Thai Panang Chicken curry – a rich, creamy and flavourful curry with coconut milk and peanuts.
It’s milder than red Thai curry, with a lovely nutty creaminess from the peanut butter.
I like to add bell 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.
Panang curry – also known as phanaeng or phanang curry – is an aromatic, creamy, medium-spice Thai-style curry with a hint of peanut butter. I love this as an alternative to Thai red curry (which is a bit hotter and less mellow than Panang).
This is a nice easy curry to pull together, and it’s absolutely packed with flavour from the curry paste, peanut butter and stock. I also like to add Thai basil leaves to the curry sauce and a few extra for garnish too.
If you’ve never tried Thai basil before, look out for it in larger supermarkets. It’s got the flavours of Italian basil, but a little mellower and with a bit of an aniseed taste to it too.
📋 Ingredients?
- Chicken breast – replace with chunks of skinless chicken thighs if you prefer
- Panang Curry Paste – I like Mae Ploy Panang Paste (<<– affiliate link)
- Sauce: Peanut butter, stock and coconut milk (use full fat coconut milk, so the sauce doesn’t split)
- Veggies: Onion and peppers
- Aromatics: Garlic, ginger, Thai basil, a touch of salt and pepper, fish sauce and lime juice – plus sugar to balance the lime
- Cornflour (cornstarch): to thicken the curry
🌶️ Panang curry paste versus red Thai curry paste 🌶️
- Panang curry paste is made up of lovely fragrant ingredients, such as red chillies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, galangal, shrimp paste, coriander seed, cumin and kaffir lime leaves.
- It’s slightly different from regular red Thai curry paste, in that red Thai curry paste is usually hotter, and also doesn’t usually contain cumin and coriander seed.
- The finished panang curry also has the addition of peanuts (I use peanut butter and finish with chopped peanuts) – which red Thai curry doesn’t.
📺 Watch how to make it
Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.
👩🍳PRO TIP Panang curry paste is usually a medium-heat paste. Go easy on it if you don’t like too much spice (one tablespoon will still give a good flavour). Add an extra tablespoon if you like your curries spicier.
Serve topped with chopped peanuts and Thai basil leaves. I also like to add some chopped spring onions and a lime wedge too.
🍽️ What to serve it with
- Boiled Rice – long grain, sticky rice or jasmine rice are great
- Sweet Chilli Sauce or Mango Chutney
- Thai prawn crackers or flatbreads for dipping
🍲 More fantastic Thai-inspired recipes
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Chicken Panang Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 chicken breasts (approx. 525g/1.1lbs), chopped into bitesize chunks
- pinch salt and pepper
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 2 tbsp panang curry paste
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 240 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
- 400 ml (14 oz) tin full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp lime juice (juice of approx 1 lime)
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 10 Thai basil leaves
- 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 3 tbsp cold water, to form a slurry
To Serve:
- boiled rice long grain or jasmine
- 2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts
- 2 spring onions (scallions) chopped
- 8-12 Thai basil leaves
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.2 tbsp oil
- Add the chicken, salt, and pepper and fry, turning the chicken regularly, for 5 minutes, until the chicken is sealed (it won’t be cooked through at this point).3 chicken breasts, pinch salt and pepper
- Add the onion, peppers, garlic, ginger, and panang curry paste.1 onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 2 cloves garlic, 1 tbsp ginger paste, 2 tbsp panang curry paste
- Fry, stirring regularly, for 3 minutes, ensuring the curry paste coats the chicken and vegetables.
- Add the peanut butter, stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, and Thai basil leaves.2 tbsp peanut butter, 240 ml (1 cup) chicken stock, 400 ml (14 oz) tin full-fat coconut milk, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 2 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp light brown sugar, 10 Thai basil leaves
- Stir together, bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced slightly and chicken is cooked through.
- Slowly pour in the cornflour slurry, whilst stirring, to thicken the sauce further if desired (you may not need all of the cornflour slurry).1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with 3 tbsp cold water, to form a slurry
- Turn off the heat and serve the curry with boiled rice. Top with chopped peanuts, spring onions, and a few fresh Thai basil leaves.boiled rice, 2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts, 2 spring onions (scallions), 8-12 Thai basil leaves
Video
Notes
-
- Swap out the chicken for quorn, tofu, or even meatballs.
- Swap out the 14oz (400ml) coconut milk for 7oz(200ml) additional chicken stock plus 7oz(200ml) double/heavy cream.
- If you can’t find Panang paste,swap out the Panang curry paste for red Thai curry paste (note: red Thai curry paste is hotter and a little tangier than panang paste).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.
very delicious! i used frozen bell peppers between this and the chicken, it let off so much water that I opted not to add chicken stock and just added an appropriate amount of bouillon. I also do not prefer extremely dilute curries so I halved the coconut milk and added an extra tablespoon of the curry paste. i had to cook this a while to boil off the extra water + while I was waiting for my rice to cook. If this is happening to you, it might be a good idea to remove the chicken after initially cooking it so it doesn’t become overcooked like mine did.
Couldnt find the panang paste so used red thai, couldnt get thai basil either so used normal basil, other than that followed the recipe, the curry was amazing and so easy to do, love that you put ingredient quantities under each stage.
This is the second of your recipes I’ve tried, have really enjoyed cooking and eating them. My next try is going to be your sticky orange beef
I love this recipe, it’s delicious. I tweaked it to lower the calories and it still tasted delicious. I left out the sugar as there’s enough sweetness in the coconut milk. I used light coconut milk and left out the peanuts because there’s enough peanut flavor in the peanut butter. I didn’t thicken it with cornflour. Thank you for this and can’t wait to try more.
Made this tonight and it was delicious – didn’t have ginger paste so just used some ginger powder and it turned out great! I also put in two teaspoons of sesame oil which maybe isn’t traditional but helps elevate any curry in my opinion. Great recipe and would definitely make again, thanks!
Absolutely delicious,
I used normal basil leaves but it still tasted awesome.
Hi there,
Is there an alternative to using the Thai Basil leaves in this recipe because I am struggling to get hold of some?
Many Thanks
Hi Louise,
I think Thai basil tastes quite similar to regular Italian basil, but with a bit of an aniseed flavour too. So I would add a little regular basil, and for the aniseed flavour, i’d add a few tarragon leaves (or dried tarragon) or a pinch of ground fennel seeds.
If you can’t get hold of those, then I would absolutely still serve up the curry without – as it has plenty of flavour from the panang paste.
Too bland for me. Had to add a bit of Sriracha sauce to pep it up a bit.
Another lovely recipe from Kitchen Sanctuary. I made it last night for the family and they loved it. Your recipes never disappoint. Thank you!
The curry paste comes in a rather large amount since the recipe calls for just a tablespoon or two, how do you store it? and how long does it keep?
Thanks