Curries are one of my families absolute favorite dishes. My husband tends to like a more spicy curry, but my toddler and I are a fan of more mild curries. This lemongrass chicken curry is more of a Thai-style version that we all really enjoyed. The lemongrass packs a ton of flavor, especially when paired with ginger, garlic, and cilantro. If you like curries, you’ll like this one too!
Special Ingredients and Equipment Needed:
As far as kitchen equipment goes, the main thing you’ll want to make sure you have is a large, deep sauté pan. We use this 5 1/2 Qt. Cuisinart Sauté Pan that was perfect for this dish. You also may want a rice maker to make the rice for serving, but that’s optional. Some people even use their Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi for rice, but I just make ours on the stovetop.
As far as specialty ingredients go, there are a few for this recipe:
- Saffron Road Lemongrass Basil Simmer Sauce – You can absolutely make your own sauce if you want using fresh lemongrass, Thai basil, green curry paste, garlic, ginger, galangal, etc. However, this simmer sauce is delicious and really helps speed this recipe up. I like using these simmer sauces when I don’t have the time to make a curry sauce from scratch. I highly recommend it!
- Full fat canned coconut milk – This is not the stuff found in the dairy section of the store. This is typically in the Asian food aisle.
- White pepper – I find that white pepper is less spicy and is more common in Asian dishes. It gives a more authentic flavor to the dish vs black pepper.
- Fish sauce – Fish sauce is used in many Thai dishes and adds a ton of flavor and depth to the dish. It is salty and brings an earthy umami flavor to this recipe. If you can’t find any, you could sub soy sauce or ponzu sauce, though doing so would change the flavor of this lemongrass curry a bit.
Pictures of Lemongrass Chicken Curry
As you can see from these pictures, there is a huge variety of nutrient dense veggies in this dish. You can pretty much add whatever vegetables or fillers you want and it will still be amazing. That’s one of my biggest reasons for loving this lemongrass curry!
Recipe:
Lemongrass Chicken Curry
Equipment
- 5.5 Qt Saute Pan
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 to 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cubed
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- salt and white pepper, to taste
- 4 shallots, sliced thinly
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp ginger paste or fresh grated ginger
- 1 cup eggplant, roughly chopped
- 2 medium-large zucchini, ends trimmed and roughly chopped
- 2 7 oz pouches Saffron Road Lemongrass Basil Simmer Sauce found in the International aisle
- 1 15 oz can full fat unsweetened coconut milk found in the International aisle
- 1 tbsp fish sauce found in the International aisle
- 1 bunch cilantro, stemmed, chopped, and divided
- 1 orange bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, diced You could also dice 3 roma tomatoes instead.
- Rice for serving
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large, deep saute pan. While oil heats, season chicken with all seasonings. Toss to fully coat.
- Add chicken to hot oil and brown on all sides, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add shallots and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Add eggplant and zucchini. Season with salt and white pepper and saute for 5 minutes.
- Add simmer sauce, coconut milk, dish sauce and most of the cilantro, reserving a couple teaspoons for garnishing at the end. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust flavor as needed.
- Add orange bell pepper and simmer an additional 10 minutes.
- Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 more minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve on a bed of hot rice topped with remaining cilantro.
- Enjoy!
This lemongrass curry recipe is seriously one of my family’s favorites and we hope it becomes one of yours too. You can seriously change it up and add anything you like from mushrooms to jalapeños too. Curries are extremely versatile.
If you enjoy this recipe and want to see more like it, make sure you follow Growing Up Garlicky so that you’ll receive new updates every week! Also make sure you check out my recipes page and any of the delicious recipes down below. And make sure you let me know what you think in the comments if you try this delicious dish. Thanks everyone!
Butter Chicken Flautas
Chicken Stir Fry
