Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
on Sep 17, 2018, Updated Oct 19, 2020
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This Slow Cooker Chicken Curry is perfect in every way – juicy pieces of chicken and 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.
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!
- A really simple dump-and-go recipe that yields a really flavorful chicken curry
- Most of the recipe is hands-off. 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
- Can be made in a large batch and stored for later
Jump to section: Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
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
- If you don’t have whole spices, feel free to skip them and increase the garam masala by 1/4 teaspoon
This slow cooker chicken curry uses simple ingredients but is really high on flavour. Plus you’re going to love just how simple it is to put together. I usually serve this with some plain steamed rice and a lemon wedge for weeknight dinners. But you can easily alleviate the recipe by serving with some butter garlic naan for weekend lunch or if you’re making this for guests.
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)
- 685 grams 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.
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!
Hi Richa! Love this recipe! Just wanted to check the 8 chicken thighs would be how many gms approx ?
Hey Divya! Thank you! It should be approx 800 grams
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.