Panang Curry is a delectable Thai curry dish that's quick, easy and oh so delicious. Make this flavorful dish for dinner tonight!
What Makes This Thai Curry Recipe So Wonderful
- Delicious. This Panang Curry recipe has got to be one of the best curry recipes out there! It's full of deliciously tender chicken, has some heat to it but isn't too terribly spicy, and has a wonderful creaminess and nuttiness to it. It's a great introduction to Thai curry recipes if you've never had one!
- Quick. You can make this entire Thai chicken curry recipe in just over 30 minutes. And less time spent cooking means more time doing more productive things (or less productive things, depending on how you're feeling 😜).
- Simple. Thanks to the Instant Pot, this Panang curry recipe is incredibly easy to make. You do all the cooking and sautéing in the Instant Pot, which means fewer dishes for you to have to clean. We can ALL do with less dirty dishes, am I right?
- Healthy. This dish has only 8 grams of carbs per serving and even less if you decide to use Swerve. You can either serve this over Jasmine rice (if you don't mind the carbs) or over shirataki noodles to keep things keto-friendly.
How To Make This Thai Curry Recipe
- Mix. Place curry paste, soy sauce, sweetener, garlic, ginger, and salt into a bowl and whisk together. Add peanut butter and hot water, continuing to whisk until you have a smooth sauce. Set aside.
- Cook. Place chicken, onions, and mushrooms into the Instant Pot. Add the sauce and stir well. Secure the lid on the pot. Set the Instant Pot at High pressure for 5 minutes. When cook time is complete, let pot release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.
- Sauté. Set the pot on Sauté. Add the bell peppers and basil leaves, and allow them to wilt for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the coconut milk, stirring to incorporate. Allow the coconut milk to heat through, but do not allow it to bubble and boil as that will cause it to separate.
- Serve. Squeeze in lemon juice and serve with jasmine rice or shirataki noodles for a low carb option.
What Is Panang Curry Made Of?
This Thai chicken curry recipe (sometimes spelled as Phanang or Phanaeng Curry) primarily consists of Panang curry paste, peanut butter, soy sauce or fish sauce, coconut milk, bell peppers, onions, and chicken. It's often served with rice or atop shirataki noodles.
The curry paste itself can vary in ingredients, but usually includes dried chili peppers, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, salt and pepper. You could certainly make your own, but I just used some Maesri Thai Panang Curry Paste that I got from my local supermarket.
What Does Panang Curry Taste Like?
Panang curry has a lot of similarities to Thai red curry but includes peanuts or peanut butter and coconut milk as main ingredients. It also uses fewer red chilies. This, in turn, makes the curry less spicy with a distinct sweetness and nuttiness to it. It's without a doubt one of the best curry recipes out there, and is sure to become a new favorite of yours as well!
More Delicious Thai Recipes
- Thai Cashew Chicken - An easy one-pan cashew chicken stir fry.
- Air Fryer Thai Peanut Chicken - An easy yet delicious dish that mixes things up a bit.
- Bang Bang Shrimp - Sweet, spicy and tangy shrimp perfection.
- Air Fried Beef Satay - A super-fast, authentic recipe that requires very little hands-on time.
- Air Fryer Cornish Game Hens Thai Gai Yang - A simple cornish game hen dish you'll want to make again and again.
- Spicy Basil Beef - A healthy, fast dinner option that's oh so delicious.
- Thai Green Curry - A perfect, authentic Thai curry with chicken and vegetables.
- Instant Pot Thai Coconut Pandan Custard - A delicious keto treat you can make in your pressure cooker.
However you decide to serve this dish, whether over some hot Jasmine rice or low carb shirataki noodles, your sure to savor each and every bite of this yummy Panang Curry. Make sure to share this recipe with your friends on Pinterest and Facebook so they can enjoy it as well!
★ Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to give it a star rating below! Just click on the stars in the recipe card to rate. Don't forget to pin this recipe for later!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Panang Curry Paste
- 1 tablespoon Creamy Peanut Butter
- 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce, or fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon Sugar, or Swerve
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 cups Onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Minced Ginger
- 1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
For Finishing
- 1 cup Full-Fat Coconut Milk
- 2 cups Bell Peppers, sliced
- 6-8 Basil leaves, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Place curry paste, soy sauce, sweetener, garlic, ginger, and salt into a bowl and whisk together. Add peanut butter and 1/4 cup of hot water, continuing to whisk until you have a smooth sauce. Set aside.
- Place chicken, onions, mushrooms and 1/2 cup water into the Instant Pot. Add the sauce and stir well. Secure the lid on the pot. Set the Instant Pot at High pressure for 5 minutes. When cook time is complete, let pot release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.
- Set the pot on Sauté. Add the bell peppers and basil leaves, and allow them to wilt for 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the coconut milk, stirring to incorporate. Allow the coconut milk to heat through, but do not allow it to bubble and boil as that will cause it to separate.
- Squeeze in lemon juice and serve with jasmine rice or shirataki noodles for a low carb option.
How to Make it Low Carb
This dish has only 17 grams of carbs per serving and even less if you decide to use Swerv and reduce the onions by half. . You can either serve this over Jasmine rice (if you don't mind the carbs) or over shirataki noodles to keep things keto-friendly.Get support & connect with our community on Facebook!
Nutrition
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Brooke
Excellent, will add more PB and curry paste next time!
Tobie
Can't wait to try this! Do you have any thoughts on using coconut milk powder diluted with water as a substitute for the full fat coconut milk? Or maybe half powder, half full fat coconut milk? I'm looking for a way to lighten it up a little.
Steve
Oops. I should have read my post from 5/28... I knew I wanted less paste and used a scant 2 TBL, but it should have been 2 tsp....
I added scant 1/2 tsp chicken bullion and beets. I also set for 8 minutes as it was a package of frozen thighs, I had to finish using the Sauté step, before adding coconut.
From prior discussions, my IP runs hot. Even LE-2 was a roiling boil and went down to LE-1 (barely keep warm) when I added the coconut.
Steve
Yum. Not too hot after all. Lots of leftovers going in the Soupier Cubes! Thanks,
Michelle Rose
I thought this was great! The sauce is a little on the thin side, but the flavor/spice is very close to the panang curries that I've had from Thai restaurants. It's fast and easy enough to make on a work night, too.
Eva
Outstanding and a new favorite dish that will join our regular rotation!
We’ve made several Thai dishes (in our instant pot and on the stove) and have always been underwhelmed by the result until now.
Thanks for the great recipe! Only change we made was added a few small Thai eggplants. Yum, yum, yum!
alba
I tried this recipe and it was really good. Only thing I might change is adding a bit more peanut butter and perhaps a bit of cornstarch or flour to make it thicker. I prefer a thick, creamy curry. Flavor-wise, it was really good though! Loved the leftovers too! Thanks!
Ina
What can I add instead of peanut butter (allergy)?
URVASHI PITRE
Can you do sun butter or some other seed butter?
Steve
Made just now. Woohoo spicy. I used a different brand of Panang Curry Paste with servings in teaspoons. So I erred on the side of caution and used 3 Tsp, and wonderfully on the edge of what I can stand. YUMM! Thank you so much.
Cindy Ossege
We made this tonight and it was awesome! So much flavor and so easy to make. This will become a regular meal at our house.
Christine Brown
I think there are a few muddles.Adding peanut butter is mentioned twice in step 1. Nowhere do the garlic and ginger get mentioned to add. I put them into Step 1 as they seemed to be saucey kind of ingredients. It's in the pot right now, so hope all will be as it should be!
URVASHI PITRE
Thanks! Fixed.
Erin
This is so delicious. It is my new favorite! Just want to say that the addition of garlic and ginger in step one are still not noted in the printed recipe. I’ve shared it with three people. We’ve all enjoyed it. So good!