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A simple Panang chicken curry that you can throw together in under 20 minute! The perfect weeknight dinner recipe!
20-minute weeknight dinners are my love language!
And this Panang chicken curry hits all the high marks. Creamy, smooth, tangy yet sweet curry loaded with tender chicken, peppers, and Thai basil. Keep it simple and server it over a bowl of steaming rice and just add it to the weekly rotation because the crowds gonna go wild.
We’ve had nothing but rain here in our part of Houston lately, and come September, all I want is comfort food. Bring on the Texas-style chili, the Mexican chicken noodle soup, and now, my Panang chicken curry.
How to make Panang Chicken Curry:
Thai food is some of my favorite things to make because:
- those flavors are a party in my mouth
- involves coconut milk
- it’s comfort food!
Today’s Panang chicken curry is loosely based off of the one from our favorite Thai restaurant in Houston. They keep it pretty straightforward (just meat and curry) but I like to add red bell pepper and a sliced shallot into the mix because the flavors work so well with the sweet and spicy, peanut-flavored curry.
I’ve been making Panang curry for years but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how they got it to have this deep, rich and tangy flavor. I tried everything! Lemon juice, lime juice, lemongrass but time after time, I couldn’t make it like theirs. Until now. The number one ingredient that gives Panang curry it’s classic tang? Tamarind paste. It’s the stuff we use when we’re making pad Thai, so I thought, huh, why not add a smidge to our Panang curry as well? And it did the trick. It gives the curry a nice and dark, slow-simmered, tangy flavor one that lime juice wasn’t providing.
Ingredients to make panang chicken curry in 20 minutes
- Panang curry paste
- fish sauce
- tamarind concentrate
- creamy peanut butter
- chicken
- sliced veggies
- coconut milk
A note about Panang curry paste:
There are a variety of Panang curry pastes available on the market, the one I use it called Mae Ploy. Keep in mind that traditional Thai brands of curry paste will always stretch further than brands like Thai Kitchen which are readily available in mainstream grocery stores.
If you use a curry paste from an Asian supermarket, I suggest starting with 1-2 tablespoons of curry paste (2 if you can really handle spicy food.) Brands that are more readily available in most grocery stores seem to be less potent, so you’ll want to use 2-4 tablespoons of curry paste depending on your spice preference.
How to Make Panang Chicken Curry at home
You’ll notice we’re not using any oil in today’s Panang curry recipe. Grab your coconut milk, without shaking the can, skim a couple of tablespoons off the top and add that to your hot skillet or saute pan. This is the coconut cream; it’s loaded with oil so we’ll use it to cook our curry paste. Then add the curry paste and peanut butter and allow the flavors to wake up. Make sure it doesn’t burn though! Then we’ll add the chicken and mix it so that everything is coated well. Add the rest of the coconut milk along with the fish sauce, tamarind, sugar, veggies, and let it all just simmer until the chicken cooks through and the curry thickens, that’s it!
What do you serve with Panang Chicken Curry?
In the past, I’ve shared a Panang curry noodle bowl with you so you can certainly serve this over rice noodles or egg noodles. Steamed white or brown rice is my favorite though way to eat Panang curry though!
Hope you enjoy this quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe!
20 Minute Panang Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 ½ -2 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 2-4 tablespoons Panang curry paste
- 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
- 1 ¼ pound boneless skinless chicken thinly sliced
- 1-2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon tamarind paste concentrate or more for more tang
- 1 shallot thinly sliced (or ½ red onion)
- 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
- 3 kefir lime leaves optional
- ¼ cup basil leaves for topping
Instructions
- PASTE: Without shaking the can, skim off two tablespoons of the coconut cream and add it to a sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Add the Panang curry paste along with the peanut butter and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir to coat, cook for 1-2 minutes. If at any point the sauce begins to stick to the pan, add a couple tablespoons of water to deglaze. Stir in the remaining coconut milk, starting with 1 1/2 cans (adjust with more later if desired.) Add the kefir lime leaves, fish sauce, brown sugar, sliced onion, and red bell pepper.
- SIMMER: Allow the curry to come to a simmer, lower the heat and let simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the chicken cooks through. Taste and adjust with additional coconut milk, sugar, tamarind, or fish sauce as desired. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil. Serve warm with rice or cooked rice noodles.
Notes
- leftover coconut milk can be poured into an airtight container and frozen for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
We crave Panang Chicken Curry from our favorite Thai restaurant. We just can’t afford to go out. I’ve made this several times and now it’s a weekly favorite dinner.
Do you have to use the peanut butter? I have had this curry multiple times in restaurants but did not realize peanut butter was in it. My son has an allergy. Can you either omit it or use an almond butter?
I love this recipe! Easy to make and so very good. A vegetarian friend of mine wants the recipe so I suggested replacing the chicken with potatoes or eggplant. Any other suggestions?
Wow! Wow! Wow! Your recipe tastes as good or better than the Thai restaurant we usually buy panang curry from!
Hi! Silly question, but I bought Tamarind concentrate and not tamarind paste concentrate. Are they used the same, or would I have to make some adjustments?
Also, where do you get Keffir lime leaves?! I cannot find them anywhere!
Thanks in advance!
My family absolutely love this recipe!!! I’ve been making it for ages now, it’s the best!!!
We serve it with rice and then top it with some fried shallots and crispy fried noodles.
Ps. Guess what I’m cooking right now?
I want to make this but not sure whether to use sweetened or unsweetened coconut milk. It doesn’t say here anywhere? Thanks!
Made this last week and now making again today! SO good!
Couple of questions.. are the lime leaves and basil chopped or added whole to simmer? And is it Thai basil or just basil?
Thank you for such an easy and delish recipe
I love this recipe even though I haven’t tried it with Kaffir leaves. Cannot find them. Is mukrat the same thing? Google gives me mixed answers.
I’ve had a jar of Panaeng curry paste in the pantry for a while, finally with the help of your recipe guidelines, I made this curry with chicken.
NB didn’t have any tamarind paste, and used small amount of raw sugar, & lots of veg. I always used steamed pumpkin as it helps to thicken any pot meal. (learnt from living in Darwin)
Absolutely delicious, and husband very happy
I make this recipe all the time. I’m very much an amateur cook, so that should attest to how relatively easy this to make. My wife and I have had this countless times, and have shared it with plenty of friends and family. It’s always a hit!
I’ve made this over twenty times! So delicious and easy! Using a high quality coconut milk is key
Turned out so good, I could eat the sauce by itself.
My fam likes softer veggies so I sauteed mine first, set aside, then followed directions.
I didn’t have a couple ingredients on hand, so I’m sure the next time I try it, it will be even better.
what chicken do you use? I would try chicken breast but I am afraid it would be tough — would boneless skinless chicken thighs work?
also, the local restaurant here puts fresh tomato wedges in this dish — what do you think of that?
I used chicken breast sliced pretty thin against yhe grain. It didnt fully cook in the paste in step 1 but finished cooking once all the sauce was simmering. Not dry or tough at all. Chicken thighs would probably be great too.
Just as easy as it sounds and it comes out delicious every time! I don’t know that it’s traditional but I like to add a lot of zucchini
I’m wanting to make freezer lunch portions of this. Do you think it will freeze well?
I’ve made panang using an instant pot a handful of times but this recipe is the only time I’ve thought it could be from our local restaurant. Truly was 20 minutes too. We use a half tin of Maesri brand panang paste (no shrimp paste in it) with the full two cans of coconut milk. A bit of heat but not overwhelming at all. The other half tin freezes great until next time.
Unbelievably fast and so delicious!!
Made it four times with red curry (as per your penang curry recipe). Found Mai Ploy Penang Curry paste at our local Asian and followed your recipe as before. It was excellent. Used 4 tablespoons of curry paste. Slightly hot for us so we simply added the remaining half can of coconut milk. We also scored with K lime leaves. Found a package in the freezer section. Used a few, froze the rest for future use.
Made it for the fourth time. It is perfect. Each time is faster. We do 4 tbsp of curry paste to get a little heat!
One question….how many fresh Thai basil leaves make a 1/4 cup (average)?