Thai Coconut Chicken Curry (made in your slow cooker)
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We all love an easy, flavorful dinner – enter this crockpot Thai chicken curry. This is my go-to when I have a busy week, but don’t want to skimp on tasty, satisfying meals. I’ll show you how to prep everything so the crockpot does all the work, and you can come back to a winning dinner!
This slow cooker chicken curry is everything I want in a comforting, flavor-packed dinner. It starts with boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which stay juicy and tender as they simmer in a rich, coconut-based curry sauce. The sauce is built from classic Thai curry staples—red curry paste, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, and coconut milk—with a touch of brown sugar (or palm or coconut sugar, if you have it) to round everything out.
Vegetables make this curry hearty and colorful. Sweet kombucha squash (or butternut squash), yellow onion, chili peppers, and kale soften into the sauce and soak up all that bold flavor. I like to finish each bowl with fresh cilantro, extra chili, and a squeeze of lime for brightness. Spoon it over rice, and you’ve got a cozy, satisfying meal that tastes deeply flavorful and completely complete.
Ingredients to gather
Most of these ingredients are items you likely have on hand. Just grab your chicken and veggies, throw everything in the crockpot, and you’re good to go! Gather these items:
- Chicken: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are the way to go.
- Chicken stock: Grab store-bought, or make your own. You can adjust the amount according to the consistency you like – check out the notes section under the recipe!
- Thai red curry paste: Not all curry pastes are created equal. Make your own, otherwise make sure to taste a little bit before adding it to assess the heat and flavor.
- Brown sugar: If you have palm sugar or coconut sugar on hand, both of those great options.
- Curry staples: Soy sauce, minced ginger, fish sauce, garlic, and coconut milk.
- Veggies: Kombucha squash (or butternut squash), yellow onion, chili peppers, and kale.
- To serve: I love to serve this with cilantro, chili peppers, and lime!
A few FAQs
Can I use chicken breasts instead of thighs? I prefer boneless, skinless chicken thighs as they’re more flavorful than breasts and usually more reasonably priced. But if you have chicken breasts on hand, you can definitely use those instead.
Can I cook this on low heat for 8-10 hours? Yes, but there’s a caveat. Cooking this curry for longer will make the squash very soft. At least half of it will disappear into the sauce, which isn’t a bad thing! The curry sauce will become thicker and sweeter, with a hint of squash, but it will still be delicious.
Can I make this Thai chicken curry on the stovetop? Yes! You’ll want to simmer the curry for no longer than 1 hour.
Can I use a different color curry paste? Yes! I’ve used red, green, and yellow in this recipe, and they all work well.
Store, reheat, and freeze
Store: First, let your Thai chicken curry cool to room temperature. Once it’s cooled, transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. I think it tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to deepen!
Freeze: If you want to store it longer, freeze it for up to three months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheat: Warm it on the stovetop or in the microwave. If it’s thickened in the fridge, you can add a splash of water to loosen things up.
Thai Coconut Chicken Curry (made in your slow cooker)
Ingredients
- 1-2 cups chicken stock (see notes)
- 2-4 tablespoons Thai red curry paste (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 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 crockpot 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 brown 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, 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
Last step:
- After you make this recipe, take a picture with your phone and share it in the comments section below. I love seeing it when you make my recipes!
Notes
Nutrition
We have thoroughly tested this recipe for accuracy. However, individual results may vary. See our full recipe disclosure here.
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Wow! Hubby and I loved this- our favorite new meal! We didn’t have fresh chili peppers so we did fried chilis in oil. I added a little coriander, turmeric, onion and garlic powder. The lime and cilantro to garnish were what made it so good! Definitely going into our normal rotation!
I’m so glad you both loved it! 😊 Fried chilis in oil sounds like a great swap, and I love the extra spices you added. And yes — that lime and cilantro at the end really brings everything to life. So happy it’s going into your regular rotation. Thanks so much for sharing! 💛
So flavorful! I did make a few tweaks – I had 1/2 each red and green peppers that needed to be used so I rough chopped and tossed them in at the beginning. I make large batches of rice in a pressure cooker, then freeze in 1c portions. I partially thawed 4c to add with the kale and coconut milk. Another hour on high and it was ready to serve. Delicious one pot meal!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😊 I love how you used what you had on hand — adding the peppers and frozen rice is such a smart move. And I’m all for a cozy one-pot meal that comes together like that. Thanks so much for sharing your tweaks and taking the time to leave a note!
Sooo tasty! Made it with Delicata squash. This will be a new weeknight favorite.
Delicata squash sounds like such a cozy twist—so glad you loved it! Perfect idea for an easy weeknight favorite. 🍽️✨
I wanted to love this recipe! However, that is not how it turned out. I only rated two stars because I thought it was relatively easy to put together. This curry was extremely runny more like broth than a curry I’m imagining mine didn’t have the yellow hue as I didn’t use the squash instead I replaced it with potatoes, which I didn’t add in until about an hour left. I thought that the flavor was lacking. It smelled delicious however that did not come through with taste. I followed this recipe exactly as it said minus the potatoes and I really don’t know why it didn’t thicken up. I only added one and a half cups of the broth as I expected it to thicken, but did not want it to be too thick perhaps that’s my fault. And cutting the chicken into bite-size pieces just made it completely fall apart and shred verse being chunks.
When you use squash, as in the recipe, some of it breaks down and helps to create a wonderful, slightly creamy texture. As I’ve noted in the recipe card, not all brands of curry paste are created equal. I’ve bought some pretty lacklustre ones in the past myself. For the best flavor, use curry paste that is made in Thailand.