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 … 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 – 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 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 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, 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!
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!
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. I also have a question regarding the nutrition info: Is the carb count including the serving suggestion of rice?
That’s so great to know this can be made on the stove top. Thank you for letting us know! The nutritional info is for the curry only. The carbs mainly come from the butternut squash. 🙂
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!
I just did some digging into this to figure out what was going on and it looks like the program we use to calculate nutritional information only picked up the “plus one can of water” and not the coconut milk. I’ve updated it now so it is accurate now. Thank you for pointing that out!
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. 🙂