Thai Yellow Curry that is full of a homemade curry paste, chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, and coconut milk flavor! This yellow curry recipe makes a wonderful gluten-free and healthy dinner recipe for busy weeknights.
Do you want a few other healthy curry recipes? Check out this Korma Curry, Chickpea Curry, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, and this Curry Cauliflower Rice.
The inspiration for this Thai Yellow Curry Recipe:
About 4 miles from our last house was the most inconspicuous Thai restaurant. You will find it tucked away in a far back corner of a rather popular shopping center in South Austin.
You would never guess that this “strip-center” restaurant would produce food so authentically Thai. (Especially their Thai yellow curry!!)
For a couple of months in a row, at least one night each week Cohl and I would look at each other and no words needed to be exchanged…
We knew that tonight was going to be a Thai yellow curry recipe kind of night.
He tends to order the green curry (it’s always too spicy for me!) and I lean more towards a Thai yellow chicken curry or massaman curry (both are much tamer on the spicy scale!)
Thai Yellow Chicken Curry Intimidation
After weeks of these shenanigans I realized that I had a true fear… a fear of attempting and ultimately failing at executing a foreign cuisine’s classic recipe.
So I bucked up some courage, headed to our local Central Market, and proceeded to search for a few necessary, but somewhat hard-to-find ingredients.
Can I just offer you a little encouragement? The hardest part of this entire yellow curry recipe… locating the ingredients.
And honestly, after you locate the Thai chili peppers and the lemongrass paste, it really isn’t all that bad!
Below you will learn what is yellow curry, how to make Thai yellow chicken curry, what ingredients you will need, how to make a yellow curry paste, and how to serve, store and reheat this chicken coconut curry recipe.
What is Yellow Curry?
Yellow curry is a milder curry that is often served at Thai restaurants in the West. It is made from a paste full of numerous spices such as curry powder, coriander, turmeric, ginger, garlic, peppers, lemongrass, and sometimes a touch of sugar is added. It is then cooked together with coconut milk to make a delicious yellow curry sauce.
Most yellow curries are made with either chicken, beef, or fish and then a starchy vegetables, such as potatoes, are added. It is then served over steamed rice or with rice noodles.
How to Make Thai Yellow Curry
Making this yellow curry recipe consists of a few steps:
- Add yellow curry paste ingredients into a food processor or high speed blender and pulse until smooth.
- Saute onions until translucent and cook chicken until almost cooked through.
- Add coconut milk, yellow curry paste, bell pepper, potatoes and carrots.
- Simmer yellow curry sauce for 25-35 minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender.
- Serve Thai curry over steamed white rice and garnish with Thai basil. Enjoy!
How to Make Thai Yellow Curry Paste
To make a homemade Thai yellow curry paste recipe you will need a food processor (like this Cuisinart mini-prep food processor) or a high-speed blender. Add the following ingredient and process until a smooth paste forms.
- Garlic and ginger – located in your produce section!
- Thai chili peppers – you will find these at your more specialty grocers. They are the little ~2-inch peppers you see in all of the photos in this post.
- If these are difficult to find you can substitute a diced jalapeno or some cayenne pepper.
- Salt, turmeric, curry powder, and coriander – all can be easily found in the spice section.
- And lastly… lemongrass paste – this was the most difficult to locate. I ended up finding this lemongrass paste
at my larger, more specialty, grocery store. However, if you cannot find it you can always buy this one online
!
You can store this paste for your Thai yellow chicken curry for up to 2 weeks in an airtight zip-top bag in the refrigerator. If you store it much longer it will most likely start to lose its flavor!
Other Ingredients in this Coconut Curry Recipe
Now that you have your Thai curry paste made, let’s take a deeper look into the other ingredients that go into making this recipe:
- Chicken – Both chicken breasts and boneless chicken thighs will work equally as well. Just make sure you cut it into similarly-sized cubes so they cook at the same rate. You can also substitute beef or shrimp. Just make sure to adjust the cook time accordingly.
- Potatoes – Yukon gold potatoes are a great variety to use in this curry recipe. However, if you happen to have red potatoes or another waxy potato available, feel free to use this instead.
- Carrots – These give the dish a nice texture and a natural sweetness.
- Red Bell Pepper – You can also use a green or yellow bell pepper.
- Coconut Milk – Make sure you buy the CANNED coconut milk, not the kind in the refrigerator. Also, if you want a thicker curry, opt for the full-fat coconut milk. If you are OK with it being a bit more watery, but less calories, a lite coconut milk works great!
How to Serve, Store, and Reheat
Yellow curry is very similar to soup in that it stores, freezes, and reheats exceptionally well. I would almost be so bold to say that it tastes even BETTER as leftovers.
How to Store Yellow Curry: Prepare the entire recipe as outlined below, let it come to room temperature, and then store in plastic or glass containers in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Can I Freeze Curry? You absolutely can freeze your leftover yellow curry for up to 3-4 months. Let it come to room temperature, and then place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before transferring to the freezer.
Reheating Yellow Chicken Curry: If refrigerated, you can reheat the yellow curry on the stovetop (personal preference) or quickly reheat it in the microwave. If stored in the freezer, let it thaw naturally in the refrigerator and then reheat on the stove or in the microwave.
Other Recipes like this Yellow Curry Recipe:
- Chickpea Curry
- 15-Minute Curry Cauliflower Rice | Paleo
- Slow Cooker Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
- Chicken Korma Curry
- More healthy dinner recipes.
Thai Yellow Chicken Curry with Carrots and Potatoes
Thai Yellow Curry recipe that is full of traditional Thai flavors, chicken, coconut milk, carrots and potatoes. A healthier and gluten-free dinner recipe for those busy weeknights!
Ingredients
Yellow Curry Paste
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 tsp. ginger paste or grated ginger
- 2-6 Thai chili peppers finely diced
- 1 ½ tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. curry powder mild
- 1 tsp. coriander ground
- 1 Tbsp. lemongrass paste
Yellow Chicken Curry
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 ½ cups sweet onions cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 lb. chicken cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 red bell pepper cut into 2-inch strips
- 1 ½ cups carrots cut into ½-inch pieces
- 1 ½ cups Yukon gold potatoes cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 2 15-oz. cans full-fat coconut milk or one can lite and one can full-fat
- 1 Tbsp. white sugar
- ½ tsp. salt
Instructions
For the Yellow Curry Paste:
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Combine all yellow curry paste ingredients together in the bowl of a small food processor. (If you have a 6+ cup processor you may want to double the recipe.)
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Process ingredients for 2-4 minutes, or until ingredients become a thick paste.
For the Yellow Chicken Curry:
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Drizzle olive oil into a large pan over medium heat and add onions. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
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Add chicken and curry paste. Saute over medium heat for 3-5 more minutes, or until chicken is almost done cooking.
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Add red bell peppers, carrots, potatoes, milk, sugar, and salt. Stir until well combined.
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Bring curry to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 25-35 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
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Serve yellow chicken curry over jasmine rice and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
You can double or even triple the Yellow Curry Paste recipe. If you would like to save the paste for later, store it in an airtight zip-top bag and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Jesi says
I haven’t tried it yet but it’s so beautiful on the stove and the house smells incredible. I doubled the recipe but only had two cans of milk. I cooked this in one cast iron pot on the stove from start to finish.
It’s cooking. My husband went to get more coconut milk at the store since I ended up doubling. It’s 10am and I am doing OMAD (one meal a day). I love to eat by 1130am. Everyone asked if they could have it for breakfast 🙂 I made it with chicken thighs. I’ll taste it prior to serving. I want to add some organic chicken bouillon and some peanut butter for some reason. I am resisting that urge.
I still had tiny little pepper remnants in the paste because we don’t have our food processor at this house and the nutri bullet didn’t cut it.. so I’m ordering another food processor now this morning. If you have one that does well with this paste I would love to know which one.
I love my cast iron pots and pans and they are super oiled and look incredible with the yellow of the curry! This dish is a winters dream.
London Brazil says
Yay, Jesi! So happy to hear the recipe worked out for you so well! Hoping you really enjoyed it once it was time to eat :). Thanks for your comment and rating!
Julie Baxter says
I have made this a couple of times now and it is absolutely delicious! Don’t skimp on the quality of coconut milk though – it makes a big difference.
London says
Yay! So happy you enjoyed the recipe, Julie! And your SO right on the quality of coconut milk. Thanks for your comment 🙂
PRC says
Loved it! Used way less coconut milk and was still fairly liquidity at the end so thickened it. . Agree on longer prep time if using one pan (or wok). Will definitely make it a part of the rotation!
London says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
Myri says
How much is a portion, as calculated in your nutrition facts label. Thank you i
London says
Hi Myri! Unfortunately I do not have an exact portion size, only that it serves roughly 6 people. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Charles says
How do you think the curry/coconut milk mixture would work cooled to make a potato salad?
London says
Great question, Charles! I think you can use the spice blend and add it to the traditional mayonnaise used in a potato salad. Not sure that the coconut milk will do so well as a dressing for the salad since it’s quite a bit more runny! Would love to know how it goes if you try it out! 🙂
Hannah says
Delicious! We enjoyed for dinner last night over brown rice!
This recipe took me longer than 50 minutes, but I had to peel and chop veggies and other ingredients as I went. I was not able to prep all my ingredients ahead, which saves time.
My personal edits: I used 1 tsp (instead of 1.5 tsp) of salt in the paste and fresh lemongrass because that’s what I could find. I stepped some finely chopped lemon grass in 1/8 cup of boiling water and added to rest of paste ingredients. Also, I omitted the sugar and salt in the curry ingredients because we did not need the extra sweet and sodium.
London says
Thank you so much for your feedback, Hannah!! I will take a closer look at the recipe at adjust the prep/cook time based on your suggestion. Thanks again for your comment and rating!!
Jordan says
Cannot wait to try this recipe. We love curry in our house!
London says
Curry is the BEST! So excited to hear what you think 🙂
Anonymous says
Loved this recipe. Great flavor. I will chop the potatoes and carrots a bit smaller next time…our local carrots are all like wood right now…had to cook them so long the potatoes were over cooked. I don’t feel this is the fault of the recipe. This recipe is a keeper!
London says
So happy you enjoyed it!! Sorry the potatoes ended up a bit overcooked. Thanks for your comment and review! 🙂
Madi says
Thank you for explaining so thoroughly how to make this yellow curry! It made cooking it for my family a breeze.
Caitlin says
How much of the curry paste do you actually add when making the Thai curry?
London says
All of it!! You can double or triple the recipe for the paste and refrigerate the extra for a few weeks, though!
Charlotte says
About how much does the paste recipe make? A few tablespoons? I’ve found a paste I like at my local Asian market and want to know how much to use! Thanks!
London says
Hi Charlotte! I am not sure of the exact amount, but it is around 1/3 cup. If replacing with another curry paste you can always add a little first and add more as needed!