Thai Green Curry Chicken

Love eating Thai Green Curry Chicken at your favorite Thai restaurant? Oh dear, just wait until you make it at home!

This Thai Green Curry Chicken is creamy, fragrant, cozy, and full of that bold Thai flavor you crave, with tender chicken, coconut milk, green curry paste, Thai basil, eggplant, and just enough sweetness and fish sauce to make you ahh with delight after your first bite.

And the best part? It’s easier, cheaper, and even better than takeout once you know a few little Thai curry tricks!

What Is Green Curry Chicken

Green Curry Chicken is a classic Thai coconut curry made with green curry paste, coconut milk, chicken, Thai basil, fish sauce, palm sugar, and vegetables like Thai eggplant, peas, or pea eggplants.

In Thai, it’s called Gaeng Keow Wan Gai, which means sweet green curry with chicken. But don’t let the “sweet” part confuse you! It doesn’t mean dessert-sweet. It refers more to the curry’s pale green color than the actual taste.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Authentic Thai flavor taught to you by a Thai cooking class instructor
• Easy enough for a weeknight, but special enough for guests
• Flexible with chicken, pork, eggplant, peas, or whatever veggies you can find
• Tastes even better the next day after all those herbs and spices have had time to mingle!

Green Curry Chicken Ingredients You’ll Need

• 2 tbsp cooking oil of your choice, I like coconut oil – Coconut oil helps accentuate the coconut flavor, but use whatever oil you have on hand, it helps fry the coconut cream and curry paste so the flavor blooms.
• 2 cans coconut milk, 14 oz each – Chao Koh is my favorite! Try not to shake the cans because you want that thick coconut cream on top.
• 1 cup water – Loosens the curry so it’s perfectly spoonable over jasmine rice.
• 3–6 tbsp Thai green curry paste – Start with less if you’re spice-sensitive, and add more if you love heat. Mae Anong is a great brand.
• 1.5 lbs chicken breasts, thinly sliced – Thin slices cook quickly and stay tender. You can also use pork if you prefer.
• 1 cup frozen or fresh shelled peas, or small pea eggplants – Pea eggplants are traditional and fun if you can find them, but peas are a great grocery-store-friendly option.
• 1 lb small Thai eggplants, cut in quarters, or 2 long Asian eggplants cut into bite-sized pieces – Thai eggplants give the curry that classic texture, but Asian eggplant works too.
• 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves – Also called makrut lime leaves. They add that dreamy citrusy Thai aroma.
• 2-3 tbsp fish sauce to taste – The salty, savory magic that brings the curry to life.
• 1–2 tbsp palm sugar, or brown sugar, to taste – Balances the heat, salt, and coconut milk.
• 1 cup fresh Thai basil with flowers, or other basil you have on hand – Thai basil gives that sweet, peppery, anise-like finish.

How to Make Green Curry Chicken

Step 1: Warm the oil

Add 2 tbsp cooking oil to a large pot and warm it over medium heat.

Step 2: Scoop out the coconut cream

Be careful not to shake your 2 cans coconut milk because you want the thick cream to stay on top. Spoon the thick coconut cream from each can into the pot.

Heat it over medium heat until it reduces and starts to look bubbly and glossy, almost like melted marshmallows.

Step 3: Fry the curry paste

Add 3–6 tbsp Thai green curry paste to the coconut cream.

Fry it for a few minutes, stirring often, until the curry paste smells so fragrant it soothes your soul and makes you smile. This step is where the flavor wakes up, so don’t skip it!

Step 4: Add the liquid

Add the rest of the coconut milk from the cans and 1 cup water to the pot.

Stir everything together and bring it to a gentle boil.

Step 5: Add the chicken

Add 1.5 lbs thinly sliced chicken breasts to the curry.

If you somehow found 1 cup pea eggplants, add them now too. I never find them, but yay for you if you did!

If you’re using fresh or frozen peas, don’t add them yet or they will disintegrate. Lesson learned!

Return the curry to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the chicken is mostly cooked through.

Step 6: Add the vegetables and lime leaves

After simmering, add 1 lb Thai eggplants, 1 cup frozen or fresh peas if using, and 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves to the pot.

Simmer for a few more minutes, until the eggplants are tender but not mushy. Make sure you keep them under the curry broth so they don’t brown.

Step 7: Season the curry

Taste the curry.

If it needs more salt, add fish sauce to taste.

Add 1–2 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar, depending on how sweet you like your curry. I like my green curry a little sweet because coconut milk lends itself so beautifully to that flavor.

Taste again and adjust until it feels balanced: salty, creamy, a little sweet, and gently spicy.

Step 8: Add Thai basil

Stir in 1 cup fresh Thai basil and cook for one more minute.

Turn off the heat so the basil stays bright and fragrant.

Step 9: Serve

Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.

Spoon that creamy green curry over the rice and enjoy every cozy, fragrant bite!

Additions and Substitutions

• Chicken substitute: Pork, shrimp, tofu, or mixed vegetables
• Thai eggplant substitute: Asian eggplant, zucchini, green beans, or bell peppers
• Pea eggplant substitute: Frozen peas or fresh shelled peas
• Thai basil substitute: Italian basil or holy basil if you can find it
• Kaffir lime leaves substitute: Lime zest, or leave them out if needed
• Palm sugar substitute: Brown sugar or coconut sugar
• Coconut milk substitute: Use full-fat coconut milk for the best texture and flavor
• Green curry paste substitute: Store-bought green curry paste works great, but homemade green curry paste is amazing if you have time

Tips for the Best Green Curry Chicken

• Don’t shake the coconut milk cans. You want the thick coconut cream to stay on top so you can scoop it out and fry the curry paste in it. That’s one of the secrets to deeper curry flavor.
• Fry the curry paste. Don’t just stir it into liquid and call it a day. Frying the paste in coconut cream helps release the oils and makes the curry taste so much better.
• Start with less curry paste if you’re nervous. Thai green curry paste can be spicy! Start with 3 tablespoons, then add more next time once you know your family’s spice level.
• Slice the chicken thinly. Thin chicken cooks quickly and soaks up more curry flavor.
• Don’t add peas too early. If you add peas at the beginning, they can get too soft and sad. Add them later so they stay pretty and sweet.
• Make it ahead if you can. Thai curries often taste even better the next day because all the herbs, curry paste, coconut milk, and fish sauce get to know each other overnight.

Behind the Green Curry Chicken Recipe

I have a confession to make.

We rarely make Green Curry Chicken at my house.

Crazy, right?

You would think someone who loves cooking Thai food would make it at least once a month. And I do love it! Many Americans adore green curry. Many Thais adore green curry. I adore green curry.

But my Thai Hubby?

Not so much.

He says he got sick of it.

When he was a kiddo, he would walk down the dusty streets of Sukhothai, Thailand and smell that green chili coconut perfume floating through the air. For a while, it was intoxicating. But after years and years of eating it, smelling it, and seeing it all over Thailand, it became boring to him.

Why eat green curry when there were hundreds of Thai food vendors selling more interesting, exciting Thai food?

I cannot relate.

Before writing this blog post, I tried to think of a food I’ve gotten sick of because I’ve eaten it so much, and I couldn’t think of a single thing. Maybe it’s because I always change up whatever I eat before something I savor with every bite becomes something I crinkle my nose at.

But we finally ended our green curry fast when we planned to make Thai food for friends who love green curry.

After not eating it for so long, our taste buds started getting excited on Thursday, and dinner wasn’t even until Saturday.

But when Saturday night arrived, my friend’s husband had a canker sore, and she had a cold. They didn’t want spicy food to scar their already tender mouths and throats, which was very wise, so we decided to play it safe and make something non-spicy.

But I had already bought the fresh Thai eggplant and basil, which meant Thai Green Chicken Curry had to happen soon.

And it was going to be all for Thai Hubby and me.

Too bad.

Since I hadn’t made it in a while, I was a little rusty. I threw in so much chicken that when Thai Hubby lifted the lid to peek in the pot, he said, “Um, isn’t that a little dry?”

It looked more like chicken with a little coconut milk splashed on top than a creamy, dreamy curry.

So I added another can of coconut milk, more green curry paste, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Then Dom took a sip from his spoon and said, “So good!”

And just like that, the green curry fast was officially over.

If you’re wondering which green curry paste to use, it’s up to you. I bought a small can of Maesri since we don’t eat tons of it, but the big Mae Ploy tubs work too.

Are you like Thai Hubby? What food have you gotten sick of after eating it so much? Help me relate!

Green Curry Chicken Frequently Asked Questions

Want more cozy Thai curry recipes?

• Green Curry Spaghetti-
• Thai Red Curry with Salmon – Creamy, bold, and weeknight-friendly.
• Chicken Massaman Curry – A warm, comforting Thai curry with potatoes, peanuts, and tender chicken.
• Green Curry Fried Rice-
• Homemade Panang Curry Paste – A rich, aromatic curry paste perfect for creamy Thai curries.

Let’s stay in touch dear!

And if you want to learn how to make it in person, come join one of my Thai cooking classes in Boone, NC!

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If you make it, I want to see! Take a pic and tag me on Instagram @thaifoodie!

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