Crockpot Thai Chicken Curry
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Crockpot Thai chicken curry is one of the easiest meals to make and is so tasty. Curry paste, coconut milk, and ginger add a ton of flavor to this healthy dinner recipe. Put everything into your crockpot then walk away until dinner!
Complete the meal with a side of perfect basmati rice or cauliflower rice. Also make sure to check out our favorite crockpot Thai chicken soup!
Crockpot Thai Chicken Curry
Friends! It's crockpot time again! This magical pot of cook-my-food-for-me has become a staple around here. Most days we wonder how the heck we lived without one for so long.
Remember back when we thought that crockpots were the domain of frazzled, minivan-driving moms? Boy, were we wrong! They belong to us all. Frazzled moms, cool moms, single dudes, suburban folks, city folks, country folks ā¦ crockpots are bringing us all together.
Seriously, what's not to love about quickly throwing a few ingredients in a pot and then coming back for dinner. It's. The. Best.
That's what this crockpot Thai chicken curry is all about. You literally put a couple of ingredients into the pot then come back 4 hours later for dinner. Read: easiest dinner ever!
Video: How to make Thai Chicken Curry {1 min}
Can I use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
We like to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs as they're more flavor than breasts, and they're usually a lot more reasonably priced, too. But if you have chicken breasts on hand, you can definitely use those instead.
Can I cook this on low heat 8-10 hours?
Yes, but there's a caveat. Cooking this curry for a longer time means that the squash will be very soft. At least half of it will disappear into the sauce ā which isn't a bad thing!
The curry sauce will become thicker, sweeter, and taste a little like squash, but it will still be very tasty.
Is this chicken curry thick or thin?
We prefer our curry to be more like a traditional Thai curry, which is on the thin side.
But most Thai restaurants here in North America cater to our tastes and make their curries thicker and creamier, more like traditional Indian curry.
So if you would like yours thicker, all you have to do it reduce the water. (So easy!) There is a note about the exact amount in the recipe card.
Can I make this Thai chicken curry on the stovetop?
Yes! You'll want to simmer the curry for no longer than 1 hour.
What kind of curry paste should I use?
Not all curry paste is created equally. And since the curry paste is the base of the flavor in this recipe, the better the curry paste you can find, the more flavorful the dish will be.
We like Mae Ploy curry paste. When in doubt, look for where the curry paste is made and choose one that is made in Thailand; it's your best bet.
Another option is to make your own curry paste.
Can I use a different color curry paste?
Yes! We've used red, green, and yellow in this recipe and they all work well.
Can I use curry powder?
No, curry powder won't work in this recipe. Curry powder is an Indian spice mix made from ground turmeric, coriander, cumin, and other spices and is very different than Thai curry paste.
Crockpot Thai Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups chicken stock (see notes)
- 2-4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free, if needed. Coco aminos for paleo and Whole30)
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar (or sub maple syrup or brown sugar. Omit for Whole30)
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (see notes)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 1 large kabocha squash (cut into 1-inch cubes (or 1 small butternut squash))
- 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
- 1-2 chili peppers (if you like extra heat)
- 14 ounce can coconut milk
- 1 large bunch of kale (torn into small pieces (roughly 2 packed cups))
- Optional: cilantro, chili peppers, and lime to serve
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients, except for the coconut milk and kale, into your crockpotĀ and stir together well. Set your crockpot to cook on high for 4 hours.1-2 cups chicken stock, 2-4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 3 cloves garlic, 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1 large kabocha squash, 1 medium yellow onion, 1-2 chili peppers
- After 4 hours, stir in the coconut milk and kale and let it sit while you prepare the rice, cauliflower rice,Ā or quinoa to serve.14 ounce can coconut milk, 1 large bunch of kale
- Top with a little cilantro, lime, and, if you like it extra spicy, some chopped chili peppers.Optional: cilantro, chili peppers, and lime to serve
Video
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
For more inspiration, check out all of our curry recipes!
I really liked the flavor in this dish, but mine was a little too watery. I will make it again with less added water and adding the chili peppers you suggested for more flavor and spice. I didn’t cut the chicken and after 4 1/2 hours on high it shredded quite well! I’ll make this again. Thank you!
I’m sorry it turned out a little too watery for you, but happy to hear you like the flavor!
This recipe looks delish but fyi your site or these ads have some sort of bug. This page keeps crashing my computer š
Hi Nancie! I’m sorry you were struggling with the site. I’ve had a ton of people visiting over the past few days, so it’s been slower than usual. Working on that!
Hi Kristen,
I will definitely try this recipe. I agree the site is taking a long time to load still, very slow. Do you compress your images before you upload and put them on? Large images are so often a cause of websites taking so long to load, and when this happens some people will not bother to persevere and will go elsewhere.
Can I cook for 8 hrs on low setting? I’d be away longer than 4 hrs. Also, thinking of adding mushrooms and substitute white wine instead of water.
I haven’t tried cooking it for 8 hours on low. There’s certainly enough liquid that you don’t have to worry about it burning. What may happen is that you’ll have very soft butternut squash and chicken that is more like shredded chicken … which aren’t bad things at all! If you try it I’d love to hear how it goes. Good call on the mushrooms and white wine!
Hi! I really enjoyed this recipe : ) I was just wondering do I need to preheat the slow cooker before putting everything in? I wasn’t sure whether putting cold coconut milk in a warm slow cooker would be an issue so i heated up the curry sauce in a pot first, but just wanted to know whether that was necessary…
Thanks in advance š
I don’t heat it up first and have never had any problems with it, but someone had commented that they’ve had curries curdle before when adding cold coconut milk. If you’re concerned about it it might be an idea to heat it first. š
This was lovely. I added a stalk of lemongrass that I cut into thirds and pounded down to release the flavour. I only added 1/2 can of water and found it was a bit too soupy for me. Next time maybe only 1/4 or 1/8 can. I used butternut squash but sweet potato might be another great substitute.
Thank you so much for your feedback! Love that you added lemongrass … yum!
Can I use frozen chicken or should I wait?
I haven’t tried using frozen chicken before. I’d recommend defrosting the chicken in some cold water first. š
Are nutrition facts using light or regular coconut milk? Thanks!
Regular coconut milk. š
Recipe looks great! I was wondering if the nutrition facts posted include the rice as a side dish or if it is the chicken and sauce alone?
The nutritional facts are for the chicken and sauce only. If you want to switch it up, quinoa is also great with this dish!
Hi Kristen!
I just got myself a brand spanking new large sized (I previously had a teeny weeny one :P) slow cooker and have been searching for great slow cooker recipes – this looks awesome! I’m so going to try it out later this week.
Thanks for sharing!
<3
Slow cookers are the best, aren’t they?! Hope you like this one as much as I do!
Is there a point to the water? I guess I should have used half cause it tastes watered down.
Hi Andrea,
Yes, without the water the curry would be quite dry. What brand of curry paste did you use? They vary in flavor dramatically. I’ve always had great results with the two brands I recommend in the notes below the recipes.
I used Thai Kitchen. Maybe if I use less water. I have made curry on the stove with this brand and it came out well. I will try the recommended brands next time and maybe use just a bit less water.
That’s the one brand I always avoid as I find it has very little flavour compared to the others. If you’re able to find Amoy or Mae Jin I would highly recommend trying them. They’re not very spicy, but they have tons of flavour.
I used Thai kitchen as well, but I had to add 1 and 1/2 small bottles of it which is at least double what she recommends. It was delicious though!
Ya Thai Kitchen is definitely not the most flavorful brand. If you can find the ones I’ve recommended you’ll notice a big difference!
Mine tastes watered down too.
Oh no! What brand of curry paste did you use? Using one of the two I recommend has always given good results for me.
Oh, I love this š . Thai curry is the best !!! I love using my slow cooker and this is just the perfect recipe.
Thank you!!!
I have the exact same pot! I shoul make this curry; the ingredients sound delicious.
Great minds buy the same crock pots!!
This is a delicious and complete recipe ! Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome!
It’s thai and it’s made in the crockpot? You GET me.
You and I have the same taste, girl!
Beautiful curry, in the slow cooker? Double smiles here! Slow cookers are for everyone š I have 2 <3
You have 2? I’m jealous!
Just so you know I do a Thai curry in the crock pot similar to yours but I use half the amount of water and add the coconut milk in the last hour. Otherwise the milk can curdle from time to time. . I look forward to trying your recipe?
Good to know … I’ve never had that happen before!
Just thinking … does the coconut milk you use have anything added to it? Like guar gum? The few times I’ve used coconut milk that has thickeners added to it I’ve had funny results, whether it’s in curries, sweets or any recipe. I wonder if that’s what happened to you??
I use organic 100% coconut milk. It doesn’t happen all the time, but enough that I now add it at the end! Love you blog !
Lynda
That’s so strange! I’m going to put a note in the post about that. I would hate that to happen to someone trying the recipe. I’d be so disappointed if it were me.
Good idea as I posted on a blog to do a Thai chicken coconut soup that I did in the slow cooker and someone wrote in that theirs separated and I had never had an issue .. Then next time I did it it looked dreadful! BTW pork tenderloin can be used instead of chicken thighs!