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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I am loving how simple this is and the flavor is right up my alley! Can’t wait to give this a taste 🙂
Love slow cooker recipes like this!
Have never tried butter chicken but this recipe sounds delicious – definitely trying this to shake up the normal rotation!
Am making it right now in my crock pot. It smells great. Looking forward to tonight’s dinner. By the way the jalapeño corn dip was a true success yesterday. We had an
early St. Paddy’s celebration and brough it to my friend’s home last night.
xxx Carmen
This seems so easy! I love cooking either in the slow cooker or my thermal pot. Just makes things a little less hectic and keeps me less frazzled. LOL. I’ll have to try it with thighs as I find them more flavourful. Lovely idea!
I need this in my life, love the flavors!
What is curry powder? I am Indian so I have garam masala, I’m just not sure what the curry powder refers to…turmeric? Thanks. Can’t wait to make this, my hubby loves butter chicken!
Curry powder, which is different from turmeric, is a spice mix of cumin, cardamom, coriander, turmeric, dry mustard and cayenne. It can be found at your local grocery store.
Since coming to London, butter chicken has been one of my favorites to order at Indian restaurants, and I’ve been worried about what I’m going to do when I crave it back home. Well…here’s the answer! Pinning this, and I know I’m going to be making it, and loving it!
Looks awesome! We are pretty much addicted to Indian food over here, absolutely love the no-fuss version.
Love the look of this – butter chicken is my fav but I hate not knowing what restaurants/take aways put in their recipes – this is WAY better than take out!
Add a bit of naan and you have your own indian restaurant at home 🙂
The Macadame. xx
http://www.creamstop.com
Love the look of this – butter chicken is my fav but I hate not knowing what restaurants/take aways put in their recipes – this is WAY better than take out!
Add a bit of naan and you have your own indian restaurant at home 🙂
This looks so fantastic!
Does canned coconut milk have the same taste as the type purchased in the refrigerator or in the box that can be stored on the shelf till opened?
I recommend using canned coconut milk – they have less preservatives than the carton ones.
Great recipe! I love Indian but almost never make it because I’m pretty intimidated. But this isn’t intimidating at all! I’ll have to give it a try!
This sounds amazing!! 🙂
Thank you for the nice recipe. Have a Happy Weekend!
How do you make everything look so incredibly delicious? This looks awesome!
Hmm, looks yummy. I have my own beloved recipe for slow cooker butter chicken and I even make my own garam masala. I don’t make it very often though. We recently (don’t tell) opened a jar of butter chicken sauce to use with leftover chicken and it was pretty good, too, for a shortcut recipe and, of course, it had a higher fat and sodium content than I like to use.
Hi!
I wanted to try this recipe originally but plans have changed for the day and I have two jars of butter chicken sauce on hand. Not a fan of all the extra sodium etc but it will save me some time. Did your jarred attempt turn out ok?
Yummy that sounds like a delicious recipe and looks good as well. Great job 🙂
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow
Were you reading my mind? Doing the same thing today; maybe not so lightened up but after I tried sesame chicken in the crockpot I can’t see why this wouldn’t be equally wonderful. Your photos are lovely and I want it NOW!!