I am a huge fan of easy and delicious dinners and this Thai green curry chicken with coconut rice definitely falls into that category. The shortcut is the amazing Thai green curry sauce from Trader Joe’s. I really couldn’t make a better sauce even if I tried, and it would take me hours to do so. The Thai style curry isn’t heavy on the curry flavor (so if you don’t like Indian curry, I bet you’d still love this one!) and has a great lemongrass and coconut flavor with a bit of kick from Anaheim peppers. I add a can of coconut milk, caramelized sweet onion, and a diced banana to tone down the spiciness and add a little more sweetness and it turns out perfect! (Even my toddler ate it.) The perfect pairing for this Thai green curry chicken is coconut rice and it’s super easy to make. Just throw all the ingredients in a non stick pot or rice cooker before you start on the chicken and by the time your Thai green curry chicken is ready, the rice will be fluffy, creamy, and ready to be topped with the delicious, saucy, tender chicken. This is a great dinner to make when you’re short on time or when you have company and don’t want to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen. I love all the complex flavors in this dish and how it tastes like something that took hours to prepare.

Ingredients For Thai Green Curry Chicken And Coconut Rice

For the Coconut Rice:
2 cups brown rice
4 cups water
4 teaspoons Chicken Better Than Bouillon
1/2 cup coconut cream
Additional salt to taste if preferred

For the Thai Green Curry Chicken:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 large sweet onion, diced
3 large chicken breasts (hand trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ginger powder
Salt to taste
1 banana, diced
One can of Thai green curry
One can of “lite” coconut milk

Directions For Thai Green Curry Chicken And Coconut Rice

For the Coconut Rice:
Add rice, water, coconut cream, chicken bullion, and salt in a rice cooker or nonstick pot. Cook until rice is fluffy and all the liquid is absorbed. I normally love using jasmine rice for this recipe, but tried it with brown rice this time and it turned out delicious (and a bit more healthy)! Just keep in mind that brown rice will take a bit longer to cook, so you might want to start it earlier. But either way, start cooking the rice before you get started on the Thai green curry chicken!

This coconut rice turns out so creamy and flavorful and goes wonderfully with the Thai green curry chicken!

For the Thai Green Curry Chicken:
Preheat a large skillet over medium heat and add one tablespoon of coconut oil. The coconut oil is a great stable oil for high-heat cooking and adds to the coconut flavor of this dish. But if you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute with any oil of your choice!

Sauté diced sweet onion until starting to caramelized, then remove and set aside.

In the same skillet, add remaining one tablespoon of coconut oil, turn up the heat to high, and add cut up chicken breasts.
Season chicken with garlic powder, ground ginger, and salt to taste.

Cook the chicken until juices evaporate and it begins to brown.

Turn the heat down to low and add diced banana and caramelized sweet onion.

Then stir in one jar of Thai green curry simmer sauce and one can of “lite” coconut milk. Make sure you use the light coconut milk for this because the regular one will be separated and have solid chunks of coconut cream.

Allow the chicken to simmer on low for at least 15 minutes (or as long as 45 minutes for extra tender chicken).

Serve the Thai green curry chicken in a bowl over coconut brown rice. You can garnish it with fresh cilantro or tarragon. I usually serve the chicken in the skillet and have guests scoop as much as they’d like over their rice. I recommend combining the chicken and rice when storing leftovers. The green curry sauce will keep the rice really moist and preserve the flavors better. It reheats great in the microwave or on the stove then next few days so you can pack it for a lunch!

xoxo,

Yuli