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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.
There are times when I want to pour time and effort over a recipe in the kitchen, and then there are times when I need something quick and easy (i.e. most of the time.)
With a family of curry cravers, this meant I must have a few easy curry recipes up my sleeve, and that’s how my Chickpea Curry and Slow Cooker Beef Curry came about.
But I soon realised I needed a classic chicken curry that hit the spot with rich, aromatic flavours, but was also simple enough for a midweek meal.
Here it is. My Easy Chicken Curry isn’t quite as basic as my Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, but it’s not far off.
I love it because I can make it in about half an hour and use basic storecupboard ingredients. So far it has more than 100 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reviews, and I am so glad it’s working for so many of you 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
Recipe Notes
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.
Take a quick look at my ‘substitutions’ list below to see how you can easily adapt this recipe if you like.
Easy Chicken Curry Ingredients
- Chicken breast – I use skinless and boneless breasts for this recipe, but see below for using chicken thighs instead.
- Tikka masala curry paste – Again, see the substitutions list about paste. This one is simply my favourite, there’s so much flavour.
- Natural yoghurt – I use low fat for this but you can use any type you like. If you use Greek yoghurt, it may be a little thicker, so you might need to add an extra splash of water too.
- Vegetable oil – Olive oil is also OK.
- Onion – You can use fresh or pre-chopped frozen.
- Chopped tomatoes – Using good quality tinned tomatoes makes a difference, if you can.
- Water – This releases the sauce a little.
- Honey – Just a tablespoon gives a wonderful tang and hint of sweetness.
- Lemon – 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, as per the full recipe below.
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.
- Vegetables – 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.
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 marinate?
This really allows the flavours to get deep into the meat, which means the flavour is on another level. Even just a couple of hours would make a difference. 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
How about some…
- Pilau Rice
- Naan breads
- Poppadoms
- Pickles, raita and mango chutney
- Easy flatbreads
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
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) Chicken breast, Boneless, skinless. Cut into 2cm pieces
- 200 g (7 oz) Tikka masala curry paste
- 300 g (11 oz) Natural low fat yoghurt
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 2 Large onions, Finely chopped. See notes
- 800 g (28 oz) Chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml (0.75 cups) Water
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 4 Tsp Lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the marinade: 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.
- Cook the onions: Heat the oil in your saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes.
- Now the chicken: Add the chicken and cook for another 10 minutes. Try not to stir too much. Let it sit still and get crispy edges.
- Rest of the ingredients in: Add the tomatoes, water, honey and lemon juice and cook for another 15 minutes.
Did you make this recipe? Click here to let us know how it went and give it a ⭐️ rating! Your feedback helps us to make more recipes you really want.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This post was originally published on March 17, 2021 and updated later to make improvements.
Absolutely delicious!!!
Do you take the chicken out of the marinade and not use it?
Hi Amanda, yes, remove it from the marinade and fry. There shouldn’t be too much of the yoghurt mix left.
Loved it’ only thing is / I was in a hurry as usual, I made my own curry paste, so nothing was marinated. I cooked chicken first then added onion then paste, then rest of ingredients then yoghurt last – I only had Greek yoghurt 5% but it worked out well.
Turned out the tikka version was too mild for my taste so added some garam masala and medium curry powder to give it a bit more oomph. Although I used less liquid than specified in the recipe, I still found the sauce too runny when serving, so would use less next time. Might add some cubed potatoes to the remainder to absorb some of the liquid,
We absolutely love this recipe. We have done it quite a few times for our 15 month old and she devours it. We use Taming Twins for all recipes for our daughter which we batch cook. 5* for taste!
Absolutely delicious. Chucked in some chopped coriander and ground almonds, as I’d used them in another curry recipe; they worked well and helped to thicken the curry without having to simmer it for too long and overcook the chicken. The recipe is very adaptable. Use whatever curry paste you fancy, add some vegetables – just experiment and see what you get.
Thanks for the lovely feedback Janice, we’re glad you enjoyed it!
Love this recipe. The method is so clear & adaptable. I used spices instead of the curry paste & added more liquid to get the sauce right. I also threw in some frozen spinach. So good to have such a quick curry that tastes so good.
Marked it down because the yogurt made it go grainy texture which was ashame because it was very tasty. Would love to try it again but how do I stop this happening again