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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I am devastated: the chicken is not cooked and the squash is falling apart. I used only one cup of chicken broth as I wanted thicker and it isn’t. I have never been a fan of slow cookers and this experience is no exception. My slow cooker is a feature of my Ninja Foodi, which I use practically every day, but NOT the slow cooker function. I am having some leftover Indian chicken curry for dinner this evening. This just did not work out for me. I am so disappointed.
I’m so sorry to hear about your experience. Are you sure the chicken pieces weren’t cooked through? It seems very odd if they were cooked for 4 hours and the squash was cooked. For me, the chicken is very tender and falls apart by the time the recipe is ready. Maybe it was the way Ninja Foodie works – I’m not familiar with that appliance so I’m just guessing.
The ninja foodi (and the instant pot, too) has a “slow cooker” function, but it doesn’t work the same way as a traditional slow cooker and has a super steep learning curve. I found it way easier to keep my slow cooker for recipes like this – they need the wider base and ceramic pot of traditional slow cookers to really work.
I don’t know how to cook chicken curry. Thanks for this recipe, it’s now an all time favorite for dinner! added a little more of spiciness though. thanks!
I made this with yellow curry paste and it was super easy and yum! Everyone loved it!!
This sounds delish 🙂 can I set it on low for longer? Would 6-7 hours work?
While technically you can set it to cook on low for longer, I find that the squash ends up completely falling apart that way. It will make for a thick and creamy sauce. I don’t mind it that way, but I prefer it cooked for less time. 🙂
Thank you for sharing – super easy and delicious. Cant wait to make again.
I accidentally put the coconut milk in with the other initial ingredients- is it ruined?! 🙁
Coconut milk can occasionally curdle if it’s cooked too long, which is why we add it at the end. It doesn’t make it unsafe to eat, it just doesn’t look as pretty. I’ll cross my fingers that it doesn’t happen!
Delicious! And the author’s comments about curry paste are right on. Will make this again.
My curry has no curry flavor? The flavors did not come together at all. It’s got a little kick. The parts all taste good. I used 3 T of curry. Maybe 4 would be enough, not sure? It’s a lot of stuff that I don’t normally buy so I probably won’t make this again. I’m bummed!
What kind of curry paste did you use? Most of the flavor in this recipe comes from that so you want to make sure that the paste you use is flavorful. Some are definitely better than others.
I’m not sure about other people, I measured and it was 2 lbs of cut up thighs, otherwise it would have been a tiny amount of chicken. I used 1 cup stock & it’s still very liquidy but it smells good. My squash is not over cooked. We’ll see, I’m just waiting a little while to let the coconut milk to blend.
Delicious! I made this for my husband and I – doubling the recipe for our giant crockpot (and because I don’t want to cook more often).
I also added in 4 or 5 small gold potatoes to make the meal stretch longer (and cheaply). We didn’t have any jasmine rice left, so we used leftover white rice for the first day – still delicious. Now we are eating it with jasmine rice and it’s even better.
I added in a giant scoop of red chili paste (gochujang) – because our delivery person for groceries replaced the red curry with it since the store was out. (I went back to get the red curry from another store to make this dish.) It adds just a little heat, our doubled version could use even more for those that like it spicy.
It was pretty good, though I’ll need more spice next time around!
Can I freeze my leftovers?
Yes! This recipe freezes very well. And a good squeeze of sriracha usually does the trick to spice it up!
Made this recipe as a try for a new slow-cooker meal. My wife and oldest daughter loved it!! Had it with Japanese white rice. Taste is nice. May try with green curry next time just for a different flavor.
Thanks so much,
Jeff
Hello,
If I’m making twice as much do I change the amount of time?
Thanks!
As long as your crockpot is large enough, it will cook in 4 hours on high. 🙂
I will be whipping this up tonight! Thank you in advance. One question: Where does the water come in and how much? You write about it in the description and I see it as a step in the video but I don’t see it in the recipe card.
Thank you for the heads up about that! We now use chicken stock instead of water. 🙂
An easy flavorful recipe. Even my husband who is not a fan of curry enjoyed it.
Amazing and flavourful! I didn’t add the peppers because I wasn’t sure how spicy it would be. So sprinkled a bit of Siracha on it. I also added red and yellow sliced bell peppers and snap peas when I added the Kale . This is a keeper! Thanks