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.
How much is a cup full?
Looking to try this recipe are the quantities in US or UK and roughly how much weight is a cup of onions or rather how many onion(s) is it. Many thanks 🙂 Also if you choose to can this recipe be done with whole thighs (skin and all)
Hey Lesley, 1 cup of onions is 120 grams, approx. 2 medium onions. you may use bone-in chicken thighs but without skin as it works best for this curry.
Brilliant recipe and so so easy to make especially if you’re in a hurry! I used chicken breasts and leg pieces and it tasted equally amazing… outstanding is what my husband described it as and I couldn’t agree more! Trying out the lamb recipe next time… 🙂 thank you Richa !
So great to hear you liked the recipe Sana! Thank you for leaving a comment
This is an amazing recipe. Is it possible to adapt this recipe for catfish? Do I drop the fish into the curry frozen or thawed? And how long should I cook fish? Thanks Richa.
Hey! To use fish, cook the gravy first and then add the finish in the last fifteen minutes because fish cooks really fast. Use thawed fish
Hi,
This recipe is so tasty – thank you! Just wanted your advice. I’m fairly new to using skinless thighs as i usually use chicken breast.There is soooo much fat on the thighs! Last time i spent so long cutting it off – is it worth it? Or will it just cook away? I hate fatty bits on my meat.
Thanks for the help.
Hey Francesca, I usually get the store or the butcher to prep the thighs. And with slow cooked chicken, breasts tend to dry out over the long cooking process. Thighs remain juicy and thats why its worth it
It’s one of my go to chicken curry recipes, damn delicious
Thank you so much Sue. So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Great recipe! Easy to make and great flavors!
Thank you so so much Carolyn! So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Is there another vegetable we can substitute for the potatoes? Thank you & thank you for the recipe!
You can use sweet potatoes, cauliflower, green peas. They will all taste good in this recipe.
Should I peel the sweet potatoes for this one?
Yea peeling would be better
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.