Mango Curry Chicken

recipe updated April 2025

Tender chicken chicken breast meat in a fragrant curry sauce with chunks of mango, tomatoes, and fresh herbs and lime. Served with coconut basmati rice.

Why I love Mango Chicken Curry

foistory. (foi-stor-ee)\n narrative, account, or report of a persons eating experience. 2. the history of how one nourishes ones self. 3. the conversations had that involves description of food, eaten or hoped to soon be consumed

I love a good food story. That is how I was so lucky to get this recipe. I was at a womans retreat and the speaker was Shauna Niequist. If you have read any of her books you know she is a foodie. No matter what she is writing about it somehow includes the details about what was being eaten or being prepared, or had been eaten. I love this about her. I can really connect with this, because I love talking about food as well. In Shauna’s first book, Cold Tangerines, she talks about a Curry Chicken recipe. I had to have it. I was obsessing over it. I went to her blog and commented: “If I don’t get the Curry Chicken recipe I will surely die please, please share THE RECIPE”. Of course, she shared it with me. After I am sure she made a mental note about the girl who bought 10 books and was now harassing her about chicken curry. She had gotten the original recipe from the cookbook, The 50 Dinner Party by Sally Sampson.

I can’t believe that was more than fifteen years ago! Mango Curry Chicken as I now call it, because as all chefs do, I have made this recipe my own. It has evolved. I have made it to fit my families tastes. Even people who tell me they are not fans of curry or who may never have eaten curry before, love this great recipe. This mango chicken curry recipe has become one of my families favorite things. Don’t let the ingredient list scare you this is a really easy recipe.

Gather these ingredients

How to make Mango Curry Chicken

Prep all ingredients before starting recipe.

Add flour, a teaspoon salt, cayenne pepper, and curry powder to a shallow dish or pie plate and mix together.

Cut chicken breasts into bite sized chunks.

Chop onion and pepper, and dice mango into cubes. Mince garlic. Grate or chop ginger. Squeeze lime juice and measure out 1/4 cup. Chop garnishes. Toast unsweetened coconut: spread coconut on a baking sheet and bake in a 350-degree oven for 3 minutes; watch closely. 

Dredge chicken pieces in flour and spice mixture. 

Add half the cooking oil to a Dutch oven and turn the burner to medium heat. When the oil starts to smoke, add half of the chicken pieces to the pan, being careful not to crowd the pan. Brown the pieces on both sides, turning them with tongs, then remove them to a plate. Repeat this until all of the chicken is brown. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked; it will finish cooking later in the recipe. 

**Reserve the whatever spice and flour mixture is left for thickening the sauce.

Remove all the chicken from the pan, put it on a plate, and add the last half of the oil to the pan.

Add onions and pepper to the Dutch oven or large pot. Saute the vegetables using a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits from the chicken. Cook the onion and pepper pieces for about 2 minutes until they start to sweat, then add the garlic and ginger. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, continuously moving ingredients around the pan.

Place the chicken back in the pan in an even layer over the aromatics. Dust chicken pieces with the remaining flour seasoning mixture. Pour all four cups of chicken broth over the chicken. Stir, cover the pot with the lid, turn the burner down to low, and cook for 30 minutes.

Cook rice: Cook rice according to package directions. If you want coconut rice, measure a can of unsweetened creamy coconut milk into a measuring cup and add water for the additional liquid needed for the rice you’re cooking. 

Add diced ripe mangoes (how to cut a mango), a can of diced tomatoes, and currants to the curry chicken, stir, return the lid to the pot, and cook for an additional 15 minutes over low heat. 

Toast unsweetened coconut in a 350-degree oven for 3-5 minutes. Once the coconut starts to brown, it will go from brown to burnt fast, so keep a close eye on it. Remove from the oven and place in a small serving bowl. Prepare additional garnishes as the mango curry chicken finishes cooking. I like to set coconut, cashews, cilantro leaves, and chopped fresh basil in small dishes on the table so people can add them as they like. 

Tips & Variations

• Using bone in chicken: The original recipe called for bone in chicken. If you would like to use bone in skin on chicken. Use 3 pounds of chicken pieces. I love to use chicken thighs for this recipe. Go through all the same steps, except you will need to cook for 1 hour instead of 30 minutes. Finish the same by adding in tomatoes, mangos, currants, lime juice, and basil then cooking for an additional 15 minutes.
• Spice level: We like our food spicy, so if I am making this for my family, I will add 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes to the pan with the onions. Curry recipes always lend well to additional spice, so feel free to get creative with the level of spice in this recipe. 
• Making in advance: This is the perfect recipe to make for guests because it can be made the day before and then finished the next day right before your guests arrive. I give additional instructions for how to do this in the recipe card below. 
• Creamy Sauce: To make a creamy coconut version of this recipe, add a 13.66-ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk when adding mangos, tomatoes, and currants. 
• Mango: Mangoes lend well to savory flavors. However, you need to make sure you have perfectly ripe mangos for this recipe. I often wait until I see them on sale at the grocery store. Then, I buy them and add them to everything. If you have leftover coconut rice, mangoes are so good sliced over it with a drizzle of honey. 
• Fresh tomatoes: I started using canned tomatoes in this recipe because, most of the year, our tomatoes in Michigan are not the best quality. In the summer, I will use 2 cups of diced Roma tomatoes from the farmers market. 
• Serve with: Serve with a green salad dressed with a light vinaigrette, warm naan bread, white rice, basmati rice, or coconut rice. I also like to serve this with a green vegetable such as roasted broccoli, or green beans. For dessert vanilla bean ice cream with caramel sauce.
• Leftovers: The leftovers from mango chicken curry are so good! I actually think this dish has the best flavor the next day. Store leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate after allowing them to come to room temperature. 

I hope you give this recipe a try, it is absolutely the best! Sweet, spicy, savory comfort food at it’s best. It would be so helpful to my business if you would take the time to give me a shout below in the recipe card by giving this a star rating.

Thank you for choosing Eat2gather XO, Sheila

The word foistory is not in Websters Dictionary. In case you wondered.