Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

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

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

This slow cooker chicken curry is inspired by Indian flavours 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. Watch Recipe Video above.

5 from 10 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: basmati rice, crockpot, curry, Gluten Free, gravy, indian chicken recipe, naan bread, slow cooked chicken, Slow cooker

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Servings: 6 portions

Calories: 453kcal

Author: Richa

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
• 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.

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.

Nutrition

Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 553mg | Potassium: 832mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 439IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 3mg