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.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
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I am always so happy with your recipes. Everything I have ever made from you has been damn delicious. This recipe was delicious and I hate it when people manipulate the original. The only thing I did differently from you was I added a couple tablespoons of butter – a suggestion from a commenter. I will be making this over and over. Thank you!!
I’m always impressed by the simplicity and flavour of your recipes, and I’m impressed as ever with this one (who knew it was so simple???) but for me it did lack a step – or, more specifically, an ingredient! When I tasted it after following the directions as written, thr seasoning was excellent, but it lacked the richness of butter chicken that I love so much. I wound up adding 3 tbsp unsalted butter incrimentally, as well as a splash of extra cream and a couple tbsp yogurt (you know, since it was in the fridge and I was already altering…). I didn’t quite find it spicy enough after all the additions, so I popped in some harissa paste and I’m delighted by the end result now!
Still love the recipe, it’s just the first I’ve felt the need to alter to my tastes.
I do wonder, do you make your own garam masala, or buy it? I make mine, and it already has turmeric and ginger in it. Not that extra turmeric or ginger ever hurt anyone! And the flavour of this recipe speaks to that, even if it didn’t have quite the texture and, I guess fattiness, that I wanted.
Absolutely! I use store-bought garam masala but I’m all about adding more butter and cream, Alex! 🙂
What brand of yellow curry powder do you use? Thanks!
I used an organic one from Whole Foods, but any brand should work just fine, Judy! 🙂
Hello! I am thinking of making this this weekend but I want to confirm I’m reading this right (sorry in advance this is a silly question haha) – so for steps 3 and 4, I put the chicken/garlic/ginger/chicken stock in the slower cooker, cook all that for four hours, and then after the four hours add the heavy cream/brown sugar/lime juice? Thanks in advance for the help!! 🙂
Yes, that is correct, Rachel. 🙂
3. Place chicken, onion, garlic and ginger into a 4-qt slow cooker. Stir in chicken stock mixture.
4. 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.
Thanks for asking that, Rachel. I was wondering the same thing! =)
Hi! I’m just wondering how this would do as a freezer meal? Pack everything in a ziplock and freeze until ready to put in the crockpot. Do you think it’d come out okay?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Followed recipe exactly as described…so delicious
Thank you so much and keep up the awesome work!
Thank you, Cliff! We hope you’ll enjoy many more! 🙂
Another triumph. I never thought I could cook this well. I hadn’t made anything with garam masala before. The addition of the cream, sugar, lime juice really changed what otherwise seemed a bit sour. It made the house smell great for hours.
You read comments – have you noticed that Chunga’s recipes rarely elicit corrections/ improvements? I often get enthusiastic about a recipe from the NY Times, for example, only to find users liked the dish after major tweaks.
Anyone else notice this?
Thanks for such a great compliment, Azlynne!
Made this last night and it was a big success.
The entire house was filled such a delicious aroma…… So good! I substituted coconut cream due to dairy restrictions and it was delicious…. And two days ago I made your instant pot red beans and rice recipe and my entire loved it!!!! Keep the great recipes coming..
Thank you, Robin! We’re so glad you’re trying and enjoying many of our recipes!
Made this last night exactly as written and it was great. The sauce was fantastic.
I do recommend rinsing the basmati rice until it’s clear, then cooking it with a tablespoon of butter and a pinch of salt.
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Kevin!
is it possible to make this on High in a faster time?
Yes, you can try to cook on high for 2 hours but as always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Hi can i substitute coconut cream ( not milk) for the heavy cream?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I made this last week and it was amazing. I added a bit more spices but I’m a curry junkie. 🙂
Love that! Thanks for sharing, Brittany! 🙂
How would you make this in an instapot?
Tara, you can try this Instant Pot recipe instead: https://damndelicious.net/2018/03/10/instant-pot-butter-chicken/.
I made this for dinner tonight and it came out pretty good! The sauce came out a little on the thinner side, so I was wondering what I could do to make that more creamy? Also, would you recommend adding any butter to this dish? I’m just wondering if doing so would throw off anything.
Yes, you can absolutely add butter, if you wish. You can also try to add a cornstarch slurry until the desired consistency is reached.
Hope that helps, Mariam!
Just wanted to check , theres no butter in it? Haha Im making it for dinner guests tonight so want to make sure Im not missing out the ingredient in its name. Does a half cup of stock make enough sauce for 4 hungry people? Thanks so much, dying to try this, sounds delicious.
Hi Ann! Yes, that is correct. The heavy cream takes care of the creaminess. And the recipe yields 4-6 servings. Have a great dinner!
This looks delicious! I normally cook chicken in my slow cooker for 8 hours. For this recipe, would 8 hours be too long?
Kristi, we recommend cooking it on low for 4 hours for the best results possible.
How do you manage to avoid your chicken getting super dry? Anytime I make chicken in the crock pot it’s dry and no fun to eat.
Kim, to prevent chicken from drying out in the slow cooker, you can use chicken thighs instead. They have more fat and won’t dry out as quickly. 🙂
This is excellent! Love how easy it is to throw it in the slow cooker and how delicious it turns out! I used breasts instead of thighs and it wasn’t dry at all. Husband loved it, guests loved it and I did very little work and still received raves! I will definitely make this again.
That’s the goal! Minimal work and maximum raves. Thanks, Jennifer!
Love butter chicken! My sister in law gave us your cookbook and we are in love with it! Also we love your red thai curry! We like to add veggies to our sauces… any recommendations or are they better as a side in this meal?
You can definitely add any type of veggie to your liking! 🙂
I made this today. Using one pound breast and one pound mixed diced up Turkey as that is what I had. It has nice flavor combinations. Thank you for sharing.
You are so welcome, Fern!