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.
The most perfectly produced chicken curry I’ve ever produced. Thankyou for a fantastic recipe Richa, superb and I will be preparing that recipe often.
Thank you so much Christopher, so so happy to know you liked the recipe
I was unsure if this curry recipe would work due to the addition of dry spices and the amount of tomato puree (I have always used a paste), however I was pleasantly surprised. The sauce had a nice consistency. I would definitely be saving this recipe and making again.
Hey Lorry, So great to hear you liked the recipe. Thank you for leaving a comment
I made this recipe and I will say it didn’t have much flavor unfortunately you could taste just a hint of it. I added Valentina when I ate my serving and it definitely enhanced the flavors next time I believe I will experiment with more spices.
Yaay, I’m sorry about that. I have cooked it many times and it has turned out perfect. do leave a comment when you give it another try.
Is this recipe spicy my family is super sensitive to spicy foods
Hey Mariah, this is a moderately spicy recipe. to reduce spiciness, you may skip using green chillies & use only 1/4 teaspoon of red chilli powder & 1/4 teaspoon of garam masala powder.
Pretty tasty. Next time I’ll add more spices and more water/stock. It didn’t come out saucy at all.
This is the best recipe I’ve come across for a chicken curry in many years. Very clear instructions and easy to prepare with the end result restaurant quality. Superb!
So glad you liked it!
My curry sauce came out thin the consistency. What can I do to thicken it up?
That’s strange! You can use less water next time or thicken it with 1 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons water. Mix this in, simmer for a few minutes to thicken
How do I get more sauce without losing flavour?
Hey Nadine, you can double all the ingredients except the whole spices and chicken. This should give you more sauce.
I can’t wait to try this out. I substituted for chicken lovely legs at Woolworths and used a ghost chilli x Pimenta de Neyde ( pink tiger)instead of the green chilli but I’m growing red cayenne too so I can use the green version of chilli 🌶️ thanks for providing the recipe can’t wait to see more!!
Hey Jeremy, thats awesome to know you grow chilli peppers. so so glad you liked the recipe.
This was INCREDIBLE!! I don’t usually leave comments on recipes but felt I really wanted to for this recipe! I’ve never used a slow cooker before but the girls at work always talk about how great it is. Being Indian, I eat a lot of Indian food so I thought I would look for an Indian chicken curry recipe with the use of a slow cooker. This recipe was perfect! I made slight adjustments with garam masala and garlic quantities (to my taste) and added cinnamon stick, chicken masala, coriander cumin powder (rather than just coriander powder) and ghee (rather than butter) and it turned out delicious! I will definitely be using the slow cooker more often! Thank you for introducing me to the world of Indian slow cooking!
Hey Neerali, so glad that you loved the recipe. thank you for your comments