Creamy Curry Chicken with Green Beans & Cauliflower
Nothing about a coconut curry suggests fiber. But 13 grams of it come from the cauliflower and green beans hiding under that sauce, nearly half the daily recommendation from two ingredients.
The whole thing takes one pan and 20 minutes. 510 calories, 29 grams of protein, 34 grams of fat from coconut milk and olive oil. A genuinely balanced dinner that happens to taste like indulgence.
Ingredients
- chicken breast 3 oz
- curry powder 1 tsp
- zucchini 0.5
- garlic 1 clove
- ginger 1 slice
- olive oil 1 tbsp
- cauliflower florets 5 oz
- green beans (frozen) 5 oz
- coconut milk 3.5 fl oz
- soy sauce 1 tbsp
Method
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Cut the chicken breast into cubes and season with curry powder, salt and pepper.
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Slice the zucchini into half-rings. Finely chop the garlic and grate the ginger.
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Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the chicken and cook until golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
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In the same pan, add the ginger and cook briefly. Add the zucchini, cauliflower and green beans and sauté for 3-4 minutes until the vegetables begin to color.
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Add the coconut milk and soy sauce to the pan and bring to a boil. Add the chicken back into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, until the cauliflower and green beans are tender and the chicken is cooked through. Add a dash more water if the sauce becomes too thick.
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Serve warm and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Let the cauliflower sit undisturbed for the first few minutes of the simmer. As it softens, it releases starch into the coconut milk, naturally thickening the sauce without adding anything extra. Stirring too early breaks up the florets before they contribute to the texture.
This plate delivers just 22 grams of carbs, all from vegetables — no substitutions, no restriction, no low-carb intent. Controlled trials consistently find that low-carb and balanced diets produce virtually identical fat-loss outcomes when calories and protein are matched. The approach that works is the one you stick with.
Behind this recipe
Is 29 grams of protein enough for dinner?
That number does more work than it looks. 29 grams of protein triggers three hormones — GLP-1, PYY, and CCK — that collectively suppress hunger for hours after eating. This plate compounds the effect by pairing protein with fat from coconut milk and fiber from vegetables, stacking satiety signals most meals deliver one at a time. Need more? Stir in some Greek yogurt at the end — it blends into the coconut sauce and adds roughly 10 grams per 100-gram scoop.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I use light coconut milk?
Yes. Light coconut milk has roughly half the fat, which drops the total from 34 grams to about 20 and the calorie count accordingly. The sauce will be thinner — simmer it a minute or two longer to reduce, and the cauliflower will release enough starch to keep it coating the chicken.
Does it matter that this recipe is low carb?
Not for fat loss on its own. This plate delivers 22 grams of carbs, all from vegetables — genuinely low carb without any intentional restriction. But controlled trials consistently find that low-carb and balanced diets produce virtually identical body-fat outcomes when calories and protein are matched. What matters is total intake and adherence. This recipe happens to be low carb because the vegetables are naturally low in carbohydrate, not because carb restriction was the goal.
Read the full evidence review
