Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry is a quick, easy, and absolutely delicious take on traditional lamb curry. This dairy-free lamb curry recipe uses coconut milk instead of heavy cream or yogurt to keep the curry creamy without the dairy.
I’ve been a huge fan of Indian curry since my early teens and have made different versions countless times as an adult.
Authentic Indian lamb curry involves slow cooking lamb meat in aromatic spices for long periods of time. Delicious curry sauce envelopes tender meat for a heavenly experience for your taste buds.
In my own unique twist, we’re simplifying the process using a pressure cooker. It requires hardly any time or effort, you can make a ginormous amount if you’d like, and it results in a lovely aromatic meal that will make you swoon!
With the same great taste in a fraction of the cooking time, this easy recipe is here to take you on a culinary adventure.
The recipe as written is a mild curry! You can always add Kashmiri chili powder to spice it up to your personal taste.
If you prefer cooking in your slow cooker, make my Crock Pot Lamb Curry.
Don’t be afraid of the super long ingredient list – most of the ingredients are spices, most or all of which you probably already own.
Lamb Curry Ingredients:
Aside from the spices, there are minimal ingredients required for this instant pot lamb curry recipe. The full list of ingredients can be found at most grocery stores.
Lamb Stew Meat: For easy lamb curry, pick up lamb stew meat from the grocery store. This saves time and also results in tender lamb.
If you have access to a leg of lamb, boneless lamb shoulder, or a different cut of lamb meat, feel free to chop it into bite sized pieces. Goat meat works here too!
Yellow Onion, Garlic, Ginger: The aromatics that make the rich sauce taste so inviting!
Full-Fat Canned Coconut Milk or Heavy Cream: The base of the sauce. Traditional Indian curry is usually rich in heavy cream or half & half.
You can take the traditional approach or keep it dairy-free like me and use full-fat canned coconut milk.
Tomato Sauce: Here for a little acidity to offset the richness of the meal. Diced tomatoes or tomato paste work too!
Baby Spinach: Added for some earthy flavor and nutrients.
Spices: We’re skipping the whole spices and using ground spices to save time. Coriander, cumin, ground turmeric, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, and sea salt is what we need.
Want to simplify this process? Replace all of those spices with 2.5 tablespoons of garam masala.
Now that we’ve discussed the simple ingredients, let’s make this classic dish!
How to Make Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry:
Brown the lamb in your Instant Pot using the saute mode until golden brown.
Add all ingredients for the sauce (everything but the spinach) and stir well.
Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to go into keep warm/natural release mode for 20 minutes. Manually release any remaining pressure.
Add the spinach and replace the cover. Give it a couple of minutes to allow the spinach to wilt, then stir well.
Serve this Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry with Coconut Rice or Ginger Turmeric Aromatic Rice for a delicious meal! Plain basmati rice or cauliflower rice are great serving options as well.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
And that’s it! A quick, easy and delicious Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry recipe. Making curry in your pressure cooker is so simple! The next time you’re craving delicious lamb curry, whip up this family favorite.
More Indian Recipes:
- Indian Eggplant Curry (Bhaingan Bharta)
- Saag Paneer
- Chicken Tikka Masala
- One Pot Indian Chicken Biryani
- Quick and Easy Chana Saag
- Paleo Butter Chicken
Instant Pot Indian Lamb Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 2 lbs lamb stew meat
- 1/2 yellow onion finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 (15-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (15-oz) can full-fat coconut milk *
- 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 2 tsp ground corriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom optional
- 1/8 tsp saffron threads optional
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup optional
- 5 ounces baby spinach
Instructions
- Plug in your Instant Pot and press the Saute button. Add the oil and allow it to heat up for a couple of minutes. Add the lamb stew meat and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the meat has a nice sear on it.
- Add the remaining ingredients except for the spinach to the Instant Pot and stir well.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot and select the Manual button. Pressure cook on high for 15 minutes, keeping the vent sealed. Allow Instant Pot to go into natural release (keep warm) mode for 20 minutes. Manually release any remaining pressure before opening the lid.
- Stir in the spinach and replace the cover. Allow curry to sit for a couple of minutes as the spinach wilts.
- Serve lamb curry with choice of steamed rice, coconut rice, or turmeric/saffron rice.
I fixed this for our group of eight and it was well received. My husband can not eat most tomato sauce, so I substituted canned tomatoes. In doing so, the flavor was probably a little milder than was intended. Definitely one I will fix again.
Thanks so much for the feedback, Joanne! I appreciate you sharing your experience 🙂
Love this recipe!!! I would love to add potatoes. Do you have recommendation on how to do that with the instant pot? I always get a little nervous cooking with instant pots and changing up recipes haha
If curry is a blend of those spices you listed in the comment section, could I just use curry powder Instead? 🙂
Yes, absolutely! If you need a bigger flavor boost, add curry powder to taste. xoxoxo
Delicious dish – and simple recipe… I did it with double the quantities of everything; I had a 2.8KG boneless shoulder from Costco and used about 2KG of it.
Completely tender – with browning outside the instant pot, in a regular pan given the quantities, and did a quick vent as I was in a rush of sorts.
Those who mention the ‘mild’ spicing.. add in red chilies or other hotness ingredient to taste! I did a few dashes of Franks Red Hot sauce…
Perfect blend with the coconut milk. If one wants it slightly thicker, reduce the tomato sauce and/or coconut milk by half.
Thanks!
I’m so happy you like it, Robin! Thank you so much for the thorough feedback! xoxoxo
Shouldn’t there be curry in a curry dish?
Hi Jennifer,
Curry is a blend of spices. Indian curry is traditionally comprised of cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric and garlic. Hope you enjoy the curry!
Two questions. Is this dish spicy? And how does using or not using the maple impact the taste of the dish?
Thanks.
Hi Victoria!
It’s a very mild dish, as I know people have different preferences when it comes to spice 🙂 I figure you can always add spice but not take it away. Omitting the maple won’t affect the dish at all…it’ll still be nice and flavorful, just without the sweet contrast. Hope you love it!! xoxo
Thanks. If I wanted to add a little hotness to the dish, what spice would I add?
Ooo this looks great. Seems a bit strange, but do you have any ideas of something I could use instead of tomato to make it AIP? xx
Hi Charlotte,
I don’t think that’s strange at all. I would go with some pureed sweet potato, beets, or butternut squash. I’d add broth until it was a similar consistency to tomato sauce. Hope you try it! xo
That’s a wonderful idea! Thank you!
Do you have any variation on this recipe if we were to use the crockpot?
Yummy, will this recipe be enough for 5 hungry family members? 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
Hi there! Depending on hunger level, I would up the meat to 1.5 lbs just to be safe…worst case scenario, you have leftovers 😀 If serving with rice, I would cook 2 cups of dry rice (should result in 6 cups cooked). Hope you enjoy! xo
Yum! How much meat do you recommend for this recipe?
Ruh Roh! Of course I’d forget to add the main ingredient to the recipe card, ha! I use 2 lbs. Fixed it..thanks for catching that!! xoxoxo
Julia! This dish is delicious! I’m not a huge lamb lover but my husband is so I made this with him in mind; however, we both equally enjoyed it. What a great blend of flavors. Yummm!
Sounds like a wonderful recipe. Since I don’t have lamb in the house at this time (coronavirus isolation) and besides I’m the only one of the family who likes lamb, I’m going to make it pork shoulder and I bet it”s better than the lamb curry I got the other day from our Indian takeaway. Thanks. Be well.
Ooh, pork shoulder sounds amazing! Thanks for the inspiration, Miriam! I’ll have to try that, myself 😀 xoxo I hope you stay well, too!