Thai food doesn’t get easier than this! Creamy coconut chicken curry is coming to an instant pot near you…
Make some room y’all because this Thai coconut chicken curry is about to move in! It’s going to take a spot on your regular dinner menu and it’s never going to leave. Ever. Which is totally okay. Because you’re going to fall in love with it immediately.
If you love Thai food (and really, who doesn’t?), then you’re going to love this chicken curry. It tastes kind of like a cross between red curry and panang curry. It’s saucy and well seasoned and nutty and creamy and crunchy and citrusy! It has great flavor and texture and basically everything you’d want in a curry. Oh, and it’s easy to make.
Pour and cook recipes are the best. You guys really liked my easy curried chicken and ever since sharing that recipe, I’ve been dreaming up different variations.
I’m all about the easy recipe life and it looks like you’re about it too. Weekdays are stressful – heck, weekends too. You know what shouldn’t be stressful? Cooking. There’s no reason to stress out about what to feed yourself or your family, not when you’ve got me in your life.
There’s a reason you and I get along so well. It’s because we get each other. You like good food and you also like to be lazy sometimes. Right? Right.
Well this is Thai food at its absolute laziest…
Like, you pour a bunch of ingredients together, mix and press start.
10-ish minutes later…
Hi, dinner! Gosh, you look good. I could just eat you up!
You only need a handful of ingredients to make this Thai chicken curry: chicken thighs, coconut milk, red curry paste, peanut butter and a few spices. These ingredients are all mostly pantry staples! If red curry paste isn’t a pantry staple for you – it really should be. So much flavor in that little bottle!
Serve this curry over my instant pot jasmine rice. And if you feel like putting in a bit of effort, top it with crunchy (chopped) peanuts, fresh Thai basil and a big squeeze of lime juice!
Instant Pot Thai Coconut Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Thai Coconut Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds skinless and boneless chicken thighs
- 1 14 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce optional
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
Garnish
- Handful of fresh Thai basil and/or cilantro chopped
- Crushed peanuts
- 1 lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- Add the coconut milk, peanut butter, red curry paste, chili sauce (if using) and spices to a 6 quart instant pot and mix well. Then add the chicken to the pot.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 5 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure (or NPR for 10 minutes, then release pressure).
- Using two forks, shred the chicken right into the curry (or you can remove the chicken and cut it into chunks if you prefer)
- Sprinkle with Thai basil/cilantro and crushed peanuts if desired. You can also serve this with lime wedges and add a squeeze of lime juice before eating.
Lisa says
Easy recipe however a little bland for my taste, I may try a little more of the curry paste if I decide to try in future. Will definitely try some more recipes as I love curry.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Lisa, you can definitely add as much paste as you’d like – different brands can vary in flavor.
Jackie says
I’ve made this with breast meat as well. It’s definitely a family favorite! Thank you! Do you know if I can make it with frozen meat?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Jackie, that’s great to hear! Thank you for letting me know how much your family likes this 🙂 For frozen chicken, I would suggest adding a few minutes to the cook time – maybe 3 to 5? I haven’t tried with frozen breast meat, but for thighs I’d suggest 5 minutes.
Chelsie says
This was so tasty! However I did get the burn warning as well. I noticed someone else did too. I used chicken thighs as the recipe indicated and followed all ingredients to a tee. I’m wondering if it may have been because I mixed the chicken around in the mixture before I closed it. When I quick released the pressure all chicken thighs were stuck to the bottom though. Maybe I should have just set them on top of the mixture and closed the lid? Who knows! Still delicious though!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Chelsie, hmm I’m not sure why the burn sign came up – just wondering but, did you use a 6 quart to make this?
Julie says
So good and so easy! We ate it with steamed broccoli and naan.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Julie! Glad you liked it 🙂
Jo says
All your Instant Pot chicken curry recipes call for thigh meat. Can you substitute white meat and is there any change in cooking time?
Jenn says
This was delicious! My fiancé loved it too. We had chicken we needed to use so I browsed my recipes for something that looked quick and that we had all of the ingredients (minus Thai basil). So easy to throw together. Next time I might throw some Thai basil and stir it in after the chicken is cooked and let it sit for a few mins before devouring. Thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Jenn, that’s so great to hear! Glad you both liked this dish 🙂
Dee says
Just made this for dinner tonight! It came out delicious but initially i got the “burn” notification. Luckily it didn’t come to pressure so I just opened the lid and scraped the bottom of the pot and put the lid back on and pressure cooked it and it was fine. Any tips on how to avoid this again in the future? Because I will definitely be making this again! It was a huge hit!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Dee, I’m so glad you liked it! I’m not sure why the burn notification would’ve come up… just curious but did you use chicken thighs? The fat in the thighs helps – if you used breasts maybe that could be an issue? If you made any changes, please let me know – it would help me with troubleshooting!
Govind Rangrass says
I had a similar issue with the dish never getting to pressure. Released it before it got to the burn stage though. By that point the chicken had almost become kind of mushy. Perhaps cooking the chicken first and then adding it later would help? Came out a bit bland so would recommend tweaking the paste and asking Ashley what brand she used.
Erin says
Made this with chicken breast instead of thighs and it turned out great! Used fresh ginger and garlic too, plus a few handfuls of chopped kale. Kids and I liked it a lot.
My Heart Beets says
Erin, that’s so great to hear! I’m especially glad your kids liked it 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Taruna Sood says
This was my first time making this dish, and my kids ate it all. I even got praises from them afterwards (they are VERY picky eaters!!). Thank you for such a quick and nutritious recipe 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Taruna, that’s so awesome to hear! Wow, praise from kids is the best (I have a toddler and an almost 4-year-old lol, so I know how it goes). Thanks for letting me know how much you all liked this curry 🙂