Chicken vindaloo is a popular Indian curry known for it's spicy and tangy flavor combination, a quick and easy kitchen staple. My version is wonderfully fiery, though you can easily adjust the heat and spice to your preference.
Chicken Vindaloo Recipe
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 easy 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 highly spiced curry dish that originated in the Goa region of India. It is known for its fiery and tangy flavors, and is often made with meat, typically pork, beef, goat, or chicken, marinated in a spiced vinegar-based sauce. You can also make it with potato for a vegetarian version.
The word "vindaloo" comes from the Portuguese dish "carne de vinha d'alhos," a dish of meat marinated in wine vinegar and garlic. Historically, when the Portuguese colonized Goa, they brought this dish with them, which was adapted to local Indian ingredients and flavors to create Goan vindaloo.
The dish is known for its intense heat, which comes from the use of red chilies, and pleasant tanginess from vinegar.
I love it with chicken, particularly chicken thighs, which I've included here for this recipe.
Let's talk about how to make Chicken Vindaloo, shall we?
Chicken Vindaloo Ingredients
The full list of ingredients with measurements and printable cooking instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Chicken. Use chicken thighs or chicken breast, or a combination.
- Olive Oil. For cooking.
- Onion.
- Serrano Peppers. Or use Indian peppers, like Kashmiri chilies.
- Tomato Paste. You can also use fresh tomatoes.
- Salt and Pepper. To taste.
- FOR THE VINDALOO MARINADE
- White Vinegar.
- Garlic and Ginger.
- Spicy Red Chili Flakes. I enjoy using ghost pepper flakes for some extra heat, though you can use dried red chilies or flakes to your heat preference.
- Other Spices. Paprika, coriander, turmeric, mustard powder, cumin cinnamon. Freshly ground coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds make for extra fresh flavor.
- For Serving. Cooked rice, fresh herbs, extra chili flakes.
How to Make Chicken Vindaloo - Recipe Method
Marinate the Chicken. 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, and salt and pepper, of course.
Try this Homemade Vindaloo Seasoning Blend.
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.
Cook the Onion and Peppers. Heat the oil in a large skillet to medium heat.
Next, cook 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.
Cook the Chicken. Next, add the chicken (along with the marinade) and stir. Cook it for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next, add in the tomato paste, salt, and pepper, 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.
Simmer the Vindaloo. Reduce the heat an let the whole pan simmer for 15 minutes to 20 minutes, until the chicken cooks through and the flavors develop. You can let it simmer longer if you'd like.
If the vindaloo 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! Your chicken vindaloo curry is ready to serve! 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.
Recipe Tips & Notes
Marinate Ahead
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.
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.
Serving Chicken Vindaloo
Serve chicken vindaloo over steamed rice and garnish with fresh herbs and extra spicy chili flakes. Basmati rice is a nice choice, as is a side of naan bread.
If it is too spicy, serve it alongside this Indian Raita recipe, which is made from spiced yogurt. It has a nice cooling effect.
Storage and Leftovers
Chicken vindaloo will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container. To enjoy it again, simply warm it in a pot on the stove over gentle heat. Or, warm it in the microwave.
You can also freeze it for 3 months in vacuum sealed bags or freezer containers.
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
- Chicken Biryani
- 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)
- Massaman Curry
- Rogan Josh (Indian Lamb Curry)
- Pav Bhaji (Spicy Vegetable Curry)
Try Some of My Other Popular Chicken Dishes
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 salt and pepper to taste. 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!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
This recipe is gluten free.
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 4/21/23 to include new information, photos, and video. It was originally published on 4/20/18.
Paula says
This was outstanding! We had to lower the heat level to our liking, but otherwise we followed the recipe exactly. It was super flavorful and not difficult to make.
Mike Hultquist says
Boom! I love it! Glad you enjoyed it, Paula.
Mick says
Great vindaloo recipe, not over complicated and delicious. Added some spuds, some large peppers, some fresh coriander to serve. Will definitely be making this again!
Mike H. says
Sounds great - thanks, Mick!
Golebiowski Victor says
Great recipe, knowing I don’t like heat too much. OMG I just used red pepper flakes and poblano peppers because on the scale they have less heat then jalapeño peppers. Next time i will use less peppers. Also, i will use the thighs, breast made dish a little dry. Overall thanks
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks. Yes, vindaloo is quite hot! Glad you enjoyed it!
Kathleen says
Could you give suggestions on if I wanted to add potatoes? The chicken vindaloo we have gotten also had potato chunks in it and I would love to make it that way for my husband. Please and thank you
Mike Hultquist says
Kathleen, you can add potatoes (I'd say 3/4 pound, diced) in step 3. You can cook them with the onions and peppers. They will soften up as they simmer later. Let me know how it goes. Enjoy!
Richard Fisher says
perfect
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Richard!
Pete says
Made it and LOVE it. Delicious and fiery!
Mike H. says
Awesome - thanks, Pete!
Cynthia Guerrieri says
Fairly easy and quick compared to my old recipe. Added more spice and some ghee with oil. Plus of course potatoes. I also throw in some peas about 3 minutes before I finish cooking. I added more chicken broth than called for too! Served with brown rice and naan bread. Yum
Mike H. says
Awesome, Cynthia. Enjoy!
Antoinette Dunne says
Hello Mike,
Made your Lamb Vindaloo a fortnight ago, family really enjoyed it. (Researched on your web.)
Although I only had Jalapeno chili, it turned out fantastic!
Tasty and everything said about the recipe was true.
Going to try this recipe too (Chicken Vindaloo)
Appreciate receiving your recipes, please keep sending.
Ant
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Ant. Glad you enjoyed it! I'll keep sending for sure! =)
Bob says
Fantastic thank you
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Bob!
David P says
I bought some garam masala spice mix from my local Indian store. Would using that convert this to something different than Vindaloo?
Mike Hultquist says
David, garam masala is great, though would make it a slightly different dish. It would still taste great, though, particularly as an addition to the spices used in the recipe. =)
Dave Finch says
I made chicken vindaloo this evening following your recipe but loading up a little on the chilli as I like my curries hot. Chicken has been marinating all day in the fridge and I used a couple of Scotch Bonnet peppers that I had on the shelf. The curry turned out excellent and I'll definitely be cooking this again, maybe with a couple of scorpions next time for a little extra heat!
Mike Hultquist says
Boom! I love your heat and flavor additions, Dave! A true chilihead for sure! Very nice.
Jodi says
Crazy delicious, crazy simple.
Thanks Mike. Absolutely love your recipes. ❤️
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Jodi! I appreciate it!
Jesse Wills says
cheers for the great recipe. I've added it to the cook book.
I had to change a couple of things for what I had on hand.
crushed ginger instead of ground ginger.
I also used 1 cup red onion and 1 cup fresh tomatoes.
Again, thanks this Vindaloo is on point.
Mike Hultquist says
Glad you enjoyed it, Jesse! Thanks!
Judy Runner says
I’m not a big fan of Indian food, so when the hubs asked me to make it I was skeptical. We both thought it was AWESOME! It will definitely be in my rotation, I have never made one of your recipes that we didn’t like. Thank you!!
Mike Hultquist says
Great! Glad you both enjoyed it, Judy! We LOVE this one!
Roger Brown says
I made this recipe tonight and it was amazing. The Serrano peppers and red pepper flakes added the perfect amount of heat. I used legs and thighs and will definitely do this again. Yum!!!!!!!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Roger!
Michael Holliday says
I cooked this, I like a little spiciness in my food, not a lot. I followed the recipe and it came out good, today I cooked it for my 3rd time and I simmered it like the recipe said; it was great
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks for sharing this, Michael! Glad you enjoyed it again! I appreciate it.
Jesse Lyman says
Wow, this is great! I had to settle for jalapeños as that was what I had. Definitely going to do this again! And often!
Mike Hultquist says
Wonderful! Thanks, Jesse! Glad you enjoyed it.
Angela Win says
yum! I made it with a whole chicken in dutch oven in oven. Added shredded cabbage and sliced capsicum.
I used 1tbsp of my own hot chunky chilli mix plus 1/2tsp of my ground serrano and onion chilli mix.
Will be maki g it again!
Mike Hultquist says
Great! Thanks, Angela!
Kathleen Miller says
Chicken vindaloo looks fabulous I will make this and will post once I do
Mike Hultquist says
Enjoy!
Michael says
Such a good recipe, vindaloo is probably my favorite curry and this one has the best balance of spices I've found. I have a couple modifications I like: fresh ginger instead of (or honestly, even in addition to) ground for the marinade, and ground kashmiri pepper as my "red pepper base" of choice. A couple stores online sell huge 2lb things of ground kashmiri so it's pretty obtainable. Also can't beat throwing some potatoes in with the fresh peppers!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks so much, Michael. Super happy you enjoy it. This is one of our favorites as well.