If you enjoy curries, you must make these curry coconut milk chicken thighs now. It is so good, and so simple to make. This curry chicken recipe is adapted from our milk chicken thighs, but this time with an Asian flair. Coconut milk, curry, cumin and bright lime zest really adds a wonderful savory curry flavor on our popular curry chicken thighs recipe. 

Chicken in sauce in a skillet

Juicy Chicken Thighs in Curry Recipe {Mom Approved}

We know we have a winner when Diane’s mom devours a dish. She is always a gracious eater, but usually samples like a hummingbird. Little sips and nibbles. However, these curry coconut milk chicken thighs garnered a hearty eating and a couple days of compliments. Mom loves flavor, spice and this dish is an enthusiastic two-thumbs up.

Inspiration from Our Baked Milk Chicken Thighs Recipe

It began as a combination of two of our favorites, a nice homemade curry and our popular recipe for baked milk chicken thighs. Curries are always great and lends so well to these curry coconut milk chicken thighs. It seems like every Asian culture has their own take on curry. Spices, thicknesses, and textures all varying. There isn’t a right or wrong way to make curry, just as long as you like the flavors and textures.

Video: Curry Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs Recipe

Curry Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs sauce pouring over chicken

How To Make Our Homemade Curry Mix

Curry is a combination of what ever spices you like. The best part about making a homemade curry mix is that you can customize it to your personal taste.

  • We’ll usually start with a light browning aromatics like garlic and sometimes onions or shallots in oil or butter. \
  • Then add our favorite curry blend and additional individual spices. 
  • If we are feeling ambitious we’ll mix up combinations of individual favorite spices, toast them create a very original blend from scratch.

Good prepared curry powders and pastes

Sometimes we just love the convenience of using prepared curry seasonings or curry powders. When that’s the case, we’ll enjoy the simplicity of a favorite curry blend for the spice mix, adding in an extra spice or two for a customized flavor or additional heat.

Cooking note about the freshness of spices: We tend to think of spices as lasting forever in the cupboard, but really the fresher the spices the better. After time they’ll start to lose their brightness and fullness of flavor. An older spice will work fine, but a fresher version is usually noticeably better.

Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs with Thin Curry Sauce

After adding the spices to the garlic, we’ll give it a quick stir or two, and then add our liquid. For this curry we were craving a coconut milk style curry, so in goes the coconut milk along with some broth.

  • Then add any other flavoring elements desired; ginger, lemongrass, bay leaves, etc….
  • Season and sear the chicken, remove and make the curry in the same pan.
  • And then add back in the chicken, place it in the oven and an easy 30 minutes later you have a perfect meal.
  • One note is that not all coconut milks are the same. Some are thicker than others, thus will results in a different thickness of curry sauce. Our recipe is a light and thin curry sauce.
  • Want the sauce thicker? You can add a cornstarch slurry by whisking a Tablespoon of cornstarch and a Tablespoon of water. Stir to remove all lumps, then pour the slurry into the hot curry sauce. Stir and within a minute or two, the sauce will thicken.
  • All curry coconut milk chicken thighs recipe details are in the recipe box below with helpful step-by-step photos.

Curry Coconut Milk Roast Chicken Thighs

Adapted from our milk chicken thighs, but this time with an Asian flair. The sauce is very flavorful and thin, easy to pour. Want the sauce thicker? You can add a cornstarch slurry by whisking a Tablespoon of cornstarch and a Tablespoon of water. Stir to remove all lumps, then pour the slurry into the hot curry sauce. Stir and within a minute or two, the sauce will thicken.
4.36 from 88 votes

Ingredients

for the chicken thighs:

  • 2 pounds (907 g) chicken thighs (about 6 thighs), bone-in and skin-on
  • kosher salt or sea salt, to taste
  • fresh ground black pepper , to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) butter or olive oil
  • 3 cloves (3 cloves) garlic , minced
  • 1 (1) bay leaf
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) cayenne pepper , or to taste
  • 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce (or soy sauce), or to taste
  • zest of 2 limes
  • 1 cup (226 g) coconut milk
  • 1 cup (240 ml) chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup (120 ml) minced cilantro

for serving:

  • Cooked Rice or Crusty Bread

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 400° F (205°C).
  • Wash and pat dry chicken thighs. Season both sides of chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
  • In a large oven-proof skillet, melt butter or add oil on medium high heat. Place chicken skin-side down first and sear the chicken until crispy brown, about 2-3 minutes.
  • Flip the chicken and crisp the other side for about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
  • In the same skillet over medium heat add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bay leaf, curry powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, fish sauce, and lime zest.
  • Then add coconut milk and chicken broth. Stir until combined. Bring liquid to a low simmer.
  • Place chicken back into the skillet and transfer to oven. Roast the chicken for about 25-30 minutes or until fully cooked. Internal temperature of chicken should be about 175° F (80°C).
  • After chicken is cooked, top with minced cilantro and serve over rice or with slices of crusty bread.

Video

Nutrition Information per Serving

Calories: 432kcal, Carbohydrates: 3g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 35g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 153mg, Sodium: 518mg, Potassium: 460mg, Vitamin A: 255IU, Vitamin C: 3.5mg, Calcium: 32mg, Iron: 2.8mg
Curry Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs in a skillet

Different Vegetables

If you want to make it even more over-the-top, add in your favorite veggies before you bake. The sky’s the limit here as to what you can add. Carrots, sliced onions, zucchini, potatoes, celery, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, sugar snap peas, green beans, bell peppers. There’s nothing fussy about a good curry and a ton of was to adapt it to your own preferences.

Easy Curry Chicken Recipes