Easy and Delicious Thai Yellow Curry Recipe
Delicious, creamy, and all-around quick and easy Thai Yellow Curry that you’ll definitely want to try out. This curry will make you feel like you’ve just eaten at a restaurant or ordered in from your favorite Thai takeaway.
I fell in love with Thai food during my travels in Thailand. I mean what’s not to love about the cuisine? I’m a sucker for Thai food and Thai curries are one of my favorites. I love the combination of aromatic herbs and spices plus the umami taste you get from the fish sauce. Add in some carrots, potatoes, spinach, and peas, and you get a bright striking Thai curry that is to die for.
This curry is the ultimate comfort food, especially in those cold winter months. It provides the perfect amount of heat, savory, and sweetness that leaves you going back for seconds..or even thirds. This recipe is fairly healthy, gluten-free, and outright delicious. Even the kids won’t be able to stay away from it.
What is Thai Yellow Curry?
Thai yellow curry is a classic Thai dish that’s a staple in Thai restaurants overseas. It’s rich with coconut cream or milk, full of spices, and provides a great savory to sweet flavor making it perfect for kids too. You can either buy ready-made curry paste or make your own and store it for quick and easy weeknight dinners.
What’s in the Thai Yellow Curry?
For this yellow chicken curry recipe, you’ll need:
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts: you can use either, depending on your preference. But just remember to veer with caution as chicken breast tends to cook a lot fast than chicken thighs.
- Sliced onion: You don’t need a lot of it, just half an onion for a curry will do you just fine. If you don’t like onions, you can totally skip this.
- Yellow curry paste: The curry paste is everything! It is basically what flavors the curry. Now I can tell you the brand of curry paste I use, but depending on what part of the world you are in, you may or may not find it. So, it’s best to try out a few brands and then find one that you really like and resembles all the flavors of yellow curry, and stick to it. Of course, using a store-bought curry paste is not as good as making it from scratch, but we’re trying to keep it nice and simple here.
- Coconut Cream: My preference is to use coconut cream to get that rich, decadent flavor and texture. But by all means, you can use coconut milk for this curry too. Just make sure you use the canned stuff and not the carton stuff. And it needs to be unsweetened.
- Carrots, Potatoes, and Fresh baby spinach: These are the common vegetables you’ll find in a Thai Curry. But you can change things up or use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge or freezer.
- Fish Sauce: This adds a very savory element to the curry, but if you want to keep it completely vegetarian, you can leave this out completely
- Brown sugar: Adds the perfect amount of sweetness to this luxurious Thai yellow curry.
- Kaffir Lime Leaf: Totally optional, but honestly this takes this Thai Yellow Curry to a whole new level.
- Rice for serving
- Coriander for garnish
If you want to make a vegetarian version of this curry, you can skip the chicken and fish sauce and add tofu instead. Either way, you’ll blow your taste buds away with this one.
This curry is best served with jasmine rice.
How to make Thai Yellow Curry?
You simply start but lightly frying off the onion in oil until it’s translucent. Add the curry paste and sauté for a bit to release the aromatic flavors. Then add the potatoes, carrots, and half a can of coconut cream. Mix well and cover on medium heat till the potatoes and carrots are almost cooked.
Add the chicken and once that’s cooked season with fish sauce, brown sugar, and salt. Finally, add the chopped baby spinach which will cook in the residual heat. Easy peasy!
Other veggies you can add to this curry
These are some other veggies I like to throw in there.
- Sweet potato
- Peas
- Bell Peppers
- Bamboo shoots
You can also add broccoli, cauliflower, and basically anything else you have in your fridge or freezer. There are no rules on what you can and can’t add so feel free to make it your own.
Tips for making the best Thai Yellow Curry
Use full-fat coconut cream or milk in cans. Don’t use the carton stuff and make sure it’s unsweetened.
Make the curry a day ahead so the flavors penetrate through. In my opinion, it always tastes better the next day.
Easy and Delicious Thai Yellow Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 400 gm boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbsp yellow curry paste
- ½ yellowonion, sliced thinly
- 2 potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 2 carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups spinach,loosely packed
- 1 x 400 ml can coconut cream (you can use coconut milk for a lighter texture)
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp fish sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp brownsugar
- 1 Kaffir lime leaf, slightly torn
- Squeeze of lemon Juice
- Salt to taste
- Rice for serving
- Coriander and chilli flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes until the onions are fragrant and slightly translucent. Add the curry paste and continue to sauté for 1 – 2 minutes until it is fried off. This helps bring out intense flavours from the curry paste.
- Next add the carrots and potatoes, half the can of coconut creamand the kaffir lime leaf. Stir and cover to cook over medium low heat until thevegetables are almost done (they should feel a bit firm, but not as hard as ifthey were raw).
- Then add the chicken, remaining coconut cream and water. (It’simperative you don’t overcook the chicken if you are using chicken breast).
- Once the chicken is cooked, add the fish sauce, brown sugar,squeeze of lemon juice and salt.
- Finally, add the spinach leaves and give it a good stir. This should take less than a minute to wilt.
- Serve with hot jasmine rice and enjoy this decadent curry.
This is my easy, go-to weeknight dinner recipe simply because it is so easy and quick to put together. And it’s a winner with everyone in the family. You can adjust the heat levels by reducing the amount of curry paste you add to the recipe. Hope you enjoy this wholemeal Thai yellow chicken curry as much as we do.
Bon Appetit!
Alternatives for this Thai Yellow Curry
- If you are vegetarian, you could swap the chicken for tofu
- Another option is to use fish or prawns
Storing leftovers
- To store – place any leftovers into a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- To reheat – warm over low heat until hot in a skillet, or microwave.
- Freeze – I don’t recommend freezing this one because the carrots and potatoes are mushy when thawed.
I really hope you enjoy this Thai Yellow Chicken Curry! If you do get a chance to make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
What other proteins can I use for this Thai Yellow Curry?
You can use fish or prawns in this curry, just adjust the cooking time frames so you don’t overcook it. For a vegetarian-friendly option, use tofu or simply add more veggies.
Can I use coconut milk instead of coconut cream?
It’s fine to use coconut milk in this recipe. Just make sure you used the unsweetened canned stuff and not the coconut milk from the carton.
What’s the best way to serve this Thai Yellow Curry?
The best way to serve this delicious curry is with some jasmine rice. The curry absorbs into the rice making each bite incredibly delicious. I’ve also served this curry in a bowl with egg noodles. The kids seem to prefer it. You can also serve it over zoodles or spaghetti squash.
I love seeing it when you share my recipes! Tag me on @travelandtastewithtracy so I can enjoy them virtually with you!
