Grilled Curry Chicken

Quick and easy Grilled Curry Chicken features simple marinade ingredients plus a recipe for coconut rice.

Try some of our other favorite grilled chicken recipes: this all-purpose Chicken Marinade, this grilled Pineapple Chicken, or these Chicken Kabobs.

Grilled Curry Chicken

The cold weather keeps me from grilling as often as I’d like, but after an especially warm weekend here in Utah, I had to take advantage of the sunshine and make some grilled chicken. The whole family was feeling curry, so I adapted my Coconut Chicken Curry recipe to make a very quick and easy coconut curry marinade.

To keep things simple with this recipe, we use the marinade to infuse the chicken with plenty of flavor and then to become a sauce to coat the grilled chicken. It doesn’t get much easier than that! This meal comes together quickly and while the chicken is grilling, you can use the leftover coconut milk from the marinade to make some coconut rice.

How To Make Grilled Curry Chicken

1. Make the marinade: Mix seasonings, coconut milk, olive oil, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, and honey.
2. Prep the chicken: Halve large breasts and pound to even thickness for grilling.
3. Marinate: Add chicken to marinade for 2-8 hours. Avoid overnight marinating to prevent drying.
4. Grill: Instructions below!
5. Prepare sauce and rice: Use leftover coconut milk for rice. Heat and thicken reserved marinade for the sauce.
6. Serve: Layer coconut rice, Grilled Curry Chicken, and sauce. Garnish with herbs, nuts, and lime.

Chicken Marinating And Grilling Tips

• Slice breasts in half before marinating. Slice and/or pound your chicken breasts into evenly thick pieces before marinating. That way they’ll soak up all the delicious flavor from the marinade and they’ll cook evenly. We don’t want to pound the breasts to be flat, just to be even thickness throughout. Even thickness means all parts of the chicken will be done at the same time. I really like this meat mallet, and here’s a good YouTube video that illustrates the pounding process
• Flip and/or stir. Throughout the marinating process, be sure to flip the bag of chicken breasts to the other side, or stir the breasts in the marinade. We don’t want just one side of the chicken getting flavorful!
• Generously oil your grill grates. I do this by rolling up a few paper towels, drenching them in oil (canola or vegetable), and with tongs, rubbing the drenched paper towels along the grill grates. This will contribute to a beautiful sear, and ensure the chicken doesn’t stick to the grates.
• Let the chicken rest. Tented with foil, let the chicken stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting in. This allows the juices to redistribute inside the chicken; this means juicier meat!

Serving Suggestions

Serve Grilled Chicken Curry alongside coconut rice and fresh herbs. Below are some other side dish suggestions:

• Naan: Heat homemade or store-bought naan on the grill for 20-30 seconds to warm through
• Asian Cucumber Salad
• Roasted Vegetables

Grilled Chicken Curry could also be chopped into small pieces and served in a lettuce wrap with the rice and cilantro.

More Curry Recipes

• Curry Chicken Salad served in lettuce wraps or on naan
• Sweet Potato Curry vegetarian curry
• Coconut Curry Chicken reader favorite!
• Yellow Chicken Curry spicy curry and potatoes
• Chicken Curry simple and easy curry

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5 from 6 votes

Grilled Curry Chicken

By Chelsea Lords

Quick and easy Grilled Curry Chicken recipe features simple marinade ingredients plus a recipe for coconut rice.

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Marinating Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

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• ▢ 2 tablespoons EACH: soy sauce, honey, olive oil
• ▢ 2 large limes (1 tablespoon zest, 1/4 cup juice)
• ▢ 2-3 cloves minced garlic
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
• ▢ 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
• ▢ 1 can (14 ounces) full-fat coconut milk, divided
• ▢ 1 and 3/4ths pound (~3 large breasts) boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
• ▢ 1 cup basmati rice
• ▢ Optional: fresh cilantro, fresh lime, finely chopped cashews

Instructions 

• MARINADE: Before starting the marinade, keep in mind that you'll remove 3/4 cup of it before adding it to the chicken. In a large bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lime zest, 1/4 cup lime juice, 2-3 cloves minced garlic (add to preference, we add 3), 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed, 2 teaspoons salt (or to preference), 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper if using, and 1/2 cup coconut milk. (Stir the coconut milk until well integrated before measuring). Whisk all the ingredients together and remove 3/4 cup (for the sauce) and place in the fridge. Pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel. Halve thick breasts horizontally and pound the chicken breasts with a meat mallet or the bottom of a frying pan. We don't want to make the breasts thin, just the same thickness throughout to ensure even cooking. Place chicken breasts in a large plastic bag and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken. Knead to coat the chicken, seal the bag without any air, and refrigerate. Marinate for 2-8 hours.
• PREP GRILL: Make sure the grill grates are clean and greased. Once the grill is preheated to 400 degrees F, dredge a paper towel in vegetable oil and holding it with tongs, rub it all over the grate.
• GRILL: Grill the chicken until completely cooked through (about 4-6 minutes per side, depending on the heat of the grill and thickness) Chicken should be at 160 degrees F at its thickest part (carryover heat will bring it to 165 degrees). For 1-inch thick breasts grilled at 400 degrees, it takes generally 5 minutes on the first side and 4 minutes on the other side. Use a metal spatula to remove the chicken to a plate and cover immediately with foil to rest for 5-10 minutes.
• RICE: Combine 1 cup basmati rice, the remaining coconut milk (there should be 1 and 1/2 cups), 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste). Stir and place over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cover the rice. Allow to simmer for 13-18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, keep covered, and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Fluff the rice and divide it onto plates.
• SAUCE: Pour the reserved 3/4 cup marinade into a small pot over high heat. Bring to a boil and boil for 1-2 minutes or until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from heat and spoon over grilled chicken.
• SERVE: Top sauced chicken breasts with fresh cilantro, a squeeze of fresh lime, and finely chopped cashews if desired. Enjoy immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 4servings | Calories: 484kcal | Carbohydrates: 37.8g | Protein: 30.8g | Fat: 24.6g | Cholesterol: 82.7mg | Sodium: 283mg | Fiber: 2.1g | Sugar: 11.5g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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