Chicken Curry
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Whip up a one-skillet chicken curry, brimming with vibrant peas and rich flavors, all in just 30 minutes—a weeknight winner!
If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the hunt for new recipes to spice up weeknight family dinners. Well, I’ve got just the dish for you to try: chicken curry in a hurry. Start with thinly sliced chicken breasts, give them a quick sauté, then as they simmer in a rich curry sauce, toss in some frozen peas for a pop of color and wholesome goodness. The best part? This one-skillet dish is ready in about 30 minutes, making it perfect for those nights when you have to hit the kitchen running.
Keep in mind, the flavor and spice profile of the finished dish will vary depending on the brand of curry powder you select. I use McCormick curry powder, which is readily available in most supermarkets and produces a mild, kid-friendly curry. Opt for your preferred curry powder and pair the dish with fluffy basmati rice or naan for a meal that’s sure to become a weeknight family favorite.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Curry
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts: A lean protein option that absorbs the curry flavors well.
- Curry Powder: A complex blend of spices including turmeric, cumin, coriander, and others that gives the curry its distinctive warm, aromatic flavor.
- Onion, Garlic, Ginger: This trio adds depth and forms the foundational flavor of the curry.
- Chicken Broth: Forms the savory base of the curry sauce.
- Cornstarch: Used to thicken the sauce.
- Frozen Peas: Add color, texture, and sweetness to the dish, offering a nice contrast to the savory and spicy elements of the curry.
- Plain Greek Yogurt: Adds creaminess and a slight tang to the curry sauce, balancing the spices and enriching the texture.
- Cilantro: Brings a fresh flavor that complements the rich and spicy notes of the curry beautifully.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by cutting the chicken into 1/4-inch slices. The best way is to cut each breast in half lengthwise, then slice on the diagonal. Don’t make yourself crazy over it, but try to make each piece about the same size; this ensures that they cook evenly. Next, season the chicken with salt, pepper and curry powder.
Heat some vegetable oil in a large skillet, then briefly sauté the chicken until it is lightly browned but still pink in spots.
Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl, then add the onions to the pan and cook until soft and translucent.
Add the ginger, garlic, and more curry powder and sauté until fragrant.
Add the chicken stock and cornstarch to the vegetables.
Cook until the sauce is thickened, then add the chicken back to the pan, along with the frozen peas and simmer until the chicken is just cooked.
Add the Greek yogurt and fresh chopped cilantro.
Stir until combined.
Serve with basmati rice and/or naan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Curry powder is a blend of various spices, and each brand has a unique combination with different flavor profiles and levels of heat. For a family-friendly option that’s not too spicy, McCormick is a reliable choice readily available in many supermarkets.
While nonfat yogurt can technically be used, a yogurt with at least 2% fat content is preferable as it adds richness and depth to the sauce. If you’re ever in a pinch and out of yogurt, sour cream can be a great substitute, ensuring the curry maintains its creamy texture and taste.
Absolutely! Just ensure any additional vegetables are pre-cooked before they’re added with the peas. If you’re substantially increasing the veggies, consider also increasing the sauce by about 25% to keep the dish balanced.
Video Tutorial
You May Also Like
Chicken Curry
Whip up a one-skillet chicken curry, brimming with vibrant peas and rich flavors, all in just 30 minutes—a weeknight winner!
Ingredients
- 1¼ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¼-inch strips
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2½ teaspoons curry powder, divided
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (see note)
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, best quality such as Swanson
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup frozen peas (no need to thaw)
- ¼ cup plain low fat (2%) or whole Greek yogurt (do not use nonfat)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Sprinkle the chicken evenly with ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon curry powder.
- Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned but still pink in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1½ tablespoons oil to the skillet and set heat to medium. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger and remaining 1½ teaspoons curry powder and cook until fragrant, about a minute more.
- Whisk the chicken broth and cornstarch together to dissolve the cornstarch, then add to the skillet along with the sugar and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce is nicely thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the peas and partially cooked chicken to the skillet, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, a few minutes. Off the heat, stir in the yogurt and cilantro; then season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with basmati rice.
- Note: Check out easy guidance on how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger here.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 361
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated fat: 2g
- Carbohydrates: 15g
- Sugar: 6g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 36g
- Sodium: 830mg
- Cholesterol: 93mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
One question:
Why nonfat yogurt instead of regular yogurt? What’s the problem with nonfat yogurt for Curried chicken?
Hi Thomas, Since the yogurt is used to enrich the sauce, whole milk yogurt is a better choice than nonfat.
Good, but I keep reading the recipe over and over and while I see the sugar listed with the other ingredients but where or when it the sugar added? I can’t believe that so many have made this recipe but no one mentions this. Am I missing something? I am also amused that this is supposed to be an easy recipe, yet we are told to split many of the ingredients, but if you want to make it easy, why isn’t the amount stated in the description of the steps of the recipe? Using a cellphone requires going back and forth to the ingredients when it would be so much easier to just read the amount when it is added to the recipe. This may be a convention of recipe books, but we are in the age of the cellphone, for pete’s sake! Please don’t suggest that it should be printed out–I don’t have that capacity.
Hi Lee, You need to scroll down a little further to the instructions — the step-by-step photo tutorial doesn’t include specifics. Sorry for any confusion!
Take a photo on mobile of recipe then u don’t have to go back and forward
Some people, like myself, need it printed out because I don’t use a cellphone that often. Not everyone uses a cellphone.
I know that’s not what you meant, but you made it sound as if there should not be a printing option just because you “don’t have that capacity.”
I’ve been to a few sites where this is NO print option, which can be a pain in the butt, too.
I’ll be PRINTING THIS recipe out, and using it tomorrow night.
Thank you, Jenn, for this recipe.
I’m not a big fan of curry, but have been trying to add more curry, and turmeric, to my diet for health benefits.
It really does look easy enough. Splitting ingredients isn’t that hard to do.
You can always print a website page. Instead of looking on the website itself for a print button, just use the web browser’s print feature(usually in the top menu).
I’ve made this twice. Family loves it. I may add sliced mushrooms next time, because we like them. Great recipe. My only quibble– no way is this a 30 minute recipe unless you aren’t counting prep time, or have a second pair of hands at work. For me, it was close to an hour and a half to table, which is pretty much what I expected.
This was great… I made it last week using chicken… then today I made it using extra firm tofu and it was tremendous. Great recipe!
THIS RECIPE WAS EASY, DELICIOUS AND TASTED YUMMY. MY FAMILY LOVED IT! I ADDED A LITTLE MORE CURRY AND THE GINGER GAVE IT A NICE AWEET FLAVOR.
Hi, Jenn.
I made your chicken curry tonight. It looked great and smelled delicious, the chicken texture was nice…looked just like your photos as as I cooked it. I was proud.? But we found it sour tasting! I usually find your seasonings perfect so I’m not sure. Was wondering if it was the curry powder I used? I used the basic McCormick one, a new bottle. I was wondering with the leftovers, how I might counteract this? Coconut milk? I’ve never cooked with that. Was also wondering what kind of curry you use?
Thanks. Jane
Hi Jane, sorry to hear you found this to be sour! It wouldn’t be the curry powder (btw, I use the basic McCormick version like you did). Greek yogurt can have a bit of a tang, so I wonder if that’s what you tasted. (Or any chance the yogurt you used was spoiled?) And yes, you could try coconut milk or heavy cream here.
This recipe was easy to follow, easy to make and delicious. It will be a go to for us. I’m trying to get husband to eat more veggies, so I added to the peas one carrot, sliced and about 2 handfuls of small caulifloweretts.
I made curry chicken for the first time and I loved it! Absolutely wonderful.
Great! I had to simmer it a little longer than directed to get the right thickness, but the taste was amazing.
perfection!!!
First time making this and it was delicious! I substituted fresh green beans for the peas. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hey ! So this was my first attempt to curry and it came out delicious ! I think that this recipe serves as a base for your likings.
My notes ..
– don’t use too much ginger
– i used coconut milk instead of yogurt
– added carrots and potatoes and let it simmer
– I added some turmeric and more curry power
Delicious ! I’m going to keep making this my own.
How should I make this dairy free and still have a rich and flavorful sauce? I’m sure I could use a nut milk (unsweetened? amount?) and how about thickeners? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated (especially if they are tried and true).
Hi MK, you could use a non-dairy yogurt; that would give you a similar consistency. Nut milk will also work and, if you want the finished dish to be a little thicker, just simmer it for a little longer. Hope you enjoy!
The standard indian way is to first throw into the pan finely chopped onion, garlic and ginger. When that starts changing colour, add finely chopped tomatoes. Cook until the oil separates from the tomatoes and you’ve got a thick paste like mixture (adding a tablespoon of water at a time to make sure it doesnt stick to the bottom of the pan and burn, with fresh tomatoes, their own natural juices usually dry up before they’ve reached your desired consistency). At this point you add your curry powder and then uncooked chicken. Cook until the juice that comes out of the chicken evaporates and the oil separates and then add about a cup of water and cook semi covered on a medium low flame till chicken is fork tender and your curry is of the desired consistency. Add more water, a little at a time if you’d like more gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.
This is a delicious and simple recipe as is, but I couldn’t help myself. I added more vegetables (carrots, beans and broccoli) and coconut milk (for texture and flavour) and turmeric for colour. Next time I think I’ll omit the cornflour and sugar.
This is by far the easiest and delicious curry chicken to make. I personally prefer boneless chicken thighs cut in thin strips and instead of cornstarch I used cubed baby potatoes as the thickener. Yummy! !!
And instead of yogurt or sugar I used about 1 tbsp of sweetened coconut flakes and also some dried chili peppers 2 crushed pods of cardamom and half stick of cinnamon. I love this basic recipe because you can adjust to your liking. Love it thank you.
An unfortunate example of how we have no desire to experience tastes outside of the typical ordinary flavors of the standard American diet. Let’s go to McDonald’s for a quality tasting burger while we’re at it. Honestly, bland yellow, off-the-shelf curry powder? Perhaps I am not the intended audience for this recipe or this site.
Or just maybe, Chris, you’re a self-important, egomaniacal pompous ass.
AGREED!!
Chris,
I agree you are not the intended recipe for this or any other recipe on this site. How arrogant and rude. Obviously, you are in the minority here. Not a place for snarky comments.
This was soooo good! Even the four year olds liked it…Thank YOU
This was the most delicious curry I’ve had in a long time. I love how the flavors blended together and especially the addition of fresh grated ginger.
Why not non-fat yogurt? That happens to be all I have in the fridge and I want to know if it’s going to ruin my curry if I use it. Speedy response would be appreciated… It’s on the stove now. Lol.
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Doreen, It will work; the dish just won’t be as rich. Hope you enjoy it!
Great recipe! I’m just curious. Why do you go through the extra step of removing the cooked chicken from the pan in order to cook the onions, garlic etc… and then put back the chicken in the pan?
Hi David, Glad you enjoyed it. I remove the chicken so it doesn’t overcook.
Found this recipe years ago and it’s still in the rotation 🙂
Full of flavour and super easy to make!!!!!
I love the taste but the meat seemed a bit hard after i put into the sauce to boil a few mins. Is there any way to soften the chicken breast meat?
Hi Desiree, by “hard” I’m assuming that means a bit dry? If so, I think the chicken may have been a bit overcooked. Next time, I’d take it off the heat just a bit earlier.
I make this about once a week. It is easy for a busy night and it is delicious!
I loved this simple recipe! I couldn’t really pick up much curry flavor in the final product and the cilantro was a bit too powerful, so when I made it a second time, I cut back on the cilantro, added a bit more curry, and also some cumin. The cumin really helped the Indian flavor come through. The sauce didn’t thick too much, so I added about 1/4 cup water and 2 Tbsp. cornstarch mixture to it while stirring and it thickened up in no time at all!
Neither I nor my family had ever had curry. After seeing this, I decided to give it a shot. It has become a staple in our house now. Absolutely love it!
can i use spinach instead of peas?
Sure, Dwenith, I think that would work here.
You could use virtually any veggie in this recipe in place of peas — carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, or asparagus would work quite well. Maybe even apples and some toasted cashews. Or mix and match! S’all good!
Great recipe – truly flavorful & directions are on point and really easy to follow.
My daughter described it as yummy goodness.
THANK YOU for sharing your recipe!!
Hi Patti, I’m assuming I’m seeing this about 24 hours too late- sorry! Did you already make the chicken?
I made this tonight and hubby is a curry snob – he is going to LOVE this!! I didn’t have peas -put in edamame instead….
There is no measurement, how much Greek yogurt?
Hi Rebecca, you’ll need a quarter cup of Greek yogurt.
This recipe is easy and delicious! I added a mixed bag of broccoli florets, cauliflower, and sliced carrots in addition to the frozen peas and it was so good. Next time, I’ll try it with coconut milk for variation.
This was easy to make and tastes amazing! My son had 3 servings he loved it so much.
I made this for dinner last night and it was truly amazing. Very flavorful. I also didnt have cilantro, but it tasted great without it, and i most likely doubled ginger by accident which made it spicier but very good. My 6-year-old daughter ate the whole plate without complaining and my boyfriend loved it too! Thank you.
So did you add the yogurt as well?
This was AMAZING. I was in the mood for a curry, but I didn’t want to spend the 2-3 hours that traditional curry takes (chicken masala, saag paneer, etc.) I did change a couple things:
I had some homemade vegetable broth I made from celery and leeks, so I used that instead of chicken broth. Amazing #1.
I bumped up the curry powder and added a few dashes of cayenne, since I like my curry on the spicy side. Amazing #2.
I used coconut milk rather than yogurt and sugar. Amazing #3.
And I didn’t have cilantro, so I topped it with finely chopped scallions. Worked just fine. Amazing #4.
I also had in on brown basmati rice. Yum!
If you substitute bean curd for chicken, this can easily be converted to vegan. Thank you for this recipe!!
I am a new to curries but this was excellent! We will definitely be doing this recipe again.
This chicken curry was absolutely delicious! I used 2 large shallots instead of the onion and it worked really well. (I can’t eat regular onions so I always use shallots.) I also omitted the cilantro because I did not have any but it was still great! This will be added to my regular rotation.
Absolutely delicious. Thank you. ??
This dish was easy and quite tasty. My husband and daughter thought it was great too. I followed the recipe exactly as written except I forgot to add the cilantro at the end, but it wasn’t really needed. Thank you for another great recipe!
Great recipe. Very easy to make
Thank You! So often I am disappointed with recipes I find online, but this was outstanding. I made it last night and followed the recipe exactly, except that I used sour cream as I didn’t have Greek yogurt. I halved the recipe because I was cooking for one, but it was so good that next time I’ll double it and freeze the extra sauce in ice cube trays to enjoy another time. (Heat up 4-5 cubes, add sour cream and serve with Naan Bread and a green salad; perfect mid-week meal). I’m looking forward to exploring more of your recipes. Barb H.
Thanks, for the suggestion on the substitution of sour cream for the greek yogurt. I am trying to use what i have at home and so far I have everything except the cilantro and greek yogurt.
Another delicious recipe! I made small cubes of half of a zucchini and sauteed those while I was chopping the onions. Then I added the onions. I also cubed a peeled potato and boiled it for a few minutes, and added that when I added back the chicken. (My kids don’t like peas, so I wanted to add a little more veg and also bulk up the recipe since I wasn’t using the peas.) Added more curry (some medium curry, some garam masala). The whole thing was quick, easy, and delicious — perfect for a fall weeknight dinner! Thanks for another winner!
Could this be made dairy free by substituting coconut milk instead of yogurt?
Sure Elise, that will work. Enjoy!
This is one of my favorite recipes on your site so far! I usually add in a can of coconut milk (I love the flavor in curries) and if I do that, then I also increase the amount of spices just a bit. It’s also super good just as is with some steaming jasmine rice. Reheats well the next day for lunch at work too.
I made this using coconut milk in lieu of cornstarch and chicken broth, and also omitted sugar. It was delicious.
Another amazing chicken dish!
Regarding freezing the curry… I plunked the frozen pint in a saucepan under a low flame. 15 minutes later it was excellent.
So glad to hear that Stan– thanks for letting me know!
I just finished cooking this recipe. It is delicious and quick. I will keep it in my menu rotation. Thank you. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
I cannot wait to try this! I did notice in the pics that the chicken is being sauteed in a stainless steel skillet. I’ve never had much luck sauteing or stir-frying chicken in anything other than a non-stick pan. Can you offer some guidance on this? Thanks!
Hi Edward, You may find the tips here helpful. Hope you enjoy the chicken!
Perfect once again. I love this quick, easy recipe. My family and we never have left overs. The only problem is I need to cook more of it. Thanks again. 5 stars⛤⛤⛤⛤⛤
The flavors of this, though perhaps not spicy enough for some, are excellent! Thank you for this amazing curry recipe!
This is the first time I have used a recipe from your site and it was fantastic. I did combine regular curry powder with Penzey’s hot curry powder to give it a little more kick. You can tinker with either hot curry powder or garam masala to get it to the right spiciness for your individual taste. My kids adored this recipe. I will now be searching to see what other fabulous recipes you have here!