As a busy dietitian, I love slow cooker dinners because they’re easy, warming, and easy to make extra nourishing. This Thai-inspired slow cooker red curry with chicken is definitely a new favorite to stay cozy and satisfied in the colder months.
Made with just a few easy-to-find ingredients, it’s creamy, outrageously flavorful, and prepped in under 15-minutes.
Need more low effort dinner ideas? Try my easy chicken enchiladas, ground turkey fried rice, one-pot cheesesteak pasta.
Recipe Highlights
- Set it and forget it. You’ll need less than 15 minutes of prep to get this simple dinner cooking, with minimal chopping and clean-up.
- Super delicious. This Thai-inspired curry was expertly tested to have the perfect balance of creaminess, spice, and subtle sweetness thanks to simple and flavor-packed ingredients.
- Dietitian designed. As always, I designed this recipe with my dietitian hat to maximize nutrition without sacrificing flavor or satisfaction. It’s veggie-packed, high in protein, but still a crowd favorite.
Key Ingredients And Swaps
- Coconut milk: It is absolutely essential you use full-fat coconut milk, and not lite. Not only will this important ingredient addd creaminess and richness, but it helps balance the spice from the curry paste. Don’t skip or swap!
- Chicken breast: I used chicken breast for a lower fat, higher protein meat option since the coconut milk offers lots of satisfying fat already. You can swap this for boneless and skinless chicken thighs, or cubed tofu for a vegetarian option. Try my other healthy chicken recipes.
- Sweet potato: Although this isn’t a traditional ingredient in Thai curry, it adds the perfect sweetness and creaminess to the curry without too much extra fat or sugar. I would not recommend swapping this.
- Red curry paste: This is the most important ingredient in your slow cooker curry, and brand really matters. Most store bought curry paste is very mild and lacking flavor. I recommend heading to the international aisle at your grocery store or straight to the Asian market, and picking up an authentic brand. My favorite is the Maesri red curry paste — if you use a generic grocery store brand, you’ll need to use more paste.
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full ingredients list and detailed recipe.
How To Make Slow Cooker Red Curry
Step 1: Whisk coconut milk with broth, honey, ginger, and curry paste right in your slow cooker.
Step 2: Stir in cubed chicken, sweet potato, and garlic. Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.
Step 3: Add veggies and cook for another 45-60 minutes, or until tender.
Step 4: Stir in lime juice and soy sauce, and adjust to taste. Serve with rice, and enjoy!
How To Serve
I recommend serving your curry with cooked rice (1/2-1 cup, depending on your appetite), or any other grain or bean of choice. For a bit more nutrition, serve over quinoa or brown rice. For extra fiber and plant-based protein, add a big scoop of cooked chickpeas or lentils to your bowl too!
Explore more high protein recipes and high fiber recipes. Or, check out this free downloadable list of high fiber foods.
Miranda’s Tips
Tips From My Test Kitchen
- Use a good curry paste. This is the most important tip I can give you! Many store bought curry pastes are bland, and you’ll need ato use a lot of them to give you flavor. I highly recommend heading to the Asian market and grabbing the Maesri red curry paste. Bonus: it’s way less expensive too!
- Use full fat coconut milk. Light coconut milk won’t give you the creaminess you want, and it won’t cut the spice from the curry paste enough. Use full fat — and rest knowing this recipe was dietitian-designed to still be well balanced!
- Let the sweet potatoes break down. You want your sweet potatoes to get very soft so they start breaking down to add creaminess to the curry. Before adding your veggies, test the sweet potatoes for doneness with a fork. If they’re firm, keep cooking!
More Slow Cooker And Rice Cooker Recipes
Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Creamy Red Chicken Chili Recipe
Salmon Rice Bowls (Rice Cooker Recipe)
Slow Cooker Thai-Inspired Red Curry With Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 can (14-oz) full fat coconut milk, don't use lite
- 1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 Tbsp honey or sugar
- ¼ tsp dried ginger
- 3 Tbsp Thai red curry paste, I recommend Maesri brand red curry paste, which is very flavorful and intense — if you use a grocery store brand, you will need to use much more paste and the flavor won't be the same
- 1 lb skinless and boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 medium bell peppers, sliced into ¼-inch strips
- 1 broccoli crown, cut into small florets
- ½ Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice, adjust to taste
- ½ Tbsp soy sauce, adjust to taste
To Serve
- cooked white rice, I like basmati
- lime wedge
- cilantro, optional
Instructions
- To your slow cooker, add coconut milk, broth, honey, ginger, and curry paste. Whisk until smooth.
- Stir in chicken, sweet potato, and garlic. Cover and cook on high for 3 ½ hours, or until the sweet potatoes are very soft. The goal is for the sweet potatoes to partially break down and incorporate into the curry broth, which helps sweeten and thicken the liquid.
- Stir in bell pepper and broccoli. Cover and cook for another 45-60 minutes, or until vegetables are fork tender. Stir in lime juice and soy sauce right before serving, and adjust to taste.
- Serve over rice with a squeeze of fresh lime juice, and other toppings as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutrition facts calculated with 1 cup of cooked rice per person.
- It is very important to use a good, flavorful curry paste! I always use Maesri red curry paste, which can be found at most Asian markets. If you use grocery store brands, you will need to use a lot more paste, and the flavor will not be the same.
- Feel free to swap chicken breast for chicken thighs.
- To make this meal a little lighter, cut the rice in half.
- Use gluten-free tamari and curry paste to keep this gluten-free.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was tasty. Definitely follow Miranda’s tip about the paste – if you get a generic grocery brand, use the WHOLE THING. I will do that next time. The only thing is mine was a bit watery, other than that, so good.
Amazing flavour! Used parsnip and carrots instead of sweet potato.
Oooh what a great swap! Thanks so much for your review, Stephanie!
How would you adapt for a dutch oven on stovetop if you don’t have a slow cooker?
Such a great question, Adriana! This would work great in a dutch oven, you’d just need to slightly tweak the method. 🙂 What I’d suggest is heating the pan to medium, then browning the outside of the chicken and seasoning that with a little salt and pepper. Then, stir in your broth, coconut milk, honey, ginger, curry paste, and potatoes. Cover and simmer on medium-low until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are very tender, about 30-minutes. Finally, stir in the veg and do another 10-20 minutes until veggies are cooked to your liking! Turn off the heat when those are done and stir in your lime and soy sauce. Then you’re ready to serve! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Sooo yummy! Easy to follow recipe, tastes just like the restaurant curry I order, but way healthier.