Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken

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.

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Step 5: Eat! – Serve coconut curry chicken with fresh lime juice and your grain of choice.

What to Eat Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken With

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:

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.