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Instant Pot Thai Lemongrass Chicken.
I haven’t talked much about this, and I don’t know how I haven’t, but you guys, I’ve basically stolen Asher’s dog, Merle, and taken him in as my own. If you follow along on Instagram, then you may have wondered about his frequent appearances, as he makes it into my stories often. Asher, who is nine, somehow convinced my parents to get her a dog towards the end of last summer. She’s the last child, so I think you can see why this wasn’t hard for her to do…
My mom and Asher found Merle, who is a mini Australian Shepard in September. For a while, I didn’t spend much time with Merle since he is Asher’s dog. But then that whole trip to South Korea happened and I came back to the states about two weeks before my parents. This meant that I took Merle in, and in those two weeks I discovered that Merle is probably the best dog ever. No seriously, the best. He did literally everything with me those entire two weeks. We hiked every morning, he’d sit at my feet while I worked, and hang with me in the kitchen while I cooked. I took him with me everywhere I went, because again, he’s just the best dog. AND he listens to me, which I find greatly satisfying.
Since then, Merle spends a lot of time at my house. If you are a new…ish reader, my house neighbors my parents house, so I just pick Merle up every morning, we hike and then he spends the day with me until Asher gets out of school. At which time Asher demands that he come back home to hang with her. This week however, Merle is with me full time again, and I can’t lie, I love having him here. He’s cute, cuddly, kind, and again, he listens to me, which I love. And as I type this, Merle is sitting not an inch away. I finally get that whole saying that, dog is man’s best friend. That’s Merle!
Anyway, that little story has not a thing to do with today’s recipe, but I thought we needed a fun intro, because it’s Wednesday and I think all Wednesdays could use a bright little story.
Plus, I clearly just had Merle on my mind…
OK. OKAY.
Moving on.
Let’s talk all things Thai chicken and instant pot.
As I have said, when I first got my Instant Pot, I wasn’t really that crazy about it. I think I tossed the first two, three, maybe even four recipes I made out. But once I got past the learning curve, I slowly began to really love the instant pot, like I do my slow cooker. There are certain foods that I find the instant pot cooks better than others, and if you ask me, the instant pot cooks chicken perfect every single time. And that’s where this Thai chicken comes into play.
I’m a huge fan of Thai anything, but especially Thai food with a little lemongrass. It’s comforting yet fresh at the same time and full of so much flavor.
As with most instant pot recipes, you pretty much just add everything to the pot, set it, and dinner is done in about twenty or so minutes. No dirtying up too many dishes or even the stove, a major bonus in my book (if you didn’t already know, I hate doing dishes and cleaning the stove!). The chicken is tender, a little on the spicy side, hinted with coconut, and finished off with plenty of lime. It would be delicious packed into a wrap or maybe even served in a salad, but I personally like to serve my chicken up over a bed of steamed rice and top it simply with carrots and greens.
It’s nothing too fancy, but yet it’s incredibly delicious. The major plus, is that it takes no time at all to make. Perfect for busy nights, or nights when you really just don’t feel like cooking.
Oh, and if you have any leftovers, they’d be great packed up for lunches!
Instant Pot Thai Lemongrass Chicken
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 516 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 can (13.5 ounce) full fat coconut milk
- 1 small yellow onion, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger
- 1 tablespoons lemongrass paste
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red fresno pepper or jalapeño, seeds removed and chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly torn
- juice of 1 lime
- peanuts, shredded carrots, and green onions, for serving
- steamed rice for, serving
Instructions
- 1. In a blender, combine the coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, curry paste, fish sauce, and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. 2. In the bowl of your instant pot, combine the chicken, coconut sauce, bell pepper, fresno pepper, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on high pressure/manual for 8 minutes. 3. Once done cooking, use the natural or quick release function. Set the Instant pot to sauté and bring to a boil, boil 5 minutes or until the liquid reduces slightly. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Shred the chicken using two forks. Stir in the cilantro, basil, and lime juice. Season with salt.3. Serve the chicken over rice and top with peanuts, carrots, and green onions. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker
- 1. In a blender, combine the coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, curry paste, fish sauce, and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. 2. In the bowl of your slow cooker, combine the chicken, coconut sauce, bell pepper, fresno pepper, and cinnamon stick. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours. Once done cooking, remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Shred the chicken using two forks. Stir in the cilantro, basil, and lime juice. Season with salt. Finish as directed above.
Dinner in minutes. Can’t beat that.
Hi! I am considering making this for my book club on Thursday night. Could I double this? Would that affect the cooking time in the Instant Pot at all?
Thanks so much!
April
HI! Yes, you can double. I would add 10 minutes of cooking time. That will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Interesting recipe. But, isn’t llemongrass unchewable? I’ve never had it cooked to soften, only for flavoring.
HI! As long as you cook the lemongrass it should be come chewable. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
What do you have the carrots soaking in in the picture?
Hi Emily, It’s vinegar, they are pickled carrots. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Made this in my pressure cooker, and it’s pretty yummy, but a lot of the juice from the chicken when cooking appears to have made the sauce quite thin and less flavourful 🙁 not sure if I did something wrong.
Hey Bella! Did you change anything about the recipe? Any details you can give me would be so helpful in problem solving what might be happening. Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Does the recipe call for Thai basil or sweet basil?
I like to use thai basil best, but whatever you can easily find will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! xTieghan
Hello! Tried this recipe and found the curry sauce to be too thin to our liking…any tips on thickening it?
Our theory is that our chicken was still too frozen…
I have used your blog for food inspiration on a weekly basis for over six months now and have LOVED every single recipe, but oh boy, this has become my absolute favorite of all the superyummydelicious dishes. It’s insanely good!! Thank you and greetings from Finland:)
Thank you so much! I am so happy to hear that you loved this recipe Lotta!
If you don’t have an instant pot, could you use a crock pot on high for 4 hours or just simmer in a dutch oven?
HI! Yes, a crockpot on high for 4 hours will be great. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Yikes, this recipe was not great at all. Followed the recipe exactly but it was a real miss (sad because we love Thai food and have traveled there.)
Hi Amy! I am so sorry you did not enjoy this recipe. I hope you still try others on my blog and enjoy them!
I made this last night just over the stove – simmered for about 30min, and it was awesome. My husband who does not usually branch out of his food comfort zone tried this and loved it too! The sauce is so flavorful and delicious, and I found that it was not hard to prep. Thank you for these great recipes!
Is there actually any lemongrass in this recipe?
Hi Keri! Yes, there is one lemongrass stalk included! I hope you love this!
Making this in a crock pot right now. The house smells so good. Can’t wait to try it. Love your recipes.
Thank you! I hope you love this recipe Marcia!
Can this be made with green curry instead of red?
I am sure green curry will be amazing! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe. It was delicious. Even my two year old gobbled it up. I left out the spicy peppers, since he would be eating it. Keep those instant pot recipes coming. I’m always on the look out for new recipes. I’ve had mine for a year now, and its come to be my favorite kitchen appliance.
Thank you so much Lauren! I am so glad you and your family loved this!
Question, can this be done as a stir fry with all the ingredients and the blended mixture as the sauce you stir the stir fry in? Instead of crock pot. I don’t have the time it would take to cook the food that way.
I have not tried this, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work great! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂