This easy dairy free chicken curry from the book Simply Dairy Free is a tasty midweek meal for all the family. It's also egg free, gluten free and nut free!

One of my most favourite things to do is to get a new recipe book and try out some of the recipes. One of my latest books is Simply Dairy Free by Lesley Waters, which I was sent to review.
The book promises fresh and simple lactose-free recipes for healthy eating every day. It's full of beautiful pictures and tempting food. As a real fan of curry, one of the first recipes I made was the creamy dairy free chicken curry.
This dairy free chicken curry is so family friendly
It's a very mild coconut curry and Master Spice was happy to eat it too. In the past I would have added extra chillies to give it some more heat and if you like a hotter curry then you'll probably need to. However, for an easy midweek meal that the whole family could enjoy together, this was a good choice. The spinach in the sauce means everyone is getting some green vegetables too!

What to serve with this mild chicken curry?
I served the dairy free chicken curry with rice as it definitely needs something to mop up all that creamy sauce. I also made a simple tomato and chilli relish which cuts through the creaminess of the curry very well.
Can you adapt this dairy free chicken curry?
Like all curries, it's easy to adapt. You can make it hotter just by adding one or two (or more!) chilli peppers to the sauce.
If you want more vegetables than just the spinach then add those too. The spinach wilts and cooks very quickly of course so you may need to add other vegetables a little earlier so they cook in the sauce. You can add green beans, peas, mange touts or broccoli florets. Or indeed any vegetables you have in your fridge and want to use up. Curries are a great way of avoiding wasting vegetables that are about to go past their best!
If like me you don't have coconut cream in your cupboard but do have cans of coconut milk then you can use that instead.
If you don't have cocoonut oil, don't worry, you can replace it with vegetable or even olive oil.
Storing and reheating the leftovers
If you have leftover then this dairy free curry keeps well in the fridge for up to three days. You can reheat it in a saucepan until piping hot or in the microwave. If it's a bit dry then just add a splash or water when reheating in a saucepan so that it doesn't stick.
You can also freeze the leftover chicken curry for up to three months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and then reheat in a saucepan or microwave.
It's a great recipe to batch cook so why not cook double the amount!

More recipes I tried in Simply Dairy Free
Lots of the recipes in the book use dairy-free milks. I tried the banana and peanut butter smoothie using almond milk. It was the first time I'd added peanut butter to a smoothie so I was keen to try it. I found it much more filling than the types of smoothies I usually make which tend to be more fruity. It wasn't as sweet either and more like a milkshake, which is great if you're looking for a smoothie to fill you up in the morning!

Dairy Free Ice Cream
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the book was the eye-catching cover picture of three cones of raspberry ice cream. I wanted that ice-cream and I had to make it! It might have been the middle of winter but a bit of wind and rain was not going to stop me enjoying some ice cream!
The ice cream was so easy to make and very healthy too because of the berries and banana. I have a confession to make though. I forgot to add the icing sugar to the first batch I made. In fact, there is no added sugar in the ice cream in the pictures you see here. It was very very refreshing but not quite sweet enough. Then I realised what had gone wrong!
Luckily, it's such a simple recipe that it wasn't a problem to whip up another batch a few days later. Minus the photos that time though!

Easy healthy dairy free recipes
Overall, the book is great inspiration for anyone looking for easy healthy recipes. Some of the recipes in the book are recipes that would normally contain dairy products such as the corn and haddock chowder and lemon posset.
So it's great that the book offers dairy-free alternatives for these recipes. There are also a lot of recipes that don't contain dairy products and which you wouldn't expect to contain any diary. For example noodle salad with crispy duck legs.
Although all the recipes look great, I did think I might want more of the first kind of recipe if I was following a dairy-free diet. After all, it's easy to find recipes that don't contain dairy online or in other recipe books. I feel someone is more likely to need recipe help for those recipes that are traditionally not dairy free.
Overall though I would recommend the book. It has a useful Recipe Finder at the front so you can see which recipes are egg, nut or gluten free. It also shows which are vegan or vegetarian. As more and more people are suffering from food allergies and intolerancies this is definitely a useful addition.
Simply Dairy Free by Lesley Waters currently costs £9.99 and is available from Amazon.
Recipe

Dairy Free Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 15 g 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 2 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ⅔ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoon desiccated coconut
- 3 chicken breasts cut into chunks
- 420 ml chicken stock
- 250 ml coconut cream
- 150 g spinach leaves
Instructions
- Put the coconut oil in a saucepan and heat gently till it becomes liquid. Add the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic followed by the spices and bay leaves. Stir as it cooks for about a minute.
- Add the desiccated coconut and continue to stir for a minute so it gets coated in the spices.
- Add the chicken then the stock and coconut cream. Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach at the end.
- Serve with rice or bread.
Notes
Nutrition
More chicken curry recipes
If you like chicken curry I have lots of chicken curry recipes! I think it makes such a tempting recipe for midweek or weekends! You might also like my collection of easy homemade curries from scratch.
Do also look at my cook once eat twice recipe collection for more easy time saving recipes.
Hope
Ooh yum this looks like my kind of curry and dairy free too! Will be giving this a go this week 🙂
Corina
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it.
Lisa (mummybakesdairyfree)
Love a dairy free curry. Totally makes sense using coconut milk as it really adds to the flavour. #freefromfridays
Corina
It is lovely in a curry, isn't it?
Chloe
Hi, I do like a curry but confesss to buying free from sauces and cheating. I shall be giving this recipe a try and perhaps treating myself to a new cook book, Chloe #BrilliantBlogPosts
Corina
I do hope you enjoy it! Let me know.
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
I adore curry and this one sounds amazing! Definitely going on my to try list! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Corina
You're welcome Kirsty! Nothing beats a curry sometimes x
Igor @ Cooking The Globe
Your chicken curry looks out-of-this-world good. I am bookmarking this one to make next week!
Corina
Thank you Igor! I hope you enjoy it.
Monica | Nourish and Fete
Yum! I love when "-free" recipes don't look like compromises but instead like something you'd truly love to make for anyone-just like this! And I'll have to bookmark to try it with chickpeas or squash when my vegan family members come to visit-great idea!
Corina
I do hope they like it! I think vegan curries are just as good as ones with meat in!
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry
I love peanut butter smoothies so that recipe sounds yummy. Coconut cream adds a great flavour to curry. I think I need to get this book!
Corina
There are some lovely healthy recipes in the book!
sue | theviewfromgreatisland
The curry looks fabulous ~ followed by a scoop of that ice cream, of course!
Corina
You're right! That would make a tasty meal!
Sarah
I love curry but I especially love that this is dairy free! I bet the coconut cream adds great flavor and richness to this recipe - yum!
Corina
Oh yes, it makes it lovely and creamy!
emma amoscato
Lovely to see a curry that is dairy free and nut free and looks like a good family meal.
Corina
Thanks Emma.