Thai Yellow Chicken Curry is a delicious example of the curry dishes Thailand is famous for and it's all gluten free. Thai cuisine is a gift to the gluten free community with so many naturally gluten free dishes. If you're ready for a culinary adventure I've got Thai recipes to dazzle your tastebuds.
I serve this curry with coconut rice and a refreshing carrot cucumber salad. If you're ready to explore Thai cuisine in more depth here is my Thai Dinner Club menu. Be sure to buy Thai Jasmine rice for the full experience.
Jump to:
Ingredients for Yellow Curry
This luscious, creamy coconut sauce would be considered mild by Thai standards. The ginger and red chiles added near the end infuse some heat and flavour into the sauce but are left large enough to be visible so they are not eaten.
- Canned coconut milk - 70% fat content will make a thick curry. Check out this post for more on the fat content in coconut milk.
- Fish sauce - An essential ingredient in Thai cuisine, click to learn more about fish sauce.
- Yellow curry paste - Homemade or store bought, yellow curry paste is preferred for chicken dishes.
- Dried red chiles, ginger root and cilantro - All common and important in many Thai dishes.
- Thai bird chiles - These tiny chiles are hot but can be omitted if you want to keep the heat down to a tolerable level and still enjoy this Thai curry.
See recipe card for exact amounts.
Instructions for Chicken Curry
Chicken - Thai curry is traditionally made with bone-in chicken cut through the bone. When I'm entertaining, and even when I'm not, I prefer to make this dish with boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces.
Green Vegetables - People have made this curry dish in my cooking classes many times and the richness of the sauce seems to be asking for a green vegetable. Serve bok choy or broccoli on the side or cook either of them right in the curry.
Substitutions
Dried red chiles - The heat in this dish comes from the curry paste, dried and fresh chiles. Omit or decrease the amount if you're concerned about too much heat.
Thai bird chiles - Substitute jalapeno or serrano chiles.
Thai Curry Paste
Curry paste is a combination of spices and herbs. Recipes vary by region and family, often being passed down from generation to generation. Depending on the ingredients and amounts used each paste has a distinct colour.
Typically yellow curry paste is for chicken dishes, red curry paste for shrimp curry and green is for pork curry.
For years now I've bought Cock brand yellow curry paste sold in plastic tubs. It will keep in the fridge for a year but share it with a friend so you can try more than one curry recipe.
When I first started cooking Thai curries thirty years ago these pastes weren't readily available. In those days for my Gourmet Dinner Club we made curry paste from scratch. If you're curious check out this post comparing homemade and store bought curry paste.
Freezer Tip
Keep ginger root and any fresh chiles in the freezer. They can be cut or grated into any dish right from frozen.
A Travel Tale from Thailand
From time to time I write a travel post for my friend Sue over at Travel Tales of Life. This post, Thai Red Shrimp Curry, is about our adventures in Thailand many years ago.
Thai Yellow Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2-3 dried red chiles
- 3 tablespoon yellow curry paste
- 4 thin slices fresh ginger
- 1 Thai bird chile, halved and seeded (substitute 1 jalapeno or serrano)
- 2 cups coconut milk
Garnish
- chopped cilantro
OPTIONAL
- bok choy or broccoli
Instructions
- Place a wok over medium-high heat and add the coconut milk, chicken and fish sauce. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered until chicken is no longer pink, about 15 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the wok. Place in a bowl, cover and set aside.
- Return to heat and gently whisk curry paste into coconut mixture. Add the ginger and chiles. Return to a boil, decrease heat and simmer for 10 minutes to reduce slightly.
- Return chicken to wok and bring to a simmer. Add remaining coconut milk and stir. Increase heat to medium-high and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour into serving dish and sprinkle with cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
__________________________________________________________________________
New here? I've got help to get you from overwhelmed and frustrated to confidently cooking gluten free food the whole family wants to eat. Subscribe and get your free resource, 29 Tips for GF flour.
🎉 I made it into the Top 100 Gluten Free Blogs for 2025 and the Top 40 Gourmet Food Blogs. To learn all the ways I can help you click here, Everyday Gluten Free Gourmet.
_________________________________________________________________________
Leona Hawryluk
Sooooòoo delicious. You will savor every bite.
Cinde Little
Yep, this is a lick the bowl kind of dish (when no one's looking). Thanks for sharing your delicious assessment Leona!
Joanne
Amazing Chicken Currie. I could have eaten this as a soup. Love the smooth coconut flavours. This was so well blended and balanced. Thnx Cinde. This was a great evening
Cinde Little
Thanks for organizing your Dinner Club style cooking class. First in person class in 2 years! It was great to meet you all and enjoy dinner together. I love this easy curry recipe too!
Alene
This was delicious! I only had 1 large boneless chicken breast so I reduced the recipe a little. I also have a package of Thai green curry paste that is very good and hot and have used before and decided to use what I had open. I also added broccoli heads right at the end, and they cooked perfectly in the coconut milk mixture with the chicken. Thai basil also added a nice flavor at the end. I am so happy I made this! Thank you for an easy and very flavorful recipe.
Cinde Little
Your welcome Alene, that sounds like a perfect dinner! I love all the improvising you did. I like to add bok choy or broccoli, both are great. I've been making this recipe for years so I hope you will now too!