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{Slow Cooker} Thai Chicken and Coconut Quinoa Stew

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thai coconut chicken stew with quinoa

A healthy and creative slow cooker recipe for Thai Coconut Chicken stew featuring bok choy, sweet potato, grape tomatoes, and quinoa.   

There is definitely no shortage of crappy  slow cooker recipes out there.  I know.  I said it.  But it’s true.  Case in point, I tried making a veggie lasagna in the slow cooker.  It sounded like it was going to be great.  I guess I should have known.  It was beyond terrible.  Asheley wouldn’t even eat it, and she loathes wasting food.

I totally made up for that #recipefail with this Thai Chicken and Coconut Quinoa Stew.  The wife was happy.  Chris was happy.  Life is good.

And I felt pretty good about jumping on the quinoa train.  All my food blogging friends have been using it like crazy and I was feeling super left out.  It took me back to my elementary recess days when I was the last kid picked for kickball.

Just kidding.  I was freaking awesome at kickball.  Us pudgy kids had some serious kicking power.

thai coconut chicken stew with quinoa

So good news… this Thai slow cooker recipe is pretty darn healthy, which definitely helps with my Operation Stop Being A Fatty.  So far I’m down 20 pounds by the way.  20 more and I’m there.

I’ve actually kinda took a break the last few weeks, but it’s time to get back on track with my diet.  Ugh.

thai coconut chicken stew with quinoa

A couple notes:

  • make sure to use canned coconut milk and not the stuff in the carton.  It’s just not the same.
  • if you’re not feeling the whole bok choy thing, get your green on with spinach, kale, or chard instead.
  • have some frozen green stuff in the freezer?  Use that.  We’re flexible.  Just add it when you add the tomatoes.
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Thai Chicken Coconut Stew

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Ingredients

  • 2 (14-ounce) cans unsweetened coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons green curry paste
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
  • 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 large (or 2 small) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2” dice
  • 2 heads bok choy, roughly chopped
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 lime
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Cilantro, chopped, for garnish
  • Lime wedges, for garnish
  • Cooked quinoa

Instructions

  1. In a slow cooker, combine coconut milk, ginger, green curry paste, and fish sauce. Add chicken thighs, onions, sweet potatoes, and bok choy, and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for 3 1/2 hours, or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from slow cooker and roughly shred. Return chicken to slow cooker, add in grape tomatoes, stir, and cook an additional 30-60 minutes.
  2. Skim fat from surface of sauce in slow cooker and then stir in lime juice. Season with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Divide quinoa among 6 bowls. Pour stew over quinoa and garnish with cilantro and lime wedge. Serve immediately.

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  1. “It took me back to my elementary recess days when I was the last kid picked for kickball.” This made me laugh because
    1) It is the reason I make quinoa things.
    2) This was also my elementary school life. Stupid kickball.
    This looks a great stew Chris! I hate recipe fails.
    The other day mine was so major I said screw it..and ate popcorn for dinner. I’m glad you made a better choice and redeemed yourself with real food! Pinnd

    • haha kickball was awesome! The only thing I looked forward to more was dodgeball… unfortunately that’s pretty much banned in public schools now. When I chaperoned my church’s middle school youth group to their winter weekend retreat back in January, the retreat center actually hosted a dodgeball tournament. It was SO much fun, hahahaha.

      Yes, popcorn for dinner hahahaha… oh the life of the food blogger recipe fails!

  2. haha YES, slow cooker recipes are so saturated online. I never really use a slow cooker…love that you jumped on the quinoa train, it’s a good one to jump on. It is the perfect side dish or to be added like this in an entree. Awesome flavors, and makes me want to try coconut milk from a can now…I usually buy it in the cardboard carton. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • Oh, you SO have to try canned coconut milk. It’s a lot richer and intensely flavored than the cardboard variety. And it’s a good feeling to finally be “in the know” with quinoa!

  3. Well, I don’t mean to sound like a pretentious douche, but I was always picked first at kickball. Like always.
    Funny thing is that I wasn’t even good at it. I mean, yes, I could run faster than the others but kicking the ball wasn’t (and still isn’t) really my thing.
    I guess that I was just good at making others believe I kicked ass at it! 😉

    BTW, great looking stew man. Loving the coconut + quinoa combo!

  4. Sweet potatoes and boy choy sound like an incredible combo with chicken in this Thai stew! I would be licking the slow cooker! – Wait – that’s easier said than done!

    Congrats on the 20 lbs Chris!!! Next school reunion, maybe you will be the one doing the picking for the kickball team?!

    Question – do you cook the quinoa in coconut milk too?

  5. Chris your recipes all sound fantastic and your photos are absolutely stunning! I am swooned. So happy I found your page!

  6. I can definitely use more delicious crockpot recipes to try out! I love all the flavors you have in here – but really anything with coconut milk will almost always win me over! lol I tried quinoa a few times a year ago and was very eh about it. I feel like I need to at least give it another try…

  7. This stew looks delicious! I love all the colors. It just screams,” I’m healthy!” I need to try this recipe for those busy weeknights. Congrats on your progress! That is super awesome. 😀

  8. Thanks for the giggles and these beautiful bright pictures! Congrats on shedding those 20 lbs. I lost about that a couple of years ago and am also trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle while still eating food that’s tasty and hearty (and leaving room for dessert). : )

    I love a *good* crockpot recipe. I adore thai flavors, sweet potatoes, bok choy, quinoa and all that so this is up my alley!

  9. Haha…awesome post, Chris. Don’t you really hate recipe fails? Like despise them? I guess it comes with being a food blogger, but nothing puts me in a worse mood than thinking I’ve got an amazing recipe and finding out that it tastes like my dog made it. (Just kidding, I love my dog and I think he would make an awesome chef.) This stew looks quite tasty and delicious, too…I need it since it’s sleeting again up here. Is it Spring yet?

  10. seriously how have I not thought to make coconut quinoa yet?! the flavors on this one are just pouring through the screen – I think I’m in love 🙂

    and ps YES! I was a chubster back in my elementary school days but I freakin’ kicked ass in kickball – everyone wanted this chunker on their team! lol

  11. Wow! This is insanely gorgeous, and clearly just bursting with some of my very favorite flavors! Totally pinning ASAP! And high-five on that first 20 – so awesome! (BTW – totally hilarious that you used a little girth to your advantage on the kickball field – as someone who has always, always been terrible at kickball, I can totally appreciate a winning strategy! :D)

  12. I totally hear you on failed slow cooker recipes. Just because you can throw a bunch of raw/frozen ingredients in there doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. But this definitely looks like a winner! I’m obsessed with all things Thai.

    And congrats on losing 20 pounds so far! That’s awesome! I’m right on the “Oh sh*t it’s summer, better lose a bunch of weight NOW!” train. Let’s cheer each other on : )

  13. What a coincidence, Chris. We had a similar(ish) curry to this tonight (OK, so two nights in a row), and I must say it was delicious. I added in sweet potatoes, ginger, fish sauce etc, but I love your addition of tomatoes and quinoa. Great idea to cook it in a slow cooker, too!
    P.S. A food blogger on a diet? Ouch, that’s got to be tough! Sounds like you’re doing great, though!

  15. I am always looking for slow cooker meals too and it’s such a bummer when they don’t turn out. So glad you found a winner in this dish and are jumping on the quinoa train because it sounds amazing in this dish! I love the thai flavors in here especially the coconut milk – pinning 🙂

  17. I tried making slow cooker honey sesame chicken. I got it from pinterest and everyone was pinning it. It was one of the worst things I’ve eaten. My husband who pretty much eats everything couldn’t bring himself to eat it either. Lesson learned…appetizing photos don’t necessarily mean delicious food.
    I’d definitly try this stew though! I trust your judgement. 🙂

  18. I’ve never tried food cooked in an slowcooker as I don’t own one, but I suppose there has to be both super crappy and awesome recipes out there. This one must fall into the latter category, because it looks amazing!
    20 pounds?? You go Chris! I’m sure you’ll get there in no time yay!

  19. I love Thai food and love quinoa! So glad you put the two together to make this scrumptious meal. Even better that is slow cooker friendly AND healthy.

  22. “Operation stop being a fatty”- seriously I might steal that line!! Haha! I love this dish! So much good going on! 🙂 Pinned!

  23. Totally with you on the crappy slow cooker recipes. I have tried a few from pinterest and they were complete and utter failures.

    Love all the flavors in this dish Chris, can’t wait to try it. I can see why Asheley eat it up. YUM! Pinned1

  24. I completely agree. There are so many bad slow cooker recipes out there. It seems as if the world has gone slow cooker crazy.
    This dish looks delicious, can’t wait to give it a try.

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