Thai Green Chicken Thigh Curry
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This Chicken Thigh Curry Recipe is quite possibly the best chicken thigh recipe you will ever have. It’s an easy meal with a special technique to yield crispy skin and juicy meat that’s sure to please.
Do you LOVE flavorful dishes? I sure do. And I suspect this recipe for Thai Green Chicken Thigh Curry will be added to your recipe box for a regular rotation once you try it.
Chicken thighs are my favorite cut of chicken. Not only are the thighs super juicy and flavorful, but they yield the crispiest skin when you cook them right.
There are a lot of ways you can cook chicken things, but this recipe is really special. In fact, I’ve been making so many versions of chicken thighs in the recent past, trying out various dry rubs, marinades, and sauces, but I think these Green Curry Chicken Thighs may just be the best chicken thigh recipe I have made yet.
Ever since I went to Thailand with my mom several years back, I’ve been obsessed with Thai food and Thai curry flavor has been a staple at my house.
Now, I love all kinds of Thai recipes, but this recipe is something in and of itself. The combination of the green curry sauce and chicken thighs is just so delicious, and my husband didn’t even complain about eating this 2 days in a row when I served leftovers the very next day (and he doesn’t like repeat leftovers, so that is saying something!).
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How to Get Crispy Skin for Curry Chicken Thighs
One thing that makes this Thai Green Chicken Thigh Curry so delicious is the crispy skin on the outside. It’s so crunchy and pairs perfectly with the juicy chicken meat inside.
To ensure that your chicken yields the crispiest skin, make sure to:
- Pat dry the skin in the beginning with a paper towel so the moisture won’t make the skin soggy or soft.
- Bake with the skin side up so the skin can avoid all the juices that escape from the chicken during cooking. This also ensures that you’ll have an extra flavorful meat, because the fat from the skin will drip down into the thigh meat.
- Lay the thighs on the baking dish so they aren’t too close to each other when baking. This will ensure that they all cook evenly.
- Broil the chicken thighs for 3-4 minutes to make the skin extra crispy. However, make sure that you keep on eye on them when you do this so they don’t burn!
Serving Ideas
These Thai Chicken Thighs are great on their own, but I recommend you serve them with delicious sides to enjoy them even more! Furthermore, the added dishes, of course, add to the nutritional value of the meal.
Over White Rice or Cauliflower Rice
I personally love white rice and it’s one of the only grains that my digestion can handle. However, if you are keto or low carb, you can whip up some cauliflower rice instead to serve with the chicken. And if you REALLY want to take it to the next level, you can pour some of the juices that cooked out of the chicken over your rice or cauliflower rice before serving. That’s how we ate it and it was incredibly delicious!
With Other Veggies
You can also serve the chicken thighs with any other veggies, but I really like to use ones that are commonly used in Asian cooking, such as bok choy, broccoli, Chinese eggplant, green beans, and mushrooms.
These Moroccan Carrots would be a great addition too, though they aren’t Asian of course.
Another great option is to pair these easy curry chicken thighs with a large salad like this Broccoli Jicama Salad or just a huge pile of organic greens with your favorite dressing.
A little bit of organic sriracha sauce over everything will make it even better if you are a spicy fan.
With Soup
This Thai Chicken Soup would be a great side as well. You could even omit the chicken from the soup to not overload the meal with too much protein.
Special Diet Options
This Chicken Thigh Curry Recipe is great for almost any special diet. It’s Whole30, gluten free, grain free, low carb, and they work for the keto diet and paleo diet as well. For Trim Healthy Mama (THM), these are an S meal due to the amount of oil in the recipe. To have it be an E meal, reduce the oil to 1 tablespoon total.
For an AIP option, use an AIP Curry Powder.
Heating Up Leftovers
As I mentioned above, these Easy Curry Chicken Thighs are even delicious as leftovers. There are two ways you can reheat them and these will make sure the chicken skin crisps up again:
Pan Fry Reheating Method
Heat up a little bit of coconut or avocado oil in a skillet over medium high heat, then place the thighs on the skillet SKIN SIDE DOWN. Let this pan fry for 1-2 minutes, then flip over the thighs. Cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes. They’ll be as good as new.
Oven Reheating Method
Place the chicken thighs skin side up in a baking dish and place in the oven BEFORE turning it on. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F, and once it reaches temperature, let the thighs cook for 5 minutes longer. You can broil for 3-4 minutes to crisp up the skin more. Remove from the oven and enjoy!
Can I Use Chicken Breasts Instead?
Yes, you can use chicken breasts instead of thighs in this (and in most) recipes. However, you will want to make a few adjustments.
First of all, the bone in breast will make a final dish that is more moist, juicy, and flavorful than one without. Also, you will want to reduce the cooking time by 5-10 minutes to avoid overcooking the breasts as they can end up dry. One option with the breasts to avoid this is to cook them to an internal temperature of 160°F and then leave the breasts under foil until they reach just over 165°F. Alternatively, you can marinate them before cooking.
Thai Green Curry Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds chicken thighs (skin on, bone in; about 4)
- 2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste (alternatively substitute 2 teaspoons curry powder – see my Mild Homemade Curry Powder)
- 1/4 cup basil (loosely packed)
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch fresh ginger
Instructions
- Pat dry the chicken thigh skin with a paper towel, then sprinkle the chicken evenly with sea salt, concentrating on the skin.
- Place the rest of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, and blend until a smooth paste forms.
- Add the chicken to a shallow dish, coating it evenly with the blended marinade.
- Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour to overnight.
- When ready to cook, preheat the over to 425 degrees F.
- Add the chicken to a baking dish in a single layer, with the skin side up.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F.
- To get a crispier skin, broil the chicken for 3-4 minutes.
- Serve with your favorite sides!
Notes
- Pat dry the skin in the beginning with a paper towel so the moisture won’t make the skin soggy or soft.
- Bake with the skin side up so the skin can avoid all the juices that escape from the chicken during cooking. This also ensures that you’ll have an extra flavorful meat, because the fat from the skin will drip down into the thigh meat.
- Lay the thighs on the baking dish so they aren’t too close to each other when baking. This will ensure that they all cook evenly.
- Broil the chicken thighs for 3-4 minutes to make the skin extra crispy. However, make sure that you keep an eye on them when you do this so they don’t burn!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
I’d love to hear what you think about these Thai Curry Chicken Thighs!
Deeelish! So simple, so very very moist and tasty!
I took the paste and really worked it in all over the thighs including under the skin.
The skin didn’t seem likely to crisp up and I would rather have moist than too done, so I didn’t broil them.
Basmati coconut rice and roasted asparagus rounded it out nicely.
Yum.
This one will be a regular.
I’m so glad you liked it! Your side choices were perfect! Thanks for taking the time to comment :).
This recipe deserves 5 stars! It’s easy, flavorful and a real crowd pleaser! I’m incorporating it into our family rotation! Thank you so much for sharing!
So great! Thanks for stopping by to comment and so glad you liked it!
Do you think boneless skinless could pass? That’s what I have in my fridge ?
Breasts will not be as juicy and of course the outside won’t be as crispy but I assume it would still taste good!
They are still thighs but they prob won’t have the crisp factor.
BTW I love your site so much!!!!
Then try it and I hope it works out — thank you so much!!!!! Really means a lot! Working on more recipes right now – including another chicken one :).
Thanks Jean, this dish looks tasty! I am gonna make the first thing in the evening 🙂
BTW, I have been trying to lose weight for sometimes now. I read a few research papers and I realized that the best way to lose weight is to follow a correct diet. However, each time I followed a diet from internet I tend to get confused or I starve myself to death, so I don’t get the result that I wish. I searched around and found this product: (link deleted by blog owner) (Sorry I don’t know if I am allowed to post links or not). It looks interesting and the testimonies are inspiring. To lose weight, it gives easy to follow steps.
I like to know your opinion, do you think it is useful?? (I did study some research papers and their claim seems legit)
Hi there. So first of all, my name is Adrienne–not Jean. Second, it seems pretty clear that your link wasn’t some innocent link share. I don’t mind links but only if they are not spammy. Thanks.