Creamy Thai Curry Ground Chicken and Rice

Sweet chili garlic sauce, Thai curry Right Rice, and coconut milk come together in this creamy ground chicken and rice recipe. It’s perfectly sweet and spicy, takes less than 30 minutes to create in a single pan, and every serving is packed with 36 grams of protein and 9 grams of fiber. Making it the perfect weeknight dinner or easy Sunday meal prep recipe.

How to Make Creamy Ground Chicken and Rice

It couldn’t be easier. You can divide the recipe into three parts:

1. Brown and fully cook a pound of ground chicken in a little olive oil.
2. Add a blend of Thai sweet chili sauce, low sodium soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, ground ginger, kosher salt, and low fat coconut milk.
3. Bring to a boil before adding Thai curry Right Rice (or your choice of quick cooking rice), turning off the heat, and covering for 10 minutes.

That’s it. Seriously!

Tips for Browning Ground Chicken

I’m not passionate about many things, but the Maillard reaction is one of them. This reaction is what causes meat to brown, and it’s vital for flavor development. Here are a few tips to achieve proper browning:

• pat the ground chicken dry with a paper towel (moisture prevents browning)
• make sure the pan is hot before adding the ground chicken
• gently press the chicken into the pan to maximize contact with the pan
• leave the chicken untouched until it turns golden brown around the edges (you can peak at a corner after 2-3 minutes)

Click here if you want to learn more about browning ground meat.

Ingredient Substitution Notes

In case you’re trying to avoid a grocery run.

Chili Garlic Sauce

Sriracha or sambal oelek are probably your best options here. If you’re in a pinch, the gochujang like I used in my spicy coconut ground chicken recipe would get the job done. Though it’s a bit sweeter and has more of that fermented flavor. I’d probably add some garlic powder or fresh garlic if you go that route.

If you don’t want to pick up chili garlic or sweet chili sauce for one recipe, you can use nearly the same sauce ingredients to make our chili garlic ground chicken and broccoli as well.

Thai Curry Right Rice

If you’re unfamiliar with Right Rice, it’s a lower carb grain option that I’m in love with.

Every bowl of RightRice is made from lentils, chickpeas, peas + rice, with more than double the protein, five times the fiber, and almost 40% fewer net carbs than a bowl of white rice.

Right Rice

You can find it in most stores these days but if you’re wondering what to swap it for, you could use any quick cooking grain like instant rice, Banza chickpea rice, Trader Joe’s Risoni, or something similar. The Thai curry rice’s product description mentions the addition of chile peppers, garlic, and lemongrass. So you might try adding some of each to mimic the flavor if you’re using plain rice.

You could also simmer the ground chicken until it thickens and stir in cooked cauliflower rice or your choice of cooked rice.

More of my recipes with Right Rice:

• Greek ground chicken and veggie skillet
• cheesy ground chicken and rice enchiladas
• honey harissa ground chicken bowls

If you make a rice substitution, you may need to slightly alter the cook time or amount of rice used to perfect the absorption of the sauce. This dish is called creamy ground chicken and rice because it should be, well, creamy. It shouldn’t be soupy or have too much liquid remaining.

The good news is that you can continue cooking this dish to reduce the liquid without overcooking anything.

Serving Your Creamy Ground Chicken and Rice

The recipe calls for roasted peanuts, lime wedges, cilantro, and chili garlic crisp or chili oil. Feel free to mix it up with additional sweet chili sauce, freshly sliced Thai chiles, prik nam pla, or other condiments and fixin’s.

And that covers it. If you have a question about this recipe feel free to leave a comment below. Otherwise, enjoy your creamy ground chicken and rice!