Easy & healthy Coconut Chicken Curry made in an Instant Pot in just 30 minutes! This is simple Indian chicken curry recipe is made with ginger, garlic, onions alongside flavorful spices, and finished with creamy coconut milk. Pair this dairy-free & gluten-free curry with fragrant basmati rice.
This is the best coconut and chicken curry that you’ll ever make. Personally, I love curries because they are quick, full of flavor and tastes just as good the following days. This curry is also incredible because it uses basic ingredients,similar to my mom’s chicken curry and chicken curry with potatoes, that you most likely have in your kitchen right now.
It’s so healthy because it’s made from scratch and also very quick to make (thanks to the instant pot), you have control over the ingredients in this curry and the most important part is that this curry is mild, therefore perfect for kids (even picky eaters). Your family will love this recipe!
How to make Coconut Chicken Curry?
Before you start making this coconut chicken curry make sure you have all the ingredients prepped and on hand. Dice your onions and cut your chicken thighs into pieces. Keep the spices ready. Now let’s start making this delicious curry.
- Set the Instant Pot on sauté mode and let it heat.
- Add ghee or oil along with the cumin seeds. Saute for 30 seconds until they release their aroma. Cumin seeds are optional but do add a wonderful flavor to the curry. If you have ghee, I highly recommend to use it, as it adds so much more flavor to this curry.
- Now add the diced onions, garlic, ginger, and sauté them for a few minutes.
- When the onions turn golden brown, add the tomato puree along with the spices and saute for an additional 2-3 minutes. I used canned tomato puree, you can also use fresh tomato puree in this recipe. Blend 2 tomatoes to make a puree.
- Add the chicken pieces to the pot. Stir and sauté for 3-4 more minutes. Do not skip this step, as it adds lots of flavor to the curry.
- Then add the water and mix well. Deglaze well and make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to manual or pressure cook on high pressure for 4 minutes with the vent in sealing position.
- As soon as the Instant Pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually and open the lid.
- Now stir in the coconut milk, garam masala and let it simmer on sauté mode for 4-5 minutes until the sauce is thickened to your preference. Use full-fat canned unsweetened coconut milk.
- You are almost ready! Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro.
- The coconut chicken curry is ready to be served with flavorful rice or Indian flatbreads. Enjoy!
How to serve this Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk?
You can whip up some basmati rice or cumin rice to soak up all that saucy goodness. This curry goes also very well with Indian flatbreads like roti, naan or paratha with a side of yogurt.
Leftovers and Reheating Tips
Seal any leftover curry in an airtight container, it should last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. But if you’d like to make more for the week or month ahead, I suggest you freeze it. Make sure it’s fully cooled down before sealing. Once the curry is frozen it will keep well for 3-4 months.
You can reheat the curry in the microwave or on the stovetop while stirring well.
Tips & Variations for making the best coconut chicken curry
- You can use skinless chicken breast or chicken thighs to make this curry.
- Add all the veggies! You can add roasted cauliflower, broccoli florets, green peas and even baby spinach at the end! If you want to add potatoes or sweet potatoes, cut them in large pieces and add them just before pressure cooking.
- You don’t want chicken? No problem! You can still make a delicious curry using shrimps like in this Coconut Shrimp Curry.
- For a plant-based version of curry, try this Vegetable Korma with coconut milk which is also made in an instant pot.
Looking for more quick & delicious instant pot recipes? I’ve got you covered!
- Chickpea Curry with Spinach (Chana Saag) – A healthy vegan and gluten-free curry with chickpeas and spinach.
- Creamy Mushroom Pasta – Spaghetti tossed in a creamy cheese sauce loaded with mushrooms.
- Vegetable Biryani – Fragrant basmati rice cooked with lots of vegetables, and aromatic whole spices and herbs.
- Madras Lentils – Restaurant-style Dal Makhani made in the pressure cooker, it’s rich, creamy, and flavorful.
Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera), optional
- 1 cup Onions, yellow diced
- 1/2 tablespoon Ginger, paste or grated
- 1/2 tablespoon Garlic, paste or minced
- 1 cup Tomato puree, canned or blend 2 tomatoes to make a puree *
- 1 pound Chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into 1-1.5 inch pieces.
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 cup Coconut Milk, canned, full-fat, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- Cilantro , to garnish
Spices
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin (Jeera powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, or paprika, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in Sauté mode and let it heat. Add ghee (or oil), and then add cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 30 seconds.
- Add onions, ginger and garlic paste. Sauté for about 3 minutes until the onions turn golden brown.
- Add tomato puree and spices. Mix and let it sauté for 2-3 minutes. (If your instant pot is prone to burn, then skip this step and add the tomato puree after sautéing the chicken and adding water. Do not stir.)
- Add chicken pieces to the pot. Stir and saute the chicken for about 3-4 minutes. Do not skip this step, as it adds lots of flavor to the curry.
- Add the water and stir. Press cancel and close lid with the vent in sealing position.
- Start the instant pot in Manual or Pressure cook mode on high pressure for 4 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually and open the lid.
- Stir in the coconut milk, garam masala and let it simmer on sauté mode for 4-5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened (see notes to thicken sauce).
- Stir in the lime juice and garnish with cilantro. Coconut Chicken Curry is ready to be served. Enjoy over basmati rice or with naan.
Can you make this without an instant pot?
Hi Erin – You can make this curry on the stovetop too. Just follow the same steps. In place of pressure cooking, cook the curry covered on the stovetop for about 10-15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Kind of bland. Next time I will double the spices. Should have read the comments before. I will attempt again someday.
Hi Meg – Please feel free to double the spices. You can also add an extra teaspoon of Garam Masala at the end to increase the spice.
Still getting a burn notice. Think I’m gonna give up on curry.
Super good! Have you doubled or even tripled recipe? I want to make for a group. Thanks.
Hi Rachel – Thank you. Sure, you can easily double or triple this recipe in a 6qt or 8qt instant pot.
Hi Kevin – Sorry to hear you are getting a burn. If you have been getting burn for all curry recipes, I would consider contacting instant pot about it. Another thing you can try is not sauté tomatoes, but add them on the top just before pressure cooking. Hope that helps.
Loved this recipe it was so good! What would you suggest to add to make it just a little spicer?
Glad to hear you enjoyed the curry, Stephanie. You can add more red chili powder or cayenne to make it spicier. If you like, green chili works great too in this curry. You can saute diced green chili along with the onions.
I didn’t find any mention in the recipe to add yellow curry powder. Do I need to and how much? Thank you
Hi Mia – You don’t need to add curry powder in this recipe if you have all the listed spices. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Very delicious and easy to make. Had to cook down the liquid for more than 4-5 minutes, but that is no issue.
Hi – So good to hear that. Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
If I don’t use the cumin seeds, how much cumin do I use in the recipe?
Hi Shawn – Cumin powder is not a direct substitute for the seeds in the tempering. But it is totally fine to skip the cumin seeds, and the curry will still turn out well. Hope you enjoy it!
Delicious! Husband literally licked his bowl.
Hi – So happy to hear that 🙂
THANK YOU….This was amazing the first time as it will be in future dishes we make..
So happy to hear you enjoyed the curry!
Ok so first off, I’ve had trouble in the past with getting a burn warning on curries. But this one was no trouble. It was super easy and delicious. Added the spinach suggested, nice touch. I did double the spcies almost as I do with most of these curry recipes. It was a hit. Even my toddlers ate their chicken and rice with the sauce on it.
Hi Michelle – Glad to hear the curry worked well in the instant pot. I love it when little kids enjoy the recipes. Thanks for sharing the changes you made!