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 is as good as your favorite restaurant Thai 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!
Table of Contents
Introduction
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.
Best of all, they are so quick and easy that I can have dinner on the table in 20 minutes if I prep the ingredients ahead of time and cook the Jasmine rice and curry in the Instant Pot at the same time (together!) using the pot-in-pot method.
If you want to find out more about my quest to create the best Thai curries at home, please read my Instant Pot Thai Red Curry with Chicken. The bottom line is that ingredients make a big difference.
I usually like to use Thai eggplants in my Instant Pot green curry but I visited the Asian store three times in the past week and they were all out! So I made the curry with zucchini and bell peppers.
I like to use green vegetables just for aesthetics, but you can substitute any vegetables of your choice.
Thai green curry paste has a wonderful combination of flavors including green chilies, garlic, galangal ginger, shallots, lemongrass, lime leaves, coriander, cumin, cardamom, turmeric, and black pepper.
Out of all the Thai curries, massaman curry is the mildest and green curry is the hottest/spiciest. Even at Thai restaurants, I get the other curries medium or spicy, but I like to order mild green curry because it’s still pretty spicy!
Here are some Thai recipes you might like to try out
– Instant Pot Thai Red Curry
– Instant Pot Thai Massaman Curry
– Instant Pot Thai Panang Curry
– Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry
– Instant Pot Thai Peanut Noodles
– Instant Pot Thai Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)
– Instant Pot Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang)
– Instant Pot Jasmine Rice
TIPS AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Green Curry Paste
Maesri and Mae Ploy are my two favorite Thai curry paste brands. I can’t emphasize enough how much of a difference the brand makes. You can find them at Southeast Asian grocery stores or on amazon.
In my experience, getting the brand of Thai green curry paste available at regular grocery stores does not produce great flavor.
If the curry is too spicy at the end, add some more coconut milk when you’re cooking the vegetables.
Lime Leaves
Lime leaves (also known as k-lime, makrut or kaffir lime leaves) add unique flavor to Thai curries.
You can find them at Asian grocery stores. I highly recommend using them. They keep very well in the freezer!
I like to either scrunch up the lime leaves and bruise them before adding them to the curry or chiffonade them by cutting them into very thin strips. This releases the oils from the leaves and adds a stronger flavor.
If you can’t find lime leaves, add an extra teaspoon or two of lime juice. Taste as you go.
Thai Basil
Thai basil is another ingredient you can find at an Asian grocery store. It, too, adds a unique flavor to Thai recipes and I recommend trying to find it. But if you can’t locate Thai basil, substitute with regular Italian basil.
Fish Sauce
I really like the quality of Red Boat fish sauce which you can find at Asian grocery stores or on amazon. But it is more expensive than other fish sauce brands. Tiparos is another brand of fish sauce I’ve used – it’s more affordably priced.
There’s no substitute for fish sauce. It adds that depth of flavor, the umami, to dishes. I’ve had vegetarian readers recommend the Fysh brand of sauce. But I haven’t tried it. You may need to add a little extra.
Soy sauce is also a substitute for fish sauce, but there is a flavor difference.
Also note that 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.
Palm Sugar
Palm sugar is more authentic to a Thai curry than brown sugar is. However, I frequently use brown sugar without sacrificing taste.
Coconut Milk
I use full-fat coconut milk. I find some coconut milk brands don’t do well during pressure cooking, including some brands that are widely available at grocery stores. My two favorite brands are Aroy-D and Chaokoh. Some readers recommend Trader Joe’s brand coconut milk.
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.
Meats and Tofu
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)
Vegetables
I sometimes choose to decrease the quantity of chicken and double the quantity of vegetables, so we eat less meat and more veggies.
Spiciness
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.
Doubling the Recipe
You can double all the ingredients in the recipe and pressure cook for the same amount of time. Just make sure your ingredients don’t go past the 2/3-full mark.
Splatter Screen
When you’re sauteing ingredients in the Instant Pot, the bubbling mixture can splatter. I like to use a splatter screen to cover the inner pot during this saute process.
Burn Message
If you regularly encounter the ‘burn’ message, feel free to add 1/4 cup of chicken broth when pressure cooking the coconut milk.
[Read more: Instant Pot Burn Message]
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry – Ingredients
- Zucchini
- Chicken
- Onion
- Water/broth
- Bell pepper
- Bamboo shoots
- Thai basil
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Brown sugar
- Green curry paste
- Fish sauce
- Coconut milk
- Lime juice (missing from photo)
How to Make Green Curry in the Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Turn on Saute Mode
- Saute spices and coconut milk
- Add remaining coconut milk and chicken
- Pressure cook
- Quick-release pressure
- Add vegetables and seasonings and saute
How to Turn on Saute Mode
- Instant Pot DUO: Select the Saute function.
- Instant Pot ULTRA: Select the Saute function and press Start.
Saute Spices and Coconut Milk
- Stir together green curry paste and 1/2 can of coconut milk and saute until mixture is bubbly, a minute or two. Use a splatter screen if necessary, to guard against splatters from the coconut milk.
- Stir in coriander and cumin and cook for 30 seconds.
Add Remaining Coconut Milk and Chicken
- Press Cancel to turn off Instant Pot.
- Stir in chicken, remaining coconut milk, and chicken broth or water.
Instant Pot Duo Pressure Cook 4 minutes
- Close the lid and make sure steam release handle is in Sealing position
- Press Manual (or Pressure Cook) and + or – until the display reads 4 (4 minutes).
Instant Pot Ultra Pressure Cook 4 minutes
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and adjust the time to 4 minutes (00:04).
- Press ‘Start’.
Pressure Cooking Process (Duo and Ultra)
- Instant Pot display will change to On.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down to 0; it will then switch to Keep Warm mode and display L0:00 or 00 00 and begin to count up the number of minutes since pressure cooking completed.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the DUO
- Move the steam release handle to Venting. Steam will come out of the steam release handle.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
How to Quick Release Pressure (QR) on the ULTRA
- Press down on the Steam Release Button until it locks into place, and steam begins to come out of the Steam Release Valve.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- Press Cancel and open the Instant Pot.
[Find out more about the pressure release methods and how and when to use them. ]
Add Vegetables and Seasonings and Saute
- Select Saute mode.
- 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 the residual heat.
- Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, brown sugar or lime juice.
- Stir in the Thai basil leaves.
Instant Pot Thai Green Curry with Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Thai Green curry paste preferably Maesri or Mae Ploy brand
- 14 oz. coconut milk (1 can), preferably Aroy D or Chaokoh brand
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs sliced into thin bite-size pieces
- 1/4 cup chicken broth or water
- 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 bamboo shoots canned, sliced
- 4 lime leaves slightly bruised *
- 1/4 cup Thai Basil leaves
Instructions
- Select Saute mode 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 pressure cook on High Pressure for 4 minutes.
- Do a Quick Release of pressure (QR) and open the Instant Pot. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Add in fish sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, bell pepper, zucchini, onions, bamboo shoots, and lime leaves.
- Select 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 vegetables, 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.
splatter screen if necessary, in the first step, to guard against coconut milk splatters.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 five ⭐ 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!
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Julie
Delicious recipe. I was expecting a little thicker sauce. Did I do it correctly?
Do you have a pad prik king recipe? My husband’s favorite Thai food.
Thank you!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Julie – I’m so glad you liked it. What brand of coconut milk did you use? If you went with my recommendation and still found it to be too thin, you can omit the broth next time. You can also try using coconut cream which is thicker. Let me know how it goes.
I don’t have a recipe on the blog for Pad Prik King but it’s pretty easy to make on the stove: Saute a tablespoon or two of red curry paste and oil – it will be potent 🙂 Stir fry chicken or your choice of meat. If using shrimp, saute that later. Add green beans. Season with a tablespoon of fish sauce and brown sugar. Add more according to your tastes. Saute till beans are cooked. Add shrimp if using, slightly before beans are cooked through. Enjoy!
Julie
What brand did I use? You don’t want to know but it was the wrong one. (Drops head in shame.) But, I just used your Chaokoh for making whipped coconut milk and it is a completely different species and I love it.
Thank you for your quick Pad Prik King recipe. I will report back after I make it.
Thank you again! Julie
Jojo
So delicious! I couldn’t find the kaffir leafs this time. I squeezed some fresh lime on top and that did the trick. I guess it’s time for me to find a good Asian market in SLC, UT. Thank you for the recipe! It was way easy and restaurant quality.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Jojo, ahhh if you’re in Salt Lake City, then you can either go to the Liberty Park area (Southeast Asian Market) or to 33rd and State Street to the Chinatown shopping center where there’s a huge Asian grocery store!
Cyndi
The most delicious green curry recipe! I’ve shared it with everyone I know that has an instant pot! This recipe tastes better than the restaurants! I like to add an extra can of coconut milk and the whole can of Maesri curry paste (I love spice!). Truly appreciate you sharing the recipe and your tips/tricks/ingredient recommendations. Your recommended curry paste and coconut milk brands really do make a difference!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Yay, thank you Cyndi. I’m glad you liked the recipe. Oh yeah, adding extra paste and coconut milk would be tasty and it also lasts longer if you have big eaters 🙂
Joel Embry
I’m so tired of trying recipes with high ratings and being disappointed. This is BLAND compared to the green curry chicken I got from 2 different restaurants.
Joel Embry
Oh my mistake. I tasted a piece of zucchini which didn’t soak up the flavor well so it seemed bland mi put more curry and sugar then tasted the soup… WOW, spicy
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Joel, not a lot of people would come back and say “my mistake”. Thank you for doing that!
Revital
this is my second time making this recipe and I love it! so firstly, thank you! I have a real issue with not being able to adhere to quantities and measurements. if I find that I added too many veggies let’s say, and there’s not enough “soup”, what would be my move here- add more coconut milk at the end? thank you again!
Paint the Kitchen Red
You are so welcome 🙂 That happens to me too and I just add extra coconut milk at the end.
Andrei
I’m wondering if I could substitute honey for the brown sugar? Lovely recipe btw!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Andrei, I don’t see why not, but taste as you go starting off with a couple of teaspoons and adding more as you taste. Hope you like the recipe.
Ryan
Turned out AMAZING! Thanks for the relatively simple recipe. Hardest part is finding the ingredients. I found that the flavors were all there. Tasted like it was from my favorite Thai restaurant. One thing I’d say is that while the flavor was ALL THERE I felt like I could have made them come out about 10% more. I’m new to following recipes (usually just make it up as I go). Is it Common sense to add a little salt to any recipe you follow? I’m thinking next time I’ll do that or throw the Thai basil in a little earlier. I definitely used enough paste so that’s not it. (I like it spicy)
Any suggestions? Or you think a pinch of salt or earlier adding of basil will do the trick?
Thanks again!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Hi Ryan, thanks for your comment! I understand what you’re asking and I’m thinking that you can either add salt or a bit more fish sauce. Don’t pressure cook the basil, but you can definitely add it in earlier. Thai curries can be seasoned based on your level of sweet, salty, spicy and sour. So feel free to add brown sugar, fish sauce, red chili or lime juice at the end after tasting.
Adrianne
I made this tonight. I used the correct brand of curry paste (Mae Ploy).
I substituted the coconut milk for heavy cream, because I was out.
But I didn’t add the heavy cream until the end (to prevent curdling).
So, I just added some water to replace the missing coconut milk until I was able to add in the creaminess.
It turned out great!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Adrianne, thank you so much for sharing. Good to know that cream worked for you; good move to add it at the end.
Orli
Hi! I’m excited to make this. I’m coveting a green curry I had from a favorite restaurant (Luv2Eat Thai in Los Angeles). Their green curry is bright green and always tastes deliciously herbaceous. Do you think purreeing basil and adding it in at the end vs leaf garnish would add that green color and good flavor? Or not worth the trouble…
Paint the Kitchen Red
I think that pureeing basil would give you the green color and stronger basil flavor. But you’ll like this curry either way. I would try it as written and if you feel like you’d like more color and flavor, do it next time 🙂
David Roberts
Every instapot Thai curry recipe I’ve tried from Paint The Kitchen has been fantastic. For this one, I used about 2 1/4 tbsp of Mae Ploy green curry paste Chaokoh coconut milk and the flavor was just as good as our favorite Thai place, and better than some others, even though I didn’t have Keffir lime leaves or Thai basil. The heat was about 3 out of 5 according to the scale used in Thai restaurants in the Bellevue area–you can feel the heat, but it doesn’t distract from the flavor.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Awww thank you David! I’m so happy you like my Thai recipes and thanks for sharing your experience.
Christine Ruvalcaba
Followed the recipe and turned out great! My entire family enjoyed it and ate way too much. This was restaurant quality, and will be making this again and again. I used the Maesri brand curry paste, Italian basil leaves, and extra lime juice, instead of lime leaves. Thanks for the recipe!!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Christine. I’m so glad to hear you loved the recipe.