It’s mid-January and that means we are eating lots of comfort food. Basically, it is dinner-in-a-bowl season at our house. We love a good saucy protein atop a steaming bowl of rice to get us through an evening of playing and dancing with our little lady, and maybe watching Frozen once or twice or a million times. This Honey Curry Chicken is not a proper, authentic curry. Please don’t mistake it for that. I am not an expert in Indian cuisine. This is simply a dish that has gradually turned into one of our go-to quick and easy meals that we enjoy almost weekly these days. I have included instructions for both the Slow-Cooker and the Instant Pot pressure cooker. It is what I call a “pantry meal”, in that I always have the ingredients in the house so I can make it on the days where we might otherwise be tempted to order pizza. There is barely any preparation needed, and very few ingredients. Easy breezy.

In the dozens of times I’ve made this Honey Curry Chicken recipe, I have tried a few different brands of curry powder. Our favorite is Penzey’s Spices Hot Curry Powder, which gives a great depth of flavor and a subtle heat to the dish. Alternatively, you can use regular curry powder and add some additional cayenne pepper to achieve a similar result. (Penzey's Hot Curry Powder is available on Amazon, but it is MUCH cheaper directly through Penzey's. I am lucky to have a Penzey's shop very near to my house.)

Feel free to use whichever cut of chicken you prefer. My personal favorite for this recipe is boneless skinless chicken thighs. They have so much more flavor than breasts, and stay super moist and tender without getting dry like breasts sometimes can. Boneless skinless chicken breasts work really well in this recipe though, and I use them regularly too. Whichever you choose will be great. Keep in mind that if you’re using the Instant Pot, you’ll need to adjust the cook time based on the type of chicken you use.

Honey Curry Chicken (Slow-Cooker Method)

(Scroll down page for printable version of this recipe.)

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

½ cup honey

¼ cup yellow mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons hot curry powder (Penzey's Hot Curry Powder is our favorite. Regular curry powder will work too.)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, adjust to taste

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts

Directions

Add butter, honey, mustard, salt, curry powder, and cayenne pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add chicken and turn to coat with sauce. Cover and cook on high 2-3 hours or low 4-6 hours.

When chicken is cooked, remove to a serving dish. Using two forks, pull chicken apart into pieces. Cover with foil to keep warm while you finish the sauce.

Carefully pour sauce from slow cooker into a large skillet. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to gentle boil, stirring frequently to reduce and thicken sauce.

Add sauce to chicken and stir to coat. Serve over steamed rice.

Honey Curry Chicken (Instant Pot Method)

Ingredients

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

½ cup honey

¼ cup yellow mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons hot curry powder (Penzey's Hot Curry Powder is our favorite. Regular curry powder will work too.)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts

Directions

Add butter, honey, mustard, salt, curry powder, and cayenne pepper to the pot of the pressure cooker. Stir to combine. Add trivet to the pot and arrange chicken on trivet. Cook on HIGH pressure (13 minutes for thighs or 18 minutes for breasts) with 10 minutes natural release. (Note: You do not need to add any broth or water in this case because the chicken itself contributes so much liquid as it cooks.)

When chicken is cooked, remove to a serving dish. Using two forks, pull chicken apart into pieces. Cover with foil to keep warm while you finish the sauce.

Remove trivet from cooking pot and turn on ‘saute’ function. Bring to gentle boil, stirring frequently to reduce and thicken sauce, about 5 minutes.

Add sauce to chicken and stir to coat. Serve over steamed rice.

Thanks for visiting Kitchen Joy! I hope you love this recipe as much as we do, and that it makes for a quick and easy meal in a pinch!