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If you regularly crave a tasty but simple curry, you NEED this Easy Chicken Curry recipe in your life! It’s perfect for throwing together quickly with just a few ingredients, it’s healthy and is ready in about 30 minutes. Perfect for the whole family.
Those days when you know you need something tasty, satisfying, hearty BUT quick? If you have chicken and a handful of store cupboard ingredients, it’s got to be time to whip up an Easy Chicken Curry, right?!
This recipe is convenient, super easy, ready in about half an hour, all made in one pot AND it’s really healthy. A quick curry with about 300 calories for a midweek win? Yes please.
Of course, add your favourite side dishes (poppadoms, naans, flatbreads etc) or make it alongside other curries as part of a curry night banquet because it’s ideal for making ahead, batch-cooking and freezing too.
Why you’ll love this Easy Chicken Curry recipe
⭐️ Super simple, with a few tweaks to level up
⭐️ Perfect for easy batch cooking
⭐️ Easily adaptable to budget, taste or what you’ve got in
How we came up with this recipe
While I have plenty of different types of curry recipes, most of which are pretty straightforward, I wanted to create an UBER simple chicken curry that was really adaptable, nice and healthy, but also involved just a few ingredients we might already have in (because we all need those last minute ‘I-haven’t-thought-of-anything-for-dinner-and-dinner-is-now’ recipes).
Curries are a great dish to make if you also want to make something that’s packed with flavour but is relatively low in calories, because we can easily make lighter choices that don’t compromise on flavour.
I’ve done this with this recipe by choosing low fat yoghurt and chicken breast. There is a real depth of flavour because I like to marinate my chicken, which I do recommend for best results, but isn’t mandatory if you don’t have time.
Easy Chicken Curry Ingredients
- Chicken breast – Skinless and boneless
- Tikka masala curry paste
- Natural yoghurt – I use low fat
- Vegetable oil – Olive oil is also OK
- Onion – You can use fresh or pre-chopped frozen
- Chopped tomatoes
- Water
- HoneyLemon – Juice only
How to make Easy Chicken Curry
- Add chopped chicken, curry paste and yoghurt to a bowl and mix. Marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- When ready to make, cook your onions in hot oil in a pan.
- Add the chicken and cook for about 10 minutes (try not to stir too much so the sides crisp up a little).
- Add the tomatoes, water, honey and lemon juice and cook for about 15 minutes.
Substitutions
- Vegetarian – You can use a chicken/meat alternative if you’d like to make this a vegetarian dish
- Curry paste – I use tikka masala because I like its aromatic tanginess, but you could swap this for another one you have in or prefer, such as madras, jalfrezi or rogan josh
- Chicken thighs – If you’d rather use thighs instead of breast, go ahead. Just be aware the nutritional value in the recipe will be different and they might need slightly longer cooking time
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully by before serving.
In the freezer This recipe freezes well. Just wait until it’s totally cold and then put into a freezer proof container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating before serving.
This is a perfect batch cook meal, so make a double portion to freeze for a pre-made dinner another day!
Top tips
Why we marinate
This really allows the flavours to get deep into the meat, which means the flavour is on another level. But if you don’t get a chance to do this part, it’s fine to make straight away.
What to serve with this Easy Chicken Curry
- Rice
- Naan breads
- Poppadoms
- Pickles, raita and mango chutney
- Easy flatbreads
Add veggies
If you’d like to bulk this out or add a little more goodness, feel free to add any vegetables that you have in. I love spinach, mushrooms and cauliflower in a curry, and chickpeas also work really well too.
FAQs
If you want to make a slow cooker version, try my Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala, or my very popular and simple Slow Cooker Chicken Curry (which has more than 550 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews!) Both super easy and super delicious.
If you’re cooking a selection of curries for guests or just as a home fakeaway, make this alongside my Easy Lamb Keema and my Palak Paneer.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Easy Chicken Curry {Quick & Healthy}
Ingredients
- 1 kg Chicken breast, Boneless, skinless. Cut into 2cm pieces
- 200 g Tikka Masala curry paste
- 300 g Natural low fat yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 2 Large onions, Finely chopped. See notes
- 800 g Chopped tomatoes, 2 x 400g tins
- 150 ml Water
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 4 Tsp Lemon juice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the chicken, curry paste and the yoghurt. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinade over night or for at least 2 hours.
- Heat the oil in your saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes. Try not to stir too much. Let it sit still and get crispy edges.
- Add the tomatoes, water, honey and lemon juice and cook for another 15 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made this tonight for family and clean plates. It was absolutely delicious😋 x
Hi Sara ,
Still a bit confused as to whether the yogurt and marinade get added to the sauce?
The chicken is already marinated in step 1 and in step 3 it clearly says to add the chicken (the chicken you have marinaded earlier). Hope that helps.
How long can it be in fridge for before you got to throw it out
I made this in the slow cooker! Absolutely delicious!
So easy to make and tasted lovely! I don’t often made curries so now I’m hooked on them!
Is it 311 calories with the rice?
So I’m confused. Just got my actifry. Do I just shove all the ingredients into the actifry and let it cook with the paddle to stir? Thanks
Yes, or sometimes you can take the paddle out it it’s things that would break up easily when being moved. Hope that helps!
This recipe doesn’t make any sense, it says to add the yogurt with the chicken however later on it says to add both the chicken and the yogurt separately, so which is it?
Hi Hannah, so sorry! I’ve amended it now. You have eagle eyes, this is an old post an no one has ever pointed that out! Thank you.
Can this be made in a regular actifry? What about the turning arm thing? Sorry if I am being a bit slow !
I’d like to know this too. Paddle in or out? xx
Sarah, you say you have amended the recipe, but I cant find it
This cuisine looks not only delicious but also beautiful. How long does it take to cook this dishes. Can you give more detail recipe. I would like to cook it for my family