If you’ve been looking for an Instant Pot Chicken Curry recipe that is certain to be a game changer, this is the one for you!

Before I bought my Instant Pot, I didn’t really get the hype. I’d read the reviews, and I knew the “basic” functions…but once I started making recipes in it, I was floored. First, I was all about making instant pot red beans and rice. But my latest love is this Indian-style curry recipe. One bite of this and my taste buds were begging for more.

We used to eat Indian-style curries all the time, but over the last few years, we started to default more to Thai curries. This instant pot curry brought me right back though – I had almost forgotten how tasty this recipe is! The key is to use a good curry powder. I like to buy mine in bulk from the Indian grocer, but McCormick’s is also good. Use a standard curry powder for this recipe, not Madras curry powder which is very spicy.

You can also make your own curry powder out of dried spices that you might already have in your cabinet.

If you have leftover curry powder, use it in this Corn Salad, Tofu Curry Pot Pie or make these delicious Sweet Potato and Quinoa Patties with Curry Sauce. For a vegetarian meal, give this aubergine curry a try.

I’m a lover of all things curry so this Instant Pot Chicken Curry recipe was perfect for me. It’s an easy recipe with simple ingredients (and it’s Whole 30 compliant!!). But if you ask me the best part is being able to put everything in the Instant Pot and let it do its thing.

I’m a huge fan of my slow cooker and use it often, but the downside is that you have to plan your meal in advance. The Instant Pot solves that problem. You can use it for the same kind of recipes, but it only takes a few minutes to cook instead of hours. This curry gets the tender, fall-apart texture of stewed chicken in just about 15 minutes.

I also really love the Instant Pot’s saute feature. For this curry recipe, I use it to toast the spices and brown the chicken before adding the coconut milk and turning on the pressure.

To round out the meal, I love serving this curry with Instant Pot jasmine rice.

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Instant Pot Chicken Curry

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup curry powder
• 1 can 15 ounces coconut cream or full fat coconut milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 small can 8 ounces tomato sauce (optional, for a less spicy curry)
• Cauliflower rice and cilantro for serving

Instructions

• 1. Turn pot to sauté mode. Place cumin and ginger in dry pot. Toast for about 1 minute, until fragrant but not browned. 
• 2. Add oil, chicken, salt and curry powder. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken begins to brown.  Stir in the coconut milk and tomato sauce (if using). 
• 4. Cover and lock the pressure cooker and make sure the valve is set to "sealing." Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then manually release.
• 5. Serve the chicken over cauliflower rice. Garnish with cilantro. 

I created this recipe for my client, RedPack, to help them promote their Crush Hunger campaign. As always, thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen. 

When we were in college, Shawn and I made curry for dinner at least once a week. It was affordable, filling, and a nice break from pasta and nachos. When we first started making them, we used jarred sauces. Then one day I noticed a curry cookbook in the bargain bin at the bookstore. As they say, the rest was history. We don’t make it as often these days, but it is nice when we need a change of pace.

Making flavorful curries at home is really easy and, once you have a good stock of spices built up, many of them can be made using staple ingredients that you probably already have.

This curried lentil and spinach stew is my own creation, loosely inspired by two of my favorites: tikka masala and saag. Red lentils cook quickly and have a creamy texture and more delicate flavor than brown or green lentils. Spinach amps up the nutrition and adds flavor. The creamy tomato sauce gets it’s flavor from onions, garlic, and spices and is finished with coconut milk to make it extra luxurious. Serve it over rice or with naan (I always have some in the freezer) for an easy and filling winter meal.

If you have lentils left over, you’ll also love this Moroccan red lentil soup!

This recipe was inspired by RedPack Tomatoes‘ Crush Hunger campaign. Throughout October, they’re partnering with Feeding America to donate a meal to a family in need for every product sold. They have a goal of 2 million meals donated. That means October is a great time to stock up on tomatoes for all of your fall soup and stew needs – you can help put a meal on the table of a family in need simply by purchasing a product that will help feed your own family.

RedPack has been a family-owned company for 75 years, and they have a commitment to doing things the right way. Their whole peeled tomatoes were even voted “Best Canned Tomatoes” by Epicurious! Following the theme of “crushing” hunger, I chose to use make a recipe using their crushed tomatoes. They’re packed in tomato paste, so they’re extra thick – perfect for making hearty sauces like this one.

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Curried Red Lentil and Spinach Stew

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Calories 293kcal

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 1 Tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 large can 28 ounces RedPack crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup red lentils
• 6 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• Fresh cilantro for serving

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a large, deep-sided pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the garlic, ginger, garam masala, and turmeric; cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes, water, and lentils.
• Cover the pan, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the lentils are tender. Stir in the spinach and vinegar and cook until the spinach is wilted. Slowly stir in the coconut milk. Season to taste with salt.
• Top with fresh cilantro.

Nutrition

Calories: 293kcal | Protein: 12g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 281mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 8g

The timing for this month’s edition of Progressive Eats couldn’t be more perfect. We’re sharing a menu for a ski weekend party, and as I’m writing this, the first snowflakes of this winter’s first big snowstorm are starting to fall. Warm and cozy food and drinks are definitely on order for tomorrow! (The ski weekend theme was also a great excuse to pull out my favorite moose bowls!)

I’ve had tandoori chicken meatballs on my “to-make” list for months and I’m so glad that I finally decided to make them happen. They’re really easy to make – they’re baked, so you don’t even need to deal with frying them – and they’re really good. I seasoned the meatballs as well as the yogurt sauce that they’re coated with, so there’s tons of flavor in each bite.

Like traditional tandoori chicken, which is marinated in a highly seasoned yogurt-based sauce and baked in a hot oven, these meatballs have just a thin coat of sauce on them – they aren’t “saucy” at all. I think they’re perfect as they are, but you could make a double batch of yogurt and save half to use for dipping.

These tandoori meatballs are delicious as an appetizer or as part of a buffet spread (think of them as an alternative to Swedish meatballs) but they also make a delicious dinner served with basmati rice and peas.

More Meatball Recipes

• Coconut Curry Meatballs
• Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatball Subs
• 4 Ingredient Spicy Cranberry Meatballs
• Slow Cooker Meatballs in Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce
• North African Meatballs with California Prunes and Pine Nuts
• Thanksgiving Meatballs (Turkey and Cranberry Meatballs)
• Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs
• Meatballs in Homemade Enchilada Sauce
• Chicken, Spinach, and Feta Meatballs

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Tandoori Chicken Meatballs

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 246kcal

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken breast
• ¼ cup unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup cilantro chopped
• ½ lemon juiced
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt

For the yogurt sauce

• ½ cup plain yogurt
• 1 garlic clove minced
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• /4 teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• lemon wedges for serving

Instructions

• Heat oven to 350F. Spread the oil onto the center of a rimmed baking sheet.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the chicken, bread crumbs, egg, cilantro, lemon juice, and spices. Mix gently to combine. Form into 12 balls (a medium cookie scoop is perfect for this.) Arrange the meatballs on the baking sheet.
• Bake 10 minutes. Turn the meatballs over and bake another 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and remaining spices. Coat the cooked meatballs in yogurt sauce and return to the baking sheet. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

Nutrition

Calories: 246kcal | Protein: 30g | Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Fiber: 1g

 Join Us for a Weekend Ski Party!

Appetizers

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed Jalapeno Bites
Tandoori Meatballs
Slow Cooker Asian Style Wings

Drinks

Brandy Avondale
Totally Decadent Hot Chocolate with Amaretto

Soup

Loaded Potato Leek Chowder

Main Course

Polenta ‘Lasagna’ with Swiss Chard

Bread

Three Cheese Fondue

Veggies/Side Dishes

Broccoli Cheese Toasties
Orange Pomegranate Salad with Fennel Pollen and Toasted Quinoa

Desserts

Hot Chocolate Custard
Chocolate Lava Cakes

Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a progressive dinner party. This month’s theme is Weekend Ski Party and is hosted by Susan Pridmore who blogs at The Wimpy Vegetarian. Don’t consider yourself snowed in…consider it a party!

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats, a theme is chosen each month, members share recipes suitable for a delicious meal or party, and you can hop from blog to blog to check them out.

We have a core group of 12 bloggers, but we will always need substitutes and if there is enough interest would consider additional groups. To see our upcoming themes and how you can participate, please check out the schedule at Creative Culinary or contact Barb for more information.

Last week, it rained and rained and rained. It was grey and gross and completely terrible. It rained so much that my poor roof couldn’t take it anymore; I woke up one morning to find a big chunk of my ceiling on the floor. It was literally raining in my kitchen. Awesome.

Comfort food was totally a necessity. And what says comfort more than pot pie stuffed full of rich, spicy curry?

If you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, the curry filling is delicious over rice. I made it extra thick, so it would hold up when I sliced into my pie, and it’s heavily spiced but not spicy.  Baked inside of a buttery pie crust, it’s absolutely delicious. Rich, cozy, and perfect for the fifth consecutive day of rain.

It’s full of pantry staples, so I didn’t even have to go out in the rain to buy ingredients. Score!

The filling is really simple. It’s basically onion, potato, carrots, peas, and just about every spice under the sun. Instead of chicken, I used tofu and I loved the way it came out!

It was my first time using Mori-Nu tofu, and I really liked it. It’s made inside an airtight, shelf stable package so it doesn’t require refrigeration (it’s the tofu I mentioned recently when I did my pantry makeover). It keeps for a year, so it’s definitely handy to have around! Since it’s never pressed or drained, it’s technically all silken tofu – even though it comes in different varieties. I used the organic firm tofu, and the texture was amazing! It’s custardy and not spongey at all. It reminded me a lot of the texture of fresh mozzarella. It also did a great job at soaking up the flavors in the curry sauce.

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Tofu Curry Pot Pie

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• cloves garlic minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon madras curry powder
• 1 tablespoon double-concentrated tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 ½ cups water
• ½ lemon juiced
• 2 potatoes chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 package Mori-Nu Firm Organic Tofu
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ¼ cup cilantro chopped
• 1 double pie crust unbaked
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in deep saute pan. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in the spices and cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and flour; cook 1 minute. Add the water, lemon juice, potatoes, and carrots; bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and the liquid thickens (you should have about 4 cups of curry). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in tofu, peas and cilantro.
• Heat oven to 420ºF.
• Roll out the pie crust. Place the bottom crust in a pie pan. Fill with curry and cover with the top crust; crimp the edges. Brush the top pie crust with egg. Cut several slits in the top crust for ventilation.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mori-nu. The opinions and text are all mine.

Do you ever see a recipe that you really want to make, even though you don’t actually think you’ll like it?

Way back in January, I saw these tuna and broccoli quinoa fritters and my stomach immediately growled – despite the fact that the only way I’ll eat warm tuna is in tomato sauce and I’m not the biggest fan of broccoli. They’ve been tugging at the back of my mind ever since.

Then I saw that the theme of this month’s Recipe ReDux was patties and I knew I wanted to put my own spin on them.

These sweet potato and quinoa patties basically ended up nothing like the other patties at all, but they were definitely inspired by them. I left out the tuna, added farro for texture and sweet potato for flavor, and swapped the broccoli for spinach and cilantro.

Then I made a to die for creamy curry dipping sauce to go along with them. They were so perfect – exactly the kind of wholesome, nourishing food that I love so much, but don’t make nearly often enough.

If you have leftover curry powder, try this corn salad with curry vinaigrette! You might also like these baked crab cakes or salmon patties.

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Sweet Potato and Quinoa Patties with Curry Sauce

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Calories 305kcal

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• ¼ cup uncooked quinoa
• ¼ cup uncooked farro
• 3 teaspoons coconut oil divided
• 1 shallot minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 3 cups baby spinach chopped
• 1 cup grated sweet potato about 1 medium potato
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ¾ cup Gold Medal® whole white wheat flour
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 6 ounces lowfat plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• lime wedges for serving

Instructions

• Add the quinoa, farro, and 1 1/2 cups of water to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon coconut oil in a medium skillet. Add the shallot and garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, or until softened. Add the spinach and cook 3-4 minutes, or until wilted.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked quinoa and farro, spinach, sweet potato, cilantro, and flour. Mix in the eggs and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the remaining coconut oil in your skillet until it shimmers. Scoop 3/4 cup of batter into the pan; use the back of a spatula to press it into a patty shape. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Let drain on a paper towel. Repeat with remaining batter.
• To make the dipping sauce, combine the yogurt, curry powder, and lime juice. Season with salt.
• Serve the sweet potato and quinoa patties with curry sauce and lime wedges.

Nutrition

Calories: 305kcal | Protein: 15g | Fat: 7.2g | Fiber: 7.1g

Before you run away in fear from a post about bread, let me reassure you: this recipe couldn’t be simpler.

It doesn’t involve yeast.
You don’t need to knead it.
If you have a grill, you don’t even need to turn on your oven.

On top of all that, it’s mouthwateringly delicious. Beneath a crisp exterior that has been left slightly charred from the grill flames, the bread is soft and pillowy, perfect for wrapping around skewers of grilled meat and vegetables.

At fist glance, it looks like your ordinary flatbread — generic pita or naan. But tucked inside is an amazing paste of creamy peas, fragrant herbs and spices, and a touch of briny feta cheese.

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One bite and you’ll be hooked. I’m already planning to make them again, and my head is reeling from the possible filling variations — everything from ground almond and raisins to a traditional Italian pesto. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Still hesitant? What if I told you that, start to finish, this revelation in bread can be made in 90 minutes?

Ok. Fine. If you really don’t want to believe me that this bread is super easy to make — or if you just can’t wait until you have 90 minutes to spare — you can cheat. Make the filling as directed below and stuff it inside a store-bought pita. Spritz with water and grill or broil for 1 to 2 minutes on each side to warm it through.<

I served these flatbreads with grilled kebabs of beef, onion, zucchini, and mushrooms that I marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, cumin, cardamom, and garam masala (1 tsp of each). They were flavorful and delicious!

Pea & Herb Stuffed Indian Flatbread

Tucked inside this quick and easy bread is a fragrant paste of starchy dried peas, fragrant herbs, and a touch of spice. The base recipe was adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine, and altered to include whole wheat flour and peas as well as a slight change to the flavor of the herb mixture. If you are baking this bread on a humid day, like I was, you may need to add more flour — keep adding it until you get a dough that is soft and sticky, but manageable.

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Through June 15, I will be blogging healthy and unique recipes featuring lentils and dried peas under a sponsorship agreement through the USALentil and Dy Pea Council. I will then be choosing my favorite recipe to be in a contest that will be held at RecipeRivalry.com. Although these posts are sponsored, opinions in them are my own and all recipes are original unless otherwise noted.

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Congratulations to Meghan, the winner of my dutch oven giveaway! She said she’d make Beef Bourguignon as her first dish — sounds delicious, I can’t wait to see it!