What’s not to love about a big bowl of curry that’s made in less than 30 minutes?! Chicken Sweet Potato Curry is heaven in a bowl. It comes with a little kick from the spices and a little sweet from the sweet potatoes.
Instant Pot Chicken Curry with sweet potatoes make for a tasty, soul-warming, easy, weeknight meal.
This Whole30 friendly chicken curry recipe is inspired by Indian cuisine and makes a regular appearance on our menus. It’s flavorful, comforting, and just a really good meal that will warm you right up on a cold winter day. This recipe requires about 10-15 minutes of chopping but after that, it comes together rather quickly in the Instant Pot.
Not only is curry insanely delicious, but it’s also packed with nutrients. One of the main spices in curry is turmeric which we all know provides a host of nutritional benefits as it’s incredibly rich in anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants.
Now if you don’t have an Instant Pot but like the sounds of this recipe, you can try our Slow Cooker Chicken Sweet Potato Curry.
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Ingredients for Chicken Sweet Potato Curry
- Cooking fat of choice – such as olive oil or avocado oil. You can also use coconut oil, butter (not whole30), or ghee.
- Garlic and onion – because flavor!
- Chicken breast – chicken thighs also work great. We love ButcherBox for its quality meat options.
- Sweet potato – substitute butternut squash.
- Red bell pepper – any color of bell pepper will work.
- Chicken broth –
- we love making homemade bone broth to keep in our freezer. Of course you can use store-bough as well – Thrive Market’s chicken broth is a great option.
- Spices – curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. It’s important to use quality spices that aren’t outdated. Outdated spices will result in a bland curry.
- Sea salt
- Full fat coconut milk – chicken curry with coconut milk makes for a delicious and creamy dairy-free recipe. While we recommend coconut milk for the best and most authentic flavor, you could substitute half and half or whole milk for a dairy option.
- Frozen green beans – frozen green beans work best in this recipe but you could also toss in a couple of handfuls of greens in addition or in place of the green beans.
- Cashews, cilantro, lime wedges & cauliflower rice, or rice of choice (not whole30) for serving
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How to make Instant Pot Chicken Curry with Sweet Potatoes
This chicken curry with coconut milk is dairy-free and comes together in just 4 simple steps.
- Step 1: Set your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add the ghee, onion, and garlic and saute until onions are translucent.
- Step 2: Then turn to high pressure. Add the chicken, sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, broth, curry, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and sea salt. Seal the instant pot and set time for 10 minutes.
- Step 3: Once the time is up, quick release the pressure by switching from seal to vent. Once pressure is released, remove the lid and turn Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Stir in the coconut milk and frozen green beans and let cook for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the green beans are heated through.
- Step 4: Serve over cauliflower rice, regular rice, or greens and top with cashews, lime wedges, and fresh cilantro.
The sweet potatoes will break down during the cooking process, resulting in a creamy, delicious, thick curry. For an even thicker curry, you can mix together 2 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of tapioca or arrowroot flour. While the Instant Pot is on the sauté setting, stir it into curry after the coconut milk is heated through and let sit for a few minutes to thicken.
Prep ahead tip: chop the vegetables and chicken a day or two before you plan to make this sweet potato curry. This will make for an incredibly easy weeknight meal.
Confused about poultry labeling? Check this post out to learn all about how to choose the best chicken in the grocery store.
How to serve this Sweet Potato Curry
There are a few ways you can serve this chicken curry, depending on your tastes and preferences!
You can serve the curry over:
- Cauliflower rice
- White or Brown Rice
- Mixed Greens
We love to top our curry bowls with cashews, lime wedges, and fresh cilantro to add a pop of color and crunch.
High-quality spices = high-quality taste!
High-quality spices are key to cooking. The turmeric and curry powder in this Instant Pot Chicken Curry creates robust flavor and also gives the sweet potato curry its rich golden appearance.
It’s important that your spices aren’t expired and are from a quality source. If not, you may end up with a bland bowl of curry. We like to do a big clean out of our spice racks every few months to make sure nothing is expired (it’s so easy for spices to hide at the back for years!). We like Simply Organic or Thrive Market spices and seasonings.
Is this Chicken Sweet Potato Curry freezer-friendly?
I don’t know about you, but I love freezer-friendly meals. Cook once, eat twice!
After the Sweet Potato Chicken Curry has cooled down, individually portion out the curry in freezer-friendly containers. Make sure to mark your container with the date, and store in the freezer. For best flavor, we recommend enjoying freezer-friendly meals within 3 months.
To reheat, remove from the freezer the night before or the morning of the day you plan to eat it. Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat stirring occasionally.
Looking for guidance with meal planning? Check out Real Plans, a highly customizable online meal planning service that includes over 300 of our very own recipes.
What spices are in curry powder?
This can range from region to region but typically include turmeric, chili powder, fenugreek ground coriander, ground cumin, ground ginger, and pepper. Curry powder can be bought pre-made and can vary in spiciness.
Other curry recipes to try
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Chicken Sweet Potato Curry (Instant Pot)
Instant Pot Sweet Potato Chicken Curry is heaven in a bowl. It comes with a little kick from the spices and a little sweetness from the sweet potatoes which nearly melt into the curry to create a thick, rich sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp. cooking fat of choice such as olive oil or avocado oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ lbs. chicken breast, cubed
- 1 medium-large sweet potato, cubed (~2 cups)
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced or diced
- 2/3 cup chicken broth (use 1 cup broth if you have a newer Instant Pot model to avoid getting the burn signal)
- 3–4 Tbsp. curry powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1 tsp. ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt, more to taste
- 1 can (14 oz.) full fat coconut milk
- 2 cups frozen green beans
- Cashews, cilantro, lime wedges & cauliflower rice, or rice of choice for serving (omit cashews for nut-free)
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add the ghee, onion, and garlic and saute until onions are translucent.
- Then turn to high pressure. Add the chicken, sweet potatoes, red pepper, broth, curry, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, and sea salt. Seal the Instant Pot and set time for 10 minutes.
- Once the time is up, release the pressure by switching from seal to vent. Once pressure is released, remove the lid and turn Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Stir in the coconut milk and frozen green beans and let cook for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the green beans are heated through. Add additional curry powder and salt to taste.
- Serve over cauliflower rice, regular rice, or greens and top with cashews, lime wedges, and fresh cilantro.
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Notes
**For a thicker curry – mix together 2 Tbsp. of water with 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch or arrowroot powder. While instant pot is on the saute setting, stir into curry after the coconut milk is heated through and let set for a few minutes to thicken.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1/6th of recipe
- Calories: 335
- Fat: 17g
- Sodium: 540mg
- Carbohydrate: 17g
- (Fiber: 4g
- Sugar: 6g)
- Protein: 28g
Dietary
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Photo Credit: The photos in this blog post were taken by Jess of Plays Well with Butter.
I was not a fan as the potatoes and veggies disintegrated. If I dont want that to happen next time, should I cook just the chicken first? then add veggies? Any suggestions on time?
Though the recipe is written such that the sweet potatoes nearly disintegrate to create a thick sauce, we completely understand if that’s not your jam. To remedy this, you can cut the chicken into very small pieces and cook for less time (2-3 minutes less should do it). Hope that helps!
What size instant pot did you use for recipe
We used the 6 quart Instant Pot though you can also use the 8-quart version (or even the 3-quart).
If you double the recipe, would you use same cooking times?
You do NOT need to double (or even increase) the cooking time when you double a recipe in the Instant Pot and here’s why: Doubling the volume means the Instant Pot will take longer to heat up and come to pressure before the actual cooking time starts. This means that the cooking process has already started by the time the pot is fully pressurized. That being said, you may actually need to decrease the total cooking time by 1-2 minutes for this recipe since the vegetables will likely be very soft (if not totally overcooked – this same rule applies when you cook seafood or grains that are tender like rice, quinoa, oats, etc.). If you decrease the cooking time and the dish is slightly undercooked, you can always lock the lid back into place and cook for another minute or two since the pot will come up to full pressure much faster with the hot food inside.
Is it okay to use frozen sweet potatoes
I imagine it would be fine – you may want to decrease the cooking time though as they’re already partially cooked (blanched) before they’re frozen.
I’ve been using my instant pot for almost a year and followed the recipe exactly. I got the burn warning:(. Any suggestions for avoiding this?
I am now cooking this on 350 in a Dutch oven for 2 hours and hoping for the best.
I’m not sure what happened there. That has never happened to us nor have we heard of it happening to others who have tried this recipe. There should be plenty of liquid with the broth that is added plus the liquid that’s released from the veggies and chicken. Fingers crossed it turns out for you!