Watch How To Make This Recipe
Can I Have This For Dinner Every Night?
Because I think I really could eat this for dinner every night.
Golden, juicy, thinly sliced pan-fried chicken swims in a creamy coconut-kale gravy-like situation with slips of shallot and a bit of heat. It’s like a cozy curry meets a show-stopping marry me chicken. Except it’s stupidly easy. That coconut kale sauce carries us with, like, 5 ingredients.
This is one of those all-in-one meals; the veg is there, the protein is there, the flavor is there! Make sure to give yourself an extra scoop or three of sauce on top some rice, because you know what? You deserve to feel good. And let all that luscious flavor absorb into the rice, and really just enjoy that moment.
I have been working my way through a shipment of Maesri yellow curry which I ordered on Amazon (affiliate link) – it’s premade, flavorful and concentrated, golden in color. It works perfectly here. That said, red curry paste is often easier to find and would be a less-golden but still-delicious substitute. And if you’re feeling the calling to stock your freezer with something great, then you should probably make this yellow curry paste which will make your house smell like the aromatics of heaven. It is an absolute gem to pull out of the freezer through the winter. I make a batch of it at least once every year.
My girls, bless their hearts, are not super into the coconut kale. Something about multiple cups of freshly shredded kale? It’s fine – I just leave out a few pieces of “plain chicken” for them and happily serve up a bit of extra coconut kale for myself in their honor.
I love chicken for this, but lately, I’ve been dreaming of a skillet of gently pan-fried shrimp swirled in this coconut kale sauce. It just feels right. It’s a choose-your-own adventure, and all paths end with you licking the last bits of sauce out of the pan.
How To Make This Recipe
1
Cut Your Chicken.
This is optional, but I really love a thinly sliced piece of chicken. It’s easier to cook and it’s more enjoyable to eat. I thinly slice chicken breasts and season them right on the cutting board.
2
Cook That Chicken.
Pan fry for a few minutes on each side. Yummy.
3
Make Your Sauce.
Shallots, curry paste, kale, and coconut milk. You’re basically there.
4
Pop The Chicken Back In.
Once the sauce is golden and thickened, get the chicken back in there.
5
Yum! You’re Done!
Garnish and deliver this to the table to a chorus of oohs and ahhs. It’s as beautiful as it is delicious.
Chicken with Coconut Kale
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
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Pin RecipeDescription
Golden, juicy, thinly sliced pan-fried chicken swims in a creamy coconut-kale gravy-like situation with slips of shallot and a bit of heat. Super easy, minimal ingredients!
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut or pounded into thin pieces
- 2–3 tablespoons all-purpose chicken seasoning (I use the McCormick Rotisserie Chicken Seasoning)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil (divided)
Coconut Kale
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 2–3 cups finely shredded curly kale, stems removed (about 3-4 stalks)
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry paste (see notes for subs)
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Optional, for serving:
- rice
- chili crisp or cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the Chicken: Coat the chicken with the spices. In a large nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 2-3 minutes per side. Set chicken aside.
- Start the Coconut Kale: If needed, wipe your pan out (see notes). In the same pan, add 1/2 tablespoon avocado oil if needed. Saute the shallots, kale, and yellow curry paste for 5 minutes until everything is aromatic and tender.
- Simmer the Coconut Kale: Add all other sauce ingredients; simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken. When the sauce has thickened, tuck the chicken back in the sauce. Let it get gently bubbly and spoon the sauce over top.
- You’re Done! Yum! Sprinkle the whole thing with cilantro. Serve chicken with scoops of the sauce over rice! Finish with whatever toppings you like – for me it’s chili crisp!
Notes
For the chicken seasoning, you’ll want to use something that uses spices like paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and/or salt. If you’re working without a spice mix, I would recommend the spices in our Air Fryer Chicken! The chicken spices play a big part of both the flavor of the dish and the caramelization / browning of the chicken. For example, if you choose a chicken seasoning that contains sugar, then the overall dish will be sweeter and you’ll notice more browned bits getting stuck to the bottom of the pan.
For the chicken, you want to cook it to 165 degrees internal temperature – I use this meat thermometer (affiliate link) all the time and I love it.
I’ve been using a ceramic nonstick for this recipe (Nordic Ware Basalt Skillet – affiliate link) and it has amazing release properties so I rarely need to wipe the pan out! That said, if you’re using an older nonstick or a different type of pan that’s holding onto a lot of brown or burnt bits from the chicken, wipe the pan out before you start the sauce. This helps the sauce stay light and golden colored. It is really pan-dependent – for my Nordic Ware nonstick I don’t need to do this at all, but others require a quick wipe down to avoid too much brown in the sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Category: Dinner
Method: Stovetop
Cuisine: Thai-Inspired
Keywords: coconut chicken, coconut sauce, easy dinner, easy chicken dinner
Frequently Asked Questions / Things To Know
Yes! The color will be different but the flavor will be great. If you’re using a more mainstream brand like Thai Kitchen, you may want to use 2 tablespoons instead of 1 tablespoon to make sure you get enough flavor. I use Maesri which is pretty potent so I find that 1 tablespoon is enough.
You can, but it won’t be nearly as potent (read: yummy). If that’s all you have, I would help it out with some sriracha or chili crisp, or turmeric, or roasted red chile paste, or anything else you have to add some flavor depth and dimension.
Yes, but the sauce won’t thicken quite as well. You could always thicken it with a cornstarch slurry if having a low fat content is important to you!
No, you don’t have to. If the pan just has some light nice browning left in it, leave it alone! But if it looks like this after cooking the chicken, then yes, I would wipe it out to avoid the sauce turning a dark brown color.
Shrimp would be great. I’ve been dying to try it. I also feel like this sauce would be A+ with meatballs or chickpeas (very similar to Steph’s Chickpea Curry)!
No! I happen to have a lot of it in my otherwise very struggling garden right now, which is why I have been using it (plus, it’s a nice hefty green that wilts really pleasantly into the sauce). Other great options: spinach, bell peppers, mushrooms, basically anything you’d put in a curry.
Yes. I like shallots a lot. But a thinly sliced onion will do the trick!
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