Instant Pot Thai Green Curry is a creamy coconut curry with the flavors of green chilies, Thai Basil, lime, coriander, and cumin. This spicy curry will rival your favorite Thai takeout green curry, but is so quick and easy that it can be ready in less than 30 minutes. Serve it with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice for an amazing flavor combination!
This is the third Thai curry for the Instant Pot, that I’ve posted on the blog. My family loves Thai food and we used to go out to Thai restaurants all the time, but now we hardly ever do. I’m usually my own worst critic, and for me to say this is not easy: I think the Thai curries that I make at home are as good as restaurant Thai curries.
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Serve this Instant Pot Thai Green Chicken Curry with Fragrant Instant Pot Jasmine Rice. The combination is so good, you’re going to want to lick your bowl!
Tips
Maesri and Mae Ploy are my two favorite Thai curry paste brands.
Lime leaves (also known as k-lime, makrut or kaffir lime leaves) and Thai Basil are also important ingredients in this dish. Try and find them if you can, because they add a ton of flavor.
For the fish sauce, I use Red Boat brand. It’s more pricey, but very good quality.
There’s no substitute for fish sauce. It adds that depth of flavor, the umami, to the curry. But if you’re vegetarian, I’ve had readers recommend the Fysh brand of sauce. I have not tried it. You may need to add a little extra.
Palm sugar is more authentic to a Thai curry than brown sugar is. However, I frequently use brown sugar without sacrificing taste.
I frequently get questions about the coconut milk curdling after being pressure cooked in the Instant Pot. Yes, it will appear to be curdled when you open the Instant Pot. But once you stir it up and cook the vegetables in the curry sauce, the curry should be very smooth.
It’s important to buy a good quality coconut milk. I have had less-than-perfect Thai curry when I’ve used lower quality brands and/or light coconut milk. My two favorite brands are Aroy-D and Chaokoh.
You can easily substitute other meats or tofu for the chicken, but you’ll have to adjust the cooking time – here are some approximate times. Note: the timing for meat is for bite-size strips!
- Pork shoulder: 8 minutes Natural Pressure Release (NPR)
- Beef chuck: 12 minutes NPR
- Extra-firm tofu, cubed: 2 minutes, Quick Release (QR)
This recipe makes a green curry that’s fairly spicy, but not extreme. If you’re unsure, start with just 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of the green curry paste, and next time you can adjust the heat.
I sometimes choose to decrease the quantity of chicken and double the quantity of vegetables, so we eat less meat and more veggies.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Chicken.
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Chicken Ingredients
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Chicken Step by Step Instructions
- Press ‘Saute’.
- Stir together Green curry paste and 1/2 can of coconut milk and saute until mixture is bubbly, a minute or two. *
- Stir in coriander and cumin and cook for 30 seconds.
* Use a splatter screen if necessary, to guard against splatters from the coconut milk.
- Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.
- Stir in chicken, remaining coconut milk, and chicken broth or water.
- Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘4’ (4 minutes)
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 4 to 0; it will then switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.
- To open the Instant Pot, first move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the handle.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press ‘Cancel’ and open the Instant Pot.
- Press ‘Saute’.
- Stir in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, bamboo shoots, and lime leaves.
- Cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Don’t overcook, as the vegetables will continue to cook in residual heat.
- Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar or lime juice.
- Stir in the Thai basil leaves.
- Serve Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Thai Green curry paste preferably Maesri or Mae Ploy brand
- 14 oz. (1 can) regular-fat coconut milk preferably Aroy D or Chaokoh brand
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs sliced into thin bite-size pieces
- 1/4 cup water or chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce more to taste
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar or to taste
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 cup green bell pepper cubed or strips
- 1 cup zucchini sliced or strips
- 1/2 cup onion cubed
- 1/2 cup sliced canned bamboo shoots
- 4 lime leaves slightly bruised *
- 1/4 cup Thai basil leaves
Instructions
- Press ‘Saute’ and stir in Green curry paste and 1/2 can of coconut milk until mixture is bubbly, about a minute or two.
- Stir in coriander and cumin and cook for 30 seconds.
- Press 'Cancel'.
- Stir in chicken, remaining coconut milk, and chicken broth.
- Close Instant Pot and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Cook on 'Manual' (or 'Pressure Cook') mode for 4 minutes.
- Do a Quick Release of pressure and open the Instant Pot.
- Add in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, bell pepper, zucchini, onions, bamboo shoots, and lime leaves.
- Press 'Saute' and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, 3 to 5 minutes. (Be sure not to overcook. Vegetables will continue to cook in the residual heat.)
- Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar or lime juice.
- Stir in the Thai basil leaves.
- Serve with Instant Pot Jasmine Rice.
Notes
- Prep time does not include steps that are already accounted for in the ingredient list, e.g. chopped onions, minced garlic, diced chicken, etc.
- Use a
splatter screen if necessary, in the first step, to guard against coconut milk splatters. - You can choose to substitute the vegetables with your choice e.g. green beans, Thai eggplant, peas.
- You can also increase the quantity of vegetables to suit your tastes.
- My chicken was thinly sliced. If your pieces of chicken are larger, you'll need to add on a few more minutes of cooking or just do a natural release of pressure.
- * Lime leaves are also referred to as k-lime, makrut or kaffir lime leaves.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5 Star rating in the comment section below and please share it on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you so much!
You might also like to try:
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| Instant Pot Massaman Curry | Instant Pot Thai Red Curry | Instant Pot Jasmine Rice |
Mohamed
Hi,
We recently made your Thai red curry recipe and we loved it! Now we’re gearing up to make your Thai green curry, possibly with tofu but maybe with just veggies. If we arent using any protein that needs to be pressurized and only using just vegetables, should we throw all the ingredients into the instant pot on and still pressure cook for a shorter period of time? Or perhaps you have another suggestion? Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Mohamed, I am in the process of making the green curry right now 🙂 If you’re doing just vegetables or tofu and veggies, you can probably just make this recipe in ‘Saute’ mode. Pressure cooking the veggies will make them kind of mushy, so I wouldn’t suggest it. If you’re using tofu, you can also pressure cook it for a minute or two if you’d like, instead of the 4 minutes.
Mohamed
Wonderful! And how much tofu does this recipe call for?
Paint the Kitchen Red
I think you can put in as much as you’d like, but I would do about 1.5 cups.
Gauri Gopalakrishnan
That was an awesome and very authentic Green Thai Curry.
Will no longer be ordering take out Thai food. I ordered the ingredients that you had recommended and they were bang on!
Thank you!!1
Paint the Kitchen Red
Oh, thank you so much, Gauri! I used to always want to go out for Thai, and these days it’s low priority because I make it easily at home 🙂
Amy
I’m new to cooking Thai food. I’m curious as to why coriander and cumin are added. Aren’t spices already added into curry paste? Would this recipe still work without adding these two spices?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Amy, when I make this recipe on the stovetop, I don’t add the extra spices. I do add extra spices when pressure cooking because I find that the spices are a bit dulled upon pressure cooking. It isn’t absolutely necessary.
Lisa
Is this curry paste that you use spicy? We are not a spicy family but love the flavor of green curry. I also have green curry powder, could I use that instead?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Lisa, yes it’s spicy. I would add 1/2 the quantity and/or more coconut milk. I’ve never tried the powder so I can’t help there, sorry!
Daphne Ruck
This was FANTASTIC and easy!!! Just curios… what is red in the photos? Red peppers?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks a lot, Daphne! Yes, red bell peppers. They make the dish look a bit less…. green and more photo-friendly 🙂
Frances S.
This was so easy and delicious to make with an Instant Pot! I subbed zucchini for eggplant and doubled the entire recipe and it came out amazing. The Maesri Green Curry Paste already has a spice to it so it really kicked the curry up a notch. Now, my hubby and I have leftovers for the next few days 🙂 Thank you for a great recipe.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Frances, thank you for your comment! You are most welcome and I’m so glad you like the recipe 🙂
Dave
This recipe turned out very well. Since my wife does not like overly spicy food, I only used 2 tablespoons of the Maesri green curry paste. That turned out to be just the right amount of heat and flavor for us. Otherwise I did not see any need to change the recipe and would not change it the next time I make it. I enjoy Neena’s website.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Dave! I’m so glad you liked the recipe and even more glad that you’ve found my website to be helpful 🙂
Gauri
Awesome and authentic recipe!
Random kitchen
I doubled the recipe and it was perfectly delicious. Used 3 large zucchinis, 2 large bell peppers, and a whole onion.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Very happy to hear it – thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Michael
2 Tablespoons of fish sauce is way too much. It was starting to smell really good and then adding in all the fish sauce ruined everything.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Michael, I’m sorry to hear that the recipe didn’t meet your expectations. Fish sauce can vary from brand to brand. I hope you’ll give the recipe another chance and reduce the fish sauce quantity to meet your tastes. Thanks for the feedback.
Toni
Absa-bloody-lutely gorgeous! (I’m Australian!)
I look forward to making more of your recipes.
And, I love my Instant pot!
X Toni
Paint the Kitchen Red
Toni, haha thanks for the terrific compliment. I’m really glad you liked the recipe and am sure you’ll like the Thai curries at the very least.
Nikita
It turned out delicious. Although I did add some hot thai chili pepper paste to make it little more spicy..
Paint the Kitchen Red
Wow, Nikita – you must like it SPICY! I’m really happy you liked the recipe 🙂
Monica
I’ve made this and the red curry recipe and I learned something. If your coconut milk is all milk and no solids, prepare for a curdled mess. I had been using some store brand that was half solid and half water at room temperature, but I thought I’d try Chaokoh this time. It was all milky, no solids.
When I let the pressure out, a lot of the curry came out of the release valve. When I opened the lid, it was pretty disgusting with curdled nastiness all over the inside of the lid. And the sauce looked gross but it tasted good. I had to add about a cup of chicken stock to have enough to cover the veggies. The end result was decent but I think it would have been better if I had used the store brand.
How do I use the other cans of Chaokoh so I don’t get the same issue? Perhaps pressure cook at Low for a bit longer? Please help, and thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Monica – I use Aroy D usually but also use Chaokoh and although it does seem curdled when I open the lid, I just give it a good stir and it looks and tastes great. You should use the brand that you prefer if you like the results 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to comment and good luck!
Monica
Thank you! It makes me feel better that it would also happen to you. If I see a can of coconut milk that doesn’t have any solids in it at all, should I not use it? I’m not sure if that’s where I went wrong. I’m still eating it but it definitely doesn’t look very good (it’s still delicious).
Paint the Kitchen Red
I’m sorry, Monica but I’m not sure what happened. I would stick to the brand that worked for you before or you can give Aroy-D a try. If you continue to have issues then I would say you should try the low pressure method. I have seen a copycat brand that looks almost identical to Chaokoh and I’ve even used it and didn’t like it – is it possible you got that brand? It’s spelled slightly differently….
Molly
Making this tonight, could I use lime zest instead of lime leaves? I can’t find the leaves anywhere. And could I use regular eggplant if I can’t find the Japanese? Or do you recommend using zucchini instead? Thanks!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Molly – yes, you can substitute lime zest. I would add it after pressure cooking is complete and taste as you add a little at a time. Thai eggplant is very different from regular so it’s not a straight substitute. I would maybe do zucchini…. Hope you like the recipe.
Molly
Thank you for your reply, I did use zest and both zucchini and a small amount of regular eggplant and OMG this knocked my socks off! Better than takeout! Can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes!
Kathleen Garner
So delicious! Easy too.
I’d like to make Thai hot and spicy soup (Tom Yum soup)-the kind without coconut milk.
I feel like that could be an instapot soup—any ideas?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Kathleen – yes, it can be made in the Instant Pot – you can pressure cook the aromatics (galangal, lemongrass, lime leaves) with the soup ingredients and get a flavorful broth. I have Thai soup on my list of recipes to post!
Chris
This is a fabulous recipe and so much simpler/faster than my regular green curry recipe. My son requested green curry for dinner, but I didn’t have the time to spend to make my regular recipe, so I found Neena’s. My family loved it and we didn’t have any leftovers, so I made it again 4 days later:). Just as delicious and easy the second time around. I put carrots, red pepper, (instead of green), bamboo shoots and pea pods the first time, and used eggplant the second. Flavor is great no matter what veggies you use.
I borrowed the instant pot to make this. I had never used one. Neena’s directions were so easy to follow. You do a great job!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Awww, thank you for your comment, Chris! It’s nice that you could compare to the traditional method – I too, love how easy Thai curries are in the IP.
Anjali Chugh
I made this today it’s delicious and very flavorful but a bit bland what do you recommend to add a bit more authentic taste and a bit more spice? The jasmine rice turned out perfectly!!! Thanks for the great recipes… this was very easy to follow! I am trying to master Thai food and this is the closest I have gotten!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Anjali, did you use the brands of Thai curry paste that I recommend? If not, then that’s the reason for the lack of flavor. If you did, then you probably need to increase the quantity of curry paste by one to two more teaspoons. Thanks for your question!
Anjali Chugh
Unfortunately where I live I can only get those brands on amazon…. they messed up my Panang paste order I am waiting for them to send correct item! I used a different curry paste which explains it!
Katherine Ferris
Best green curry recipe of the MANY I have tried
Paint the Kitchen Red
Katherine, thanks for the comment – what a great compliment!
Valerie Peacock
We love Thai and we are very excited to try this recipe, as I just got an Instant Pot for Christmas. I’ve tried many recipes and have gotten close, but not close enough, so I’m excited to try yours!!! We love extra sauce/gravy, how can I get the most amount of sauce without diluting the flavor? Thanks! Can’t wait!!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Valerie, if you like it spicy, I would add an extra 2 teaspoons of paste and extra cup of coconut milk. This curry is spicy enough that you could just add some extra coconut milk and it would be milder but still tasty. I think you’ll like it 🙂
Danielle
This is my new comfort food. We make the green, red, and panang curries all the time.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thank you Danielle, for your comment and review. I’m happy to see others enjoy my favorite recipes!
Rachel
Just finished cooking this recipe and it turned out very thin. What could have gone wrong? 🙁
Paint the Kitchen Red
Rachel, there are a couple of possibilities: your chicken may have given off liquid, your coconut milk may have been a thinner kind – buy the best quality (I recommend a couple of brands in the recipe). You might not need to have the 1/4 cup of liquid. I suggest the 1/4 cup water to prevent any issues with sealing the Instant Pot. I frequently omit it and have no problems with sealing.
Shauna Zunino
My 29 yr old son came to stay with me this week and wanted my cooking, I told him pick ANYTHING! He wanted this dish from his favorite restaurant, I’ve never cooked Indian food before and he was beside himself. Thank you for making me look so good! It was amazing.
Shauna and Kyle
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Shauna – this is actually a Thai curry, so quite different flavors from an Indian curry. If you wanted to try an Indian flavored recipe, give the Instant Pot Chicken Curry Soup a try. Thanks for your lovely comment.
Kelly
Forgot to mention that I added 1/2? tsp cornstarch mixed with a bit of water to get that silky mouthfeel I find in my local Thai restaurant.
Donna
I think that’s what I need to do. Mine came out a little watery for my tastes. Next time I want to try with Thai eggplant and make it a bit spicier. But all in all, this was great.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Donna, just wanted to mention that the quality of the coconut milk is essential to the success of this recipe. If you used the brands I recommend, then you might need to thicken as you planned to but if not, I would suggest you try those brands. I’ve had less than optimal results with some other brands. Thanks for your comment!
Donna
Thank you! I will make sure to try your recommendations. Green Curry Chicken is my absolute favorite dish when going out for Thai so nailing it at home would be awesome!