Thai Butternut Squash Curry with Chicken (Low Calorie)

Thai butternut squash curry combines the warm flavors of curry with the classic fall vegetable of butternut squash to make the perfect comforting squash curry.

Using the same methodology for my other Thai curry recipes, I’m able to make this a low calorie and delicious curry that is macro friendly too.

Jump to:

• 💭 What Is Butternut Squash Curry?
• 🍎 Calories and Nutrition - How To Make It Healthy
• 📋 Ingredient Notes
• 🔪 Step by Step Instructions
• 💡Expert Tips
• 📖 Substitutions and Variations
• 🥡 Storage
• 🍳 Recipe

💭 What Is Butternut Squash Curry?

Butternut Squash Curry is a Thai-inspired curry dish consisting of sweet butternut squash and chicken cooked in a delicious red Thai coconut curry. It's the perfect comforting dish that will warm your soul, especially during those cooler months of the year.

If you like recipes like this, you might also want to check out the following:

• Healthy Yellow Thai Curry
• Healthy Green Thai Curry
• Thai Crab Curry (Is Thai Curry Healthy?)
• Healthy Thai Food
• Healthy Pumpkin Spiced Latte

🍎 Calories and Nutrition - How To Make It Healthy

In this healthy butternut squash curry recipe, I used key ingredients swaps to make this a more macro-friendly and calorie-conscious dish. Here are some key tweaks I made:

• Chicken – Opt to use lean protein like chicken thigh.
• Coconut Milk – Use light coconut milk - a serving of light milk is 45 calories vs 120 calories from normal coconut milk due to less fat content as the light version has less coconut cream. 
• Portion sugar and seasonings mindfully – Used 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. Both are essential to the curry flavor and 1 teaspoon of sugar is only 15 calories of sugar. 
• Portion the rice and squash mindfully – I used 1 serving of brown rice at 160 calories and ½ cup of squash at 30 calories
• Use cooking spray – Instead of traditional oil for everything that was sautéd or fried. 1 tablespoon of olive oil adds a whopping 120 calories to the dish, whereas cooking spray is 0 calories.

For a detailed breakdown of each ingredients, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of the Butternut squash recipe, you may refer to the table below:

Butternut Squash Curry
Ingredient	Quantity	Calories	Protein (g)	Fat (g)	Carbs (g)
Chicken Thigh	4 oz	130	22	10	0
Light Coconut Milk	0.33 cup	45	0	5	1
Butternut Squash	0.5 cup	31.5	0.7	0.05	8
Garlic	2 clove	9	0.4	0	2
Red Curry Paste	2 tsp	15	1	0	2
Chicken Stock	0.5 cup	5	0.5	0	0.5
Fish Sauce	1 tbsp	15	4	0	0
Sugar	1 tsp	16	0	0	4.2
Shallot	0.25	18	0.625	0.025	4.2
Brown Rice	0.25 Cup	150	3	0	33
Total		434.5	32.225	15.075	54.9

📋 Ingredient Notes

Rice – I use 1 serving of brown rice. White rice and jasmine rice work well too.

Chicken – I opted for boneless skinless chicken thigh for optimal texture. You can also use boneless chicken breasts too, but it may be a little dry. I would advise against using chicken with skin, as it adds about 100 more calories per serving, largely from fat. 

Red Curry Paste – I used store bought red curry paste. While you can make red curry paste at home, given the heavy usage of red chili peppers, you can easily accidentally make a curry paste that is way too spicy. My favorite store bought brand is the Mae Ploy brand.

If you want to make your own red curry paste, check out the red curry paste recipe from Recipe Tin Eats.

Coconut Milk – Used 1 serving of light coconut milk

Butternut Squash – I used ½ cup of Butternut squash. You can also use pumpkin or kobocha squash.

Chicken Stock – Used about ½ cup of stock to help deglaze the curry and achieve a good consistency. You can also use hot water or vegetable stock.

Seasonings – The curry sauce is often seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, and lime juice to give it a balanced flavor. Palm sugar is what's traditionally used but both brown sugar and white sugar also work.

🔪 Step by Step Instructions

Prepare the rice – Ideally make the rice beforehand so that you can put the curry together when everything is done.

Cut the vegetables – Gather the vegetables. Cut the butternut squash into cubes, slice the shallots, and mince the garlic.

Sauté squash and aromatics – In a skillet, spray cooking spray and turn the heat to to medium-high. Begin to roast the squash cubes and sauté the aromatics.

Sauté the chicken curry paste –  Use cooking spray and spray a skillet, then sauté the curry paste and brown the chicken on both sides.

Add the coconut milk and stock – Turn the stove to low heat and add in coconut milk. High heat will make the milk evaporate very fast. If that happens, you can deglaze the sauce with the chicken stock. As the curry cooks, add stock to achieve the desired consistency. Cook everything until the chicken is cooked through and the squash is fork tender.

Season to taste – Add the fish sauce and sugar into the curry mixture. Taste and adjust if needed.

Serve and enjoy – Garnish with cilantro, chili flakes, and red peppers and serve with rice.

💡Expert Tips

Check Butternut Squash With Fork – To check if the squash is ready, press it with a fork lightly to see if it is tender. If not, continue to let it cook until the fork presses through.

Adjust spiciness – The curry paste itself will have a base level of spiciness. To get a medium to high spice, add 1-2 more Thai chilis.

📖 Substitutions and Variations

With Chickpeas – Chickpeas are also a popular addition to this dish. This is reminiscent of Indian style curry and is a super delicious way to round out the meal.

Make it without coconut milk – You can skip the coconut milk altogether – check out my Thai crab curry recipe to see how I did this. You can also use low fat milk.

With Noodles – Pair this with a side of egg noodles instead of rice for a Khao Soi like dish.

With different rice – Switch up the rice with Brown rice, white rice, mixed grain rice or cauliflower rice. Health wise, they are all similar in calories and macros, with mixed grain rice slightly higher in calories (190 calories vs 160 calories for one serving). Cauliflower rice is a good option for those who prefer a low carb diet.

Substitute Squash with Pumpkin or Kabocha Squash – The butternut squash can easily be substituted with pumpkin or kabocha squash for a similarly delicious flavor.

🥡 Storage

You can store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days in an airtight container.

🍳 Recipe