Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry (High Protein, Low Carb)
Creamy coconut chicken curry is a one-pan low carb high protein recipe full off with authentic Southeast Asian flavors. Made with a homemade curry paste of ginger, hot chilies and lemongrass. The tender chunks of chicken are simmered in rich coconut gravy that will have you licking the bowl.
With only 4g of net carbs and a healthy 40g of protein per serving, this easy and flavorful chicken dinner is perfect for low carb and keto diets.
If you love Thai, Malaysian, or Vietnamese chicken curry this recipe will be your new favourite!
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Easy to make and full of authentic Malay Thai flavours this one pan chicken curry features succulent chunks of chicken simmered in a rich coconut gravy spiced with curry powder, hot chilies, lemongrass, and lots of ginger!
Why You NEED to Make This Curry
- Made with a simple aromatic curry paste that keeps well and can be used to make a wide variety of different southeast asian recipes such as rendang, Thai ginger pork stir fry, coconut milk braised chicken and more.
- Simply spiced this dairy free chicken curry uses a standard store bought curry powder so you don’t need a cupboard full of spices.
- Creamy coconut chicken makes excellent leftovers and tastes even better the next day! Perfect for meal prepping and work lunches, this curry is freezer friendly.
- Pairs with a variety of side dishes such as rice, flatbreads, roasted cauliflower rice or a simple vegetable bhaji for a healthy high protein meal.
Recipe Card
Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry (Low carb, High Protein)
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Equipment
- Knife and Cutting Board
- large sauce pan or Dutch oven with a lid
Ingredients
- 4-5 tablespoons coconut oil/butter/ghee
- ⅓ cup Aromatic curry paste see below
- 2 whole black cardamom pods
- 1 whole red chili dried or fresh
- 1 large green pepper chopped
- 2 tablespoons curry powder any
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ cup water divided
- 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs (~8 large thighs) or skinless, boneless chicken, see notes
- 1 can coconut cream or milk 14 oz can, full fat
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ⅓ cup cilantro chopped for garnish
- 1 large lime juiced
Aromatic Curry Paste
- 1 small onion
- ½ large bell pepper red or green
- 4 whole Thai chili pepper red or green stems removed
- 3 cloves garlic
- ⅓ cup cilantro roughly chopped
- 2 large lemongrass stalks finely chopped
- 1 tablespoons ginger root or Galangal
- ½ tablespoon turmeric root or 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ cup lime juice
Instructions
- Prepare the curry paste. Add the onion, pepper, chili peppers, garlic, cilantro, lemongrass, ginger root, and turmeric to a food processor or blender and process into a coarse paste. Set aside 1/3 cup for the curry and place the rest in a sealed container in the fridge for later use (See dedicated post for more information).1 small onion, ½ large bell pepper, 4 whole Thai chili pepper red or green, 3 cloves garlic, ⅓ cup cilantro, 2 large lemongrass stalks, 1 tablespoons ginger root or Galangal, ½ tablespoon turmeric root or 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ cup lime juice
- Sauté curry paste and aromatics. Add the oil to a deep pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the aromatic curry paste, cardamom pods, and red chili, cook down for around 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.1/3 cup Aromatic curry paste, 2 whole black cardamom pods, 1 whole red chili
- Add green pepper to soften. Add the chopped green pepper to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until the pepper begins to soften.1 large green pepper
- Temper the spices. Push the contents of the pan to the sides to make a well in the center exposing the bottom of the pan. If the pan appears dry add oil/butter/ghee and once hot add the curry powder, black pepper, and salt to the well in the pan. Cook for 45-60 seconds until the curry powder begins to bubble and darken, immediately combine all the content of the pan and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.4-5 tablespoons coconut oil/butter/ghee, 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon salt
- Water fry into a paste. Add 1/2 a cup of the water to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the water has mostly evaporated and the contents of the pan are starting to form a paste.1 1/2 cup water
- Brown the chicken. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and nestle the chicken thighs into the pan, top side down. Press lightly to ensure the chicken is directly against the hot pan and allow them to brown undisturbed for 5-7 minutes. Flip the thighs over, they should be nicely browned, and cook the other side for 5-7 minutes. If at any point the pan appears too dry add more oil.2 pounds skinless chicken thighs (~8 large thighs)
- Add coconut cream and simmer. Pour in the can of coconut milk/cream, and the remaining 1 cup of water, stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and allow the curry to simmer for at least 30 minutes until the chicken is tender.1 can coconut cream or milk, 1 1/2 cup water
- Simmer uncovered until gravy thickens. Remove the lid from the pan, increase the heat to medium, bring the curry to a simmer. Allow the curry to simmer uncovered for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the gravy has reached your desired consistency and you are ready to serve.
- Rest, garnish, and serve. Remove the curry from the heat and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, garnish with fresh lime juice, chopped chilies, and cilantro before serving.⅓ cup cilantro, 1 large lime
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated using the recipe calculator and verified database available from Cronometer. Although every reasonable effort is made to provide accurate information this estimate is provided as courteously and convenience only. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Try the free recipe calculator at Cronometer
What is creamy coconut chicken curry?
This easy to make chicken curry features a spicy and fragrant curry paste that starts off a creamy coconut gravy. Borrowing the flavours if ginger, lemongrass, garlic, onions, and hot chilies from Thai, Malaysian and Southeast Asian cuisine, this mouthwatering gravy will have you licking your bowl clean.
The creaminess of the gravy comes from rich coconut cream making this curry chicken dairy free. For simplicity this curry uses a standard store bought curry powder so you don’t need to buy a whole pantry worth of spices to make a yummy chicken curry. The chicken is simmered until it is fall off the bone tender, and then served with fresh lime juice and cilantro.
What to Serve with Coconut Chicken Curry
Like any curry, this chicken needs a proper side to soak up all that rich sumptuous gravy. Pair this recipe with rice, flatbread, or your favourite vegetable bhaji.
Since this curry is inherently low in sugar and carbohydrates, this recipe can be paired with cauliflower rice, keto celeriac bhaji, a lightly toasted low carb flatbread, cauliflower mash or a simple side salad if you want something lighter.
Leftovers, Meal Prep, and Freezing Instructions
Chicken curry makes amazing leftovers that taste even better the next day. This recipe is a healthy low carb option for meal prepping and packed lunches that reheats well. It can even be frozen as a simple thaw-and-serve freezer meal for busy weeknights.
Storing leftovers and meal prepping: Allow the leftover curry to cool and place in a sealed airtight container. To meal prep, divide the curry evenly between 5-6 resealable microwave safe containers along with your preferred side.
Reheating instructions: Reheat covered in the microwave on HIGH for 1 ½ – 2 minutes until warmed through. You can also place in a saucepan on the stove over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes until the chicken is soft and warmed through.
Freezing instructions: This is a perfect low carb recipe to batch cook and freeze for later. We often make a double batch and freeze half as a quick freezer meal when we need it.
Allow the curry to cool and place in an air tight freezer safe container such as a snap lock glass container or strong resealable freezer bag. Place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Thawing instructions: For use the next day, place in the fridge to thaw overnight. You can also prepare this straight from frozen in just minutes by thawing in the microwave or on the stovetop in a saucepan. If the thawed curry appears dry, increase the gravy by adding some water to the pot and adjust the seasoning with salt to taste.
Questions About the Recipe
What is Aromatic Paste?
This recipe was created to make use of my famous aromatic curry paste which I always keep in the fridge. This curry paste was originally concocted as the base for my favourite Beef Rendang recipe, but since it makes a large batch and keeps well in the fridge I am always looking for ways to use it.
This curry paste is a combination of onions, hot and sweet peppers, garlic, ginger, turmeric and lemongrass pureed in a blender or food processor. It has a spicy, citrusy, garlicky flavour and is incredibly fragrant. The flavours in this paste work well with Thai, Burmese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian cuisine, and can be used as a base to start various different Southeast Asian curries, kebabs, and soups.
Can I Use Storebought Curry Paste?
Yes. Although it will change the flavour of the dish, any of your favourite store bought curry pastes such a red curry, green curry, or yellow curry paste can be used in this recipe, even madras or Indian curry paste can be used.
Is coconut chicken curry healthy?
This easy curried chicken recipe is packed with simple ingredients, protein, and important minerals. It’s also very low in sugar and net carbs, making this curry perfect for clean and healthy keto diets.
Each serving of this curry has:
- Only 1.6g of sugar making this a healthy low sugar recipe.
- A generous 40g of protein, a vitally important macronutrient for overall health and satiety.
- Loaded with naturally occurring potassium from whole foods, and a healthy amount of sodium to help keep up your electrolytes while on a low carb diet.
- Curry powder contains turmeric, ginger, and other spices that have been used for their reported health benefits for centuries.
- Recipes that are low in added sugar and high in protein have been shown to be healthy and beneficial for weight management, diabetics, and those seeking a healthier lifestyle
Studies show that:
“meal-specific protein quantities of at least ∼25–30 g protein/meal provide improvements in appetite, body weight management, cardiometabolic risk factors, or all of these health outcomes”
The role of protein in weight loss and maintenance – The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Source)
What is the difference between coconut cream and coconut milk?
Both coconut cream and coconut milk are roughly the same thing. Coconut meat is pureed and blended with water to make the coconut milk you find in a can. Coconut cream generally has less water and more coconut making it creamier.
When you open up a can of high quality coconut milk or cream, there should be a thick layer of white cream on top. This is what you want for this curry, the more cream, the better the gravy will be.
Coconut cream can be found in the ethnic section of most grocery stores, if you can’t find it, use the best coconut milk you can find to make sure tis nice and creamy.
Can I make this keto curry without coconut milk or cream?
Yes, instead of coconut cream you can use “creamed coconut” which is a shelf stable ingredient meant to replace coconut milk. It comes in a box as a hard brick you can cut up and add to curries. It melts into the gravy making it incredibly rich and adds a nice coconut flavour.
If you don’t want to use coconut at all, you can replace the coconut cream with heavy cream, however this will be an entirely different curry and will look, smell, and taste very different, yet still delicious.
If you are looking for a healthy low carb curry without coconut try one of these recipes:
Is This One Pan Curry Spicy?
With flavours derived from Malaysian and Thai cuisine this curry does have an underlying heat, mostly from the hot peppers in the aromatic curry paste. This can easily be adjusted to fit any palette.
For more information about adjusting the curry paste, see my dedicated post for aromatic curry paste.
To lower the spice, replace some or all of the green chilies in the curry paste with green pepper to lower the spice.
To increase the spiciness of this curry, add additional green chilies, cayenne pepper, or hot chili powder (such as Kashmiri red chili powder) to the curry. You may also add hot curry powder.
Garnishing this curry with chopped fresh chilies will add a fresh, spicy, and bright crunch to your bowl without affecting everyone else’s meal.
Which curry powder is used in this recipe?
Curry powder is kind of a catch all term for a mix of spices (masala) used to make various different types of curry.
There are a number of different curry powders available depending on where you shop. Any will work for this recipe but will change the recipe slightly.
Most grocery stores will carry a generic curry powder in the spice section that can be used in this recipe. Hot curry powder, and madras curry powder both work well and are delicious.
Is coconut chicken curry family friendly?
This coconut curry will surely appeal to the whole family. From low carbers, to toddlers this recipe is a hit, just be sure to adjust the spice level to accommodate everyone.
Our toddler loves chicken curry in all forms. We generally chop up the chicken into appropriate sizes (Use the Solid Starts app to be sure!) and only add a small amount of gravy to their plate with some rice or potato.
This makes this meal very accessible for those who are following a low carb diet while their family is not. Make this creamy curry as the main dish, and cook up two sides, one low carb such as cauliflower rice or cabbage bhaji, as well as a pot of rice, or flatbread for everyone else.
Enjoy!
