This Instant Pot Chicken Curry is the perfect weeknight dinner for busy families! 5 minutes cooking time is all it takes to make this in your pressure cooker!
Instant Pot chicken curry is the quick and basically hands-free version of your classic stove-top chicken curry. I call it hands-free because there is not much happening after the Instant Pot lid is closed and everything is set. The pot cooks it for you and if you follow the instructions your dinner will be ready without any effort!
If you like easy dinner ideas, check out my Sweet and Sour Chicken, Balsamic Chicken Skewers or Tomato Salsa Shrimp and Rice. These are not made in a pressure cooker but are equally easy to make.
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Curry:
Start off with cutting mushrooms, onion, zucchini, pineapple and pepper. Dice the chicken breasts as well. Once you have done this, turn on the Instant Pot. We will saute the chicken pieces first so press the Saute button. Add a bit of oil and throw the chicken pieces in. Sautéing will take about 2-3 minutes. After this you just press the Cancel button and add the rest of the ingredients. It does not matter what is the order you put them in.
IMPORTANT: Don’t forget to mix it so the seasonings are spread around evenly. Close the lid, set the vent to SEALING position and press MANUAL. This Instant Pot chicken curry only needs 5 minutes to cook. It’s an easy to follow recipe and apart from setting your timer, you don’t really need to do much here.
By the way: When the meal is ready and you are not around, it will keep it warm until you manually cancel it. I love this function! It can keep your meals warm up to 10 hours!
Good to know when cooking in Instant Pot:
- Instant Pot makes cooking easy and quick. However, note that the cooking time stated in the recipe does not include the time needed for the pressure cooker to build the pressure as well as the time needed to release it. This will vary on what you cook inside and how much you put inside.
- Thanks to the “keep warm” function your chicken curry will stay warm for several hours. This means you can make it ahead, do shopping and when you return your dinner will be still piping hot! Isn’t it great?
- If you are interested in buying this cool pressure cooker but would like to know more about it, check out these Instant Pot tips. I’ve learned a few interesting things when reading it.
What else should I know before making Instant Pot Chicken Curry?
- I used less than 1 pound of chicken to make this curry and added a lot of veggies. If you feel like you prefer more chicken then go ahead and do so. I suggest using roughly about 1 pound. You can reduce the amount of veggies or leave the same as I have in the recipe.
- This recipe can feed somewhere between 4-6 people (there will be plenty of sauce).
- Cut the veggies into larger chunks (especially peppers and zucchini as they turn way too mushy when cut into thin or tiny pieces).
Want to see how to make Instant Pot Chicken Curry? Watch the video!
- 0.80 lbs Chicken Breast (a bit over ¾ pound/360g)
- 10.5 oz Pineapple Chunks (300g)
- ⅓ cup Raisins (50g)
- ½ Zucchini
- 3 tbsp Mild Curry Powder
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 3 tsp Corn Starch
- 1 can Coconut Milk (13.6oz/400ml)
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 1 cup Mushrooms (100g)
- 1 Small Onion
- 1 tbsp Grated Fresh Ginger
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- Cut the vegetables & chicken breasts into chunks and dice the onion.
- Turn on Instant Pot. Press “Saute” and wait until it beeps 3x. Add oil and chicken and saute for 2-3 minutes.
- Turn off the SAUTE function and add the rest of the ingredients into the pot. Mix. Close the lid, turn the vent to “SEALING” and press the “MANUAL” button. Set timer to 5 minutes and cook on high pressure.
- When the Instant Pot finished cooking, press “CANCEL” and wait for the pressure to be released naturally. After, open the lid and press “SAUTE” button. Stir in corn starch mixed with a tablespoon of water. Cook for about a minute before turning off the pressure cooker completely.
- Serve with rice!
- This recipe was made in a 6 quart Instant Pot.
- The cooking time does not include time needed for the pressure cooker to build the pressure as well as the time needed to release it. Count with extra 30-40 minutes.
- I usually release the pressure naturally but you can decrease the waiting time by doing the 10-minute natural pressure release instead.
Instant Pot Fried Rice
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Lindsay @ The Live-In Kitchen says
Why have I waited so long to buy an instant pot?! This looks so quick and easy!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
🙂 I love my instant pot and don’t understand why I waited so long to buy one. This dinner is definitely easy and no-fuss! 🙂
Amy | The Cook Report says
I really need to get me an instant pot! This looks fab
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
🙂 Thanks, Amy!
Mindy Fewless says
That settles it…I’m getting an instant pot and this is the first dish I’m trying!!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yay! You will love it! 🙂
Jeni @ Biscuits & Booze says
This looks sooooooo much better than take out! I too have been procrastinating on the Instant Pot. But I think it is time!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you, Jeni! 🙂
Sandi says
I love your video because it really makes it easy to understand how to use the Instant pot 🙂
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
I am happy to hear you found the video helpful 🙂
Inci @ Bella's Apron says
I love this recipe and love crockpots for the same reasons you mentioned especially during hectic weekdays
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
🙂 What would we do without pressure cookers and slow cookers, right? 🙂
Jessica says
Hi
I made this tonight and it smelled deliciousssss but when I took a bite something was missing 🙁
I skipped the 1/3 cup raisin because I didn’t have any on hand. Do you think that’s what made the difference?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Jessica, The raisins as well as pineapple are the key ingredients that make the flavor so I highly recommend using raisins next time. Also adding more seasoning at the end could help sort this out. Hope this helps. Let me know if you give it a go next time!
Steve says
Do I use canned pineapple? I was wondering if they wouldn’t do well under pressure.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, Steve, canned pineapple works perfectly. That is what I used as well.
Steve says
I make meals for one, so am wondering if I do half size, should I add in 200 ml of water to make up for the 200 ml of coconut milk that I don’t use? I have made this a few times with a smaller recipe and “make-up” water with great results (partial thanks to the answer you gave to the person who asked if the raisins were necessary I went to go back to the store to get them because you said it was worth it), but once I put too much water and ended up with somewhat bland boiled chicken flavor. So I would like to minimize the water and wonder if the pot requires any make-up water?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Steve, unfortunately, substituting coconut milk with water will result in bland taste (like you said yourself). Yes, you need to add some liquid to the pot so it can come to pressure. Actually, 1 cup (250ml) is recommended. Now to improve the taste, what about trying to add little bit of cream at the very end and thickening it with cornstarch?
ACG says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I am a new user to instant pot and I will definitely make this curry one I got the curry milk.
I can’t wait to explore more of your IP recipes! Thanks a bunch!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Glad to hear that! Let me know if you decide to try some other IP recipes or you need help with something!
Sarah says
This is so good!!! I had never made my own curry before but now have made this a handful of times and the pineapple and ginger make it so flavorful. The whole family loves it!
Tips:
I season the chicken with salt, pepper and curry while sautéing with the onions.
I only use 2 tbsp curry powder during pressure cooking since I used some on the chicken, then add the cornstarch and extra curry at the end if needed.
Thank you for the recipe!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
You are welcome, Sarah! Thanks for finding time to write the feedback and tips 🙂
Megan says
Hi, do you drain the pineapple juice or add juice as well?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Megan, yes, you drain the pineapple juice first.