Bring takeout taste home by making Chinese curry chicken in your kitchen. It’s brimming with tender chicken and crisp veggies in a cheerful bright yellow curry sauce. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
When you’re in the mood for an exotic dinner that’s simple to make, you’ve got to try this Chinese curry chicken. It’s like takeout, only better. My recipe shows you how to get the chicken nice and tender while keeping those vegetables crisp. It’s all tied together with a wonderful yellow curry sauce that is amazing on top of rice.
Ingredients
Curry powder
When compared to traditional curry, you’ll use much less curry powder so don’t worry about it being spicy. I love using S&B Japanese curry powder in this recipe because it’s a mild and well balanced blend. You can use Madras curry powder as well.
You can feel free to adjust the amount of chili flakes to your preference, too. This Chinese curry chicken also uses turmeric, which is great for your health. Turmeric has great benefits with plenty of antioxidants to fight damage from free radicals. It’s highly anti-inflammatory and good for your heart, and it adds to the bright yellow color of the dish. With green bell peppers and carrots, the vibrant color and heavenly aroma are absolutely irresistible, so much that even kids will adore it.
Cooking process
It’s so unbelievably easy to make. You don’t even need to stir fry the chicken as it quickly cooks in the curry sauce. The marinade generates tender juicy chicken pieces and thickens the sauce at the same time, creating a great texture that you’re going to love.
Here’s all you need to do:
- Toss the vegetables with aromatics and spices
- Add the broth and bring to a boil
- Cook the chicken pieces with the rest of the ingredients
- It’s ready when the sauce has thickened
In fact, the day I made this dish, my husband smelled it and told me that it reminded him of the curry from the local Chinese restaurant of his childhood. Classic comfort in homemade takeout style, this Chinese curry chicken really does have it all. Plus, from prep to plating, it takes less than 25 minutes to get ready, making it a splendid and filling meal even on your busiest days!
More delicious takeout Chinese recipes
- Tofu Lettuce Wraps
- Seafood Chow Mein (海鲜炒面)
- Honey Garlic Pork Chops
- XO Fried Rice with Char Siu
- Three Cup Chicken (三杯鸡)
Chinese Curry Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 (12 oz / 340 g) chicken breast , thinly sliced against the grain into 1/4” (5mm) thick pieces
Marinade
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Spice mix
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder (*Footnote 1)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes depending on spice level (Optional)
Stir Fry
- 2 tablespoons peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1/2 large white onion , chopped
- 1/2 ” (1 cm) ginger , minced
- 1 green bell pepper , chopped
- 1 carrot , sliced
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
Instructions
- Combine the chicken, salt, Shaoxing wine, and cornstarch in a medium-sized bowl. Mix to coat the chicken evenly and set aside.
- Add oil to a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onions and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Add the ginger, pepper, carrot, and spice mix. Cook and stir until the vegetables are beginning to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Pour in the chicken broth. Add the sugar, salt, and oyster sauce. Stir to mix well and bring to a boil.
- Turn to medium-low heat to bring the broth to a low simmer. Add the marinated chicken with minimal overlapping. Use your spatula to separate any pieces that are stuck together. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until the slices of chicken are just cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened. (*Footnote 2)
- Transfer everything to a big plate. Serve hot over rice as a main dish.
Notes
- S&B Japanese curry powder and Madras curry powder work well in this recipe.
- The sauce will thicken a bit more once it has cooled down a bit, so you don’t need to over reduce the broth at this point. It might overcook the chicken.
Video
Nutrition
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
I adore chicken curry. Another great recipe to try! 🙂
Thank you, Maggie.
can you use regular rice wine instead of sherry?
Yes you can!
This turned out good. Added 1 tsp garlic, subbed red onion bc white onion was bad. Quite tasty. Took about twice as long for everything (prep, veggies to cook, chicken to be completely cooked) as given in recipe. Will be somewhat less w/subsequent iterations but at best see this as a 35-40 min recipe. Regardless, am sure I will make it again & thank you for the instructions for this dish.
Made this recipe today and loved it! Simple to make and tastes even better than what you get a restaurant. I added sliced jalapenos and sliced red chili pepper to add a little extra heat and it was great!
All I can say is…..WOW! This was absolutely easy and delicious! I took one of the reviewers comments about toasting the curry and turmeric in the hot oil for 1 minute before adding the onions. Not sure if this contributed to the overall excellence of this dish or not, but will be repeating this when I make this recipe again as the final result was so good!
Loved this chicken curry recipe! I can’t find the author? And would like purchase the cookbook but don’t know where?
Super quick, easy and good! No ingredient I wouldn’t already have on hand.
I LOVE this recipe. I’ve made it several times and it seems to be better each time. It’s way better than from my local Chinese recipe, which I loved – until I made this.
I made this tonight. I love this and my husband and father in law did too. I did add a little more sugar as I like a little more sweetness. I let my family know they will be eating more chicken curry in the future
9/6/24 made this curry for me and my son’s tea served it with pilau rice and a garlic Nan bread the chicken curry was delicious I added some baby corn to it and followed the recipe definitely a keeper will be making again. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Instead of shaoxing wine can I use something else? No alcohol in my house
You can use chicken broth instead.