Chicken Panang Curry – Nicky’s Kitchen Sanctuary

Thai Panang Chicken Curry – a rich, creamy and aromatic curry with coconut milk and peanuts.
It’s milder than Thai red curry and has a nice nutty creaminess from the peanut butter.
I like to add peppers Thai basil leaves and plenty of lime juice for freshness. Serve with lots of fluffy rice and a good sprinkling of chopped peanuts for a quick and tasty dinner.

Jump to:

Panang curry — also known as phanaeng or phanang curry — is a flavorful, creamy, medium-spicy Thai-style curry with a touch of peanut butter. I love this as an alternative to Thai red curry (which is slightly hotter and less mild than Panang).

This is a lovely, easy to make curry, and it’s absolutely bursting with the flavor of the curry paste, peanut butter, and broth. I also like to add Thai basil Add the leaves to the curry sauce and a few more leaves for garnish.

If you’ve never tried Thai basil, look out for it at larger supermarkets. It has the taste of Italian basil, but is slightly milder and also has a slight note of anise.

📋 Ingredients?

• Chicken breast – Substitute skinless chicken thigh pieces if you like
• Panang curry paste – I like Mae Ploy Panang Paste (<<-- affiliate link)
• Sauce: Peanut butter, broth, and coconut milk (use full-fat coconut milk to keep the sauce from breaking down)
• Vegetables: onions and peppers
• aromatics: Garlic, ginger, Thai basil, a touch of salt and pepper, fish sauce, and lime juice—plus sugar to balance the lime
• cornmeal (cornstarch): to thicken the curry

🌶️ Panang curry paste versus Thai red curry paste 🌶️

• Panang curry paste consists of deliciously fragrant ingredients such as red chilies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, galangal, shrimp paste, coriander seeds, cumin and kaffir lime leaves.
• It’s a little different than normal red thai curry pasteas Thai red curry paste is usually spicier and also usually doesn’t contain cumin and coriander seeds.
• The finished Panang curry also contains the addition of peanuts (I use peanut butter and finish with chopped peanuts) – which is not the case with Thai red curry.

👩‍🍳PRO TIP Panang curry paste is usually a medium heat paste. Be careful with this if you don’t like too much seasoning (a tablespoon still gives a good taste). Add an extra tablespoon if you like your curries spicier.

Serve garnished with chopped peanuts and Thai basil leaves. I also like to add chopped green onions and a lime wedge.

Stay up to date with new recipes!
Subscribe to the newsletter to hear when I post a new recipe. I’m in too youtube (new videos every week) and Instagram (Stories behind the scenes and beautiful food photos).

Chicken Panang Curry Recipe

Chicken Panang – a Thai-style curry with coconut milk and peanuts. It’s milder than Thai red curry and has a nice nutty creaminess from the peanut butter.

preparation time 10 protocol minutes

cooking time 20 protocol minutes

total time 30 protocol minutes

course Dinner

Kitchen Thai

portions 4

calories 570 kcal

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

  2 tablespoons oil

• Add the chicken, salt and pepper and cook, turning regularly, until chicken is sealed (it is not cooked through at this point), 5 minutes.

  3 chicken breasts, 1 pinch of salt and pepper

• Add onion, peppers, garlic, ginger and panang curry paste.

  1 onion, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp ginger paste, 2 tbsp Panang curry paste

• Fry for 3 minutes, stirring regularly, making sure the curry paste coats the chicken and vegetables.

• Add peanut butter, broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, and Thai basil leaves.

  2 tablespoons peanut butter, 240 ml (1 cup) chicken broth, 400ml (14oz) can full fat coconut milk, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 10 Thai basil leaves

• Stir, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce has reduced slightly and chicken is tender, 5-10 minutes.

• Slowly pour in the cornmeal porridge, stirring to thicken the sauce even more if needed (you may not need all of the cornmeal porridge).

  Mix 1 tablespoon of corn starch with 3 tablespoons of cold water to a paste

• Turn off the stove and serve the curry with cooked rice. Top with chopped peanuts, spring onions and a few fresh Thai basil leaves.

  Cooked rice – long grain or jasmine rice, 2 tablespoons chopped unsalted peanuts, 2 spring onions (spring onions), 8-12 Thai basil leaves

✎ Notes

Can I make it?
Yes, this is a great curry to make ahead and reheats well. Prepare the curry, then allow to cool quickly, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Heat in a skillet over medium-high heat (add a splash of water if necessary to fluff it up) until the chicken is piping hot through.
Add the toppings when serving.
can i freeze it
Yes, make the curry, then quickly chill and freeze in an airtight container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat according to the prep instructions above.
Replacement/supplement of ingredients

• • Swap the chicken for quorn, tofu or even meatballs.
  • Replace the 14oz (400ml). coconut milk for 200 ml additional chicken stock plus 200 ml cream.
  • If you can’t find panang paste, swap out the panang curry paste for Thai red curry paste (note: Thai red curry paste is hotter and slightly spicier than panang paste).

Here’s how to zoom in and out of this recipe
You can halve or double this recipe while keeping the same proportions. Doubling the recipe will take 5-10 minutes longer to cook and you may need to add a little more cornstarch to thicken it.

Nutritional information is a guide per person, rice not included. This recipe is enough for 4 people.

Nourishment

Calories: 570kcalCarbohydrates: 23GProtein: 35GFat: 39GSaturated Fatty Acids: 21GPolyunsaturated fat: 5GMonounsaturated fatty acids: 11Gtrans fats: 0.04GCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 809mgPotassium: 1015mgFiber: 3GSugar: 11GVitamin A: 2371IUVitamin C: 102mgCalcium: 74mgIron: 5mg

keywords Chicken Curry, Red Curry, Thai Curry

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. If you purchase the product, I will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you). If you buy, then thank you! This helps us keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information given is approximate and may vary depending on several factors. You can find more information in our General Terms and Conditions.

Hello, I’m Nicky

I love to cook and want to share my favorite delicious family friendly recipes with you. I want to inspire you to create amazing food for your family every day.

Continue reading