30-Minute Chicken Curry with Green Beans
Browned chunks of chicken thigh, green beans and red pepper simmered in a quick sauce of curry powder, garlic, canned tomato sauce and broth, one skillet and done in 30 minutes.
This is the curry of the American weeknight: a 12-inch skillet, a spoonful of curry powder, a can of tomato sauce and thighs that won't dry out. It comes from America's Test Kitchen's quick-dinner collection and shows how far a pantry curry can travel from the slow, ground-spice cooking in our Home-Style Indian Chicken Curry recipe, while still borrowing its basic order of work: brown, bloom the spices, simmer.
Why it works the kitchen science
Room to brown
Taking the chicken out before the vegetables go in keeps the skillet from crowding, so both get browned edges that flavor the sauce.
Thighs in a hurry
Dark meat stays juicy through a 10-minute simmer that would dry out breast meat.
Step by step
- Step 1
Prep everything before you heat the pan: cut the chicken, beans and pepper and mince the onion and garlic. Pat the chicken dry and season with the salt and pepper.
- Step 2
Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until lightly browned. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
- Step 3
Add the green beans, bell pepper and onion to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat about 4 minutes, until the onion softens and starts to brown.
- Step 4
Stir in the curry powder and garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Step 5
Stir in the tomato sauce, broth and chicken with its juices and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover and simmer about 10 minutes, until the beans are tender and the largest piece of chicken reads 165°F. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with naan.
30-Minute Chicken Curry with Green Beans
Serves 4 · about 6 cups · 30 min total
- 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (3 to 5 oz each), trimmed and cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 8 oz green beans, trimmed and cut on the bias into 1-inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, minced
- 3 tbsp curry powder
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken broth
- Chopped fresh cilantro and naan, for serving
Method
- Prep everything before you heat the pan: cut the chicken, beans and pepper and mince the onion and garlic. Pat the chicken dry and season with the salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until lightly browned. Lift it out with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
- Add the green beans, bell pepper and onion to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat about 4 minutes, until the onion softens and starts to brown.
- Stir in the curry powder and garlic and cook about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, broth and chicken with its juices and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover and simmer about 10 minutes, until the beans are tender and the largest piece of chicken reads 165°F. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with naan.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen, "Chicken Curry with Green Beans" (published April 21, 2020; no author listed), serves 4, 30 minutes. The amounts, browning the chicken first and lifting it out so the vegetables can brown, the 30-second curry powder bloom and the 10-minute covered simmer are ATK's. ATK says to simmer until the chicken is cooked through; the 165°F check is ours. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (1)
Tips
- Use a fresh jar of curry powder; it is the only spice in the dish, and old powder tastes dusty.
- Swap the green beans for frozen peas (add them for the last 2 minutes) or cauliflower florets.
- Serve over rice instead of naan for a heartier plate.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- A real curry can't be made in 30 minutes. Folklore: Raghavan Iyer's tamatar murghi, reprinted by Serious Eats, takes 35 minutes; this one takes 30.
- Bloom curry powder in fat first. Documented as ATK's method here (30 seconds before the liquid goes in).
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