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 ¼ 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
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 cup Onions finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Garlic minced
- 7-8 Baby Potatoes cut into half (or 2 large potatoes, diced into 1 inch pieces)
- 8 Chicken Thighs skinless and boneless , cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 Bayleaf
- 2-3 Cloves
- 6-8 Peppercorns whole
- 1 Green Chilli finely chopped (or Serrano Pepper)
- 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder or chilli flakes
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Tomato Puree
- ½ 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.
Video
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.
Sarah D says
I’m planning on making this today with bone in thighs with SKIN—can I just cook it with the skin for extra flavor and then take the skin out later? Or should I remove it from the start?
Richa says
Ofcourse! You can keep the skin if you enjoy eating it
Rajan says
Fabulous! You are a master chef
Richa says
Thanks!
Josepha says
This is the worst curry recipe I have ever made There is no curry in this! It is bland and needs a lot more seasoning. I have never left a review for a recipe before. But this was just so disappointing! A very bland masalal. If you can even call it that.
David says
Hello Richa
I am planning to cook this curry.
I am in Australia, where our tablespoon is 20 ml (4 x teaspoons).
Is your tablespoon 20 ml, or 15 ml which is the standard in the UK, New Zealand, Canada and America.
Thanks
Richa says
Hey David, wow! I never even considered that a tbsp measure could be different. Ours is 15 ml, so you can adjust accordingly
Andrew says
1 cup of tomato puree? Really?
Richa says
Yes, really
sharleen says
Not nearly enough liquid mine has been in for an hour had to add water! measured everything very precisely
Richa says
Hey Sharleen, it might seem like there's less liquid at first but as the chicken continues to cook it'll leave its own liquid and that's what creates the sauce.
Carolyn says
Hiya Richa
Your curry looks so easy no faffing so I'll look forward to trying it tomorrow and 'specially good with the potatoes! Yum thank you
Richa says
Thanks Carolyn! I really hope you like it
Lindsay says
If I'm just cooking this for myself, does it freeze well? thanks!
Richa says
Yea it does!
Sheela says
What brand tomato purée do you use ? The consistency of the one here in the UK is like paste and thick, I used the measurement in the recipe and the curry tasted like a stew rather than a curry.
Richa says
Hey Sheela, I use an Indian brand called Dabur Homemade. I'm sorry this one didn't turn out well for you. If the tomato puree is really thick, you can add an additional onion in the recipe. That should balance it out.
Peter says
Hi. I am planning on cooking this on the weekend. The recipe calls for one cup of tomato puree. Do you mean as in the tubes? Or 1 cup of tinned or passata? Thanks 🙂
Richa says
Hey! I mean 1 cup of tomato passata
JJ says
I tried the recipe today. It was almost good. my sauce had a faint bitter taste not sure from which spice. Any idea which spice may have caused it. I used tomato paste because I didn't have tomato puree on hand. could this be the culprit?
Richa says
The bitterness could come from the garam masala if its not proportionately made