Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken
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Simple prep with zero fuss! Restaurant-quality butter chicken made so easily in the crockpot. Serve with rice and naan.
I’m sure some of you have already put away your crockpot for the season. Up in one of those high cupboards so you don’t have to see your slow cooker until the Fall hits.
But seeing as to how we moved to Chiberia and it’s still the dead of winter here, my slow cooker has been on full blast, especially with this butter chicken.
I mean, I have seriously made this at least four times in the last 6 weeks.
Mainly because it’s so stinking easy.
Prep work is minimal and you can throw everything right into the crockpot. And while your chicken cooks low and slow to that tender, melt-in-your-mouth goodness, you can cook your basmati rice and warm your garlic naan.
And here’s a big secret I’ll let you in on: be sure to hoard all the sauce you possibly can for naan dipping purposes.
Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ½ sweet onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons brown sugar
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together chicken stock, tomato paste, curry powder, garam masala, turmeric, salt and pepper.
- Place chicken, onion, garlic and ginger into a 4-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken stock mixture.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours. Stir in heavy cream, lime juice and brown sugar; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve immediately with rice.
Did you make this recipe?
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Tasty recipe. I doubled the whole recipe because I wanted leftovers. I only had bone-in chicken thighs but cooked them whole and shredded the chicken and discarded the bones once cooked. I thought the flavors worked well. Tasted like what I get at a restaurant. Thanks for the recipe.
Wow, I didn’t expect it to be so good! So so so delicious!!!
Excellent Recipe! Delicious
I love this recipe and make this all the time, it’s great. I double the sauce though. I double the dry spices including brown sugar, double the broth, and instead of heavy cream I add a can of coconut milk. You get a whole lot of sauce this way. Cilantro is not in the recipe but it’s a great addition.
Tip: use McCormack garam masala. I used some other good ones and they were too clovey tasting. If you like that then great but I do not.
Incredible flavor and perfect for the whole family! Love how easy it is too. Definitely double the sauce and I don’t chop the chicken- I just throw it in the crock pot and shred it afterward.
This was really really good! Feels fancy, but comes together easily. I went ahead and doubled the sauce like everyone else suggested. Also, I sautéed the onion and garlic in butter before adding it in. I added about a half a cup of frozen peas to the rice immediately after it was done cooking and it paired really nicely with the other flavors. Thank you again for another fantastic recipe!
Loved it!
I have made this recipe OVER and OVER again. It is so comforting and easy – and perfect for winter weeknight meals.
Love love love this recipe…I also wanted more sauce so I doubled the spices, added a can of coconut milk and half cup of water. Got tons of sauce and added a cornstarch slurry at the very end. Easy recipe, chicken was perfectly cooked and I am in love. It’s not butter chicken but if you love curry as much as I do this one you will be making regularly.
Looks easy and tasty. looking at the comments has made me salivate. Wondering what needs to be changed if I am using cooked chicken
This recipe is seasoned well and makes the chicken so tender. This is a comfort dish for sure!
I love this recipe and have made it several times! Quick question for the author (or commenters). Planning to make today but my store didn’t have heavy whipping cream. I got coconut milk instead, would the measurements remain the same? Thanks!!
I know your comment is a year old at this point but as far as I’ve found, coconut cream is the perfect substitute for heavy cream! Coconut milk makes the sauce a little too thin for my liking.
Oh my goodness. So good and so simple. Absolutely delicious!!!
I have no experience with Indian food and came across this recipe. It was delicious! My adult children eat Indian food and agreed, my son would have like it spicier, but with little ones this was perfect. I did cook the onions and spices with some oil first. I doubled sauce ingredients and put 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tbsp of fresh lime juice. I served this with cilantro too. I also had to work so it cooked for 8 hours on low.
When you say you doubled sauce ingredients, what ingredients did you double and by how much? I’ve read sometimes spices you only increase by 1.5x on doubling recipes and just want to confirm. Thanks in advance!
This was fantastic. I did make a few changes. I added 4 tbsp butter… what’s butter chicken without some butter? I upped everything but the chicken cuz we love the sauce so much. The sauce amount was actually similar to what I receive at Indian restaurants.
I was trying to replicate the best butter chicken I’ve ever had. We hit on the mark by adding more brown sugar. It was life-altering.
Delicious and super easy!
Amazing! I double the sauce ingredients now because it is so delicious. Bonus it is so quick and easy to prepare ❇️
My family absolutely beloved this dish. I sneak in carrots and cauliflower with about an hour to go so there’s some extra veggies on the plates. This recipes is easy, quick, and always a crowd pleaser.
Adding this to my meal rotation! It tasted just as good as more labor intensive butter chicken recipes. So easy and delicious. Thank you!!
Instantly going into my favorite recipes folder. So delicious I couldn’t believe it. I doubled the sauce so I had extra for naan but this is truly a perfect recipe!