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Creamy Crockpot Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs. The perfect bowl of warming comfort food that’s incredibly delicious. Indian-inspired curry chicken meatballs made with plenty of spice and creamy coconut milk. This curry is perfectly spicy, creamy, and filled with warming Indian-inspired flavors. Making the dish in the crockpot leaves you with an even more flavorful sauce and the tastiest meatballs. Serve these creamy curry chicken meatballs over bowls of rice with acorn squash roasted in garlic butter. You’ll have the perfect dinner that can be enjoyed any night of the week. And the leftovers are even more delicious the next day. Directions for the Instant Pot and stove-top are provided too!
We’ve officially entered crockpot season! I use my crockpot throughout the year, but I really start to lean into crockpot recipes once September rolls around. They feel cozier and are usually pretty easy to prepare.
Creighton has been asking me to make a curry for weeks now. Butter chicken and tikka masala are both his favorites. My very favorite way to cook meatballs is in the crockpot (they never dry out). I thought a butter chicken meatball curry would be delicious and great for this transitional time of year.
Since I love sharing all-in-one dinner recipes, I also added seasonal acorn squash tossed with roasted garlic and honey butter.
Everything is cooked together in the crockpot, or you can use the instant pot if you prefer. If you’re looking for a stove-top variation, try my 30-Minute Butter Chicken Meatballs.
Here are the details
Step 1: mix the spices
I like to use garam masala, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne. Mix them together in a bowl. Half of the mix will be used for the meatballs, and the other half for the coconut sauce.
Step 2: mix the meatballs
In a bowl, mix the chicken (or use pork or turkey), with half of the spices and plain Greek yogurt.
Once you’ve rolled the mix into balls, place them in the crockpot with the onion, shallots, and garlic cloves. Then place the squash on top of the meatballs. Slowly cook.
Step 3: pull out the squash and garlic
Once the squash and garlic have finished cooking remove them from the crockpot. Place them on a sheet pan with butter and put them under the broiler until charred, about 5 minutes.
Toss with some honey. So yummy!
Step 4: finish the sauce
To the meatballs, stir in the coconut milk and cilantro. Let cook until thickened.
Then the sauce is complete.
Step 5: serve
As this cooks, the aroma in the kitchen is truly incredible. It’s just like your favorite Indian spot in town, but maybe just a touch better. I always find anything made at home to be even more delicious.
I like to serve my curry chicken meatballs over steamed rice with some fresh naan for scooping up the creamy, coconutty sauce. Absolutely DELICIOUS!
Looking for other Indian-inspired dinners? Here are my favorites:
Crockpot Creamy Coconut Chicken Tikka Masala
30 Minute Spicy Indian Butter Chicken
30 Minute Butter Chicken Meatballs
Super Simple Coconut Chicken Tikka Masala
Gingery Coconut Sweet Potato and Rice Stew with Chili Oil
Lastly, if you make this Crockpot Coconut Curry Chicken Meatballs be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Crockpot Coconut Butter Chicken Meatballs
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 311 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, use to your taste
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken, pork, or turkey
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- kosher salt
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 6 whole cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 small acorn squash, cut into wedges
- 1 can (14 ounce) full-fat coconut milk (or sub 1 cup cream)
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- steamed rice. and naan, for serving
Instructions
Crockpot
- 1. Mix the spices. In a bowl mix the garam masala, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. 2. Add the chicken, half of the spice mix, and the yogurt to a bowl. Season with salt. Mix to combine. Coat your hands with oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-16 meatballs). Place the meatballs, onion, shallot, and garlic cloves in the crockpot. Add the tomato paste. 3. Pour over 1/3 cup water and sprinkle the remaining spices over the meatballs. Add garlic, then the acorn squash wedges. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 1-2 hours.4. Preheat the broiler to high. Remove the squash and garlic from the slow cooker and place on a baking sheet. Add the butter. Broil 2-5 minutes, until charred. Peel away the garlic skin, then chop and mix with the butter, honey, and squash on the sheet pan.5. Meanwhile, crank the heat on the crockpot to high. Stir in the coconut milk and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes until warmed. Stir in the cilantro.6. Serve the meatballs and sauce over bowls of rice with fresh naan and squash on the side. Enjoy!
Instant Pot
- 1. Mix the spices. In a bowl mix the garam masala, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. 2. Add the chicken, half of the spice mix, and the yogurt to a bowl. Season with salt. Mix to combine. Coat your hands with oil, and roll the meat into tablespoon-size balls (will make 15-16 meatballs). Place the meatballs, onion, shallot, and garlic cloves in the instant pot. Add the tomato paste. 3. Pour 1/3 cup water overtop and sprinkle the remaining spices over the meatballs. Add the garlic, then the acorn squash wedges. Cover and cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.4. Once done cooking, release the steam. Set the Instant pot to sauté. Preheat the broiler to high. Remove the squash and garlic from the instant pot and place on a baking sheet. Add the butter. Broil 2-5 minutes, until charred. Peel away the garlic skin, then chop and mix with the butter, honey, and squash on the sheet pan.5. Meanwhile, stir the coconut milk into the meatballs and cook, uncovered, for 5 minutes until warmed. Stir in the cilantro.6. Serve the meatballs and sauce over bowls of rice with fresh naan and squash on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
Stove-Top: use my 30 Minute Butter Chicken Meatball recipe.Â
Love the flavor and ease of this dish!
Hey Rachel,
I appreciate you making this recipe and your feedback, so glad it was enjoyed! xT
I love this recipe, especially the acorn squash, but there is a mistake. In the description you don’t add tomato paste, but it is in the recipe. The tomato paste adds the wrong flavor and creates a different color than pictured, so I don’t think it is meant to be included. Please confirm.
Hey Catarina,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and your feedback! The tomato paste is correct, I add it to most of my Indian inspired dishes. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
This was delicious!! Which cookbook is this in?
This recipe is getting a lot of hate but it worked out perfect for me. Meatballs did not fall apart. It was not bland. We thought it was good. I looked the meatballs in the crockpot on low heat for about 3.5 hours. The squash were delish.
Thank you so much Melissa! 🙂 xT
Follow up to original comment: I ended up surrendering to the meatballs falling apart and just stirred it all up. The squash was amazing! Tasted delish! The rest of the meal also tasted very good but the presentation wasn’t as pretty as it would have been had the meatballs had been in tact. I ended up with a ground chicken over rice dish. Still it was well received and your Naan recipe was an amazing accompaniment. I probably will make this again but as with others, will cook the meatballs separately and later add them to the sauce in the crockpot!
Thanks for sharing your update, Jennifer! I appreciate your feedback and what worked best for you! xx
I usually read the comments BEFORE making the dish but alas I waited until I had turned on the crockpot and had all the ingredients cooking. It seems a bit dry an hour and a half into the recipe so I was looking to see if others added more water. When I looked at the meatballs they had entirely fallen apart. Now I have a ground chicken dish with Indian flavor which I hope is good. We shall see. Tieghan, is there a modification you could add to the recipe, like cook meatballs separately? That seems to have worked for some. I didn’t give any starts at this point since I am only half way through cooking. Wish me luck!
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe! Sorry to hear your meatballs fell apart, I’ve never had this issues! Next time, try adding a binder like eggs or breadcrumbs to see if that helps. I hope everything still tastes great for you! xx
I took previous comments advice and made meatballs ahead of time, baked as sheet pan bake, and I did toss with egg, breadcrumbs. I made the sauce separately. After baking the meatballs, I put them in a pan and added the sauce I’d been simmering all day.
I also am extremely Appalachian, so I only used about half the spices.
Everything was delicious! Will make again. I have a toddler so I just made separate meatballs for him.
Even with limited time most nights, I’d make this again because it was so delicious.
Hey JoBeth,
I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks for making it and sharing your review:) xT