This slow cooker chicken curry is perfect in every way – juicy pieces of chicken, a spicy, flavorful gravy that has the right consistency – this is the perfect dinner to come home to.
Alright! So who is with me when I say slow cookers are awesome? Especially when you have recipes where you can dump a whole lotta stuff in and after a few hours, you are left with plain deliciousness.
Enter: Slow Cooker Chicken Curry.
Here’s the thing. I have always had a little bit of a problem with chicken cooked in a slow cooker. Which is why you won’t find any slow cooker chicken recipes on the blog. Because most recipes I’ve tried result in dry or over cooked chicken, or a lot of water in the dish.
Not anymore.
This recipe took a few tries but I’ve got it exactly the way we like it. Tender, juicy chicken, a gravy that coats each piece of chicken instead of pooling at the bottom and so much flavor that you would think we marinated the chicken for a few hours.
And it’s really simple to make. The only real cooking you’ll do here is to cook the onions and garlic together in a little oil before adding it to the slow cooker. And the only reason I recommend doing that is so that we can get rid of the raw, overpowering taste of onions and garlic; and take advantage of their sweet flavor once we cook them. The rest of the recipe is really dump and cook.
Top tips to cooking juicy chicken in a slow cooker
To cook really juicy chicken in the slow cooker, here are my top tips:
- Use chicken thighs because they have more fat than breasts so they remain tender when cooked for long periods and don’t get stringy or dry out
- Don’t add too much liquid because you are locking in the steam in a slow cooker so the water in the recipe does not have room to evaporate as much as it does in a pot. The chicken also leaves a fair amount of water so you are actually left with more liquid than you started with in the beginning
- Cutting chicken into the desired size right in the beginning will save you the time and effort to shred it or chop it later. It will also ensure that the flavors coat and seep through every piece right from the beginning
- Don’t cook it for longer than 6-7 hours because really, chicken cooks pretty fast compared to lamb or beef and that’s all the time it needs if you are cooking it on low sitting. When you slow cook it on high, the chicken only needs 3.5-4 hours
We are using some really simple ingredients to flavor this chicken curry. I love adding whole spices like bay leaf, cloves and whole black pepper in the recipe in addition to garam masala because the whole spices really infuse flavor in this recipe. But if you don’t have them, feel free to skip them and increase the garam masala by 1/4 teaspoon.
This slow cooker chicken curry will not disappoint. Its packed with flavor and you can watch how easy it is in the video below.
Other Slow Cooker Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Teriyaki Meatballs
- Slow Cooker Chipotle BBQ Pulled Pork
- Slow Cooker Korean Pork Bulgogi
- Slow Cooker Dal Makhani
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Watch Slow Cooker Chicken Curry Recipe Video
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Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 3.5 hours
- Total Time: 37 minute
Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Category: Mains
Method: Slow Cooking
Cuisine: Indian
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Pin RecipeDescription
Watch Recipe Video above. This slow cooker chicken curry is inspired by Indian flavors and is the perfect dinner recipe. The chicken is juicy, the gravy is luscious and not watery, and its fantastic served with rice or naan bread. It’s incredibly easy, with minimal prep, while being gluten free and kid friendly too.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 cup finely chopped Onions
- 1 tablespoon minced Garlic
- 7–8 Baby Potatoes, cut into half (or 2 large potatoes, diced into 1 inch pieces)
- 8 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 Bayleaf
- 2–3 Cloves
- 6–8 whole Peppercorns
- 1 Green Chilli, finely chopped (or Serrano Pepper)
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder (or chilli flakes)
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Tomato Puree
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- Chopped coriander for topping
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions and minced garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes till the onions soften. Transfer this mixture to the slow cooker along with all the other ingredients. Mix well.
- Cover and cook on high for 3.5-4 hours or low for 6 hours. Once the chicken curry is cooked, mix in the chopped coriander and serve hot on top of steamed rice or with some butter naan.
Notes
Chicken Thighs vs. Breasts: I recommend chicken thighs for this recipe because they don’t dry out and retain their juiciness in the slow cooker. You can also use bone-in chicken thighs for this recipe. If you insist on using chicken breasts, keep them whole and once the curry is cooked, use a fork to shred the chicken in the slow cooker.
Butter: Butter adds an extra layer of flavor and the fat keeps the chicken curry from drying out. You can also stir in some cream or coconut milk in the end in this recipe.
Spices: The blend of coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala is powerful, and adds tons of flavor. Chilli powder can be swapped with paprika or cayenne pepper in this recipe. You can also swap these spices for two tablespoons generic curry powder.
Can I use tomato sauce?
Sure, as long as it doesn’t have any added flavouring or sugar in it.
I made this the other evening and it was restaurant quality. So delicious!!!
My question is can I keep the recipe the same and substitute the chicken for lamb?
If so would the cooking times be the same?
★★★★★
Sure, you can substitute with lamb. I would cook this for at least 4 hours on high if you were making a lamb curry in the slow cooker.
Such a great easy recipe, highly recommended! I added in the cream at the end just to give it a bit of extra sauce! Everyone absolutely loved it
I had a question, don’t we need curry powder for this. I don’t have whole spices so can I replace it with curry powder
Sure, you can use a tablespoon of curry powder instead.
Hey richa.
This recipe is absolutely amazing and I’ve made it over 5 times. I was just wondering if I can make it in a pot on the stove instead of a crockpot? Hope back from you.
Thanks
Hey Mike! This can be made on the stovetop but the process will change entirely. I have other chicken curry recipes on the blog which are for stovetop. I hope you’ll try one of them!
Have made this twice so far and its phenomenal. Served over buttered naan. 10/10.
★★★★★
Thanks Elmo! Love that you enjoyed it so much
Hey Richa,
Looks yummy. I don’t have slow cokker but i have instant pot. Can i cook thisnin instant pot in slow cook mode and how long I should keep it and pressure level?
Hi Richa, this recipe looks amazing and I will try it.
But I do have some friends that prefer a milder curry, would this be classed mild or medium hot?
Thanks.
Hey Anu, this would be medium hot. You can scale down the spice a bit to suit your taste
Hi Richa. Your recipe sounds great. One question: should the chicken be browned as well as the onion and garlic before the slow cooking process?
Hey Maryanne – there is no need for that. You can add the chicken pieces straight to the slow cooker and they’ll cook in the sauce.
First curry I have ever done
In a slow cooker it was very tasty and easy to cook Thank You.
★★★★★
So glad you liked it Darren!
Dear Richa, how many grams of chicken does the recipe call for?
This was extremely well flavored. Very delicious. I used the spices as recommended in the recipe. I used a medium jalapeno including the pith and seeds. It was a little bit spicier than I prefer, but definitely tolerable. Husband loved it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
★★★★★
Maybe you can remove the seeds from the jalapeno the next time and that’ll help reduce the spice levels. So glad you and the hubs liked it.
Hello Richa,
What kind if tomato puree did u use. Fresh or store bought if store bought could u tell brand or what kind?
Thanks
Hey Jasmeen, I used Dabur Homemade’s tomato puree. Store bought is thicker and works better in this recipe
Really loved your recipe. I am a huge fan of chicken and am always in the lookout for such toothsome chicken recipes. Your just made my day. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Srirup!
What can I substitute for tomato puree?
You can use a smaller quantity of tomato paste instead
Could this be made in the instant pot too? Using the saute function and then slow cooking
The slow cooker function on the instant pot doesn’t work very well. If you want to try this in the IP, just pressure cook it for 10 minutes.
Hey, I love your blog.
I have a personal questions. I have seen so many slow cooker in Amazon. Any suggestions on buying one in India. Like brand and model. I hope you can answer me ☺️
Hey Gayathri, the ‘crockpot’ brand is really good and is available on Amazon. You can check that out. I personally have a basic Russell Hobbs.
First time doing a curry in the slow cooker, thought this recipe was really tasty and quite easy, husband actually ate all the leftovers and he is not normally that in to leftovers
★★★★★
Thats awesome Amanda! So glad both of you liked it!
Looks like a perfect meal for fall nights!
Thanks Toni, its pure comfort food!
Love all the wonderful spices, especially the coriander! YUM.
Thanks Diane!
Fantastic flavors. I bet the house smells amazing too!
★★★★★
It does Marjory! We love the flavours of this curry
Absolutely love chicken curry. This looks so so good!!
Thanks Sheenam!
Hi when you say tomato purée. Is that purée or passata?
Hey Yvonne, its called puree in India and passata outside India. Please use passata.