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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Do you think I could sub sweet potato for kabocha? Thanks!
That would work!
I work all day, would putting this recipe on low work alright? I haven’t worked with curry paste before so I don’t want to ruin it! Lol
While you could do that, the squash will be very cooked after that long and mostly fall apart. 🙂
Hi – do you know what the conversion is if you were to cool this on low instead of high? 8 hours?
This recipe is really best only cooked for 4 hours. When I’ve tried to cook it longer, the squash gets too soft.
Can this cook on low for 8 hours instead?
I find that the squash doesn’t hold up well after 8 hours. So technically you could cook it for 8 hours, but the squash will pretty much disappear into the sauce after that time.
My family liked it.
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit!
I’m just a little confused. In the video you add water first and cook it for 4 hours and in the end you add the coconut milk. Whereas the recipe says to add everything including the coconut milk in the beginning. Which way work best to avoid curdling. Thank you 🙂
I’ve made this many times successfully by adding the coconut milk at the beginning BUT a few people have told me that they experienced the coconut milk curdling when doing it this way. To be on the safe side, I now recommend adding it at the end. 🙂
Can you freeze this?
This freezes well!
Curious, never used squash before..do I Cook it first before chopping it and throwing it in ? Thanks.
Nope! Simply peel it, chop it, and pop it in the pot. 🙂
This is a hit. Just use the tips from the reviews and add some salt! Sooo good and sauce is perfect after you smash a few of the squash. I will be making this again! Thanks!!!
So happy to heat you like the recipe!
I forgot to say I did add half a can of water?
I wamted to share that I just made this recipe in my Instant Pot and my husband and I are still flipping our—it was SO delicious and SO easy!! It literally is exactly like what I eat in my favorite Thai restaurant. Thank you so much for this recipe!! I basically threw everything into the instant pot except the vegetable I was not familiar with. I cooked the whole thing on pressure for four minutes then let it natural release about three minutes then I opened it up (looked weird at that point, had to stir a little) and added the kale and lots of lime. Soooooo good!, incredibly tasty!!?
Thank you so much for letting us know the recipe works in an Instant Pot!!!
Wanting to make this with shrimp instead of chicken because my husband is allergic to chicken (I know…crazy) shrimp cooks faster than chicken, so how long should I put the shrimp in the crockpot on high before it’s done? Or should I just cook it separate an add it in at the end?
I’ve never heard of anyone being allergic to chicken before! If you’re making it with shrimp, I would simply stir them in at the end and let them cook for a couple of minutes. They shouldn’t take any more than 4-5 minutes to fully cook. 🙂
Delicious! I used exact same curry paste. I took advice from some of the other commenters and didn’t add coconut milk until the last half hour, and also garnished with crushed peanuts.. Additionally, I typically do this with most of my slow cooker meals, but I cooked the onions, garlic and ginger for a few mins in a skillet, added the curry paste, cooked another minute and then moved to the slow cooker.
Great call on adding peanuts at the end. I bet it was extra delicious!
The comments were so helpful when making this curry so I thought I’d leave feedback as well.
The curry was delish! I’m a curry novice but had a crockpot curry craving. So rest assured, if I can make it and everyone enjoy it, it’s really that easy.
I used cut up russets, carrots and onions. Minced the garlic. Two chicken breasts. 300 ml of chicken broth. Used the red Thai kitchen curry paste (boyfriend commented it lacked flavor, so all other comments might be spot on about this brand) Added Thai basil. Left it on low for eight hours (oh well, I had to work). Got home and shredded the chicken and added the coconut milk. We are it over white jasmin rice and it was really good!
Thank you for your comment and I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe!
I’m really sorry, but this recipe is not worth making. It turned out SO watery and bland. We managed to eat our dinner portions (well, 6 year old is struggling through his), but the leftovers will all be tossed. If you eat curry regularly and are hoping to find a recipe to make at home I wouldn’t bother with this one. If you have never eaten curry and like bland food maybe it’s worth a try, but definitely reduce the water.
I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t a hit. Which brand of curry paste did you use? The one I recommend is very flavorful. If the one you used was bland that would definitely impact how the recipe tastes.
I made it today! I added red bell pepper (one small) and I added zucchini instead of the squash. I also added chickpeas but they disappeared haha. I wish the sauce was a bit thicker. It tasted great!
I’m happy to hear it turned out well!
I can’t believe no one else has mentioned that you can not cook coconut milk this long with out the solids separating and deteriorating making this recipe pretty inedible and a waste. I made this tonight and had to throw it away. I googled and apparently it’s pretty common for this to happen when you slow cook coconut milk.
There’s a note about that right in the recipe. I’m sorry to hear it happened to you!
This turned out really well, thanks! I used 4 oz (125 mLs) of homemade chicken stock instead of the water and cooked for 2.5 hrs on high and then added the kale and coconut milk and cooked for 20 minutes more. I garnished with chopped peanuts as well as the suggested items and served over brown rice. I will be making this again.
I’m so happy to hear you like the recipe!