We made coconut chicken with curry and vegetables in an Instant Pot and it was good served as a soup or on top of rice. An easy dairy free meal made in one pot that was super creamy and sweet made with coconut milk.

Square bowl of creamy coconut chicken curry with green beans, next to rice, cilantro, and an Instant Pot.

This turned out yummy! In 3 minutes it was completely done cooking and ready to eat. We have left the sauce thin or thickened and both were a hit with our girls! This is our husbands favorite amongst all our Instant Pot recipes.

My husband was trying to follow a dairy free diet for a while. It was a bit of a struggle for us to come up with ideas because we're so used to using milk products to create creamy soups and dishes.

Ninja Foodi Coconut Chicken

This was a winner Ninja Foodi recipe (using the lid not attached). With that said it doesn't matter what brand you have at home. We have a few, a Crockpot Express works quite well too. For that one brown is the same as the saute button. A great one pot meal you have to try here.

Four seasoned raw chicken thighs rest on a wooden cutting board with tongs nearby, ready to be transformed into a delectable instant pot meal

What type of chicken should be used?

We have used both cubed chicken breast or thighs depending on what looks good at the store. Typically we prefer chicken thighs because they're a lot more tender, and cheaper overall really.

Either way make sure that you cube them so they're the same size. This will ensure that every piece is cooked as tender as the other. It is important that they're a similar thickness too. You want the meat to be able to absorb the flavors in the pot. We do not like extra thick breasts for anything. If that is all you can find we might slice it in half so it's thinner.

Coconut Chicken with Frozen Chicken

You would first need to break the breasts or thighs apart and follow the frozen chicken in the Instant Pot directions to cook it and shred or dice. Drain the pot from water and continue on with recipe card below from the beginning.

Coconut Chicken Sauce

If you have never worked with coconut milk before it is great. You find it canned actually on the shelf at the store instead of the refrigerated area. You get a hint of that tropical flavor but a sweetness that is heavenly. Beyond that you would add soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, salt, curry and garam masala.

Can you use coconut cream instead of coconut milk?

Not really. We would compare this to evaporated milk vs. condensed milk. One is MUCH thicker than the other. You'd need to dilute the cream if that is all you had. It would be sweeter too.

Coconut chicken, green beans, and herbs simmer in a creamy sauce inside an open Instant Pot on a kitchen counter.

Best Vegetables to Add

We love adding vegetables into our main dish but they all need the same amount of Instant Pot cook times. These snap peas were perfectly tenderness when it was done. You need items that are a bit firmer and can withstand a few minutes under high pressure and won't fall apart. Thick slices of carrots would work too if you wanted to load it up.

Usually we don't incorporate meat and vegetables when cooking in our Instant Pot because veggies typically have shorter cook times. Meat obviously takes a lot longer but cutting the chicken into bite size pieces makes it work perfectly.

Tips

After you saute meat this way you need to deglaze Instant pot. If you aren't familiar with this method you can read the article linked above but basically it is to prevent the burn notice from popping up. All you do is use a wood spatula to scrape the bits of stuck on food off the bottom of the pot, you may need a bit of liquid to do so. Then proceed with next steps.

If you want liquid to thicken add 1/2 cup of hot liquid in pot to a small bowl with 1.5 tbsp. cornstarch and whisk together. Pour back into pot and slowly stir it in. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so to thicken more if desired. Serve as is or on top of Ninja Foodi rice.

A bowl of rice topped with coconut chicken and green chile stew, garnished with cilantro, with an Instant Pot in the background.

When done you can use the rest of your can to make our Instant Pot coconut rice pudding after you enjoy this with it for a super tasty dish with a hint of your favorite tropical flavor inside. It is a lactose-free, vegan milk substitute that can be used in a ton of recipes. Great if you're looking for a dairy free milk alternative.

Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Recipe

By Easy pressure cooker coconut chicken in Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi pressure cooker is creamy with coconut milk, breasts and vegetables. Prep: 10 minutes minsCook: 3 minutes minsTotal: 13 minutes minsServings: 4 Save Recipe Saved! Pin Recipe Comment Print Recipe

Equipment

Ingredients

1 lb chicken, boneless, skinless, cut into chunks
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small onion, diced
1/2 small bell pepper, diced
1/2 tsp salt, may want to add a bit when done too, depending on preference
1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, diced
1 cup snap peas, fresh, ends removed
1.5 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger minced
4 oz chiles, canned, diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar heaping
14 oz coconut milk
1.5 tbsp cornstarchoptional, to thicken
2 tsp curry, optional
2 tsp garam masala optional

Instructions

Add olive oil to Instant Pot and set to saute.
Cut chicken into bite size pieces and dice your onion, add to your pressure cooker and cook until outsides of chicken pieces are white and pink is gone (doesn't have to be completely cooked thru).
Turn pressure cooker off and scrape bottom of pot to remove stuck on pieces of meat to deglaze it.
Add soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger, and salt, curry and garam masala. Stir to coat chicken with spices.
Add in diced bell pepper, can of chiles, cilantro, snap peas and coconut milk and gently stir to combine.
Put lid on and close steam valve.
Set to pressure, high, for 3 minutes.
Do a quick release.
If you want liquid to thicken add 1/2 cup of hot liquid in pot to a small bowl with 1.5 tbsp. cornstarch and whisk together. Pour back into pot and slowly stir it in.
Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so to thicken more if desired.
Serve as is or on top of white rice.