Instant Pot Thai Chicken Curry

Lately, my favorite place to shop has been my pantry and fridge. You feel me?

Often I buy fun things, like Korean pancake mix, but somehow it gets wedged behind my flour and sugar. Then it is hidden in the abyss of my pantry until like a lost treasure I dig it up again, and rejoice because I know what’s for dinner.

Have you ever been there

On my scourging of my fridge, and wondering what to make for dinner, I found my giant container of Thai massaman curry that I needed to use up, but had totally forgotten about it.

BUT I wasn’t in the mood to do a lot of prep, so I knew tonight would be Instant Pot Thai chicken curry!

But even though I didn’t have the usual small waxy potatoes that typically go with it, I decided to use it anyways.

Usually when I make my Thai curries I try to make them as authentic as possible, mainly because we haven’t been to Thailand in three years, and any time we eat Thai food I like to try to travel back to the streets of Thailand, with my taste buds at least.

But desperate times call for desperate measures. Have you felt that lately?

So I grabbed the Thai massaman curry paste, Chao Koh coconut milk that I usually save for my cooking classes, but I have extra since I haven’t had many Thai cooking classes because of the virus (sad!), sliced an onion, and got out four chicken breasts.

I put my instant pot on the saute function to stir-fry the curry paste with some oil. Then I added in the coconut cream (the thick layer that is often found on legit, unshaken cans of coconut milk), stirred some more, then added the rest of the coconut milk, chicken, and veg, and put it on high pressure for 10 minutes.

If I’m using kale, I like adding the kale before I put it in the instant pot because it helps break down the kale more, and gets it more easily into my kids, but you could also stir it in at the end if you want it more crisp.

If we have carrots, we’ve also loved putting those in when we add the chicken because it adds a lovely hint of sweetness, and sprinkling green onion or cilantro on top if you have any, makes it pretty and extra tasty too. But no worries if you don’t have them! Keep it simple!

I adore how quick this is, and how even though it doesn’t have everything a normal Thai curry would have, it still refreshes my spirits, which is what we all need like crazy in these crazy days!

Want some more Thai curry ideas? Check out my Massaman Gai Chicken Curry recipe or my Beef Panang Curry recipe!

I’d love to see your version of this instant pot Thai chicken curry! Share it with me on Instagram @thaifoodie!

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