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A bowl of Venezuelan coconut chicken, golden sauce visible
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5 from 3 votes

Venezuelan Coconut Chicken Recipe

Chicken simmered in a blended coconut milk sauce with tomatoes and warm spices — a Venezuelan friend's recipe, ready in under an hour.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Venezuelan
Keyword: chicken recipe
Servings: 2 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 whole chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
  • 2 onions peeled and cut into eighths
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 4 bay leaves
  • black pepper or chili powder
  • 1 pinch turmeric
  • 1 pinch cumin
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 3 roma tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • ½ cup water
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prep

  • Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Peel and cut the onions; mince the garlic.
  • Assemble the rest of the ingredients before you start cooking.

Saute the Onion

  • Heat a fry pan over medium heat. Add the oil, then sauté the onion until translucent.
  • Remove from the pan and transfer to a blender or food processor.

Blend the Sauce

  • Add the tomatoes, garlic, turmeric, cumin, salt, black pepper or chili powder, sugar, ginger paste, coconut milk, and water to the blender.
  • Blend until smooth.

Brown the Chicken

  • In the same pan you cooked the onion, add the chicken and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes.

Simmer

  • Add the blended sauce and bay leaves to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is creamy, 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Keep the heat gentle — a hard boil can cause the coconut milk to separate.

Serve

  • Remove the bay leaves and serve over white rice.