This easy Thai Yellow Curry is made with chicken and vegetables and served over steamed rice. This recipe can easily be made vegan or vegetarian! 

Did you know there are over a dozen Thai inspired recipes on TBFS?  This one honestly ranks in my top five next to Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps and perfect Pad Thai.

Thai yellow curry in a bowl with white rice.

I feel like I have a duty to make sure people know how EASY some of their favorite International foods are to make from home! We're talking fridge to table in about 30 minutes! If you love “better than take-out” recipes as much as I do then you should definitely take a peak at my favorite ThaiChinese, and Korean recipes.

Ingredients in Yellow Curry:

Yellow Curry paste. Most local grocery stores only carry red and green curry paste (why is that?!), so I buy mine from Amazon or a local International foods market. I like the Mae Ploy Brand best, or you can make yellow curry from scratch if you'd like. A good yellow curry paste is the most important ingredient as it will give the sauce most of the flavor!

Chicken. Sometimes if I'm in a time crunch I use rotisserie chicken meat and add it at the very end.

Vegetables. I add onion, carrots and potatoes, but you could add whatever veggies you like!

Coconut milk. Use canned coconut milk, and not the refrigerated kind. You could substitute another kind of milk, like almond milk, but it you'll want to add more cornstarch in the recipe to thicken the curry sauce.

Ginger and garlic. Fresh of both of these is definitely preferred so you get the best flavor, but dry can be substituted if you're in a pinch. Use ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger and  ½ teaspoon garlic powder.

Cornstarch. Mixed with some coconut to thicken the curry sauce.

Fish sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. These ingredients all enhance the flavors in the sauce.

Hot cooked rice, for serving. We also like to serve yellow curry over  zoodles or spaghetti squash!

A marble board with the ingredients for yellow curry including curry paste, coconut milk, chicken, potatoes. onion, carrot, lime, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and brown sugar.

How to make Thai Yellow Curry (step-by-step):

  • Cook onions.  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes until softened.
  • Add vegetables.  Add the carrots, potatoes, ginger, garlic and stir well.
  • Add curry paste. Saute for 3 minutes.

Chicken pieces, potato and carrot sautéing in a pan and the yellow curry paste added.

  • Add coconut milk. Add 1 ½ cans of coconut milk to the pot. Stir cornstarch into remaining ½ can of coconut milk and add to the pot.
  • Boil then simmer. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. Adjust the thickness of the curry by adding more water to thin, if needed.

Yellow curry with chicken in a saucepan with a wooden spoon.

  • Add flavor.  Stir in the fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice. Simmer 5 more minutes.
  • Serve over rice, zoodles, or even. spaghetti squash!

Possible Variations:

Vegetarian yellow curry:  Omit the chicken then either add extra vegetables, or substitute pan fried tofu.

Vegan yellow curry: Make homemade yellow curry paste, substitute vegetables or tofu for chicken, and leave out the fish sauce.

Additional vegetable options: red bell peppers, zucchini, bamboo shoots, baby corn, cauliflower.

Red or Green Curry Paste: Yellow curry paste is the most mild of the three and each type has a different flavor and is made with different spices.  Feel free to substitute red or green paste for this recipe if that's what you have on hand.

A spoon in a bowl full of yellow curry served with white rice.

Serving, Reheating, and Storing:

For best results, store yellow curry separately from the rice.  Store both in air-tight containers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.  Reheat in the microwave.

This yellow curry recipe also freezes well for 2-3 months.  Allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.  Cook rice fresh for serving.

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Recipe

Thai yellow curry in a bowl with white rice.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 40 minutes
Total 50 minutes
Save Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 large onion , chopped
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts , cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 medium gold potatoes (or about 10 baby gold) ½’’ cubed
  • 1 large carrot , thinly sliced
  • 3-4 Tablespoons yellow curry paste *or homemade curry paste
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 27 ounces coconut milk (2- 13.5 ounce cans)
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
  • 1 Tablespoon lime juice
  • 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
  • Hot cooked rice , for serving (white, jasmine, brown)
  • Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or siracha and serve over rice

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes until softened. Add the chicken, carrots, potatoes and cook for a minute or two. Add ginger, garlic and curry paste and saute for 3 minutes.
  • Add 1 ½ cans of coconut milk to the pot. Stir cornstarch into remaining ½ can of coconut milk and add to the pot.
  • Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. Adjust the thickness of the curry by adding more water to thin, if needed.
  • Stir in the fish sauce, brown sugar and lime juice. Simmer 5 more minutes.
  • Serve with any type of rice (white, brown, and jasmine are my favorites) or over zoodles, spaghetti squash or quinoa.

Notes

Storing and Freeing Instructions: 
For best results, store the yellow curry sauce in a separate container from the rice.  Store both in air tight containers in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.  Reheat in the microwave.
Freeze curry in a freezer-safe container for 2-3 months.  Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stove or in the microwave.  Cook rice fresh for serving.
*For homemade curry paste, check out this recipe.
Gluten-free Adaptations: use gluten-free yellow curry paste.

Nutrition

Calories: 640kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 31gFat: 48gSaturated Fat: 37gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 298mgPotassium: 1277mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 4813IUVitamin C: 18mgCalcium: 98mgIron: 10mg

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About The Author

Lauren Allen

Welcome! I’m Lauren, a mom of four and lover of good food. Here you’ll find easy recipes and weeknight meal ideas made with real ingredients, with step-by-step photos and videos.

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4.98 from 394 votes (350 ratings without comment)
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natalie
2 years ago

Absolutely finger licking good!
Thankyou Lauren:)

Glenna
2 years ago

5 stars
Amazing!!!!!

Dorothy
2 years ago

I made this yellow curry tonight and it is so good! My husband just loved it. Great flavors, a tiny bit of heat ( added thai red pepper flakes) and just the right amount of thickness, not watery at all. Great recipe

Junko
2 years ago

5 stars
The picture didn’t make me feel very confident in this recipe but I liked the simplicity and decided to give it a try. Now, I love cooking and do it frequently; believe me when I tell you this is probably THE MOST DELICIOUS thing I have ever made. It tastes exactly like the yellow curry from the Thai takeout place near us. If you have any hesitation, seriously, just try it. This recipe is AMAZING.

Hannah Marsden
3 years ago

5 stars
My family loves this recipe! I made it for the first time two days ago and made it again tonight. I used the 4oz maesri brand yellow curry paste. The flavor wasn’t popping so I added extra brown sugar and fish sauce and it made the flavor so bold and tasty! Thank you for this amazing recipe!

Tori
3 years ago

Thanks for the tip of cooking down the paste. I didn’t realize that would get rid of the raw spice taste. I also agree, fish sauce is not optional. Great recipe.

Rin S.
3 years ago

5 stars
Wow. Yes- amazing! I lost my original recipe that I normally follow – but I’m glad I lost it lol. I’m keeping this recipe forever. Thank you for sharing such an easy & delicious recipe! P.s. you don’t have to use fish sauce at all!! Yassss!!

tim
3 years ago

I’ve made similar dishes for ages so I feel I can comment on this recipe. 1) fish sauce is not optional in my book and 2) you need to cook down the paste longer to get rid of the raw spice taste.

Michele
3 years ago

I accidentally bought coconut cream instead of coconut milk. Is there a difference?

Patrick W
3 years ago

5 stars
We’ve made this a couple times, each time with a different curry paste and both times with fake meat (vegetarians), all bought at our nearest reformhaus (kind of like a health/alternative food store). I don’t know what the lames criticizing this recipe are talking about, this was great, regardless of red or green curry paste (store out of yellow and we’ve been too lazy to make our own). I’d highly recommend to anyone to try this recipe and follow it to the ‘T,’ because it always comes out great.

KRISTIN
2 years ago
Reply to  Patrick W

5 stars
This was amazing!! I’m always skeptical about adding sugar to recipes because they usually turn out too sweet, so I did only use 1T. brown sugar and it was perfect.