This easy Instant Pot chicken curry is a simple but flavorful dish, perfect for quick weeknight dinners. Curry is a popular family favorite, and with this recipe you can make it in less than 30 minutes.
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Why you'll love it
- It's really easy and convenient to cook chicken curry in your Instant Pot.
- This recipe is super easy to adapt to suit your personal preferences.
- Make it in less than 30 minutes!
- With only 182 calories, 26 g protein and 11 g carbs in each serving, this dish is healthy and suitable for most diets.
- This chicken curry also happens to be dairy free, gluten free, soy free and nut free.
- You can make plenty of variations using this as the base recipe! See the variation section below for some ideas.
Browse my collection of Instant Pot recipes for more easy meal inspiration.
Ingredients
Chicken breasts: Chicken breasts are lean cuts of chicken. You can also use boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.
Garlic + onion: Add flavor and texture to the curry.
Canned diced tomatoes: This is the main component of the sauce.
Water: The water adds some liquid to the curry, and prevents it from burning while it cooks. Use chicken stock for more flavor.
Chili: Adds more flavor, and a little heat. You can omit this if you want a really mild curry, or double the amount if you like it spicy.
Curry powder, garam masala, paprika, salt, cinnamon, pepper, bay leaf: Seasoning is one of the key ingredients to any curry. You can omit or substitute any of these as required.
💡 TIP! If you don't have all the seasoning available, you can simply replace the seasoning and canned diced tomatoes with a jar of curry sauce.
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients: Dice the onion and chicken, grate the garlic, and remove the seeds from the chili, then dice it finely.
- Saute the onion: Add the onion, chili and garlic to your Instant Pot along with the vegetable oil. Use the SAUTE setting to cook for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add seasoning: Add all the seasoning to the pot, and stir with sautéing for another 30 seconds.
- Add the other ingredients: Then, add the water, canned diced tomatoes and chicken pieces to the Instant Pot. Give it a stir to mix it together. Turn off the SAUTE setting, and seal the lid on the pressure cooker.
- Pressure cook: Cook the curry on PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL setting, on high pressure for 10 minutes. Then, perform a quick release to release all pressure according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Finish and serve: Stir the curry, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Top tips
- Feel free to adjust the seasoning to suit your preferences.
- If you're short on time, you can skip the step of sautéing the onion, and simply dump all the ingredients in the pressure cooker at the same time. The curry might not be as flavorful, but still good.
Serving suggestions
Curry is usually served with bread such as naan or chapati, and often with rice. Here are some of my favorite side dishes to serve with Instant Pot chicken curry:
- Instant Pot Basmati Rice - It's really easy to cook rice in your Instant Pot too.
- Turmeric Rice - This yellow flavored rice is a great alternative to plain white rice.
- Air Fryer Broccoli - Crispy roasted broccoli is amazing with curry.
- Air Fryer Carrots - These easy roasted carrots are a great side dish for curry.
Variations
Spicy curry: To spice things up, add some chili powder to the seasoning, or add more diced raw chilies.
With vegetables: Add your favorite diced vegetables to the dish. Peppers, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms, spinach and eggplant are all excellent options. Veggies should be added at the same time as the chicken.
Vegetarian curry: You can make this recipe vegetarian by substituting chicken with chickpeas and vegetables.
Creamy curry: Make it more creamy by adding up to 1 can of coconut milk, or a little heavy cream. This can be added to taste after pressure cooking the curry.
Different curry flavors: Use your favorite curry powder, or try different curry powders to change up the flavors of the dish. You can get milder or spicier curry powders, or different flavors such as madras, tikka masala and others.
Leftovers
You can store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze them for up to 3 months.
Thaw frozen chicken curry in a refrigerator overnight before reheating it.
You can reheat the curry in a microwave, in a pot on the stove top, or in an Instant Pot for a few minutes until it's warm throughout. Serve the curry warm with your favorite sides.
As chicken curry stores really well, this recipe is perfect for meal prep. Make a double batch of curry, and store half for a later date.
Frequently asked questions
If you want the curry a little thicker, you have two options: cook the curry on SAUTE setting until the liquid cooks down, or add a thickener, such as cornstarch slurry.
Absolutely. You can use frozen diced chicken, as long as the chicken pieces aren't completely frozen together. Add another 5 minutes to the cooking time if you use frozen pieces of chicken.
You might also like these recipes
- Chicken Curry Pasta
- Chickpea and Halloumi Curry
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Chickpea and Lentil Curry
- Basa Fish Curry
- Instant Pot Pad Thai
- Chickpea and Spinach Curry
- Chicken Rogan Josh
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 onion
- 1 chili
- 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Dice the onion and chicken, grate the garlic, and remove the seeds from the chili, then dice it finely.
- Add the onion, chili and garlic to your Instant Pot along with the vegetable oil. Use the SAUTE setting to cook for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Add all the seasoning to the pot, and stir with sautéing for another 30 seconds.
- Then, add the water, canned diced tomatoes and chicken pieces to the Instant Pot. Give it a stir to mix it together. Turn off the SAUTE setting, and seal the lid on the pressure cooker.
- Cook the curry on PRESSURE COOK or MANUAL setting, on high pressure for 10 minutes. Then, perform a quick release to release all pressure according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Stir the curry, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Video
Notes
- Store leftovers in a refrigerator for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- This recipe has only been tested in a 6 qt Instant Pot.
Gillian
Absolutely loved this From fussy 12 year old to fussy husband everyone loved it! And for me, as well.as l icing the taste, it was without a doubt the easiest curry I have ever made!