Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry is one of the easiest Indian Chicken Curry recipes that is packed with flavors in every bite. It takes just 5-10 minutes and the end-result is worth it.
It is similar to my Creamy Coconut Chicken Curry, just that it is made in an Instant Pot. Serve with Jasmine rice or Naan bread or Paratha.
Mom's Easy Coconut Chicken Curry
Basic spices, easy steps, and just a simple coconut and chicken curry recipe that is perfect for busy moms and dads.
If you are in a hurry and you want to make something satisfying, filling, and comforting.
Don't think twice about making this recipe.
This curry is so healthy and packed with flavors. Most importantly this is a milk curry recipe which makes it perfect for picky eaters and kids.
Its a simple one pot curry recipe for the family.
My secret ingredient is a pinch of coconut sugar right at the end to make this taste lip-smackingly delicious. You can add Brown Sugar or Granulated Sugar as well or simply add Honey or Maple Syrup for the sweetness.
Two days back I made Chicken Vindaloo in Instant Pot. Make sure you give that a try as well.
Healthy Chicken Curry made from scratch
This easy and delicious Coconut and Chicken Curry is made from scratch. Its a sweet and mild curry recipe which uses homemade Coconut Milk and juicy Chicken Thighs.
Don't confuse this with Thai Coconut Chicken Curry that uses Red Curry paste. This recipe for Coconut Curry Chicken in Instant Pot
This was inspired by my Crockpot Coconut Lime Chicken. I love the combination of Chicken and Coconut.
In my repertoire of India recipes, there is another recipe - Malabar Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk that is quite similar but not same.
Dairy and Gluten Free Curry Recipe in under 30-min
This Coconut Chicken Curry is made using Coconut milk. Its naturally a dairy and gluten free Curry recipe which is super healthy, easy and low carb.
Coconut and Chicken goes so well together. The nutty sweetness of coconut and the creaminess of coconut milk adds depth of flavor to a traditional chicken curry.
Moreover, when you cook it in an Instant Pot, you cut down the cooking time by half.
I made this recipe in less than 30-minutes. Within 30-minutes the dinner was served.
Jump to:
- Mom's Easy Coconut Chicken Curry
- Healthy Chicken Curry made from scratch
- Dairy and Gluten Free Curry Recipe in under 30-min
- Ingredients for making Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe
- How to cook Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk (Step By Step Images)
- Substitutions
- Variations
- How to thicken the sauce
- How to store Leftover Coconut Chicken Curry
- Make-Ahead Instructions
- Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe
- How to serve this Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
- Vegan Curry
- Vegan Curry Recipes
- More Indian Chicken Recipes
- Recipe Card
- Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
Ingredients for making Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe
These are the Ingredients required to make Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry.
- Chicken Thighs - can be replaced with chicken breasts
- Unsalted Butter- can be replaced with ghee.
- Onions - you can use yellow onion or red onions.
- Ginger Garlic Paste or freshly chopped ginger and garlic
- Tomato puree - Don't like canned food. Just chop 2-large fresh tomatoes and add it to your curry.
- Spices - Turmeric Powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, smoked paprika, garam masala, and salt.
- Coconut Milk
- Coconut Sugar
- Freshly chopped cilantro and desiccated coconut - for garnish
See the recipe card for quantities. Also check out the video for a visual.
How to cook Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk (Step By Step Images)
Step 1: Sauté Onions, Ginger, and Garlic
- Put your Instant Pot in Sauté mode and add ghee or butter.
- If you want, you can add some coconut oil along with butter for more flavor.
- Sauté onions, garlic, and ginger on low heat.
- I have used Ginger garlic paste (which is easily available in the market) you can use fresh ginger and garlic or the paste.
Step 2: Add Chicken
- In this recipe, I have used bone-in skinless chicken thighs.
- You are free to use chicken breasts cut into small 1-inch cubes or chicken drumsticks for this recipe.
- Toss lightly and sear chicken for about a minute or two.
Step 3: Add Tomato Puree, Spices and Cook
Add Tomato Puree, Turmeric Powder, Smoked Paprika, Ground Cumin, Ground Coriander, Garam Masala, and Salt. Toss lightly and cook the spices completely. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
Step 4: Pour Coconut Milk and Add Coconut Sugar
- Now pour coconut milk and add coconut sugar.
- If you don't want to add coconut sugar you can skip it. Give it a good mix.
- Pour some water and then, cover your Instant Pot with lid. pressure cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Once done, do a quick pressure release.
- Garnish with fresh chopped parsley or cilantro.
- Serve this Coconut Curry Chicken with rice or naan.
Hint: I like to add a little more water than required since we are cooking in an Instant Pot. And, in an Instant Pot, if you don't add enough water either your food will burn or your Instant Pot won't work.
Substitutions
This recipe for Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry is Keto-approved and Low-Carb friendly.
Whole 30 & Paleo - To make this recipe Whole 30 and Paleo-friendly Curry you can leave out Coconut sugar.
Anyway, it is totally optional to add Coconut Sugar to this recipe. Secondly, replace Butter with Ghee.
Variations
- Chicken Breasts - Instead of Chicken thighs you can use chicken breasts cut into small 1-inch cubes.
- Shrimp - If you want, you can replace chicken with shrimps and make shrimp coconut curry. In that case, you would need to reduce the cooking time considerably.
- Coconut Oil - Although this is totally optional but just to improve the flavors you can use 1 tablespoon of coconut oil along with ghee or butter.
- Caramelized Onions - Again, this is completely optional. You can garnish your Instant Pot Coconut Curry with Caramelized Onions. It would add a sweetish crunch to your dish.
- Sour Cream or Yogurt - Just to make your recipe creamier you can combine the spices in a bowl with sour cream or thick greek yogurt. Give it a good stir and then pour it into your Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken.
How to thicken the sauce
You can add a tablespoon of Almond Flour to thicken the sauce. Stir it in the curry and it will thicken the sauce.
How to store Leftover Coconut Chicken Curry
You can allow this coconut and chicken curry to cool down completely and then transfer this to an air-tight container.
Refrigerate: This can be refrigerated for 2-3 days if stored appropriately. I don't recommend freezing this.
Reheat: To reheat, transfer this to a microwave-proof dish and microwave in a preheated oven at 180°C OR 350°F for 5-7 minutes or until completely heated through.
Make-Ahead Instructions
This recipe for Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken takes hardly any time. Seriously, this is the perfect recipe for busy moms and dads.
Therefore, I don't think there is any need to make this ahead of time.
Just dump everything into an Instant Pot and close the lid. Within 5-minutes your chicken curry is ready.
Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken Recipe
- To make this recipe in your crockpot you can sauté onions and garlic along with the chicken in a skillet.
- You can add the spices along with tomato paste and cook the sauce in the skillet so that the spices don't remain uncooked.
- Then just pour everything into a slow cooker and cover the lid. Cook on High for 2 hours or on Low for 3-4 hours.
- When there are just 30-minutes remaining for the cooking to get done, you can open the lid and pour coconut milk and coconut sugar.
- Give it a quick stir and cover with a glass lid.
- Cook for the remaining 30-minutes and your Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken is absolutely ready.
- See this recipe for Slow Cooker Butter Chicken and you will know how it is done.
How to serve this Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry goes best with rice or Soft Naan Bread
Any sort of rice such as Plain Cooked Rice or Jeera rice or Coconut rice or Mexican Cauliflower Rice or Mediterranean Saffron Rice or Thai Lemongrass Coconut Fried Rice.
Vegan Curry
To make a Vegan version of this curry, replace chicken with Cauliflower or veggies of your choice like Zucchini, Pepper, Corn etc.
Vegan Curry Recipes
Try this Butter Cauliflower Curry
or Summer Creamy Coconut Chickpea Curry With Rice
or Chickpea and Pumpkin Curry in Crockpot
or Creamy Coconut Mushroom Curry
or Coconut Black Eyed Peas Curry | Lobia Curry
More Indian Chicken Recipes
Malabar Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
(Keto) Authentic Indian Chicken Curry
Chicken Vindaloo in Instant Pot
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken with Coconut Milk
Authentic Butter Chicken Meatballs (in just 30-minutes)
Authentic Butter Chicken - Murgh Makhani Restaurant Style
Best Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe Ever
Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
if you are making this recipe, then please leave a rating below. Also, take a snap and share it on Instagram with #recipemagik. Tag me @recipemagik and let me know how it went.
Recipe Card
Instant Pot Coconut Curry Chicken
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound bone-in skinless chicken thighs excess fat trimmed (can be replaced with boneless skinless chicken breasts)
- 1 stick unsalted butter can replace with 2 tablespoon Ghee
- 1 cup onions yellow or red (finely chopped)
- 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste or 2-3 cloves of minced garlic & 1-inch ginger finely chopped
- 1 cup Tomato Puree or 2 tomatoes finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika can replace with ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt or as per taste
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar OPTIONAL
- ¼ cup water
- freshly chopped cilantro for garnish
- shredded unsweetened coconut for garnish (OPTIONAL)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put your Instant Pot to Sauté mode and add 1 stick of unsalted butter. Instead of butter, you can use Ghee as well. Once butter melts, add 1 cup chopped onions along with ginger garlic paste. Sauté until onions turn soft.
- Add chicken pieces and toss lightly for about 30-seconds.
- Add Tomato puree, Turmeric Powder, Smoked Paprika, Ground Cumin, Ground Coriander, Garam Masala, and Salt. Toss well and cook for about a minute or two.
- Pour coconut milk and stir well. Add 1 teaspoon coconut sugar to balance the heat and add a sweetish touch to the curry. Toss lightly and pour ¼ cup water into the instant pot.
- Cover your Instant Pot with a lid and pressure cook for 4-minutes. Once cooked, do quick pressure release and then open the lid and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro and shredded unsweetened coconut.
Alyssa Green says
I think this is the best coconut chicken curry recipe I have ever made! Loved it with basmati rice!!
Gina Smith says
This is the best coconut chicken curry recipe there is!! Truly authentic indian flavors! Felt like I am in an Indian restaurant enjoying this 😀😀😀