown the chicken. Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the chicken on both sides.
• Cook aromatics. Melt the butter then saute the onion until soft and translucent. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant.

• Cook spices. Sprinkle in the curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper, and sauté briefly.
• Add remaining ingredients. Stir in the chicken, tomato paste, coconut milk, and chicken broth.

• Stir. Mix until well combined.
• Add veggies. Stir in the cauliflower and frozen peas.
• Simmer. Cover the pot and simmer over medium heat for 20-25 minutes.

• Add yogurt. Just before serving, stir in the Greek yogurt.
• Serve. Sprinkle with minced cilantro and serve over rice.

Tips for Success

You can adjust this quick chicken curry to your tastes or what you have in the freezer – try different vegetables, change the amount of cayenne pepper, and more. See a few suggestions below:

• Try other vegetables. Frozen cauliflower and peas are easy add-ins to this chicken curry, but you can try other vegetables in addition to or in place of those on the ingredients lists. Other vegetables could include diced carrots, cubed potatoes, cherry tomatoes, and spinach. Or, use fresh cauliflower instead of frozen.
• Make it vegetarian. Yes, this is a quick chicken curry but if you would like to keep to the general principles of the recipe you can easily make it vegetarian. Instead of the chicken, stir in a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas.
• Go dairy-free. If you need to make this recipe dairy-free, substitute your favorite non-dairy butter or use oil in place of the butter. Swap the Greek yogurt for non-dairy yogurt.
• Less spicy. It’s easy to make this chicken curry spicier or less spicy depending on your preference. Add or subtract the amount of cayenne pepper to adjust the amount of heat.

How To Store Leftover Chicken Curry

You can portion out individual servings of leftover curry to easily have on hand for lunch later in the week, or enjoy it again for dinner. Here’s how to store your quick curry chicken:

• Fridge – Place the cooled curry in an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• To Reheat – Add portions of chicken curry to a microwave-safe bowl or plate, then reheat it in the microwave in 1-minute increments until hot. Or, place the curry in a pot on the stove and heat it over medium heat until warmed through.