Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
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Skip the take-out and try this super easy, lightened-up creamy butter chicken right in the crockpot – it’s less calories and tastes a million times better!
I would always pick up two tikka masala bowls on my way home from work. But ever since I relocated out to the Bay Area, I haven’t had our Indian take-out fix in so long.
My cravings have taken over for weeks so I finally made this butter chicken right at home, and boy, am I glad I did because the homemade version is so much better, and healthier, than take-out!
If you’ve never had butter chicken, it’s a very popular Indian dish, and can be made mild or spicy to taste. I kept the recipe very mild but the heat seekers can certainly add more chili powder, to taste.
Now this is a super simple crockpot dish. There is a little bit of sauteeing but you’re pretty much throwing all the ingredients into a saucepan before throwing it into the slow cooker. Easy peasy, right?
From there, you can let that cook low and slow for 5 hours, leaving you to come home to the most fragrant, most flavorful and creamy butter chicken.
Best of all, it’s lightened up with coconut milk and whole wheat flour, saving you on a ton of calories this spring season!
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder, or more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until onions have become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in coconut milk, tomato paste, flour, garam masala, curry powder, chili powder and ginger powder until well combined and slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place chicken into a 6-qt slow cooker. Add sauce mixture and gently toss to combine. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours.
- Serve immediately, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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yellow curry powder or red?
Natalie, I used yellow curry powder.
I’ve made this once and loved it! I’m just curious what your thoughts on for freezing this once its cooked?I’m cooking for one ATM,and don’t exactly want to halve the recipe
Unfortunately, I cannot answer this with certainty as I have never tried freezing this myself – there were no leftovers left to freeze! Please use your best judgment for freezing and reheating.
We have frozen this dish in the past with no issues 🙂
Ever since I discovered your website, I’ve been madly cooking from your recipes. Just LOVE them. And finding this one for the slow cooker? Well that another love story all it’s own.
I made this for dinner last night… didn’t have chilli powder but substituted some cayenne and it worked just fine !!! I had it in for 4 hrs and it was just right. Great texture for the meat and the sauce pulled together nicely with the addition of the flour ! Thanks you, Chungah for all the super ideas!!! Cheers
It’s freezing here in FL (no seriously, like 32 lol) so this should warm us all right up. Do you think some chopped red and green peppers would be alright to throw in at the end?
That sounds like a great addition! I recommend adding them in about 30 min – 1 hr before the end of cooking time.
This recipe is a staple in my house. So much flavour and so easy to make. I have made with both carton coconut milk, and canned. Canned always turns out better. I use Indian chili spice, so I cut back on the amount quite a bit. This recipe is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Dude. DUDE. I will never make butter chicken any other way. I love this recipe, it made me fall in love with my slow cooker all over again. We’re eloping and getting hitched this weekend.
Made this and although it smelled great I gotta say it was super bland. My husband and I both love Indian food but this was very under seasoned. We tossed the left overs and hubby asked that I don’t make it again. That being said, I’ve never had butter chicken so maybe the mild flavor s how it’s supposed to taste. I’ll stick to my aloo gobhi next time
I’m sorry that this recipe did not turn out the way you had imagined. I only post recipes that have been successfully tested in my own kitchen, and as you can see from the comments here, many of these readers have had great outcomes in the final dish as well.
So I must ask – did you follow the recipe exactly as written without any substitutions?
I know this is a year late. However I had the exact same experience. Came back to see if it was just me. Followed the exact recipe. Smelled great but was just bland. 6qt slow cooker, chicken and sauce looked exactly as pictured. The only thing I can think of is that I used “jumbo” chicken breasts – which may have been pumped with water and throws off the taste? Ever run into this?
Is there a way to make this without a slow cooker? I don’t have one but this looks amazing!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise on how to adapt this recipe without a slow cooker. However, here is an article worth checking out on a possible conversion guide from Williams-Sonoma: http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/slow-cooker-vs-dutch-oven-a-conversion-guide/.
Hi,
I was thinking of adding mushrooms or frozen peas to this recipe. Do you have a recommendation as to what point to add them in?
Thank you!
It may be best to add 30 minutes before the end of cooking time.
Hi! I will definitely be trying this recipe this week! Question for you: are you using american chili powder or Indian chili powder? I know american chili powder has more spices rather than being mostly ground chilis in the Indian version. Thanks for taking the time to help me out 😉
Lauren, I used American chili powder, not Indian.
Ha! I found the answer to my question 😉
Hi, Could you tell me what brand of chili powder you use? Is this chili powder like you would add to Tex-Mex chili, or chili powder you would find at an Indian grocery store? I have the latter, and I think it’s just ground up chilis, but I’m not really sure –it’s very different than McCormick’s chili powder though.
Thanks for your post!!
It is best to use something like McCormick’s chili powder, not something that you would purchase at an Indian grocery store.
I love the simplicity of the recipe. Esp with 2 kids to feed & the tediousness of trying to figure out what new dishes I can create to interest them at every meal! But, I have a question….Cover and cook on low heat for 5 hours? 5 hours on simmer? Is that a typo?
Merly, the recipe is correct. It is best to cook on low heat using a slow cooker. There is no simmer option for a Crock-Pot.
I can’t wait to try this but am gluten free so how would it turn out if I take away the flour??
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot say for sure how this will turn out if the flour is omitted. Please use your best judgment to use the appropriate substitutions to fit your dietary restrictions.
Do you think it is ok to use regular coconut milk and regular flour?
Yes, that should work just fine.
Thanks a bunch for this recipe!! We love butter chicken at our house….
Hi!
I don’t have time to make this in the slow cooker. Do you have any recommendations on doing this recipe on the stove top? I was thinking that I could cook up the sauce first and then put the chicken pieces in, cover and let cook/simmer on the stove (medium low) for 2 to 2.5 hours?
Let me know your thoughts!
Please understand that it is very difficult to give exact conversion information to translate a slow cooker recipe to be made on the stovetop without further recipe testing. I recommend using your best judgement to convert this recipe be made without a slow cooker.
Wanted to let you know that a friend of mine brought this dish into work the other day and I liked it so much I asked her for the recipe. She sent me your link and upon reading the instructions I noticed a small type-o that I thought you’d like to know about. In the Instructions you have “tomato pasta” and not “tomato paste” listed. Not that anyone would make this mistake and suddenly add pasta to this dish instead of tomato paste, lol. I thought you’d like to know regardless. Anyway, looking forward to making this for dinner this week!
Thank you for letting me know about the typo!
Slower cookers are useful for this recipe. I will use my slower cooker to have a try.
I am so happy I came across this recipie . I made this three times and it is absolutely amazing. I made my own gram masala mix. I just googled how to mix gram masala and It was very easy and I had all spices handy.
Tnx for sharing this recipie
can I put the chicken in the slow cooker frozen and then shred it before serving?
I recommend using thawed chicken.