Coconut Chicken Slow Cooker Curry

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This recipe is so easy to make that it’s perfect for a easy mid-week meal. It’s also perfect for batch cooking and freezing so why stop at one portion? This slow cooker coconut curry chicken is very much inspired by Thai-style curries. It has a unique mix of sweet and mild spice that makes it super comforting yet a little exotic.

What’s it like?

Thai curries are typically quite runny in consistency, so don’t be surprised if it’s more watery than you were expecting. In Thailand you are typically given a fork and spoon as cutlery – this is exactly why. I’d suggest serving this over a mound of basmati or jasmine rice and absolutely come prepared with a spoon to scoop up that lovely, soupy rice.

The recipe calls for mild yellow curry powder, but you can use a hotter one if you are a fan of spice. It’s also pretty healthy with only 385 calories and 16g of fat.

Can you freeze it?

This is a great recipe for freezing. Allow to cool and then divide into freezer-proof containers. Freeze for up to three months and thaw completely before heating in the microwave. You can also reheat on the hob or in the oven.

If you are going to eat any leftovers or extra portions within 2-3 days then you can store covered in the fridge instead of freezing.

Can you thicken Thai-style curries?

While this is delicious as it is, particularly when served with some rice to soak up the juices and a spoon to slurp it up, you can thicken the sauce a little. Make a slurry by mixing 1 part cornflour (or cornstarch if you are in the US) with 2 parts water. Don’t add the cornflour/starch directly into the liquid.

Stir 1 teaspoon into the curry at a time and stir for a minute before adding more until you get the right consistency. You will need around 1-2 tsp of slurry per portion for this curry.

You might find that you need to raise the temperature of the curry to thicken it properly – as the slow cooker is often not quite hot enough to fully thicken the cornflour/cornstarch. I place my slow cooker bowl over medium heat on the hob for a few minutes to achieve this. Ideally, you want to bring it to just under boiling point. You might want to tip it into a saucepan if you aren’t sure of the quality of your slow cooker bowl. 

You can see more information about using cornflour / cornstarch here.

Ingredients

For this recipe you’ll need:

  • Chicken breast – around 1 medium breast per portion. Slice them into chunks or strips (your choice) before adding to the slow cooker
  • Onion – brown or white – sliced
  • Red pepper (capsicum), sliced into long pieces.
  • Frozen green beans, ‘snapped’ into pieces
  • Water – to add a little moisture to the mixture while it slow cooks
  • Ground cumin
  • Yellow curry powder – curry powder does come in different heats. The one I used is fairly mild. If you are using a hot one then reduce the amount and go for less as you can taste and add more towards the end of the cooking time
  • Light coconut milk (canned)
  • Cashew nuts
  • Coriander – finely chopped

Substitutions

You can use red or yellow pepper for this recipe.

For the green beans, you can use fresh instead if you like, slice them into 2 or 3 pieces each.

You can use standard coconut milk instead of light – but the calorie count will be higher.

You can use ground coriander instead of cumin if that’s what you have available

How to make it

This is such a beautifully simple recipe. You can practically throw everything into the slow cooker and forget it for a few hours.

First, prepare all the ingredients and add everything excluding the coconut milk, cashews and coriander into the slow cooker.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2. You’ll need to add the coconut milk in 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time. You can add the coconut milk at the beginning but it is likely to separate during the cooking process so I don’t recommend it.

If you are a fan of coconut milk-based recipes then try this coconut chicken soup. This mango chicken is another great saucy coconut milk chicken recipe – but flavoured with fresh juicy mango as well.

Products that work great for this recipe:

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Dinner time recipes for one

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken


  • Author: caroline
  • Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 1 1x

Description

A warming and creamy slow cooker coconut curry chicken. Perfect for making for an easy midweek meal or batch cooking. It’s also pretty healthy to boot! 

The default recipe serves one.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 chicken breast (around 120g / 4.5oz)
  • 1/2 medium brown onion, diced (around 60g / 1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced (around 70g / 2.5 oz)
  • 1 handful of frozen green beans, broken into pieces (around 30g / 2.5 oz)
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp yellow curry powder
  • 125ml / 1/2 cup light coconut milk
  • 10g / 1/4 cup cashew nuts
  • few sprigs of coriander, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Prepare all the ingredients and place the chicken, onion, peppers, green beans in the slow cooker. 
  2. Pour over the cumin and paprika and the water and stir everything together well. 
  3. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or high for 2 hours. Around 20 minutes before stirring, stir in the coconut milk. 
  4. Serve on a bed of basmati or jasmine rice and with the cashew nuts and coriander strewn over the top. 

Notes

  1. This is a Thai-influenced curry, which tend to be quite thin and liquid in consistency. If you want to thicken the dish up a little then make a cornflour/cornstarch slurry (2 parts water to 1 part cornflour) and add a teaspoon at a time and stir for a minute or so before adding more. You may need to transfer the curry to the hob to allow the sauce to get hot enough for the cornflour/cornstarch to work. See the main post for some more tips on thickening with cornflour/starch.
  2. You can add the coconut milk at the beginning of the cooking time. However, it may separate a little.
  3. The amount of curry powder used is based on using a mild powder. If you use a hotter version then reduce the amount (unless you like things really spicy!)
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Category: Curry
  • Method: Slow Cooker
  • Cuisine: Thai

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 385
  • Fat: 16g
  • Carbohydrates: 29g
  • Protein: 35g

Keywords: thai, curry, coconut milk, chicken, pepper, dinner, slow cooker

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