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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Thanks for the recipe, it was very tasty. But after 4 hours the butternut squash was very soft almost mushy. Is it supposed to be that way so that it helps thicken the sauce a bit? Just curious how yours tastes after 4 hours (maybe your slow cooker doesn’t make it as soft? Or maybe I just need to cut bigger squash pieces next time.) I doubled the recipe but still used 1 can of coconut milk & 2 cups broth and there was still a lot of liquid so next time I’ll add less broth, and will try adding the squash an hour into the 4 hrs too! Also will add red bell pepper chunks and chickpeas at the 3.5 hour mark. Topped with green onions and coriander and it was delish overall! Served with quinoa.
Depending on the size you cut the butternut squash, it can get quite soft. 🙂
Just made this and LOVE IT! I only put 1/2 cup of chicken stock and it’s perfect and not too watery. If you want thick sauce maybe don’t put any. Also added a little extra of garlic and ginger and put a full 4oz jar of curry paste (I could only find Thai Kitchen so I figured adding more would help the flavor). I also added red and green bell pepper. I couldn’t find chili peppers so put some Siracha in at the beginning and it has perfect little heat. GREAT crockpot meal!
thank you soooo much for this delicious recipe. I can’t believe how simple it is. I substituted yams and added a can of bamboo shoots at the end with the Kale and coconut milk (I did make the mistake once of adding the Kale a bit too early and it wasn’t as tasty). I have used both green and red curry and absolutely loved it. Made it with and without fish sauce and didn’t notice much of a difference and used ground ginger once when I didn’t have fresh without any negative impact at all.
Thanks again !
You’re very welcome!
Wonderful! This is just like authentic Thai curry which is in a thin curry broth. (Readers: Unlike the thicker Indian curries, Thai curries have a more soup-like consistency, using fresh herbs and pastes instead of spice blends that are prevalent in Indian curries. Folks are either mixing up styles or have become used to Americanized versions.). I couldn’t get my hands on the more authentic May Ploy brand curry (yet), so I did end up using two 4oz jars of Thai Kitchen for a deeper flavor. That was my only edit to my taste preference. Thanks for making such an easy recipe!
You’re so welcome!
Lovely and so easy !
can I add brocolli and cauliflower?
Yes but I would add them only 30 minutes before serving so they don’t turn to mush.
Can I do this with an instapot?
I haven’t tried but I would assume it would work. 🙂
I love this recipe! The quality / brand of the curry paste makes a big difference.
It sure does!
I went ahead and gave the original recipe the benefit of the doubt despite all of the comments saying it’s runny and a few that mentioned it’s bland. As made according to the recipe, it’s a mildly spicy soup. I’ve eaten Thai and never had anything this watery. Anyway, I can work with it…. When I make it again as a curry, I will cut back significantly on the added water and probably double the curry paste. If I want soup, I’ll keep the original amount of water.
Thank you for your feedback. 🙂
Made this last night love it. Has anyone tried to freeze the leftovers?
Leftovers freeze well. 🙂
Great substitute for take out! Loved the spicy, creamy flavor! Such an easy and delicious recipe!
That’s wonderful to hear!
I enjoyed this chicken curry as much as the curry at my favorite Thai restaurant! I did substitute yellow curry for the red curry because I prefer over the red.
That’s wonderful to hear! Thank you for coming back to let us know, Teresa!
If I don’t have curry paste, can I just use curry powder and other spices? Also, how critical is the soy and fish sauce?
Curry powder (which is Indian) is quite different than curry paste (which is Thai). Using one for the other would change the flavor dramatically. Depending on what you have in your fridge, you may be able to make your own using this recipe: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/easy-thai-red-curry-paste-recipe/
The soy sauce and fish sauce both add a ton of flavor to curries. If you don’t have them on hand, you’ll want to use a lot more salt. 🙂
Wish I would have read more of the reviews first. Curry came out too watery. Like soup. Ugh
I’m sorry to hear that it wasn’t a hit.
i wanted to add seafood (shrimp, oysters, scalps) to this at what point would i do that
I would add them at the end. All of those cook very quickly so they’ll only need a couple of minutes. 🙂
I just tried to make this dish and the coconut milk became a really gross texture… unfortunately I didn’t read your notes until now (my fault). It seemed like it would have been a really good recipe aside from this – it might be worth writing in the body of the recipe instead of the notes. Thanks!
Thank you for the feedback! We will do that. 🙂