Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry (Vegetarian Option)

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

The other weekend when my friend Brooke and I took a trip to Vancouver for a wellness conference we made sure to set aside a couple extra days to relax and hang out in such a beautiful city! We decided to spend our Sunday perusing around the Granville Island Public Market and I was in my glory!

One of the stands at the market had a bunch of different spices, herbs, and cultural cuisine ingredients. I quickly eyed up the Kaffir Lime leaves and knew I had to buy a bunch to bring home with me.

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

I am a HUGE fan of Thai food. This is probably not news to any of my regular readers as I’ve posted many Thai inspired recipes on the blog in the past (here, here, and here to name a few!). The flavours are so fresh, light, and mouthwatering… kaffir, cilantro, lemongrass, galangal.. mmm yes please!

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

Shortly after I got back home from our trip I put the Kaffir Lime leaves to use!

Since (dare I say it) the Winter season is upon us, I’ve pulled out the slow cooker as it always becomes a kitchen staple for me this time of year! I settled on a warming, flavourful, aromatic and healthy Thai green curry loaded with the lime leaves!

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch
I wanted to use cashews in the Thai green curry sauce as well, similar to this Slow Cooker Dairy Free Butter Chicken recipe I made last year. The cashews add a ton of omega-rich fats and amp up the creaminess of the sauce in a healthy way!

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

I used a ton of vegetables, chicken breast, and chickpeas as the base of my curry and the sauce was a blended mixture of coconut milk, cashews, the kaffir lime leaves, cilantro, green curry paste, ginger, garlic, and lime juice! Easy-peasy and oh, so, delicious! 

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

A quick whirl in the Vitamix and I had a smooth, creamy, green curry sauce that warmed up wonderfully in the slow cooker with the chicken, vegetables, and chickpeas!

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

My favourite thing about using the slow cooker is the smell that always fills the house for hours. It can be a bit torturous sitting there smelling all the ingredients cooking up and still having to wait a few hours before digging in though!

Slow Cooker Thai Green Cashew Chicken Curry via Nutritionist in the Kitch

Are you a fan of Thai food too? What’s your favourite Thai dish? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below! 

3.0 from 1 reviews
Slow Cooker Thai Green Chicken Curry
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • For the sauce:
  • 1 15oz can light coconut milk
  • ½ cup raw cashews
  • 1 heaping tablespoon Thai green curry paste (make sure there is no fish sauce if you are vegetarian)
  • 5-6 Kaffir lime leaves
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp minced ginger root
  • ¼ cup cilantro
  • For the Curry:
  • 4-5 chicken breasts or 8-10 chicken thighs, diced (or a mix of both) (if you are vegetarian omit and add more vegetables)
  • 1 small yellow onion, diced
  • 2 bell peppers, sliced
  • 1 medium carrot, sliced
  • 1 cup green beans, chopped
  • 1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Instructions
  1. Place the sauce ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth.
  2. Add the chicken, onion, bell peppers, and carrots to the slow cooker and pour the sauce over, toss to coat.
  3. Cook on high for 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so.
  4. After 2 hours add in the green beans and the chickpeas and cook for another 1-2 hours.
  5. Divide into 6 equal servings and enjoy with optional garnishes (cilantro, lime leaves, lime juice, sesame oil, pistachios, crushed cashews).
Notes
If you are making the vegetarian version the total cooking time will only be about 2 hours on high. Add the chickpeas and green beans to the slow cooker after just 1 hour.
Nutritional Information
Serving size: ⅙ recipe Calories: 358 calories Fat: 13g Carbohydrates: 31g Sugar: 8g Fiber: 8g Protein: 31g

Have a wonderful rest of the week and stay warm!

Christal

Nutritionist in the Kitch

Author: Christal Sczebel

Christal is the creator of Nutrition in the Kitch. She's a Certified Nutritional Consultant, twice published author, gluten and dairy free recipe developer, food photographer, speaker, wife, and mama. Christal loves good food, all things wellness, and loves to travel. Her wellness philosophy is centred around balance and sustainable health, life's way too short for boring diets and restriction!

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  • Decent foundation for a slow cooker green curry recipe and really liked the addition of chickpeas, but I would definitely suggest a few changes after having made this:
    – the carrots & bell peppers were waaay overcooked, I don’t like mushy vegetables in curry (who does?!); I would switch to adding them much later on than the chicken & onion and reducing the heat.
    – it’s definitely worth adding a bit of fish sauce (there are nice vegan alternatives available too) + a dash of cane or brown sugar to tie the flavors together. I would also add fresh lemongrass. Otherwise, it tastes like it’s missing something.

    • Thanks for the feedback, love these suggestions! It’s been years since I made the recipe and now that I’ve learned more and experimented more over the years I would definitely agree with you on these points 🙂

    • Thanks Bethany, yes I was super happy with how the photos turned out as well! 🙂 Thanks as always for commenting!