Savvy Dinner Plan: How to make curry chicken on a budget

This recipe is easy, full of flavour, and a great way to save on curry night, writes MICHELLE SOUTHAN.

Chicken curry night is an almost weekly occurrence in my household – and I know I’m not alone.

Chicken curry has become one of the most popular dinner searches of all time on taste.com.au: no matter what the season, people are searching for it.

And while butter chicken has traditionally been the curry dish hogging all the limelight (it’s taste’s #1 chicken dinner search) this year there’s a new contender to try.

The new favourite I can’t get enough of at the moment is one we created as part of our taste + Coles Savvy Dinner Plan: chicken keema curry. While keema curry isn’t new – its origins are thought to date back centuries – this version is a great recipe to have in your repertoire for when you want authentic curry flavours on a tighter budget.

A chicken keema is a fragrant Indian-style curry made using mince, curry powder, and plenty of vegetables.

Chicken keema: curry night on a budget

If you’ve never tried it, chicken keema is a fragrant Indian-style curry made using mince, curry powder, and plenty of vegetables. Aside from the flavours (which can be dialled up or down, depending on your tastes), it’s a great way to make the most of chicken mince, making a nice change from home-made nuggets and burgers. Adding coconut milk also amps up the creaminess, so it still tastes like a comforting takeaway-style dish at a much more budget-friendly price.

Mince is often cheaper than other cuts of meat like chicken breast or thighs, and I always have at least some of the ingredients hanging around my kitchen – like rice, curry powder, coconut milk and vegetable stock from the pantry, as well as peas from the freezer. When I made this recently, it cost me around $4.23 a serve* (or $16.92 for a family of four based on the quantities and ingredients used), a far better saving than my local takeaway joint.

Mince is often cheaper than other cuts of meat like chicken breast or thighs.

My tips for keeping costs down

Adding sweet potato and peas helps bulk out the curry mixture.

If you prefer your rice served in the curry, only cook one cup of rice and toss through the curry to serve.

This curry can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge, perfect for meal prepping!

Using Coles Simply tomato paste is a savvy way to add richness to the curry without using fresh tomatoes. And a little goes a long way.

If you’re following the Savvy Dinner Plan, the basmati rice, curry powder, tomato paste and vegetable stock cubes can be used throughout the weeks in other recipes

Ready to try it yourself? Get the recipe for this Chicken mince keema curry HERE.

Chicken curry has become one of the most popular dinner searches of all time on taste.com.au: no matter what the season, people are searching for it.

What’s the Savvy Dinner Plan?

The taste.com.au food team has redesigned our most searched-for dinner recipes to help you stretch your grocery budget further. By making savvy ingredient swaps and switching up how you plan and cook, the Savvy Dinner Plan can help shave dollars off your favourite dinners, without compromising on flavour.Learn more about how we cost our recipes.

*I costed my recipes at Coles, Burwood East, Vic, on 23/01/2023. Prices and savings may vary store to store. Learn more about how we cost our recipes.

More Savvy Chicken Dinners:

Quick French onion chicken pie

Chicken cacciatore rissoles

Bang bang chicken chow mein

For more recipe ideas, go to taste.com.au or check out the Taste Test Kitchen now.

Originally published as Savvy Dinner Plan: How to make curry chicken on a budget