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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!Â
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.
The recipe says 1 Cinnamon stick…but I think you mean Lemongrass stick. I havent made it yet but plan to tonight.
Hey Garth,
The cinnamon stick is correct, you are going to use lemongrass paste which is listed above:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Thank you so much! What a delicious meal! It is a comfort food kind of dish that I plan to make again. I added red pepper flakes to my dish because I prefer more heat so next time I will use two jalapenos. Definitely a keeper!
Thank you so much Stephanie! I am really glad you liked this one! xTieghan
Delicious recipe! I let it cook down at the end for a little longer to thicken the sauce. It was a nice sauce on the rice. Next time I will throw some keffir lime leaves in the instant pot to get it to the next level! I read some reviews about people struggling but I really think its from their coconut milk. I love making thai food and have had a hard time finding a good coconut milk so it really is key to find a good one. Took me a while! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Adam! I am really glad this recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying this one! xTieghan
It kills me to do this because my family always LOVES your recipes and complains that I didn’t make enough. However, I checked the ingredient list & directions multiple times and I followed this recipe precisely. Something is REALLY off. This is only the 2nd time in almost 20 years of marriage that we couldn’t eat our dinner. (The 1st time was a premise Indian entree from Costco). Like some of the other followers, the sauce was completely watery and the flavor was just not right. No one, including me, could eat it. We ordered pizza & ate pretty late tonight. I really think you should modify/remove this recipe as many people have had the same experience. Why isn’t there any salt in this recipe? It would be such a shame if this was someone’s first recipe to try from your collection. You have many, many amazing recipes & this one just doesn’t compare.
Hey Katie! I am so sorry you had so much trouble with this recipe. I am going to take a look and see if I possibly have something mixing from the recipe list/recipe and I will be re-testing it again this week to triple check. Again, I am so sorry you had such trouble. I feel so bad. Hoping this doesn’t scare you away, but so happy you and your family enjoy other recipes!! Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!! All my best! xxTieghan
Hi! Quick question – I want to make this, I have everything except the full fat coconut milk! I have a can of coconut creme, and a can of light coconut milk? Could I mix these as a substitute/ or use another substitute for the full fat coconut milk?
Thank you! I am looking forward to making this – looks delicious!
Hi Caroline,
You could totally mix these or just use the light coconut milk. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My sauce separated in the Instant Pot. What did I do wrong?
HI! What brand coconut milk are you using and what perfect fact? Brands can vary and I have found some to separate easier than others. Next time, you can also try adding the coconut milk after cooking. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
can I use frozen chicken breasts? If so,do how much additional time do I add? Thank you in advance!
Hi there! Sure! I would add 5 minutes to the Instant Pot Cooking time. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
My Family enjoyed this dish including the 1 yr old. I used A hefty squeeze of lemongrass paste Because I couldn’t find fresh, I also used ginger paste instead of fresh. I left out the pepper, diced the chicken instead of shredding it and used a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. In addition to the flavors I added curry thinking that would add another dimension. It was quite good. The basil and cilantro are a must in this recipe.
Hi Stephanie! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! Thank you for trying it! xTieghan
Can I use lemongrass paste?
Hi Stephanie! Yes, I would use 1 tbs lemongrass paste. Great idea! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
This was also a major fail for me, which is a bummer because it contains all of my favorite ingredients. I think I will give it another shot. However, the next time I make it, I’ll try it on the stove. Using the instant pot caused the coconut milk to separate into chunks (curdle), and when I opened the lid, it honestly looked like throw up! :). I’m guessing that the instant pot took it to too high of a temperature.
Hi Aubrey! Let me know if the stove top works better for you. Is there anything that could have gone wrong while preparing the instant pot? I would love to help! xTieghan
This dish was a bit bland. If I use this recipe again, I will season the chicken with salt and pepper (and maybe a bit of garlic powder), and then sear it in the IP first to give it a bit more flavor. I would also add 1/2 – 1 tsp. of salt to the pot before cooking. I would probably drop the cooking time depending on how long I seared the chicken breasts too.
Hi Kara! Please let me know if there is anything I can help you with! xTieghan
I am pregnant and compiling a list of easy meal go-tos for post-baby! I am curious how much you would adjust the cook times if most of the ingredients were prepped and frozen?
Hi!! If you are cooking ingredients frozen, I would add an additional 5 minutes to the cooking time. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! xTieghan
I made this recipe today and we love the flavors, but the sauce is thin. I’m brainstorming a couple of ideas (Should I serve it over rice noodles in stead of rice, making it more of a soup? ShouLed I try to thicken the sauce?).
Here’s a question: Do you think it would work to add cornstarch, and if so, how much would you add if you want to have a more robust sauce?
Overall, I think it’s a great recipe for my family, but it needs a little tweaking
Hey Sue! If you want to thicken this, just mix 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Bring the sauce to a boil on the saute setting, add the cornstarch and cook until thickened. that will be great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this for dinner last week, following the recipe exactly. It was a disaster. The flavor was super bland, and the chicken breast wasn’t cooked enough to easily shred. I think chicken thighs would have been a better choice. I wouldn’t recommend this recipe.
Hi Sohna! I am really sorry to hear that. Please let me know if I can help you with anything! I hope you still love other recipes on my blog! xTieghan
I was searching for a recipe to use the lemon grass I planted in the spring. I don’t have an instant pot so I used shredded rotisserie chicken. Blended ingredients as stated and combined everything in a sauce pan instead and simmered for 20 minutes. I sautéed the red bell pepper before adding to the sauce. The sauce was a bit thin for our taste so I thickened it with a table spoon of corn starch in cold water. I followed the instructions for adding the final ingredients just before serving. We served over soba noodles. This had my husband literally singing my praises! It was a little spicy for me but not for my husband and son. It was so easy and the flavors were perfect. I will make this over and over again.
So glad this turned out amazing for you Kimerly! Thank you so much! xTieghan