I am a big fan of Thai flavours, especially curries, and so it did not take long after seeing this recipe for a slow cooker Thai basil chicken curry on pinterest before I made it. This is a slow cooker recipe so it’s super simple, you pretty much just throw everything into the slow cooker and cook all day before mixing in some fresh herbs at the end. The sauce or gravy is a pretty standard Thai style curry with a base of coconut milk with spicy chilies, sweet coconut sugar, salty fish sauce and sour lime juice which form a magical balance of flavours! The star of the show is a ton of fresh basil which is added at the end just before serving! I like to serve this Thai basil chicken curry over cauliflower rice and it’s also great with naan!
Slow Cooker Thai Basil Chicken Curry
Moist and tender chicken braised in tasty curry coconut gravy in a slow cooker.
ingredients
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken (breasts or thighs)
- 1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce (or soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (or rice vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon coconut/palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 jalapeno, diced (or bird eye chili)
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/3 cup basil (preferably Thai basil), chopped
directions
- Place the chicken, coconut milk, curry powder, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, onion, jalapeno, garlic, and ginger into the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 3 hours, before shredding the chicken and mixing in the cilantro and basil.
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This looks delicious! Do you have a favorite curry powder that you would recommend?
I am partial to S&B curry powder.
Thank You, Kevin!
Really delicious!!! didnt even need any salt, it was just perfect. I added the whole jalapeno but I could still have handled a bit more spice. Served over basmati rice.
May I ask what is S&B curry powder,please? thanks.
S&B is just a brand of curry powder, use your favourite curry powder!
Hi! I’m not a big Indian curry fan so I used a homemade Malaysian curry powder. Look up a recipe for Malaysian braised ribs here on Pinterest!
Cooking the chicken in a tender sauce is a quick way to make a delicious main dish. Using a multicooker for this will be optimal.
I have made this several times now – It is delicious!! I serve it over cilantro lime rice – Thanks for a wonderful recipe!
I really do not like Indian curry powder. It’s overpowering in taste & smell. How about an Asian curry sauce? How much would you suggest. They usually have a bit of heat to them.
A Thai style green, red or yellow curry paste would be nice in this dish! If you are concerned about the heat go with 1/2 tablespoon and add more after testing it for heat (if desired). Omit or only use a part of the jalapeno chili as another way to control the heat. Enjoy!
Delicious!! Quick and easy to make. I add a little salt to it. My family loves it! I serve it with the Naan bread.
I’m excited to try some of your other recipes! Thank you!
We were so excited to try this one! It has all the right ingredients: coconut milk, curry, jalapeño, cilantro. Put it in the crockpot (bonus!) … and it was just bland. Super disappointing. Not sure what went wrong but sadly wasn’t a love for our family.
Do you have a recipe for preparing the cauliflower?
Here in the cauliflower rice recipe! Enjoy!
Is this chicken frozen or thawed when you put it in?
I use fresh but thawed will work. Enjoy!
I was really excited for this and followed the recipe exactly. Mine came out watery, not creamy like a coconut curry sauce should be. I used chicken thigh meat which may be juicier than breast meat. I suspect my slow cooker is just too hot. It seems like it is overcooked and mushy. Anyone else have this problem?
Yes. I JUST turned off my slow cooker from making this. When I noticed how watery it was, I added cornstarch and that thickened it up for me to my liking.
Can this recipe be converted to use with instapot?
Hi Lauren,
I have a ninja foodi. All I did was put everything in the pot like the recipe calls for then set the pressure cooker to hi for 10min. I did a natural release for 10min. I shredded the chicken outside the pot then put it back in and set the cooker to saute on hi. I also added 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch ( should probably do a slurry but I just put it straight in and mixed immediately), some salt, and extra curry powder; allow to thicken for about 5-10min. also, Make sure that you really mix all the ingredients before pressure cooking.
Hi! I followed your directions and cooked it in an Instant pot and it was awesome! I sautéed the onions, garlic, ginger and jalapeño first in little bit of oil, then added the curry powder and stirred it for couple minutes before adding the rest. So yummy and quick! Thanks!
Going to make this for dinner this evening. I like the idea of serving it with the cilantro lime rice. Thanks for reco. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
I’m making this right now! Smells amazing! I used Light Coconut Milk and Bone-Less/Skin-Less Chicken Thighs. I’m going to serve it over some Cauliflower Rice for Dinner tonight! Thank you!
Is it ok to use Thai Basil or should regular Basil be used?
If you can get Thai basil, use it, otherwise regular basil is amazing! Enjoy!
So good thank you!
What a great recipe! I made some edits because I made it exactly like the recipe the first time and it wasn’t soupy enough and had a little too much fish sauce.
My edits included an additional can of coconut cream, double the curry powder, 1/2 TBS of salt, 1 extra TBS of brown sugar, 1 TBS fish sauce AND 1 TBS of Ponzu, then at the end I added 1 can of chopped pineapple. SO GOOD!!!
This is in the slow cooker right now. Being a Trinidadian I added a little more curry and will add the basil and cilantro a little earlier so the flavours can mix in.
Is the coconut cream sweetened or unsweetened?
The coconut cream is unsweetened. Enjoy!
Is it coconut milk or coconut cream? Recipe says coconut milk so I’m wondering if that’s why mine is so watery.
I use canned coconut milk (rather than the tetra packs or fresh).
Thinking about making this and wondering about the coconut milk. Typically in slow cooker recipes it’s added at the end to prevent it from curdling but I see here it’s added at the start. I just wanted to clarify I’m reading the instructions right?
You can add the coconut milk at the beginning. Enjoy!
Just finished making this. I added a few extra ounces of chicken breast to stretch the food through the week; added Jamaican curry powder and then, upon remembering that I had Thai red curry powder, added that too (if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em); added a few extra ounces of coconut milk for the same reason as the chicken; and used ground ginger because my local grocer doesn’t sell fresh ginger (for some strange reason). I also used cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. I used the leftover cilantro and added it to my brown rice.
This tastes pretty decent, seems easy to make (especially if the ingredients are already on hand), and will probably make it again.
Can I use plain Greek yogurt instead of coconut milk?
Greek yogurt should work.
What if you don’t want to eat added sugar? What is a good replacement? Thanks!
You can use your favourite sweetener, use enough to get a nice balance of sweet, salty, sour and spicy. Enjoy!
Can you double this recipe?
Yes you can! Just double everything and enjoy!
Can this be cooked on low in the oven? Please advise
You can cook this in the oven! Place it in a pot/pan with a lid and cook at 350F for about 1 hour or 250F for about 1.5-2 hours. Enjoy!
What kind of onion is best to use? Yellow, red, white?
All onions work well and I like to use red onions! Enjoy!
I loved this recipe! It was so good.
I browned off the onion and garlic & added 7 garlic cloves plus frozen spinach, hot sauce, lime and chilli spice and just used dry basil and coriander will be making this a regular meal!
Can I use chicken tenderloins?
Yes you can!
Can I use frozen chicken?
Thaw the frozen chicken and cook as directed! Enjoy!
can this be made with tofu? what would the cook time be?
Tofu works well in this! Dice or cube the tofu and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.
Unfortunately I didn’t love this one. The flavor is kind of odd. I have loved other recipes of yours, but this one wasn’t for me. 🙁 idk if maybe it was the lime… or what.
This recipe was really good! I made it in the instant pot on high for 15 minutes. I read through the comments first and made a few adjustments to the recipe and added a tsp of corn starch to help thicken the broth as well as added a teaspoon of red curry paste for some extra curry flavor and the end result was delicious!
Loved this recipe however it could have used some salt and more flavor. I think next time I will add a red curry paste and more of the seasonings already included.
I’m so sorry, but we could not eat this. Even after thickening it was still not good. I used to eat Thai Basil chicken every week at this little place near where I went to school, but this just wasn’t good. We didn’t even salvage the chicken. Don’t know if it makes a difference which fish sauce or rice vinegar you use but we couldn’t stomach it. Sorry.
Awesome post
I’m back, over 4 years later.
Made this 2 nights ago. I added a few extra ounces of chicken breast to stretch the food through the week; used Thai red curry powder; used brown sugar; used dried cilantro instead of fresh; used ground ginger because I forgot to thaw out my frozen ginger; used my own dried basil leaves; and made basmati rice. I also used cornstarch to thicken up the sauce. This time, it came out even better than over 4 years ago due to now having more of the ingredients at hand (fish sauce, lime juice, fresh jalapenos, etc.).
Thanks again for sharing.
Hi! trying this now and thought I had the coconut milk but it’s coconut cream. 🙁 Any suggestions besides going to the store for coconut milk?
You can use half a con of coconut cream and half a can of water!
How could I make this in the oven?