If you need a magical family recipe that will make dinner disappear at your house, look no further than this delicious Slow Cooker Butter Chicken! Amazingly fast and easy to prepare and packed full of flavor!
I don’t know about you, but pretty much any time of year, it feels like the busiest time of year to me. No matter if it’s back to school time, summer time, or the holidays, our schedules are filled with extra activities and it takes a little planning on my part to make sure we have dinner on the table. Thank goodness, as always, for my slow cooker! Of all of the slow cooker chicken recipes on my site, I love this recipe for Slow Cooker Butter Chicken possibly the most because it’s easy to put together in the morning (or even the day before) and it turns out delicious every time. It’s a staple in our house not only because it’s easy, but because everybody loves it! I often make a double batch and the leftovers disappear for lunch the next day!
Important Notes about this Slow Cooker Butter Chicken:
- This dish is just my take on a classic food and the version I serve to my family and in no way is it truly authentic. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to make it your own!
- It’s not spicy at all, by design. If you’d like some spice, go for it by adding some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
- To make it vegetarian, you can swap out the chicken for chickpeas!
The best thing about this meal is how easy it is to prepare. A few steps all in the slow cooker and dinner will be waiting!
What does butter chicken taste like?
There are a few stories out there about the true origins of butter chicken, but some tales said it was created by accident by repurposing leftovers. And isn’t that how all good recipes come about? No matter how it was created it’s safe to say that butter chicken is a universally loved dish. It has mild curry flavors and a creamy tomato sauce and is great for anyone who has never tried Indian food before.
Why I love this easy slow cooker meal:
- Making slow cooker chicken breast can seem boring, so aren’t we all always looking for new recipes to cook chicken? Chicken doesn’t have to be boring! In fact, if you haven’t tried butter chicken, you are in for anything but boring chicken!
- Even my picky 5 year old devours it. You can make it a tad spicy or keep it mild. It’s rich and creamy and made with coconut milk and a little cream added at the end for that something extra.
- It’s a no prep dish, meaning nothing has to be cooked ahead of time. Just toss in the slow cooker for a delicious meal at the end of the day.
Ingredients you need to make this butter chicken sauce:
And if you don’t love curry flavors, I’ll bet you’ll love this Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken recipe instead.
If you need a magical family recipe that will make dinner disappear at your house, look no further than this delicious Slow Cooker Butter Chicken! Amazingly fast and easy to prepare and packed full of flavor!
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 sweet yellow onion diced
- 3 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 14.5 oz can coconut milk
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup heavy cream for later
- 2 cups Basmati Rice
- Add all ingredients except cream and rice into slow cooker and stir to combine
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8
- Stir in heavy cream and return cover to let it heat through while you make the rice
- Cook rice according to package directions
- Serve rice topped with chicken and with a side of naan if desired
- This is not spicy at all. If you'd like some spice, go for it by adding some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
- To make it vegetarian, you can swap out the chicken for chickpeas.
- To make this dairy free, you can leave out the cream and butter (yes, it is still very tasty that way!)
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Does this recipe include the basmati rice In the nutrition facts?
yes
I read the comments before making so I did increase my spice level but this dish is delicious!!!!! Saucy and amazing flavor, my husband loved it too. He wants me to try it with a white fish next time. I can’t wait to make it again either way.
Hi! This is probably a dumb question, just getting the hang of slow cooking. Do you cut the chicken before or after cooking? Thanks!
Before. Or you could put it in whole and shred it after it’s cooked depending on the texture you prefer.
Enjoyed this. Simple to make and smelled amazing when I got home from work.
I added minced fresh serrano peppers for heat, and cornstarch to thicken it up a bit because it was a bit too soupy for my liking at first.
Will make great lunches for the rest of the week.
Could you prep and freeze this ahead of time and store in a freezer bag, you think? (minus the cream at the end, obviously)
I know it’s “butter chicken” but is there a way to modify to make it dairy free?
Thanks!
Yes you can freeze it and yes, just swap out additional coconut milk for the dairy milk.
Thurs was amazing when I made it. I don’t like spicy food so it was the perfect heat. I’ve had trouble trying to recreate the Indian “gravy” with store-bought jars of summer sauce but this came very close to my favorite restaurant! Is there perhaps a companion recipe or way of adapting this for praparation with a pressure cooker?
I’m working on a pressure cooker version!
Can hardly wait to try this recipe! I only have one question: What is naan? I assume a type of Indian bread? Can I make this and if so do you have a recipe?
It is!! I don’t have a recipe, I just purchase it from the grocery store but I know there are many recipes out there for it.
An outstanding recipie!! Couldn’t get red curry paste near me, so used Trader Joe’s red curry sauce in a bottle and then used half the spices listed but the entire can of coconut milk. I also took the lid off for last 40 mins or so to thicken up. Crazy good dinner, thank you SO much.
Awesome! Thank you!
This was delish!! I modified a bit. Sautéed the onions in a little butter with the tomato paste spices garlic ginger and added cayenne and red pepper flakes because we like spice. Then I added to the slow cooker with chicken and coconut milk. Shredded the chicken at the end and added to rice. We have left overs so I’ll make roti to have with it again. Thank you!!
I wanted to make this vegetarian so I cut up frozen Hempe, which is made from chickpeas. I also added carrots, peppers and celery. It was delicious.