Chicken Crockpot Recipes: Dump & Go Coconut Curry Chicken Thighs Over Rice

3 min read

Updated: 15h

Slow cooker coconut curry chicken thighs with sweet potato and chickpeas over rice with cilantro

5 minutes of prep, 7 hours on LOW, serve over rice

Five minutes of opening cans and the slow cooker does everything else. Chicken thighs, coconut milk, sweet potato and chickpeas cook down until the chicken shreds and the sweet potato has half-dissolved into the sauce, thickening it naturally. Serve over rice, or freeze it in portions for three months.

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Why this one works

Sweet potato breaks down as it cooks and thickens the curry — no cornstarch needed.
Thighs are nearly impossible to overcook in a slow cooker, where breasts dry out past six hours.
Full-fat coconut milk only. Light coconut milk splits and goes watery over a long cook.

At a glance

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 7 hr
Total time: 7 hr 5 min
Yield: 6 servings
Protein: 42g per serving
Calories: 624 per serving

Ingredients

Into the crockpot

2.5 lb (1.1kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 cans (13.5 oz each) full-fat coconut milk
3 tbsp red curry paste
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 yellow onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp fish sauce, or soy sauce
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp kosher salt

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To finish

Juice of 1 lime
3 packed cups baby spinach
Chopped cilantro
Sliced red chili
Cooked jasmine rice

Instructions

Dump everything in. Put the chicken thighs in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add the coconut milk, curry paste, sweet potato, chickpeas, onion, garlic, ginger, fish sauce, turmeric and salt. Stir once so the curry paste dissolves into the coconut milk rather than sitting in a lump.
Cook on LOW. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 hours, or HIGH for 4. LOW gives a much better texture — the sweet potato has time to break down and thicken the sauce.
Shred the chicken. The thighs should fall apart at a touch. Shred them roughly in the pot with two forks, leaving some pieces chunky.
Mash a little sweet potato. Press a few of the sweet potato cubes against the side of the pot with a spoon. They dissolve into the sauce and thicken it noticeably — this is the step that stops it being soupy.
Brighten and wilt. Stir in the lime juice and the spinach. Leave the lid off for 5 minutes on WARM; the spinach wilts and the sauce tightens a little more.
Taste carefully. Curry paste brands vary enormously in salt and heat. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce, lime or salt before serving.
Serve. Spoon over jasmine rice and top with cilantro and sliced chili.

Notes and swaps

Freezer prep: combine everything raw except the spinach and lime in a bag, freeze flat for 3 months, thaw overnight and tip in.
Vegetarian: swap the chicken for two more cans of chickpeas and a block of cubed firm tofu, and use soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
If the finished curry is thinner than you want, cook it uncovered on HIGH for 20 minutes.