This Quick Leftover Chicken Curry is the perfect way to finish a roast, rotisserie chicken, or roast turkey. It has a fairly mild flavour and uses natural yoghurt to add a delicious creaminess to the sauce. Ready in just 20 minutes, this recipe uses minimal ingredients focusing on convenience and taste.
It's always helpful to have a few good recipes for using up leftover cooked chicken. I often buy a slightly bigger chicken in order to have enough leftovers for an additional meal. As well as this quick curry, other easy leftover chicken recipe ideas include Chicken and Mushroom Pasta or Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake. A chicken risotto is handy if you don't have too much chicken left over. For something a bit different try this North African Chicken Mince Tagine.
Jump to:
Ingredients
In this recipe, I've opted for convenience so I've used a ready-made Korma paste and chicken stock.
- Fresh Ginger - a core ingredient of a curry. Ginger root should be firm. You can freeze any you don't use.
- Korma Curry Paste - a korma is a fairly mild curry. Curry pastes are excellent as they are more economical than jars or sauces and have a deeper flavour.
- Ground Almonds - these are used to thicken the sauce. (see substitution below for nut allergies)
- Chicken Stock - I use a chicken stock cube for convenience.
- Mango Chutney - a sweet and spicy chutney that adds lots of flavour.
- Low Fat Natural Yoghurt - this adds a nice creaminess to the sauce without the heaviness of cream.
- Garam Masala - an Indian Spice blend used in many dishes. It isn't overly spicy.
- Sultanas - a traditional Korma often has added dried fruits. I've used sultanas as they are the most common.
- Spinach - use fresh spinach leaves rather than frozen. If using frozen, squeeze out the excess liquid to avoid your sauce turning too thin and watery.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Leftover Chicken Curry
If you're serving with rice, put the rice on to cook straight away.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and the ginger to the pan and cook for a further 1 minute.
Add the curry paste to the frying pan and stir for 1 minute. This helps to release the flavour.
Add the leftover chicken and ground almonds and stir together so the chicken is well covered in the curry paste.
Pour over the chicken stock, season with freshly ground black pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken thoroughly.
Stir in the mango chutney, natural yoghurt, garam masala, and sultanas.
Stir through the fresh spinach and serve.
Top Tip
Don't let the curry boil after adding the yoghurt or the yoghurt will split and become grainy. It will still be safe to eat, but the texture will be different.
Would you like to SAVE this Post?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I respect your privacy and you can opt out at any time.
Substitutions
- Roast Chicken - this recipe will work well with most leftover cooked meat such as roast turkey, lamb, or pork.
- Natural Yoghurt - you can substitute creme fraiche, single or double cream, or add coconut milk.
- Ground Almonds - these are used to thicken the sauce. You could also use Cornflour or Cornstarch. Mix a few teaspoons of the flour to a paste with a little cold water before adding to the sauce.
- Spinach - this is optional. You could use green beans instead or cauliflower or broccoli.
- Korma Curry Paste - if you want a spicier version, you can use a stronger curry paste such as Balti, Rogan Josh, or Tikka Masala for a medium spice or Madras for a hot spice.
Green Tip
If you don't have enough leftover chicken, you can pad out the recipe by adding in extra vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, or pulses such as chickpeas or lentils.
Serving Suggestion
Leftover chicken curry is best served with rice and naan bread. You can also serve it with some poppadoms, Indian chutneys, or cauliflower rice if you're looking for a low-carb version. It's also delicious on a baked jacket potato.
For a quick flatbread, you can make at home, check out my 3 ingredient flatbread recipe, ready in just 10 minutes.
Try serving the chicken curry with some fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves and flaked almonds over the top.
Equipment
For this recipe, you will need
- A large frying pan
- A grater for the ginger
- A measuring jug for the stock
Sustainability
Using up leftovers is an important way to reduce food waste. Food waste has a significant impact on our carbon footprint. If you have fresh ginger left over, you can peel it and freeze it then grate it from frozen the next time you need some.
Several of the ingredients here are also available as Fairtrade. You can now buy Fairtrade rice as well as mango chutney, garam masala, and of course black pepper. Buying Fairtrade products is a direct way to help some of the world's poorest farmers. Fairtrade products are also produced to good environmental standards.
Storage
Cooked chicken will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. However, you should only re-heat meat once so when you've cooked this leftover chicken curry, you should eat it straight away. You can eat it cold and cold chicken curry makes a great lunch the next day if you have any leftover!
Get Ahead tip
If you want to get ahead, you can prepare the sauce in advance and stir in the cooked chicken when you are ready. Make sure the chicken is heated thoroughly. The sauce without the cooked chicken can be stored in the fridge for 3 - 4 days and can be frozen for 3 - 4 months.
More Easy Curry Recipes
Looking for other easy curry recipes like this? Try these:
📖 Recipe
Quick Leftover Chicken Curry With Yoghurt
Would you like to SAVE this Post?
I'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
I respect your privacy and you can opt out at any time.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon sunflower oil organic
- 1 onions organic, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic organic, peeled, crushed
- 3 teaspoon fresh ginger organic, peeled, grated
- 4 tablespoon korma curry paste organic
- 500 g cooked chicken chopped
- 2 tablespoon ground almonds organic
- 300 ml chicken stock organic
- 1 dash black pepper organic, fairtrade, freshly ground
- 2 tablespoon mango chutney organic, fairtrade
- 150 ml low fat natural yoghurt organic
- 2 teaspoon garam masala organic, fairtrade
- 40 g sultanas organic, (optional)
- 100 g spinach organic
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat and fry the onion for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and the ginger to the pan and cook for a further 1 minutes.2 tablespoon sunflower oil, 1 onions, 2 cloves garlic, 3 teaspoon fresh ginger
- Add the curry paste to the frying pan and stir for 1 minute.4 tablespoon korma curry paste
- Add the leftover chicken and ground almonds and stir together.500 g cooked chicken, 2 tablespoon ground almonds
- Pour over the chicken stock, season with freshly ground black pepper, and simmer for 5 minutes to heat the chicken thoroughly.300 ml chicken stock, 1 dash black pepper
- Stir in the mango chutney, natural yoghurt, garam masala, and sultanas.2 tablespoon mango chutney, 150 ml low fat natural yoghurt, 2 teaspoon garam masala, 40 g sultanas
- Stir through the fresh spinach and serve.100 g spinach
Notes
Ingredient Notes
-
- Fresh Ginger - a core ingredient of a curry. Ginger root should be firm. You can freeze any you don't use.
-
- Korma Curry Paste - a korma is a fairly mild curry. Curry pastes are excellent as they are more economical than jars or sauces and have a deeper flavour.
-
- Ground Almonds - these are used to thicken the sauce. (see substitution below for nut allergies)
-
- Chicken Stock - I use a chicken stock cube for convenience.
-
- Mango Chutney - a sweet and spicy chutney that adds lots of flavour.
-
- Low Fat Natural Yoghurt - this adds a nice creaminess to the sauce
-
- Garam Masala - an Indian Spice blend used in many dishes. It isn't overly spicy.
-
- Sultanas - a traditional Korma often has added dried fruits. I've used sultanas as they are the most common.
-
- Spinach - use fresh spinach leaves rather than frozen. If using frozen, squeeze out the excess liquid to avoid the sauce being too watery.
Storage Tips
Cooked chicken will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. However, you should only re-heat meat once so when you've cooked this leftover chicken curry, you should eat it straight away. Cold chicken curry makes a great lunch the next day if you have any leftovers!Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Val
This was so easy to follow and make and everyone enjoyed it , it will become a firm favourite along with others from here I’ve tried and loved , thank you
Emily Matthews
Brilliant recipe - easy to make and delicious, will definitely make again 🙂
Jade
Made this. No sultanas. Extra garlic and extra crushed almonds. Added capsicum and carrot during simmer stage.
Quite nice 👌
REALMEALDEAL
So pleased you liked it. It's always good to add in some extra vegetables if you can, especially if they would otherwise go to waste.
Jane
Lovely recipe, will definitely make again thank you!!
REALMEALDEAL
Hi Jane Thanks so much for your lovely comment. So pleased you enjoyed it.