This fragrant and flavorful Thai Instant Pot Massaman Curry recipe has creamy coconut, tender beef, potatoes, and crunchy peanuts that combine to make this a highly satisfying dish that can be put together quickly for a delicious weeknight meal.
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I love Thai coconut curries! One of my favorite Thai curries is Massaman (pronounced muss-uh-maan) curry, which is a mild curry and doesn’t taste as spicy as Instant Pot red curry, green curry, panang curry, or yellow curry.
This curry is typically made with beef or chicken in Thai restaurants. The taste reminds me so much of Indian coconut-based curries because the curry paste has cumin, coriander, and some of the essential ingredients of the Indian spice garam masala: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves.
Find out the difference between panang curry vs massaman curry.
I only eat this pressure cooker beef massaman curry with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice!
For another delicious coconut-based beef curry, try Indian Instant Pot beef curry.
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Ingredients You’ll Need for Instant Pot Massaman Beef Curry
💡 Recipe and Ingredient Tips
Here are some tips for getting the best results when making this pressure cooker massaman curry:
🍋 Tamarind Paste: Make fresh tamarind paste from slabs of tamarind pulp, available at East or South Asian stores. If using store-bought, start with one teaspoon mixed with hot water for Indian brands like Tamicon. For Thai concentrate, begin with one tablespoon and adjust to taste.
🌶️ Thai Curry Paste: I recommend Maesri or Mae Ploy for massaman curry paste. Maesri is great because you can use the whole can. If using Mae Ploy, reduce the amount of fish sauce since it’s saltier.
🍶 Fish Sauce: Red Boat fish sauce is my favorite for its rich flavor, but it’s pricier. Tiparos is a more affordable option. There’s no substitute for fish sauce, but soy sauce can work in a pinch—expect a different flavor. Vegetarian readers have recommended the Fysh brand of sauce
🥥 Coconut Milk: Use full-fat coconut milk for creaminess. Aroy-D and Chaokoh are my top brands, and some readers like Trader Joe’s coconut milk. For a thicker gravy, omit the water.
🍬 Palm Sugar: Palm sugar is more authentic than brown sugar, but brown sugar works well.
🥩 Beef: Use beef chuck or stew meat for the Instant Pot. Beef stew meat is convenient since it’s already cut into bite-sized pieces. Beef short ribs are also an option.
🍗 Chicken Variation: Substitute chicken for beef by cutting thighs or breasts into bite-sized pieces. Pressure cook everything together for 4 minutes on high pressure and do a quick release—no need to cook in stages!
🌱 Tofu Massaman Curry: For a vegetarian version, use extra-firm tofu, cubed, and pressure cook it with vegetables for just 2 minutes before a quick release.
🥔 Potatoes: Yukon Gold potatoes work well. For softer potatoes, use the 5-minute pressure cook time; reduce it to 3 minutes for firmer ones.
💦 Splatter Screen: To avoid splatters while sautéing in the Instant Pot, use a splatter screen to cover the inner pot.
❓ FAQS
Yes, you can double the recipe. Keep the cooking time the same.
Slow cook the curry for 4 to 6 hours on high or 6 to 8 hours on low.
If you want to use a leaner cut of beef, I suggest making the curry on the stovetop. The pressure cooker will make the beef tough.
Thai Massaman curry is not a spicy dish, so people who don’t like spicy foods will probably be okay with using a whole can of Thai Massaman curry paste.
If you’re concerned about spice, reduce the quantity of the curry paste. Start with just 3 or 4 tablespoons of the massaman curry paste; next time, you can adjust the heat as needed.
How to Make Thai Massaman Curry
⏲️ Instant Pot Method
- Saute spices, add coconut milk, beef or chicken.
- Pressure cook
- Release pressure, add vegetables, pressure cook again.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Add curry paste and ½ can of coconut milk. Saute until mixture is bubbly, a minute or two.
- Press Cancel to turn off Instant Pot.
- Stir in remaining coconut milk, water, tamarind paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar.
- Add the beef, give it a quick stir, close the lid. *
* If using bite-size chicken, add the vegetables with the chicken.
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and pressure cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. *
- The display will go from On to 15:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a quick pressure release.
* If using bite-size chicken, pressure cook chicken and vegetables for 4 minutes.
- Once the float valve goes down, you can open the pot.
- Stir in potatoes and onions.
- Stir in roasted peanuts and close the lid.
- Pressure cook for 5 minutes at high pressure and release the pressure using the quick release method. Serve with white rice.
Note: If using chicken pieces, the second cooking stage is unnecessary.
Learn more about your Instant Pot…
- Start Cooking Later: If you want to have dinner piping hot, set your Instant Pot Delay Start.
- Deglaze and avoid food burn message: Learn how to deglaze Instant Pot and avoid the burn message.
- Symbols on Display: What do all those Instant Pot symbols mean on your Instant Pot display panel?
- Elevate Your Food: What is a trivet and why should you use it?
- Cook Two Dishes at Once: The Instant Pot Pot in Pot method allows you to cook multiple dishes at once, make cheesecakes, casseroles, lasagna, and hard boiled eggs in your Instant Pot.
- Soak Dry Beans Hack: If you forget to soak dry beans ahead of time, this Instant Pot hack allows you to quick soak beans in no time!
♨️ Stovetop Method
- Heat beef and broth or water in a large pot over high heat. There should be enough liquid to cover the beef.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2 hours until beef is tender.
- Remove beef. Set aside 1.5 cups of liquid.
- Heat ½ can of coconut milk and curry paste over medium heat in a large pot.
- Let the mixture bubble and thicken until the oil separates from the mixture, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the remaining coconut milk, tamarind paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar.
- Add the reserved liquid, beef, potatoes, onions, and peanuts. If there’s not enough liquid to cover the potatoes, add some more coconut milk.
- Cook the curry sauce over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
Detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.
Thai Instant Pot Massaman Curry with Beef
Ingredients
- 4 oz. Thai massaman curry paste (114 grams) preferably Maesri or Mae Ploy brand
- 13.5 oz. coconut milk (1 can), preferably Aroy D or Chaokoh brand – 400 ml
- 2 lb beef stew meat (1 kg) 1-inch cubes
- ¼ cup water or beef broth (about 2 cups for stovetop version)
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste or Thai tamarind concentrate [See Note 1]
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce or to taste
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar or palm sugar, to taste
- 2 cups potatoes 1-inch cubes [See Note 2]
- ½ cup onion 1-inch cubes
- ½ cup roasted peanuts
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Stir together massaman curry paste and ½ can of coconut milk and cook in Saute mode until mixture is bubbly, about two minutes.
- Press Cancel to turn off Instant Pot. Stir in beef, remaining coconut milk, water, tamarind paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar. [See Note 3].
- Close Instant Pot and pressure cook on High Pressure for 15 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure (You can also choose to do a natural release). [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods].
- Open Instant Pot and stir in potatoes, onions, and peanuts.
- Close Instant Pot and pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure.
- Open the Instant Pot and carefully stir Instant Pot Massaman Curry.
- Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Transfer Instant Pot Beef Massaman Curry to a serving dish. Serve with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat beef and broth or water in a large pot over high heat. There should be enough liquid to cover the beef. [See Note 3].
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until beef is very tender.
- Transfer beef pieces to a dish, and set aside 1½ cups of liquid.
- Heat ½ can of coconut milk and curry paste over medium heat in a large pot. Let the mixture bubble and thicken until the oil separates from the mixture, stirring frequently.
- Stir in the remaining coconut milk, tamarind paste, fish sauce, and brown sugar.
- Add the reserved liquid, beef, potatoes, onions, and peanuts. If there’s not enough liquid to cover the beef and potatoes, add some more coconut milk or broth.
- Cook the curry over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.
- Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. minced garlic, cut vegetables, etc.
- Use a splatter screen if necessary, in the first step, to guard against coconut milk bubbling up.
- Thai curries are generally eaten with rice. If you’re not planning on eating the curry with rice, you might need to adjust the salt by reducing the quantity of fish sauce.
- You may substitute chicken for the beef. Be sure to adjust the cooking time.
- Note 1: If using purchased tamarind paste, the quantity required may vary. If using Tamicon brand, start with 1 tsp; if using Thai tamarind concentrate, start with 1 Tbsp. Adjust for more at the end.
- Note 2: I prefer to use Yukon Gold potatoes.
- Note 3: Browning the beef first in some oil adds even more flavor to the curry. Brown it in batches to keep the meat from steaming.
Nutrition
Thank you for visiting Paint the Kitchen Red. All photos and content are copyright protected. Please don’t use any content without prior written permission. If you’ve made this recipe and would like to share it with your friends, please link back to this recipe. Thank you!
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Vanessa Dionne says
Excellent Massaman Curry recipe! Better than the stove top one I originally used. One of my favorite things I have made in my IP to date!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Vanessa! That is a great compliment 🙂
Shannon Hurlburt says
Made this today for the first time, lunch prep for the week to come. As I have to watch the amount of carbs I take in due to dietary restrictions, I subbed the potatoes with radishes, and kept the cooking steps the same. Turned out pretty tasty! Almost can’t even tell due to all the other lovely flavours from the curry. Served with a side of riced cauliflower, and no other changes to the recipe, I have a really yummy low carb meal
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Great ideas for making this a low-carb recipe – thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you found my recipes 🙂
Molly says
Have you ever made this with chicken instead of beef?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Molly, you can cook the chicken and potatoes together for 4 or 5 minutes. Hope you like it and thanks for your question.
Dee says
This was an amazing recipe, i could not believe how delicious the curry turned out, i tend to always put just a tab bit too much water in instant pot and land up having a watery gravy. i am still discovering the joys of using very little water while cooking in the instant pot. i was a bit concerned but it came out perfectly no more watery gravy for me.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Dee, there is a learning curve initially, but I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it in no time. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Jennifer says
We just tried this, it was actually the first meal we made with our new Instapot, and we used chicken instead of beef. We would have preferred a creamier curry, so my question is this: is the additional water added for a technical reason? Is it somehow necessary or important when using this cooking machine?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Jennifer, thanks for commenting. Some people have trouble with their Instant Pot sealing and require that extra 1/4 cup. I would suggest that you try it out without the water and see if you have any issues. Then if you find that you don’t need the water, you won’t need to add it to any of my Thai curry recipes. If you do need the extra liquid, you can also use broth.
Jason says
This looks great! Hope I can handle all the spice.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
It’s a pretty mild curry (for me, at least!) But you can just add more coconut milk if you find it too hot.
Justine says
This is a wonderful recipe! I had massaman recently at a little Thai joint where they used the stew meat instead of the thin sliced beef that you find most places and your recipe almost perfectly replicated it! Unlike one of the previous commenters, I thought the sauce was a little thin. Instead of adding cornstarch of flour, I simply put a few of the potato chunks through my ricer and it was just what I felt it needed. Thanks for the recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Justine – thank you for taking the time to comment. This is a great tip. I do this with my Instant Pot Indian chicken curry sometimes if I find it to be too thin. Thank you for commenting and for sharing. It’s great when readers share their modifications, very helpful to future readers!
Jeff says
Thanks for the recipe. It’s really tasty. I felt the consistency was a little thick compared to my local restaurant. Would you recommend adding a little more water to mix to solve this?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Jeff, I would just thin it with some broth after pressure cooking is complete, and just heat through on Saute mode. That way you can control the consistency. Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Lorraine says
I understand the recipe is designed for an instant pot, but for those of us without one do you have any recommendation for how long to cook it? I plan to use tofu instead of beef, so that can just be fried and stirred in at the end, so I have no worries about times for cooking meat! Thanks for such a lovely recipe!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Lorraine – since you’re not cooking beef, you can do the initial 1/2 can coconut milk and curry paste step as directed (until bubbly), add all remaining ingredients including potatoes, onions, etc. and cook till the potatoes are done. You can even omit the water for a creamier curry, since you don’t have to worry about pressure. You can either add the tofu in at the end or even with the potatoes. It’s so great to see that you’re adapting an Instant Pot recipe – thanks for visiting the blog!
Lorraine says
Thanks so much for the reply. I can’t wait to try it out, it sounds fab!
Webko Wuite says
Great stuff. What cooking time do you use for Chicken in the first phase? 4 minutes instead of 15 minutes for beef?
Thanks in advance,
Webko
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Webko – if you’re planning on using potatoes, I would add boneless chicken thigh bite-size pieces, potatoes, onions and peanuts at the same time and pressure cook for 4 minutes. Thanks for the comment!
s says
Can you post some vegetarian friendly thai curries as well 🙂
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for your request, I’ve put it on my calendar! Hardest thing is coming up with a substitute for fish sauce!
Katie Hartsell says
Are there any brands of curry paste that do not have shrimp in them? My husband is allergic to shrimp and I love curry.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi Katie, thanks for your question. The Mae Ploy container says that the product may contain traces of fish. The Maesri brand does not list shrimp as an ingredient. However it says “Processed in a facility that also processes peanuts, sesame and shrimp”. I don’t see that message on the Thai Kitchen, which is available at most grocery stores. It’s not my favorite brand, but it might work for you. I have also heard of Mae Anong brand, but have not used it. Looking at the package it says nothing about containing shrimp. You might also have some luck making the paste, but you’d have to get some specialty ingredients.
malin tate says
How would you adjust the time if using chicken instead of beef? We are new to the Instant Pot and love it so far. We made your red city last night and it was delicious.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Hi there – thanks for your question. To substitute bite-size pieces of chicken, just add in potatoes, onions, and peanuts with the chicken in step 2 and cook for 5 minutes. Thai Green Curry recipe coming up next week!
Adri says
Really easy and delicious! Loved it. I had cashews on hand so used those instead of peanuts.
Do you need to refrigerate the tamarind paste after opening? I got the Pure Fresh Tamarind paste from Amazon.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Adri – I’m so glad you got to try it out. Interesting twist with the cashews. I do love cashews, might have to try that out. I would refrigerate the tamarind if you’re not going to use it up quickly, to be on the safe side.
June says
What a delicious addition to our meal rotation. It was delicious. Thanks.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You’re so welcome – it’s great for when you don’t know what to make! Just need to pick up the beef and potatoes if you have the other ingredients in your pantry, like I always do.
mara closetohome says
it is hard to believe all the recipes in the instant pot can look so amazing and take such little time.
THanks for sharing this quick meal
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You’re welcome – it’s a game changer in the kitchen!
Ali from Home & Plate says
This recipe looks delicious. What time should I be over for dinner 🙂 My neighbor makes a similar dish and we just love it. Saving this recipe so I can make it myself. Yum.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks Ali! Come on over, the more the merrier! I hope you get to try it out.
Sandi Gaertner says
What a delicious recipe. I love the step by step photos you do in your posts…I think I am going to break down and get an instantpot soon…this looks so good.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
You should get an Instant Pot – and join the cult 🙂 You’ll love it.
Karen @ Seasonal Cravings says
Wow, I love all your detailed directions and photos. That really helps someone like me who doesn’t make a lot of Thai food. I love it but just not sure how to do it! Will have to try this one in my Instant Pot!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Karen – you can do it! It’s really simple especially in the Instant Pot – easy cleanup, no babysitting the dish!
Suzy says
I love massaman curry! Now I can make my own!
peterson says
I had the same thoughts, some years ago, and I now am really into most Thai foods.
My advice, is to get a standard recipe, that you like, and then combine other recipes, until you come up with one that knocks your socks off.
peterson