Chicken Vindaloo
A recipe for the popular spicy Indian dish, this spicy, tangy chicken vindaloo curry is a quick and easy kitchen staple. My version is wonderfully fiery, though you can easily adjust the heat and spice to your preference.
If you are a spicy food lover like I am, you need to give your taste buds a treat and try this amazing Chicken Vindaloo Recipe. It has everything a fiery food lover could want – Flavor, Heat, Spiciness, Pure Satisfaction.
It is most definitely one of my favorite recipes and it is super eat to whip together in the kitchen with very little effort and cooking time.
That’s a HUGE PLUS for a slow cook like me!
What is Vindaloo?
“Vindaloo” is a popular Indian curry dish that calls for meat to be marinated in a highly flavorful spicy mixture with vinegar, then quickly cooked up when you’re ready to eat.
You can easily prepare it with several different meats – pork, goat, beef, even potato for a vegetarian version. I love it with chicken, particularly chicken thighs, which I’ve included here for this recipe.
How to Make Chicken Vindaloo (Recipe) – The Marinade
The vindaloo marinade is the most important part of this dish, as it imparts an immense amount of flavor that all of us spicy food lovers crave.
Vinegar is a MUST, as is garlic. From there, we’re adding in a number of pungent spices to make this amazing, including paprika, ginger, coriander, turmeric, mustard powder, cumin, cinnamon, and a healthy dose of spicy red chili flakes.
Don’t forget the salt and black pepper to taste.
Try this Homemade Vindaloo Seasoning Blend.
Upping the Heat and Spice Factor
For the wild chiliheads like ME, you can use ghost pepper chili flakes like I did. If ghost peppers are too hot for you, use the typical red chili flakes or cayenne pepper that you find in the store, which are perfectly GREAT for this recipe.
You’ll definitely get plenty of heat with them, and I want this dish to please your personal palate, not mine! So go with a heat level you’re comfortable with.
You can also include a bit of sugar if you’d like, either white or brown sugar. I didn’t use them this time.
Whisk all of the seasonings together with the vinegar, then pour it over the skinless chicken in a bowl. Or, use a plastic bag that you can seal. This is your curry paste. The chicken should be cut into bite sized pieces.
Refrigerate the chicken for at least 1 hour, though you’ll get better results if you let it marinate overnight.
More marinade time = more flavor.
I like to whip this recipe together the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator until dinner time the next evening. It makes for a super quick and easy meal, though yeah, it does require a little bit of forethought.
How to Make Chicken Vindaloo (Recipe) – The Method
Making authentic Chicken Vindaloo is simple. First, heat oil in a large skillet to medium high heat.
Next, cook down your onion and chili pepper a few minutes to soften them up. I used spicy serrano peppers here, though you can use milder peppers for a version with less heat.
Next, add the chicken (along with the marinade) and stir. Cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next, add in the tomato paste and cook stirring a bit, along with about 1/2 cup of water or chicken broth to form a sauce. Fresh diced tomatoes are also a nice addition here.
Let the whole pan simmer about 20 minutes, until the chicken cooks through and the flavors develop. You can let it simmer longer if you’d like.
If the sauce becomes too thick, just stir in a bit more water or broth until it reaches the consistency you prefer. It will thicken in the pan. It should be the consistency of a good gravy.
BOOM! DONE! Better than any Indian restaurant. It’s so deliciously fragrant. I love it. Such a great recipe. Indian food is filled with so much amazing spice and flavor.
For Serving
Serve it up over rice and garnish with some fresh herbs and extra spicy chili flakes. Basmati rice is a nice choice, as is a side of naan bread. Make it rain, my friends!
Spice this baby up!
If it gets TOO spicy, serve it alongside this Traditional Indian Raita recipe, which is made from spiced yogurt. It has a nice cooling effect.
It really is an amazing dish. Give it a try and let me know how you like this curry recipe. How spicy did you make yours?
Send pics! I’d love to see them. Till next time!!! — Mike H.
Try Some of My Popular Curry Dish Recipes
- Lamb Vindaloo
- Ghost Pepper Chicken Curry
- Spicy Thai Curry Chicken Soup
- Homemade Vindaloo Curry Powder
- Khao Soi – Northern Thai Coconut Curry Soup
- Chicken Korma
- Phaal Curry (the Hottest Curry in the World)
Try Some of My Other Popular Chicken Dishes
- Grilled Harissa Chicken Legs
- Korean Chicken
- Dragon Chicken
- Szechuan Chicken
- Chicken Enchiladas Verdes with Cheese
- Quick and Easy Chipotle Chicken
- The Juiciest Shredded Chicken
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations.
Chicken Vindaloo – Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 2 serrano peppers chopped (or use Indian peppers if you can obtain them)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE MARINADE
- ½ cup white vinegar
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon spicy red chili flakes I used ghost pepper flakes for an EXTRA kick
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
FOR SERVING: Cooked rice, fresh herbs, extra chili flakes
Instructions
- Add the chicken to a large bowl.
- Mix your marinade by whisking together the vinegar and all of the seasonings. Pour it over the chicken and rub it into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Longer is better, such as overnight.
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion and peppers and cook about 4-5 minutes, until they soften up.
- Add the chicken along with the marinade and cook another 5 minutes to nicely brown up the pieces.
- Add the tomato paste and cook another minute, stirring.
- Add ½ cup of water (or chicken broth for extra flavor) and stir until the mixture thins out and becomes a sauce. You can add more water if needed. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve as is or over rice with fresh herbs and sprinkled chili flakes. Make it rain!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe is gluten free.
112 comments
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I made this last night. Followed recipe to the T. It turned out more greenish-yellow than red. It was good and will try it again. Next time I will just add more tomato paste and use red habaneros instead of serranos.
Thanks, Ron.
Made this the first time a couple of months ago, since then it is on our monthly meal rotation. So delicious! Have made it for friends and family and it’s always a hit! I make 2 batches, one hot, one not, for family that can’t take the heat. We also add diced potatoes . Thank you for the recipe!!
Awesome! Thanks, John!
Made this for the first time tonight. My body doesn’t bode well with super spicy food these days, so I made a few changes to tone down the heat a bit. I used jalapeños in place of the serranos, and New Mexico Chile flakes instead of the spicy red pepper flakes. It went well over Basmati rice and a side of roasted sweet potatoes. So freakin delicious! I’ll definitely be making this again.
Excellent, Jeremy! Glad you enjoyed it! Very nice.
Dang! I made your chicken vindaloo for my husband and son (I’m a vegetarian), and they said it was the BEST EVER!
A tad hard on the sinuses during prep, but so worth it!
Outstanding! Super happy he enjoyed it, Bobbi! Nice.
Hi Michael, this looks really tasty. Can you replace the chicken with shrimps?
Thanks, Peter. Yes, this would be good with shrimp, but you only need a few minutes to cook the shrimp in the sauce at the end before serving. Let me know how it turns out for you.
So I just made this for my dads birthday who loves vindaloo. I was a little worried it might be too spicy but I found it to be perfect. Extremely flavorful and besides the prep work, also super easy. I thought I was going to have decent amount of leftovers given how much of it I made but the two of us polished off the whole batch. Thanks so much for posting this. Much better than the last recipe I used for veggie korma on a different website.
Excellent, Brooks! Glad you both enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Michael for sharing i just came here from Pinterest and thins is just amazing..thanks for sharing
Thanks, Mian!
Hey Mike, I have made this recipe twice now and it has been excellent every time! I had tried to make Chicken Vindaloo a few times in the past but none of the other recipes I tried really worked out. This one however is nearly perfect. Your recipe has all of the flavors of a traditional vindaloo and I love the amount of kick your recipe provides. Both times I have made this I followed your recipe to the letter and the end result was fantastic. I especially love the fact that you can marinade the chicken for as long as you want and then toss it in the pan when you are ready to eat. And I had never used serrano peppers before but after this recipe I will be adding them to my regular pepper rotation.
Thanks for the recipe and keep them coming!
Cheers,
Tom
Thanks so much, Tom. I appreciate it. This is definitely a favorite on the site. Big hit!
Came across your site completely by accident. Im sooooooo glad i did. The vindaloo recipe is just amazing. The spices compliment each other. Its not too intense the flavour. More chillies next time. Thank you.
Wonderful! Thanks, Brian. Super happy you enjoyed it.
Absolutely loved it! Spicy AND flavorful. My son and I loved it. But it was too spicy for everyone else . Spice is great but when you get that kind of flavor with it, it’s so worth it. Definitely adding this to the regular cook. Thanks!
Nice! Thanks, Mike!!
Very first time making an Indian dish from scratch. I fell in love with Indian cuisine since moving to the UK. But I would usually buy the pre-made Curry sauce in a jar as Indian cooking was not part of my culinary repertoire. I will never go back. This is a perfect dish and I might use it as an entertaining recipe; it’s so tremendous. My husband can stop dipping bread into the sauce! Thank you!
Awesome! Great to hear, Kristen! I know, homemade curry is SO MUCH BETTER, isn’t it? Super happy you enjoyed it. This is one of our favorites at home.
Made this for the first time tonight, and I did everything exactly as specified in the recipe without changing quantities or substituting ingredients. It was fantastic as written. Yes it’s a bit spicy, but not overwhelming and it’s backed by a really nice flavor. I made a cucumber raita to have with it anticipating a fire, but I didn’t need it (it was still a nice addition). Outstanding recipe, thanks!
Thanks, Tom! Glad you enjoyed it!!!
We love Indian food, but going out can get expensive so I try to find recipes to fix at home. I’ve tried several Indian dishes, and usually they never come close to what we get going out. However, Mike’s vindaloo is an exception! It is absolutely delicious!!!
Thanks, Kerri! This is one of our favorites for sure. Very popular! And nice and spicy. =)
Fantastic recipe, I’m a chef and tbh loved this one, keep up the good work mate
Thanks so much, Steve! I appreciate it. This is definitely one of our favorites.
Michael, I made your vindaloo recipe yesterday (6/7/20), with some persoanl adjustments. It was a HUGE hit. I added a tsp of cardamom, a little ground clove, TB of Kashmiri chili powder, some whole dried chilis (during the simmer), a little brown sugar, some red potatoes, some finely chopped cherry tomatoes, and a whole bunch of fresh cilantro. I used a mix of chicken thighs and breast. Marinated the chicken for about 4 hours, which was plenty of time. I let everything simmer for about an hour to really let the flavors meld together. Will definately be making this again.
Thanks, Brad! The adjustments sounds great! Super happy you enjoyed it.
I made this recipe tonight and loved it, only difference as i really like hot food i put chilli paste instead of tomato. I qm lookong forward to doing your Phaal recipe next.
Nice! That’ll nicely up the heat for you, John. Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you enjoy the phaal curry as well.
I cook a lot of India n food from scratch and I’d never done Vindaloo as a marinade before, just a slow cook adding the spices and vinegar in layers. This is a great, easier way to do it!
One thing though: I never use olive oil on Indian food I find its completely wrong. I use mustard oil or vegetable oil and mustard seeds.
Thanks, Stefan. You can use whatever oil you’d prefer for this recipe. Thanks for commenting.
I found the flavor to be out of balance, very acidic and hot. Too much vinegar, or maybe I’ll use a milder flavored vinegar next time. I like heat but this was a bit much, I’ll use half the red peppers. Otherwise, great spice blend, fast and easy recipe. I added garam masala instead of cinnamon, and tried to cut the acidity with some honey and cream.
Sorry to hear it was too acidic, Heather. It could be the vinegar you used. A good quality vinegar is very important in cooking. Maybe next time you can cut that in half for the marinade or let it simmer longer with extra water or broth to mellow that out. Thanks for your comments.
Seems like there won’t be much of the sauce with only 1/2 cup of water. Am I missing something?
Mackenzie, you will have some liquid from the marinade, plus the water. This is a slightly thicker sauce for chicken vindaloo. If you’d like it thinner/saucier, you can add in more water or stock to thin it out. Let me know how it turns out for you! Enjoy!
Just made that recipe tonight!
I am not a baker so that quantities and volumes were 100% rule of thumb based. Loved it!
I am commenting just to share that I have made it pepper / Chili free (except a normal black pepper pinch) to accommodate the 2 toddlers of the house!
Was a Total success!
Of course, wife and myself – 2 chili / pepper fanatics – seasoned it greatly after the cooking – using finely chopped fresh red chili and chili flakes.
Thanks a lot for the spice mix recipe!
Excellent, Lionel! I love that you were able to adapt it as needed. Super happy you enjoyed it! Thanks!
I recently got my hands on some reaper peppers. How many do you recommend using.
Peter, reapers are extremely hot, so I would suggest using only 1 or even 1/2 of one to start to make sure they aren’t too hot for you. Let me know how it goes, my friend!
Hi Mike
Absolutely sensational. Mine ended up a little bit runny so I added a little bit of flour to thicken it up. Beautiful.
Thanks for the recipe, I’ll definitely make it again and again.
Regards
Pat
Thanks, Pat! Super happy you enjoyed it!
Absolutely delicious…Learning to make Indian dishes has been as fun as learning to bake bread…but my hands look like I have kidney failure…and gloves are hard to come by these days… 🙂
Thanks, David. Super happy you enjoyed it! Keep on cooking!
The spice level was on point. I used 1tbsp Cayenne, 1tbsp red pepper flakes and 1tsp of chili powder along with a healthy dose of black pepper. Also added a little salt to the marinade. This was very good. My only complaint is that there was some sort of acidic/tang flavor that threw this dish off a little. Maybe cutting the vinegar down a little could be the solution or possibly the mustard powder? Thoughts?
Jay, it could be the vinegar, which is common to many curries. You could omit it next time, see if you like it better. Let me know if you wind up making it again with the vinegar.
Ok I’m going to try this but… You really used 2 TABLESPOONS of ghost pepper flakes? I really love hot and I have a high tolerance but that sounds crazy?
Joe, I usually do a mix, often some ghost with cayenne flakes, sometimes mid-level heat flakes from peppers from my garden. You can definitely mix and match and use to your own heat and spice level preferences. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Making this tonight for the second time in 2 weeks, great delicious recipe!
Excellent! This one is on regular rotation in our kitchen. LOVE it.
Hey! I want to try this recipe – if I do it with potatoes and peas instead, how do you advise cooking?
Angelica, absolutely, this would be great with potatoes. I would sautee the potatoes first to soften them up a bit, then let them simmer in the sauce to complete cooking and absorb all those wonderful flavors. Let me know how it turns out for you.
Great recipe overall – I marinated the chicken as instructed, but also added canned chickpeas in the last 10 minutes of simmering. I used ghee instead of olive oil. Really delicious, but I will cut down on the vinegar slightly next time I make this.
I paired with a spiced basmati rice (this recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/72349/indian-style-basmati-rice/).
Thanks, Cara. Yes, you can easily adjust to your own taste preferences. Glad you enjoyed it overall.
Absolutely delish!! Great to find another chili fanatic! Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you, Rene! I appreciate the comments. Have a great day!
Amazing!! I have made your chicken and beef versions of this recipe along with your raita recipe and they turned out absolutely amazing. Best indian recipe I’ve ever made…just as good (if not better) as anything I’ve ordered at my favorite restaurants. Thank you so much!
Thank you, Sarah! Super happy you like it! One of my favorite recipes for sure.
I just finished making this, it was so good! I only had chicken breast but it worked out perfectly and we prefer white meat anyway. Thanks for the excellent recipe!
Thanks, Brit! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
So good!!! definitely brings the heat!! First timer and will def be adding this to our dinner line up 🙂 . Thank you so much!!!
All right! Thanks, Maria! Yeah, this is a good one. I love this recipe.
Thank you. Beautiful dish. I did alter it a little. I added yogurt potatoes and a t of garam masala.
Sounds like a perfect addition, Rick!
My favorite neighborhood Indian restaurant just closed down and I used to get the chicken vindaloo every week. I was craving it so I made this and it’s even better than the restaurant’s version. Great recipe. I used Hungarian hot paprika. Thanks-this was amazing.
That’s great. T.R. Sorry to hear about the restaurant closing, but glad you found a good replacement! I greatly appreciate the comments!
Added a red pepper for a little more substance but my gosh, this recipe knocks it out the park. Thank you very much, in now infamous in my family for making a fiery but tastey curry. Thank you very much.
That’s GREAT to hear, Rich! I love this. Helping to make people famous! =)
Just made the milder recipie, I definately reccomend it! Go for the full 24 hour marinade, it turned out perfectly! I went with serranos too, but I think I will use fresnos next time.
Try this with poppadoms for dipping!
Thanks, John! I appreciate it!! Glad you enjoyed it.
I cook a lot for Indian food and this recipe was absolutely too notch. Bravo!
Thanks, LKD! Very glad you enjoyed it! It’s one of my favorites. I get requests for it all the time.
My new go to recipe. Tastes amazing. The vinegar definitely gives it a new dimension. Also added some potatoes and half tomatoes. Swapped in some scotch bonnets for real fire and added a little yoghurt with the marinade. Really impressed. Don’t know if this is my imagination but are the ingredients similar to Naga curry? Swear it’s got a similar taste. Also a favourite of mine. I make a big pot and freeze. Just run out tonight, hence back on here.
Thanks, Dan. I appreciate it! I do love vindaloo. It can be similar to Naga curry, which uses Naga Jolokias, I believe. Both can get quite hot!
So I cooked this following your recipe almost exactly, which I’m not usually good at doing! Apart from adding a pinch of sugar ,and I must agree with the other comments on this page it WAS amazing. I usually like a madras heat kinda curry but this is definitely going on the regular menu in our house ….. happy????
Thanks so much, Mark and Claire! Super happy you enjoyed it! This is one of my wife’s favorites. She requests it all the time. I have to keep a big batch of Vindaloo Curry Powder in my cupboard just for her. =)
This was the best Indian recipe I’ve ever cooked! I wish I had a pic to send you but we devoured it instantly! I have to say I toned it down quite a lot because the Greek palate is not accustomed to such heat levels. I used dried Cascabel peppers, which I absolutely adore, instead of Serrano and hardly any chili flakes. Next time I’ll use more chili to train myself and the family. Thanks a lot for this one!
Outstanding, Roula! I’m super happy you enjoyed it. Isn’t it great that you can adjust the recipe to your preferred heat level? Thanks for sharing!!
Very good, I only used a prepared vindaloo spice no red chili flakes or fresh hot peppers. My kids love curry and somewhat spicy food so I wanted to see if it would be a tolerable spice level for them. It was not, though my 8 year old enjoyed the taste it was too spicy. But my husbà nd and I really enjoyed it. I added potatoes and a ton of cilantro. I also used more chicken broth as I like my curries very saucy. Easy and will make again!
Excellent, Alison! So happy you enjoyed it! Yes, this one can definitely get spicy.
This is a fantastic recipe! I use it as a base for most Curry’s i make, balanced but with a real kick.
I tend to mix up the bulk ingredients, changing out half the weight of the chicken for potatoes/mushrooms or cauliflower.
Great stuff!
Thanks, Joe! I love the addition of the veggies. Quite delicious!
How many tsp of the pre-made vindaloo spice mix would you use for the marinade?
I would use 4-6 teaspoons or more, depending on how pronounced the flavor you are looking for. Let me know how it turns out for you. Enjoy!
Hi what type of mustard powder do you use ??
Melanie, I used yellow mustard powder for this recipe.
I live in Costa Rica. I used a Panamanian pepper (only one) to scale back the heat a bit for my wife and daughter. That’s about 1/2 of the heat 2 Serranos would give you (Panamanian chilies have about 2-3 times the heat of a jalapeño or about the heat of one serrano …and have a nice flavor) …and I ended up adding some more heat with some sriracha sauce late in the game …and, a bit of (coconut) sugar, and some diced tomatoes (as suggested in the intro to the recipe.) Otherwise …with the exception of a bit more cooking time …I closely followed the recipe.
All 3 of us had second helpings! And, this “chicken vindaloo” recipes is on our “make again” list. It’s an adventure in taste we will return to again.
5 STARS. Thanks for sharing!!!
We all started off eating a bit confused …unsure of what this was. But …the more we ate the more we liked it! And all 3 of use had seconds
That’s GREAT, Robert! I’m glad you took a leap and found a new recipe for the house! I hope it makes it into your regular rotation. Enjoy!
Where are the potatoes?
Todd, you can include potatoes in the recipe. I discuss that in the post. Potatoes are AWESOME here!
Great recipe, great flavor! I used skinless, boneless chicken breasts, a little less flavor than thighs but I’m too lazy to deal with bones! Marinade overnight for the best infusion and like many Indian / spicy foods tastes even better the next day after cooking. Fantastic!
Personally I would always use fresh ginger, powered insn’t really an ideal substitute. Can’t wait to make this again when I will sub half the hot chili flakes with ghost pepper flakes – hmm spicy!
Outstanding, Scott! Thanks! Super happy you enjoyed it!
Hi Michael, I’m going to make this today. Do you mean fresh root ginger or ground ginger? Thanks 🙂
I used dried ginger, Gill, but you can use fresh. I hope you like it!
The description of the recipe says tangy curry… There isn’t any curry listed?? did you forget something?
Terrie, the list of spices used in the recipes make up a homemade curry blend, essentially. No need to buy a pre-mixed curry in this recipe.
When you say “Add the chicken”, do you include the marinade or do you take the chicken out of the marinade [And toss all that good marinade flavour?]
Mike, add the marinade with the chicken as well. Super delicious! Enjoy.
What a great-looking dish! I am a big lover of spice, though sadly, my husband is not. I’ll just have to make two versions of this – one spicy, one mild. Thanks for this!
You’ll have to get the man some spice! Enjoy.
This looks so good. I haven’t made this before, I’ll have to give this a try.
I hope you enjoy it! One of my favorites.
Yum! This chicken sounds absolutely wonderful with all those spices! Ghost peppers would definitely heat things up!
Ghost peppers for me for sure!
I’ll have to tone it down, but the flavors are all there. I’m so glad you included a recipe for the spice mix.
Absolutely! Vindaloo is normally quite hot, but it is very adjustable. I hope you enjoy it!
This is my favorite meal at my fave Indian restaurant, but I never knew how to make it. Thanks for the recipe!
You’re very welcome! I love this one, too.
This was delicious! I was concerned with all the spices and the vinegar and the heat but wow it was so flavorful. I followed your recipe exactly and it had the right amount of heat. I will definitely make this again and again. Thank you!
That’s GREAT, Debbie. Glad you enjoyed it!