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 Thai coconut chicken curry is one of my favorite curry recipes for busy days. Everything goes into the slow cooker, where the chicken becomes fall-apart tender, and the vegetables soak up the rich coconut curry sauce’s flavors. It’s the kind of meal that fills the house with the most incredible aroma and rewards you with a comforting dinner at the end of the day.
The sauce is built from classic Thai ingredients like red curry paste, coconut milk, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, and soy sauce. A little brown sugar balances the savory and spicy flavors, while the coconut milk creates a rich, velvety broth that’s perfect for spooning over rice.
Sweet squash, onion, kale, and chili peppers make this curry hearty and colorful, while fresh cilantro, lime, and extra chili add brightness just before serving. It’s deeply flavorful, wonderfully cozy, and one of those recipes that tastes like it took far more effort than it actually did.
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!
Equipment Used
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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Just made this for lunch today and thought I would say what I did in case anyone finds it helpful. I cut 5 thighs up into 2 inch pieces and put them in with only 7oz chicken broth (instead of water) and the rest of the “seasonings”, minus the coconut milk, on high for 3 hours. The thighs were cooked through at this point, so I added my veggies – I choose a small head of broccoli, one zucchini cut into a small dice, and 3 leaves of kale, cut into thin ribbons. I also added the can of coconut milk and 1 tsp hot curry powder (from my local spice shop, so I don’t have a brand), because I had to buy the Thai Kitchen red curry paste that Kristen doesn’t recommend because it is all my HT had. Next time I will venture to the Asian markets to find a good red curry paste, but the powder helped add a lot of flavor. Anyway, I cooked the veggies and coconut milk for another hour and they were perfectly crisp tender, the coconut milk did not separate, and we had the perfect amount of liquid to go over our rice. Hope this helps anyone else who is contemplating making this but was nervous about some of the other comments!
Such a great idea to add the curry powder. Thank you for sharing that tip!
Amazing! Made this last night and I’m so happy I made extra. I didn’t have kale so I used bok Choy and bean sprouts. I also added a few baby potatoes. This is a recipe I will definitely make again! Yum! Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy you like the recipe! Hooray!!
This is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I have learned that you can add just about any veggie you want and it comes out delicious! I have made it with turnips, parsnips, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, corn, eggplant… basically you name it and it goes great in this curry! I use chicken stock instead of water and the flavor is always perfect. I wanted to comment that if you don’t have 4 hours, this can be replicated on the stove top in about 1 hour just by putting together the broth and simmering all the ingredients until cooked through.
That’s so great to know this can be made on the stove top. Thank you for letting us know!
Hi, I am making this tonight but was entering all the ingredients into My fitness Pal. It is telling me this recipe is 422 calories per serving, but your post says it’s 250… am I doing something wrong? I noticed the coconut milk is what made it jump up so high, but saw you used a similar one with similar calories. Just want to make sure I’m counting the right amount of calories!
Hey there! I’m planning on making this today, however I wasn’t able to find the curry paste you mentioned or any paste for that matter. Do you have an idea of how I would make it using a curry sauce mix?
Thanks! 🙂
I’m so sorry for the late reply! I’ve been on holiday and haven’t had access to the comments here. I think a sauce mix would work, but you might have to taste test a little. Add some then see how the flavor is and add more as needed. 🙂
Loved the flavor. I think maybe less water would make it less watery or pre cooking the chicken? I actually added both thighs and breasts-about 1 1/2 lbs. Thanks for sharing!
This was easy and absolutely delicious!! I doubled it, and put half the water. It was amazing! I will definitely be making this often!!
I’m so happy you liked the recipe!!
Nice crock recipe, had never thought about curry in a crock but it’s ideal! Thank you for putting this recipe together!
I’m so happy you liked the recipe!!
Aw I wished I had listened to my own instinct, I wasn’t going to add that much much water as usually 1/2 a cup is sufficient. Plus the fact that I usually add the coconut milk/cream at the end.
I followed the recipe and it turned out so watery and curdled, was so bad but I have managed to save the dish by adding more red curry paste, coconut cream, more fish sauce and some lime juice to make it tasty.
I didn’t dice the chicken at all but they are still too shredded so next time I will try it at Slow for 6 hours.
Mine turned out so watery!!! I followed the directions exactly. No coconut flavor whatsoever. Really disappointed, as I was craving coconut curry…I’ll just add no water and 2 cans coconut milk instead next time I suppose.
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love it.
This is my family’s go to chicken curry. We love it!
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe. It’s my family’s fav as well!
I always wanted to try some crock pot so I’ll probably try this within the week.
great recipe but extremely watery. Not nearly thick enough.
Thank you for your feedback. If you prefer your Thai curry a little thicker you can try using a little less water next time. Hope that helps!
I had such high hopes for this recipe. It looks so creamy and yummy in the video. The ingredients were all so great and it was so easy. Sadly, my coconut milk separated (I didn’t read the comment about adding it at the end until after I had put it in) and my squash (butternut) did not hold up very well. Also, as mentioned in some of the other comments, I found it to be very watery. I used the Thai kitchen red curry paste, but it was way too hot.
I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you. I would really recommend trying to find one of the two curry pastes I recommend in the recipe. I’ve had the same experience as you had with Thai Kitchen so I steer clear of that one now. The other two are really flavorful but mild. I’m going to make the note about the coconut milk a little more prominent so no one misses it.
Awesome recipe. You earned me huge brownie points tonight!
I’m so happy to hear that! Yay for brownie points!!
How many kale do you use? I am Trying This for the first time with a slow-cooker. Pictures look great
About 2 packed cups, or about 4 large stems of kale. 🙂
I am excited to try this recipe. My family can eat quite a bit and I’m thinking of doubling the recipe. This will also be my first ever crock-pot-meal! Should I be concerned with doubling the recipe and having everything fit in the crock-pot? I’m 90% positive I have the same brand crock=pot as you just have to check on the size of it. But, is it reasonable to double the recipe, or would it create issues in the cooking time/overflow etc.
I actually had to pour water into my crock pot to measure how big it is. Ha! You’d think they would write that on it somewhere! It’s 12 cups, so about 3 quarts.
It honestly makes quite a bit. Remember that you serve it with rice so the portion sizes can be very generous. It does fill the crock pot so I wouldn’t double it. If you’re feeling concerned you could try adding an extra piece of chicken as I’m sure that would fit. 🙂