Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry. How to cook a slow cooker Thai curry fakeaway for dinner tonight. Loaded with hidden veggies and a healthy frugal take on a classic slow cooker red curry.

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Slow Cooker Red Thai Curry
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Slow Cooker Thai Curry

My mum is amazing cook and I used to love all the different foods that she would cook for me as a kid.

She wasted her amazing talent way too many times (and still does) on processed foods and I would love it whenever she cooked something from scratch.

Unlike my school friends that would get a British cottage pie, or spaghetti Bolognese for dinner, I had the delights of Asia to look forward to.

I would watch as she would batch cook chicken curry for the freezer, make spicy lasagne, or best of all make the best red Thai curry that I had ever tried.

But of course, back then, I had never heard of Thai food and just used to refer to it as her spicy coconut chicken.

It was amazing and she would batch freeze spare sauce. Then next time she made it, she just needed to cook the chicken breasts and pour the defrosted sauce over it.

Today, I am sharing with you my updated version of her red Thai curry. My version has hidden veggies, features the slow cooker and is ideal for using up leftovers with. When you read just how frugal this slow cooker red Thai curry is, you will be amazed.

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Can You Cook Curry In A Slow Cooker?

Yes, you can. Plus, there are so many different ways of doing it. You can throw into the slow cooker a jar of curry sauce, chicken thighs and then mix. You then have a quick two ingredient slow cooker chicken curry.

Or you can take it as healthy and as homemade as you like. You could make your own red Thai curry paste, you could add in veggies, you can use any meat (not just chicken) make a Thai prawn curry, or even a tofu vegan one.

Its like one of those types of foods that has many possibilities.

Can You Put Coconut Milk In Slow Cooker?

Yes! But there is a catch to consider. If you are using coconut milk in the slow cooker to make a curry, if your food is fatty, your coconut milk will go very thin.

It won’t be like a thick coconut curry that you have made in a wok.

The secret is to either add the coconut milk last or add some type of thickener in the recipe.

We go with the thickener and recommend adding in cauliflower, then you can blend it with the sauce, and you have a super thick sauce.

Ninja Slow Cooker Curry

Because I don’t rate the slow cooker function on the Instant Pot, I am often put off using them on other multicooker brands.

But the urge got the better of me and I tried a few different slow cooker recipes in my Ninja Foodi. It really wasn’t that bad and maybe about 15% slower, but overall, still got dinner on the table on time.

In today’s recipe for coconut curry chicken, we are using our Ninja Foodi but you could use any slow cooker.

Here are a few other recipes using the Ninja Slow Cooker:

ninja foodi bundle

Slow Cooker Chicken Thighs Curry

If I could choose, I would always choose to make a slow cooker chicken thighs curry. But at the time of writing this recipe for you, I reside in Portugal. Boneless and skinless chicken thighs are not available, no matter how much you try to bleed with a butcher to provide them.

Instead, we are using chicken breasts, but you can mix and match your ingredients with:

  • Beef
  • Prawns
  • Tofu
  • Turkey Breast
  • Turkey Leg
  • Chicken Thighs
  • Pork Shoulder
  • Pork Tenderloin

How To Use A Slow Cooker For Curry?

To use a slow cooker for curry is easy and I have done it more times than I can count. My favourite method is to load the slow cooker with vegetables first and seasonings such as curry powder.

Then I will slow cook just the vegetables for about 3 hours.

After the 3 hours I will blend the vegetables and I have a curry sauce that is loaded with hidden veggies. Perfect for veggie haters that say they hate vegetables but love a homemade curry.

After this, I will layer my meat, fish, or tofu into the slow cooker and slow cook.

You then have the choice between shredding your meat or serving it as it is.

But what I will also do (on purpose) is make more sauce than I need. Then I have curry sauce for another day. Plus, just like my mum I can freeze the leftover sauce.

Slow Cooker Thai Curry

You can also make a slow cooker Thai curry, just by switching up the ingredients. By adding coconut milk or coconut cream, Thai red curry paste, or Thai green curry paste and you have a Thai curry.

Plus, I know many follow a lower calorie diet, and want a low calorie coconut curry and that is when these hidden veggies one is ideal.

Slow Cooker Thai Curry Leftovers Trick

I love to make an instant pot red thai curry soup. But I always make too much and there is always plenty leftover.

What I do is pour what is leftover into the slow cooker and it becomes the base for this slow cooker chicken thai curry. Then I just load the chicken breasts on top and this recipe becomes as easy as a jar of sauce and chicken.

But of course, much healthier.

Imagine that on Thursday night your family enjoys curry soup in the Instant Pot. Maybe you serve it with our bread machine dinner rolls. Then after dinner you pour the leftover soup into the slow cooker and then leave the slow cooker pot in the fridge. Then the next day you add the chicken breasts and know that for Friday night fakeaway you have this amazing curry.

How To Cook Chicken Curry In Slow Cooker?

slow cooker red thai curry step by step

If you want to cook chicken curry in the slow cooker this is how you do it:

  1. Place veggies into the slow cooker and make your hidden veggie base.
  2. Blend.
  3. Add in chicken breasts.
  4. Slow cook + serve.

Can You Use Frozen Chicken Breasts In The Slow Cooker?

NEVER. Please do not use frozen chicken breasts in the slow cooker. It is unsafe and you risk the health of who you are feeding.

If you have frozen chicken breasts, I recommend you either wait for them to thaw or follow our Ninja Foodi Frozen Chicken Breasts recipe first.

Low Calorie Slow Cooker Curry Recipes

This is not our first hidden veggie loaded curry cooked in the slow cooker. Here are a few others to try out next:

slow cooker red thai curry
5 from 3 votes

Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry

Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry. How to cook a slow cooker Thai curry fakeaway for dinner tonight. Loaded with hidden veggies and a healthy frugal take on a classic slow cooker red curry.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients 

Kitchen Gadgets:

Slow Cooker Red Thai Curry Ingredients:

Instructions 

  • Dump your leftover curry soup, or curry sauce into the slow cooker. Add in seasonings and stir. Add coconut milk and stir again.
    Can You Cook Curry In A Slow Cooker?
  • Layer the top of your thai curry sauce with chicken breasts.
    Can You Cook Curry In A Slow Cooker?
  • Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook for 3 hours on high or 5 hours on low.
    Can You Cook Curry In A Slow Cooker?
  • When the slow cooker beeps you can either eat as is or remove the chicken, shred, and load back in and stir.
    Can You Cook Curry In A Slow Cooker?

Notes

Leftovers. Note that I am making this slow cooker thai curry from leftovers. If you are not, then load the slow cooker with diced cauliflower, butternut squash and carrots. Then season like we have done above and cook on high for 3 hours. Blend and then carry on from step #2. Or you can follow our slow cooker chicken tikka masala and then switch the seasonings. Or alternatively swap our leftovers for a jar of your favourite red thai curry sauce.
More. If you have more leftovers, then once you have eaten the chicken and have spare sauce, load the slow cooker back up with prawns and have prawn curry the next day.
Thanks for reading slow cooker thai red curry on Recipe This. We have many more Ninja Foodi recipes for you to check out next. Though if you would like more chicken, I recommend you try our Ninja Foodi Chicken Wings.

Nutrition

Calories: 592kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 74g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 217mg | Sodium: 408mg | Potassium: 1507mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 525IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 5mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!

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slow cooker red thai curry recipe

About Recipe This

Hi! I am Sam and along with my chef hubby Dom we love sharing with you easy everyday recipes using kitchen gadgets. We are also the authors of The Complete Air Fryer Cookbook, an amazing air fryer cookbook filled with 140+ everyday air fryer recipes.

Beyond the air fryer we also love the instant pot, slow cooker, soup maker, ninja foodi, pie maker and several other kitchen gadgets.

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5 Comments

  1. Hi, I have just opened chicken thighs for this recipe but to my horror they are bone in. Can I use them and is the cooking time any different?
    Please help!
    Thank you.
    (PS.Your website is the best and I have ordered both cookbooks.)

    1. Hi Sherry,

      Thank you for ordering both of our cookbooks it is very much appreciated. Yes the cooking time will be the same, we find bone in meat cooks slightly quicker than bone out meat 🙂

  2. 5 stars
    Delightful. Looking for a slow cooker recipe and had to try this red Thai curry one and i was not disappointed.