Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken
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Saucy Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken with sweet red peppers, tender potatoes, and crunchy cashews make right in your crockpot! So easy and INSANELY delicious!
Love this recipe? Try these other Asian inspired recipes! Mango Chicken Curry, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, and Slow Cooker Sesame Beef.
The way I see it, you’re either Type A, Type B, or Type C.
And no, I’m not talking about those relentless color-coded personality tests you took 173 times in school. I’m talking about your curry personality.
If you’re Type A – you love it. You think curry is the greatest thing since (before) sliced bread and you crave its presence in your life.
Type B – You haven’t tried curry and you’re kind of skeptical about the whole thing. Maybe it’s the smell, the blinding color, or just the fact that it’s not typically used in American Sunday potroast dinners so it sort of feels like an alien ingredient to you.
Let me put your mind at rest. Curry is a spice. Just like cumin in Mexican dishes or garlic in Italian dishes, curry is the salt and pepper of Indian food. And it’s crazy-amazingly-delicious.
Type C – You hate curry. (Do you people actually exist??)
If you’re already on board with curry – you Type As – good! Make this dish. That’s pretty much all I have to say to you.
If you are on the fence – stop giving it dirty looks and actually eat curry. You’ll feel much better just knowing that you’ve tried it and have a real, honest-to-goodness based-on-true-life opinion about the stuff. And I’m just going to say… I’ll be shocked if this slow cooker coconut cashew chicken version doesn’t turn you into a Type A prontissimo.
And for you Type Cs…. (hellooooo?? anybody out there….???) I think you should consider giving it another go. Or at least don’t leave my blog forever because I scare you off with one (freaking a-mazing) curry dish. Come back tomorrow – we’ll talk something a little closer to home.
Oh did I mention you can make this in your slow cooker?? Yeah, you crockpot addicts should be excited. And if you don’t have a slow cooker – not to worry! – you can whip up this heavenly stuff right on the stove. Just steam your potatoes (microwave works great) before tossing them into a pot with everything else and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes or until your chicken is cooked through.
Bada-bing-bada-boom!
Coconut curry. Plus chicken. and cashews.
YUM.
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken
“I LOVE CURRY!!! 
I never attempted to cook it until I saw this recipe… I loved the outcome even though I think I was being a little stingy with spices (given it was more first time I wasn’t too generous) I could have definitely added more” – Trudi
“I loved this!!! Turned out great! I followed directions completely and did the notes; the sludge to thicken and the paste to powder conversion. The paste I used was Thai and I felt it gave it a Thai taste instead of Indian curry. Still great! Cilantro really made a difference too, but cilantro and nuts I just added to individual servings. My chicken was really tender and perfect (the pounding it thin helps). Thanks keep your recipes coming!” – Susan
“Wow!!! Great recipe, I’ve made this twice now…My 3 year old daughter loves it!!! love this in the crock pot – Thanks again <3” – Renee
“Made this yesterday. It was amazing!!! I’ve been looking for a good curry recipe for a long time now and have found it. House smelled amazing, even the Google Fiber installer commented on it. Thanks!” – Stephanie
Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 2 small potatoes , (I used red), peeled and chopped
- ½ white or yellow onion, chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk , (or one 14-ounce can + 1/2 cup chicken broth)
- 3 tablespoons yellow curry powder , (see note)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
- optional: corn starch slurry , (see note)
- cashews, cilantro, cooked rice for serving
Instructions
- Add chicken pieces, red peppers, potatoes, and onions to the slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl whisk together chicken broth, curry powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne pepper. Pour mixture into slow cooker and stir to coat chicken and veggies. Cover and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low 4-5 hours.
- About 10-15 minutes before serving, stir in coconut milk. Stir just before serving and top with cashews and freshly chopped cilantro.
Notes
*If you prefer a little bit thicker curry (like I do) whisk together 3 tablespoons cold water and 2 tablespoons corn starch. Stir into crockpot about 30-45 minutes before serving and cook on high until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What size slow cooker are people using for this recipe? I’m thinking of buying one, but most recipes don’t specify what size slow cooker to buy.
Hi Tiffany,
I’m going to try this recipe today and was wondering if I used pumpkin instead of potato because I had a pumpkin curry once and it was divine and thought it could possibly go well in this recipe?
Kind regards Gavin.
Hi Gavin, I haven’t tried pumpkin in a curry recipe before so I can’t say from experience but I’m all about trying to recreate foods I’ve tried before so I say go for it! 🙂
I am a Type C for sure. Sadly we do exist and for me, curry makes me violently ill. It is kind of sad because I had been looking forward to trying it. No sooner had I done so that I ended up in a restaurant lavatory retching my guts out. And no, it wasn’t the flu or food poisoning or anything it was something in the spice mix that I just don’t tolerate. So 12 hours of heaving and a trip to the ER later (welcome to my fun!) all was well but even the smell can trigger my gag reflex in an very unpleasant fashion. Hubby however adores curry so I will pass this on to him. I have, over time, managed to get to the point that he can have it or even cook it in moderation. Most of the time I just head down to the barn and mess with our critters until he is done and cleaned up. If I am having a particularly bad reaction I just go into the goat pen and hug our big stinky buck….I smell nothing but Justin for days after. Unfortunately I also find a serious lack of human interaction during that time too!
(If you have never smelled an intact goat buck….be thankful. Skunk spray isn’t as potent! LOL)
This was absolutely fabulous! I used 1 tbsp red curry paste & 2 tbsp curry powder, and added the coconut milk and slurry. Another 30-35 minutes and it was perfect – no curdling 🙂 I will definitely be making this again.
Hey Tiffany this looks great, gonna make it tonight! Just a quick question, should I brown the chicken pieces before putting them in the slow cooker? Thanx
Hi Matt! Nope, You don’t need to brown the chicken first – you can put it straight into the slow cooker!
It says cook for 4 hours on high, do you think I can cook for 6-8 hours on low? Thanks!
Hi Morgan! I bet you could do 6-8 hours on low. If you do a little bit bigger chunks of meat it will help keep the chicken from drying out. Let me know how it goes!
Okay, I”ve got about an hour before mine’s ready but it seems to have separated or something? I couldn’t get yellow curry power, so used the paste instead, but that shouldn’t matter right, because you said you could swap a tbsp out with red curry paste? I’m hoping that when I put the coconut milk in, it will correct it…Bummer!
This combines my two favourite things. Curry & the Slow Cooker! Trying it tonight. I’m in Australia and its just turning cold. My husband has been away so he’ll come home tonight to the fire on and the gorgeous smell of this bubbling away in my slow cooker! Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi there. I am making this as we speak but I am freakin coz my shop didn’t have yellow curry powder- only yeow curry paste!? Do I still use three tablespoons of the pasta?? Or more or less!? Help!! Thanks heaps!!
Excuse my auto correct. 3 tablespoons of paste?
Hi Katie! Sorry for the delayed response, been out of the country for 2 weeks, but when using paste I’d start with half of the amount of written powder and then add more as you desire based on how the taste is coming along. You can always stir in more at the end 🙂
I LOVE CURRY!!! 🙂 never attempted to cook one until I saw this recipe though… I loved the outcome even though I think I was being a little stingy with spices (given it was more first time I wasn’t too generous) I could have definitely added more 🙂 anyway, love the curry, my question is though : I unknowingly (until I poured it in) used a ‘light’ coconut milk… Would this be the reason why the curry wasn’t as really ‘creamy’ as I thought it would be? Or is there something else you do to make it really creamy so to speak??
Thanks heaps and love it!!!
Hi Trudi! So glad you liked this recipe – I make curry at home all the time because it’s so easy and so much cheaper than going out! This type of curry actually isn’t as thick as some others but even if you use light coconut milk (which I have done many times) you can always add a corn starch slurry to make it thicker (I’ve done this many times too!). Just whisk together 1-2 tablespoons corn starch with 3-4 tablespoons cold water. Stir it into the curry and let it heat up – about 30 minutes for a crockpot dish, or 4-5 minutes in a stovetop dish. Give it a good stir and it should thicken up nicely. 🙂