Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry

Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry with chicken. A quick weeknight curry sweetened with coconut milk and spiced with Thai yellow curry paste.

Extra coconut cream. Mmmmm.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love Thai Yellow Chicken Curry
• Ingredients
• How to Make Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry Chicken
• Recipe Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• Storing Leftovers
• Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry Recipe
• What do you think?
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

Why You'll Love Thai Yellow Chicken Curry

Continuing on my series of pressure cooker Thai Curries, it's time for instant pot Thai yellow curry. Yellow curry is sweeter than other Thai curries - it has extra coconut cream in the cooking. (And, If you're suspicious that I'm just working my way along the Thai curry shelf at my local Asian market, you're right. Yellow was the next can on the shelf.)
As much as I love dark meat chicken, I went with chicken breast in this curry. Yellow curry usually has potatoes, and I didn't want to overcook them. (And the kids were asking for chicken breast instead of thighs. I went wrong somewhere in my parenting.)
Other than that, this is a pretty standard Thai yellow curry instant pot recipe:

• Soften the aromatics (onions, peppers, garlic, and ginger)
• Fry the coconut cream and curry paste
• Stir in the coconut milk and main ingredient (chicken, potatoes)
• Pressure cook, then quick release
• Stir in the tender vegetables (zucchini) and simmer until done
  The kids were big fans of this curry - it's not as hot as other Thai curries, which made it a big hit with the heat-sensitive kids in the family. (Though they did eat around the zucchini.) Looking for a mild curry to bring in the doubters in your family? Try a yellow curry.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 medium red bell peppers, trimmed, seeded, and cut into thin strips
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ½ inch piece of ginger, peeled and crushed
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Cream from the top of 2 (13.5-ounce) cans of full-fat coconut milk
• ½ cup yellow curry paste (a whole 4-ounce can)
• 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
• ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 ½ pounds Petite Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
• The liquid from 2 cans of coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (plus more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (plus more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar (plus more to taste)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into ½-inch thick half-moons
  Garnish and Sides
• Minced cilantro
• Minced basil (preferably Thai basil)
• Lime wedges
• Jasmine rice

How to Make Instant Pot Thai Yellow Curry Chicken

Sauté the aromatics

Heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker until shimmering. (Use Sauté mode adjusted to high in an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker.) Stir in the onion, red pepper, garlic, and ginger, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt, and sauté until the onion softens, about 3 minutes.

Fry the curry paste

Scoop the cream from the top of 2 cans of coconut milk and add it to the pot. (Stop when you hit the thin coconut liquid, and save it for later.) Stir the curry paste into the coconut cream in the pot. Cook, stirring often, until the curry paste darkens, about 5 minutes.

Everything in the pot

Sprinkle the chicken with the kosher salt, add it to the pot, and stir to coat with curry paste. Stir in the potatoes and then the reserved coconut milk liquid, fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar.

Pressure cook the curry for 5 minutes with a quick pressure release

Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC or for 4 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook-custom mode in an Instant Pot). Quick release the pressure in the pot.

Finish the curry

Remove the lid from the pressure cooker, then set it over medium-high heat (Sauté mode adjusted to high in an electric pressure cooker.) Stir in the lime juice and the zucchini, and simmer until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 8 minutes. Serve the curry with Jasmine rice and (optional) minced cilantro and basil on the side.

Recipe Tips

Coconut milk: Buy cans of full fat coconut milk, and don't shake them before you open them. You want the solid layer of cream on the top and the liquid underneath. That lets you fry the coconut cream with the curry paste, then add the liquid later. (If the coconut milk is shaken up, and there isn't a thick layer of coconut cream on the top, scoop out the top ⅓rd of the can and add it to the pot.)
Lite coconut milk: If you have to use low-fat coconut milk, skip the "fry the curry paste" step - you won't have enough coconut milk fat to fry the paste. Pour the cans of lite coconut milk into the pot, add the curry paste, and stir until the curry paste mixes with the coconut milk. Continue with the "everything in the pot" step, skipping the "reserved coconut milk liquid" because it's already in the pot.
Curry Paste: I use Maesri curry paste because a single 4-ounce can is perfect for a pressure cooker curry. If you buy your curry paste in a larger tub, use 8 tablespoons.
Chicken Thighs: Want to substitute chicken thighs? (I know I do!) Increase the cooking time to 10 minutes at high pressure in an Instant Pot or other electric PC or 8 minutes in a stovetop PC.

Serving Suggestions

I always serve Instant Pot yellow chicken curry with jasmine rice to soak up the curry sauce. I also serve the curry with the garnishes I list in the recipe: a lime cut into wedges, fresh cilantro leaves, and fresh basil leaves, preferably Thai basil, if you can find it. (I have a hard time finding Thai basil in my area.) Another common topping is crushed peanuts, which add a nice, crunchy bite to the curry.

Storing Leftovers

Leftover curry keeps for a few days in the refrigerator or six months in the freezer. When I have enough left over for another meal, I store the curry on its own in 4-cup containers.
Or, when I want some make-ahead freezer lunches, I put a scoop of rice and the curry in a 2-cup container and pop it in the freezer for later. When I want lunch, I microwave a container for 5 minutes. Voila! Curry lunch.

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What do you think?

Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

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