I adore curries – all curries, from all over the world. I love trying and making all kinds of curries. My kids new favorite is this instant pot coconut curry chicken – we’ve made it every week since I got the pressure cooker!
How I created this Instant pot chicken curry recipe
Kay I admit it – I didn’t love the instant pot at first! I like the process of cooking, and honestly it doesn’t seem to really save much time on a lot of recipes (I film recipe videos for other food bloggers so I’ve tried quite a few recipes).
But I’m slowly learning what I DO like using it for – I like it for beans, eggs, yogurt, teriyaki chicken and this curry! I have loved instant pot chicken recipes!
I love that I can throw it in frozen or thawed and have perfectly cooked chicken so quickly! I’d love to hear what your favorite instant pot recipes are!
Just take me to the Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe already!
If you’d rather skip my tips and tricks for this chicken curry with coconut milk, along with links to other instant pot recipes and get straight to this deliciousness – simply scroll to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card.
Tips to Make the Perfect instant pot coconut chicken curry
I like to pre-measure all the spices and place them in a bowl ready to add to the recipe later
Refrigerate the cans of coconut milk for 24 hours – do NOT shake the can, turn the cans over and open from the other side and drain out the separated liquid – you’ll be adding the thick cream after it cooks
You can use just coconut oil if you like but I like the addition of the ghee as well
Don’t saute the garlic and ginger for too long because they burn easily and you don’t want them to stick to the bottom
Add the coconut water and deglaze the inner pot (I like to use the non stick inner pot to help with this) – deglaze well to try to avoid the burn notification
After adding all the liquid you can blend with a hand mixer to keep the sauce smoother – but you do run the risk of the burn notification
Add the potatoes first then the chicken to keep the chicken from touching the bottom – you can also use a silicone cooking rack – to avoid the burn notification (I don’t know if it’s my machine or what but I clearly get that notification a lot)
You can add fresh chicken thighs (12 mins) or frozen (15 mins), fresh chicken breasts or frozen – just change the pressure cooking time
If you DO get the burn notification do a quick release and check the chicken – I’ve found that every time I’ve gotten it it’s been right at the end of the cooking time anyway and the chicken is finished!
Don’t skimp on the cilantro! IMO it totally makes the dish! I made it one week without it and we didn’t like it as much!
To make this pressure cooker chicken curry with coconut milk you’ll need
- Instant Pot or other pressure cooker – I like the 8 quart
- non-stick inner cooking pot
- roasting rack – to keep the chicken from touching the bottom
Coconut Curry Chicken
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If you love this Pressure Cooker Chicken recipe you’ll love these other Instant Pot Recipes!
Instant pot Jambalaya | Instant Pot Egg Bites | Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Instant pot tomato soup | Instant pot oreo cheesecake bites | Instant pot Cheesecake
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To watch me make this pressure cooker coconut curry play the full video in the recipe card (if you’re on desktop the recipe teaser video should be auto playing for you).
You can find all my cooking show style recipe videos on YouTube, or my short recipe videos on Facebook Watch, or my Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
coconut chicken curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 C coconut water
- 27 oz canned coconut milk (2 cans) refrigerate for 24 hours then, without shaking, turn the can over and open, separating the liquid and thick cream
- 4 large potatoes peeled chopped
- 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs
- 1 batch cilantro chopped
Instructions
- add the ghee and coconut oil to the inner pot and press the sautee button
- add the onions and cook until caramelized
- add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant.
- add all the spices, stir and cook about 2 mins
- add the coconut water and deglaze the pot very well – to avoid the burn notification
- without stirring turn the coconut milk can over and open and pour out the liquid and set aside the thick coconut cream
- add the coconut milk liquid and crushed tomatoes to the pot
- at this point you can blend with the hand mixer – but some testers said they got the burn notification and thought that it was because the sauce thickened a little as it blended so you can also leave it
- add the potatoes then the chicken (the potatoes will hold the chicken up and help avoid the burn notification so don’t stir)
- pressure cook the thawed chicken thighs for 8-10 mins (depending on thickness), frozen thighs for 12 mins, or thawed chicken breasts for 7-9 mins (depending on thickness) or frozen breasts for 15 mins
- quick release
- pull out the chicken and shred it
- add the chopped cilantro, thick coconut milk and shredded chicken back into the sauce
- serve over rice
Video
Nutrition
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Beverley Johnson
do you have the info to change the recipe over to a stovetop pressure cooker??
Ashlee Marie
I’ve never used a stove top pressure cooker, just these electric ones. Wouldn’t they be the same? eek sorry, I have never used a legit one.
Brenda Etter
Can this be made without pressure cooker? I don’t have one and JUST bought my Boshe mixer!!YEAH!! I’ve been saving for 3 years to get one. It’s due on Thursday!! Can’t wait!!
Ashlee Marie
YEAH for the bosch!!! that’s AWESOME. And YES you can totally make it on the stove in a pot, easy peasy, just bring to a simmer and cook until the chicken and potatoes are done.
Melissa
First time making curry and we absolutely loved it! I’m still learning how to master my pressure cooker and received the burn notification while it was cooking. I had to use the soup option to finish the recipe and will deglaze better for the next batch. Your easy to follow instructions and video made this intimidating dish a new family favorite. THANK YOU! XO
Ashlee Marie
I have gotten the bur notification before – a new thing I started doing (other than us the non stick pan and deglaze well) is after I run then hand blender I add the trivet to the pan before adding the chicken – by keeping the chicken off the bottom of the pot I haven’t had the burn notification since (need to add that tip to the post).