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.
Jenn the kitchen wizard does it again! This one turned out to be a crowd-pleaser for the whole family. My kid, for whom chicken tikka masala was too spicy, actually thought this curry was “decent.” High praise from a 12–year old whose infantile palate is tough to please. 🙂 Followed recipe as written and served with brown basmati rice.
Any tips for heating up leftovers w/o overcooking the chicken?
So glad everyone (including your 12 years old) liked it. :). For leftovers, you could give them a minute or two in the microwave until just heated through.
👍🏽 thank you!
Add about a teaspoon of Garam masala spice and a little fenugreek leaves. I add some squash etc too.
Just made this , the recipe is excellent!
A ton of flavor, followed it exactly…….it is a keeper.
Very easy to throw together……….
Fabulous. I loved it and my husband couldn’t stop raving about it. We had a bit of hot mango chutney on the side. He’s already asking when I’m going to make it again, and we just finished dinner. Thanks!
I’ve made this recipe many times. However, I omit the sugar and cornstarch and replace the yogurt with a 1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter. I learned this from a friend of mine from India. We love this! And yes, it is so important not to over cook the chicken! Tonight, I’m going to give your Thai Red Curry Chicken a go!
Wonderful idea! 🙂
I’ve made a lot of curries and this one was excellent for a quick and easy dinner and my friends who don’t even like curry enjoy this because very mild
This was great! I don’t think I’d ever cooked chicken with this technique – thin sliced browned at high heat and finished in the sauce later – but it turned out really tender, so I’ll remember that! We liked the leftovers even better the 2nd day after the flavors had melded even more, and served with some extra plain yogurt and peanuts or cashews to put on top.
So delicious!
I have a picky family, and this was a huge hit!!
Very good! Something different for us and will make it again!
Thanks Jen for another successful meal! The biggest compliment came from my boyfriend whom grew up eating curry and was thrilled with your recipe. “It’s as good as his Mom’s”!! 👍❤️ LOVE your recipes.
Hey Jen, I tried this curry chicken recipe on a night where I didn’t have clue on what to make for dinner. Boy was this a HIT and A HALF. The son, the daughter and the hubby loved it. I made with your perfect basmati rice only I used coconut oil instead of butter for a more “healthier” fat and for the coconut taste. It really tasted delicious.
P. S. I really didn’t want to use butter because for dessert I made your warm lemon pudding cakes and I just didn’t want to feel guilty. 😝
Love your recipes Jen and I’m very thankful for your cookbook as well as your website and your instagram page.
😊
Delicious!
This is excellent! I loved and my picky teenage son did as well! Your recipes are always a hit!
Delicious! I added 3 dried Thai chili peppers and used canned coconut milk.
Very good – will be making it again and passing on recipe to friends and family
Made this tonight for dinner and it was great. Pretty easy to do and lots of flavor! I have never used curry before so it will open a new area for us to try. Thanks!!
Hello, if we wanted to increase the heat, what would you recommend?
Many Thanks
Janice
Hi Janice, you could use a spicy variety of curry powder and/or add a pinch or two of cayenne. Hope you enjoy!
Easy to make, easy to modify, easy to spice up. I used full fat coconut milk instead of yogurt. Made things a bit thinner than may have been otherwise. An extra tablespoon of cornstarch should fix that right up. The whole family enjoyed it.
I tried making this for my family, along with the “Perfect Basmati Rice.” First comment, I had never had Basmati rice, wow, that sure makes a difference. It’s great. For this curry chicken – I knew my husband and I would like it, but wasn’t sure about our teenagers, they’re a little picky. My son LOVED it and asked me to make it again the next week, which I will happily do. Thank you for a great recipe!
Not for people who like salty curries. Some of mouths fed liked it however
We loved this recipe for chicken curry! I made two substitutions, though, since I did not have any Greek yoghurt I used sour cream instead and I used Italian parsley instead of the cilantro. I don’t think these changes altered the dishes flavor much at all, but next time I make it I will use the recipe as written, just to see if the flavors are changed substantially. This is a quick and easy recipe for a weeknight dinner. I served it over rice, to sop up that delicious sauce.
Awesome Dish. I add Bell peppers red & yellow to my dish
Amazing!! My very picky 7 and 9 yr olds loved this dish. It turned out way better than expected specially since this was my first time making curry!
There were no quantities in the recipe I used so guessed. Also no mention of sugar. Luckily I read that in the comments. Otherwise good recipe.
Hi Belinda, It sounds like you are just looking at the portion of the page that has the pictures with some instructions underneath. If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures, you’ll find the full recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an icon that looks like a notepad – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Happy to hear, though, that you got a good result guessing about ingredient amounts!! 🙂
This recipe made my husband a fan of curry! Previously, I could only enjoy at restaurants as he was adamant he didn’t like curry. I kept telling him there were many different kinds that he should try this one, lovely, mild and creamy. It worked………thank you Jenn!
My 4 year old and 9 year old absolutely loved this! We all agree it will become a regular dinner! I added a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas, and chopped a carrot to use because I didn’t have any peas. I actually think it would be delicious as a vegetarian dish using the chickpeas, carrots and maybe squash.
Oh my goodness–made this last night–so good!
And I was very excited that mine turned out looking like the beautiful pics above 🙂
This one’s a keeper–thank you for sharing!
Sorry that’s a no from us. Bland and flavourless, even though I was generous with the flavour elements.
Thanks Rebecca! I will try YouTube for help. I doubled up on the ingredients (used LOTS of curry powder) and it still came out bland for me… Agreed, Jen is an excellent chef. I’ve made many of her dishes and they all came out very good, except for this one.
Which curry powder do you use?
Hi Abraham, I use this one by McCormick. Hope you enjoy the chicken!
It is one of the best meals I’ve eaten in my life.
I really like your site and every recipe of yours I tried, I thought was really good. This curry is no exception. It was fairly quick and easy to make and yummy. I don’t usually stray from a written recipe, but I did add a few more Indian spices, like cumin, cardamom and some garam masala, just because I really love those flavors in a curry. I also forgot to add the greek yogurt at the end, but it didn’t matter – it was still delicious. I served my curry over cauliflower rice and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful recipes!
What can I use instead of greek yogurt as I need a non dairy option?
Hi Sharon, 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!
I made this chicken curry a few times. My husband and I usually love the hot & spicy Indian (or Thai) curries more; nevertheless, this is great comfort food and one of our keepers.
Someone asked about freezing this for later and I found a way to do it with a similar recipe. Here’s what I did: After thawing it, I separated the chicken from the sauce, put the sauce in a pan, brought to simmer, and re-thicken it with some heavy cream (or in this case, yogurt) and diluted cornstarch until I got the right consistency. Then I “revived” the flavors by simply re-adding some of the seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, curry, etc.), then added the chicken at the end, cooked for 1-2 minutes, until hot. Et voilà! Dish came out just as good as the first time.
The dish was good, but I found the sauce to taste too much like a gravy, which I do not like. I did not have cornstarch so I added two tablespoons of flour when I was frying onions/garlic/ginger. Does cornstarch give the sauce a different texture?
Hi Olga, It does give it a silkier, less gravy-like texture.
Thanks, Jenn! I will try it with cornstarch next time
Tried it! Loved it! Thank you!
I made this last night. My husband thought it was good, but I was disappointed. I think I was expecting more the depth of flavor like your Chicken Tikka Masala. The curry definitely wasn’t bad, but just kind of bland in comparison with Tikka Masala.
Can you substitute beef in this recipe? I made it with chicken and loved it.
Hi Cindy, I haven’t tried this with beef, but I suspect it would work (though cooking time may be a bit different). I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Hi Jenn–Can I make this the night before and reheat when company arrives? Or will sauce break and chicken overcook? Thanks for any thoughts.
I think it will be fine, Diane – just hold off on adding the yogurt and cilantro until you reheat it. I’d also undercook the chicken just slightly the night before to be sure it doesn’t overcook.
Outstanding news and great tips. Thanks so much, Jenn!
I am going to make 6 pound for each 1 1/4 do i need to put all the ingredients that is in the recipe?
Hi Fanny, I’m not sure I understand your question – could you clarify a bit? Thanks in advance!
Hi Jenn
Iwant to.make this recipe now but I am only have Greek yogurt plain non fat what else do you recommend to add it.
Thanks
That’ll be okay to use, Fanny – no need to add anything else.
Hi Jenn,
Love your recipes.
Wondering if you could make this with left over shredded chicken?
Thank you.
D
Hi Delores, It could work but you’d have to add the cooked chicken at the end with the peas. Hope that helps!
Perfect comfort food!! Thanks so much. 🙂
This is the first time I ever made this and it GREAT…. I give it 5 stars
Can I skip the cilantro? What’s a good substitute (I don’t like cilantro)?
Yes, it’s fine to leave it out, Terry. Enjoy!
Love your recipe’s, every one! The only thing is this; when a recipe call’s for chicken broth, you say you use Swanson’s, but have you ever tried ” better than broth”? I think it is much better than any other broth on the market, I use it and love it. thank you for all the recipe’s and please keep up the good work, Thank you.
Hi Brigitte, so glad you like the recipes! And yes I love Better than Broth, too. 🙂
I feel like a Total ROCKSTAR!
I have been craving curry chicken. And just thought I would have to wait to go out to a restaurant and get it made well.
But I am so glad I found this website and tried this recipe. It was perfectly delicious!!
So, today, I’m cooking Shrimp Tacos and Mexican Rice Pilaf for our parents!!! Thank you Once Upon A Chef!!
How or if can I make this recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Sure – hope you enjoy!
This recipe was a true hit….see why the rating is 5 star 🙂
How much or what is the cost of each ingredients???
Hi Loriejean, The cost of preparing this recipe would really depend upon which of the ingredients you’d need to purchase (versus which you have at home) and the prices at your grocery store. Sorry I can’t be more specific than that!
I bought some boneless skinless chicken fillets on sale and the first thing that came to mind was Curry Chicken. I did a Google search and yours was top rated. I can see why! Easy to make and delicious. The step by step photos along with the words make it a snap to make a be successful. Thank you!
This curry chicken recipe is absolutely awesome !
I LOVED this and so did my son! The flavor is fantastic! I made a triple batch (because I always make “Planned Overs”). and I ate a very good portion of it on my own in the matter of a few days. I ate it for every meal! Yes, I’m crazy, but this stuff is amazing! I dream of it!
Nom! Nom! Nom! This was a real hit even though I forgot the peas! Served with basmati rice.
Made this for the family and they loved it!!
Great! Chicken was so tender and full of flavor, sauce was thickened just right! I used Penzey’s The Now Curry, which is warm and tasty with a tiny bit of heat. Had frozen peas w/carrots and added 2 springtime ramps from the fridge for a little added color and garli-y-ness. Served with basmati rice. Delicious and left-overs were an added bonus! Thanks.