Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
Published 12/26/2020 • Updated 1/22/2024
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Say hello to your new favorite Instant Pot recipe -> Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken. This Thai coconut curry chicken is made with full-fat coconut milk, Thai red curry paste, chicken breast, and tons of veggies!
If you’ve never had Thai coconut curry, you are in for a real treat. This recipe is so flavorful, veggie-packed, and made in no time thanks to your handy dandy Instant Pot!
What is coconut curry chicken?
Coconut Curry Chicken is a Thai curry made with full-fat coconut milk, chicken breasts, red curry paste, and often times peppers and onions.
What does coconut curry chicken taste like?
Thai coconut curry chicken is definitely a combination of sweet and savory. Since it’s made with a base of full-fat coconut milk, there is a hint of coconut throughout.
However, a lot of the flavor comes from red curry paste which is made from red chili peppers, garlic, turmeric, and lemongrass. Coconut curry chicken also has other flavor add-ins such as ginger, lemongrass, and lime juice
Fresh Ingredients
This chicken curry with coconut milk is made with fresh, simple ingredients that you’re going to gobble right up!
Chicken- our Instant Pot coconut curry chicken recipe is made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. However, you can absolutely use boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you wish.
Veggies- we like to make complete meals out of our Instant Pot recipes, hence all the veggies. For this coconut curry chicken you’ll need:
- red pepper
- white onion
- spinach
If you’re a veg freak, feel free to double the veggies and/or add other ones such as cauliflower, green beans, or potatoes.
Coconut Milk- coconut milk is definitely the star of this “coconut” curry chicken. When making any kind of Thai curry, we always recommend using full-fat coconut milk.
Yes, that means there are more fat and calories in the recipe, but the flavor is so much better. I promise you’ll love it!
Other Flavors- now that you know the bulk of the recipe, it’s time to add all that flavor. Here’s what you need:
- garlic – hello garlic, we love you.
- red curry paste – like we mentioned above, red curry paste is actually made of lots of other things like red chili peppers, garlic, and turmeric. You’re going to get a lot of your flavor from this ingredient! If you can only find green curry paste, that works too.
- ginger – feel free to either use freshly grated ginger or ginger paste from a tube. This is what we use and keep on hand at all times!
- lemongrass – lemongrass is one of those ingredients that sounds intimidating, but it’s really not. Why? Because we also use grated lemongrass paste, just like ginger!
- honey – honey balances out the savory flavors and really brightens up the coconut flavor.
- lime juice – every curry deserves citrus and when it comes to Thai curry, lime juice is your girl.
Simple Instant Pot Instructions for Coconut Curry Chicken
For the full recipe, scroll down to the recipe card for a list of ingredients and instructions.
- Step 1: Sauté Veggies – add olive oil or coconut oil to the bottom of your Instant Pot and turn on the sauté feature. Sauté peppers, onions, and spinach with salt and garlic for around 5 minutes. Remove veggies and set them aside.
- Step 2: Add Sauce Ingredients & Submerge Chicken – add in coconut milk, red curry paste, ginger, lemongrass, honey, and salt. Then, submerge chicken breast in liquid.
- Step 3: Pressure Cook – Close Instant Pot and turn the valve to seal. Cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. It will take around 10 minutes for enough pressure to build to start counting down from 8 minutes.
- Step 4: Shred Chicken – When the timer goes off, quick release Instant Pot and remove the chicken breast. Carefully use 2 forks to shred the chicken and then put the chicken back in the Instant Pot along with the sautéed veggies from earlier. Mix.
- Step 5: Eat! – Serve coconut curry chicken with fresh lime juice and your grain of choice.
for frozen chicken
If you are using frozen chicken breast, you will need to increase the cook time to around 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
Serving Suggestions
My all-time favorite way to eat this Thai coconut curry chicken recipe is with white rice. I prefer either jasmine rice or basmati rice, but either work.
You can also eat it with pretty much any other grain such as:
- quinoa
- brown rice
- cauliflower rice
- fried rice
Storage
Store coconut curry chicken in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
Can you freeze coconut curry chicken?
Freezing coconut curry chicken is super simple. Let your meal cool completely. Then, transfer into a freezer-safe container.
Remove as much air as possible and then seal. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Instant Pot Thai Coconut Curry Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, or coconut oil
- 1/2 medium white onion, sliced
- 1 large red pepper, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- 1 15-oz. can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons red thai curry paste
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh lemongrass
- 1/2 tablespoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to your Instant Pot and turn on the saute function. When the olive oil is fragrant, add white onion, red pepper, minced garlic, and a pinch of salt. Saute for 4-5 minutes. Once the onion turns translucent, add in fresh spinach and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes in order to wilt the spinach. Remove veggies from the Instant Pot and turn off the saute feature.
- Next, add coconut milk, curry paste, ginger, lemongrass, honey, and salt to the Instant Pot and mix. Then, submerge the raw chicken breast. Close the lid and seal your Instant Pot. Turn your Instant Pot to manual > high pressure and set the timer to 8 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes for your Instant Pot to build enough pressure to start counting down, but eventually, it will count down from 8 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, quick-release your Instant Pot by opening the valve. Remove the lid and then remove the 2 chicken breasts and transfer to a plate. Use 2 forks to carefully shred the chicken breast (it will be hot) and then place the chicken back into the Instant Pot.
- Add the sauteed veggies and mix. Finally, add lime juice and mix one more time.
- Serve with white rice and Thai basil.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made this tonight and swapped the chicken out for tofu and it is absolutely delicious. Followed all the same directions and it worked out perfectly. My boyfriend (who would’ve normally preferred chicken) even commented on how creamy and good the tofu was!
This is an easy and tasty recipe. It was my first time using the Instant Pot and I will surely make it again. I added mushrooms and it worked really well.
So happy to hear it!
I love making this coconut curry! Is there any way to make it spicier? would cayenne pepper powder work here, or are there other Thai spices that work better?
This couldn’t have been easier and it was so delicious. We subbed fresh lemongrass for a turmeric lemongrass paste found at Whole Foods and it was perfect.
Olive oil, specialty extra virgin, clashes with curry and Asian flavors. Do yourself a big favor and use neutral vegetable oil in this recipe.
Highly recommend this delicious recipe!
I don’t cook many full meals in my Instant pot and typically will cook or simmer something on the stove for hours instead. I don’t always have time for that and am trying to cook some quick, healthy meals for my family on evenings when I work late. This was really easy to make and very flavorful. It had more dimension to it than some of the other instant pot meals I’ve tried in the past. My husband really enjoyed it and so did my 2 year old. We’ll keep this recipe around. Thanks for sharing!
I made this for dinner tonight with our 2.5 year old. We have gotten in a terrible convenience food rut lately. My New Years resolution is try one new recipe a week and to meal plan to cut back on food waste. This was absolutely delicious and our toddler devoured it while saying “Yum!” after each bite. He even snacked on raw spinach while we waiting on it to cook. This will be added to our weekly dinner rotation. It was delicious, comforting and so easy! Thank you!
Ugh this makes my heart so happy!!
LOVE a good curry, and this does not disappoint. Bonus to the loads of veggies – I used two peppers instead of one and it was amazing. Seriously, soooooo good AND easy.
So delish! The lemongrass is so tasty; I found a tube of lemongrass paste in the produce section, super easy! Will def make again. Thanks!