If you’re a fan of Thai food then a Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry is a must try – a good slap of chilli heat, sweetness, and buckets of flavour, all on one plate!
Slow Cooker Club followers will know that the Friday night fakeaway is a thing in our house – why bother paying your local takeaway for food when you can cook something healthier and better tasting yourself?
We usually have an Indian or a Thai (creatures of habit!) – now this recipe has been added to the repertoire there’s no chance of that changing any time soon.
What’s the best Thai Red Curry Paste?
If you don’t want to make the paste yourself (let’s be honest, if you’re pressed for time – who does?), then the paste you use will make or break your curry.
We’ve tried loads of them, and the best Thai red curry paste is Mae Ploy, imported from Thailand. It has the right balance of flavour, spice and heat, and is bloomin’ marvellous. It’s also the same brand of paste we use for our slow cooker thai green curry recipe.
Sadly you can’t buy Mae Ploy paste in many places – our local supermarkets didn’t have any stock, and the pastes they did have were pretty dreadful. The best place to buy it is online – Amazon UK stock 400g and 1kg pots.
More Delicious Slow Cooker Curries
Crockpots are great for making curries. Why not try one of these alternatives?
What’s the difference between Thai Red and Green Curry?
You may not be surprised to learn that the key difference is the chillis used to make the curry paste. Thai red curries use red chillis, and Thai green curries use…green! A Thai green curry usually has more of a kick than a Thai red curry as green chillis are hotter.
Thai red curries tend to lean towards the more savoury side, whereas green curries will be sweeter.
What vegetables are best for a Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry?
Like all curries – don’t be afraid to experiment! Our recipe contains peppers, shallots, sugar snap peas and bamboo shoots.
Other vegetables that could also work well in a slow cooker Thai red curry include:
- Diced sweet potato
- Butternut squash
- Green beans
- Mushrooms
Can I freeze leftovers?
Leftover Thai curry can be kept in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Alternatively it’ll keep for three days in the fridge.
We recommend that you recook fresh rice rather than reheat any leftovers.
Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 500 g chicken thighs – skinless and boneless
- 3 tbsp red curry paste – the quantity will vary slightly according to the type of paste used
- 1 stick of lemon grass
- 4 shallots – echalion or 'banana' shallots cut into slices
- 1 red pepper – sliced
- 120 g bamboo shoots – canned and drained
- 100 g sugar snap peas – cut in half
- 600 ml coconut milk – full fat
- 1½ tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 lime – juice only
- coriander – fresh for serving
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp corn flour
Instructions
- Add the curry paste to a pan on the hob and cook it over a high heat for 2 minutes until the paste has loosened slightly. Pour in the coconut milk and stir through for another minute to mix with the paste then remove from the heat.
- Roughly chop the chicken thighs and place in the slow cooker with all of the chopped vegetables. Sprinkle over the corn flour, salt and pepper to coat the vegetables and meat.
- BAsh the lemon grass stalk with a rolling pin to open up the flavour and add into the cooking pot. Pour over the coconut milk and curry paste sauce ensuring the meat and vegetables are completely covered.
- Add the sugar, lime juice and soy sauce into the sauce and stir through. Cook on high for 4 hours or 7 hours on low.
Notes
- Soy Sauce – use Tamari instead.
- Curry paste – check the brand used is gluten free.
We had this tonight after a chilli day in Ireland and it was super tasty and comforting! Thank you – we highly recommend and I will make double next time we we can freeze some 🥶
Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, it is lovely and warming! Thanks for the review.
This is my favourite Thai curry recipe. The chicken is so soft.
If I froze it would I have to defrost fully before reheating or would it be suitable for reheating from frozen?
Thanks! 🙂
That’s great to hear! 🙂
You absolutely can reheat it from frozen, but don’t try and do it in the slow cooker. We usually defrost leftover slow cooker meals in the microwave, stirring regularly. Ensure that it’s piping hot all the way through before serving and it’ll be perfect!