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You guys are going to LOVE this Crockpot Butter Chicken!
This easy healthier Crockpot Butter Chicken is so delicious! It’s so easy to make, it’s kind of embarrassing. And on top of being easy, it’s also healthier than the traditional Butter Chicken. YES!
You see, there was a reason for that Naan yesterday.
Butter Chicken.
Butter Chicken and Naan just need each other. Especially when both are homemade and both are incredibly awesome.
And oh my gosh… So easy!
When I set out to make the Butter Chicken I wanted it to be crazy easy.
My cousin Maggie graduated from college with a teaching degree in May, and in August she started teaching full-time. Yeah, only three months later she landed her first teaching job and it’s full-time, with her very own kindergarten classroom! I know, right? The girl is pretty awesome and one of the hardest workers I know.
She’s also very busy, but really who the heck isn’t these days?
Maggie has been asking for easy crockpot recipes. You know, the ones that you can just throw everything in the bowl, turn it on and go!
So I adapted the classic Butter Chicken recipe, made a few changes to make it healthier, threw everything in the crockpot and prayed. Prayed that this (way too easy, most likely would never work) meal actually tasted somewhat edible.
Sometimes when I experiment things can turn out just plain bad. Like all the recipes I made this past weekend. Ugh…so disappointing. Let’s just not go there. But sometimes…
Yeah, sometimes I get lucky. I knew three hours in that the recipe was gonna be good.
The house smelled amazing. Almost fall like. It was awesome and so cozy.
Gotta love cozy comfort food that is not really comfort food.
I mean it’s comfort food, just a little lighter.
It’s seriously so cozy and perfect for quick weeknight meals.
Like I said, just throw it all in and go!
I have to say that normally I like browning my meat before I put it in the crockpot, but for this I did not miss it at all. There is so much flavor in the creamy sauce that you don’t need to brown the chicken first.
Which is just kind of awesome. I mean who wants to clean another pan? Not me, I’m already up to my eyeballs in dishes.
Oh, and seriously, the Naan is a must.
Easy Healthier Crockpot Butter Chicken
Servings: 6 servings
Calories Per Serving: 456 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite size chunks
- 1/2 onion finely minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1-2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 1/2-1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, use less if you are not a spicy person
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1/2 cup greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
- cooked white rice for serving
- Fresh homemade naan for scooping (a must!)
Instructions
- In a large glass measuring cup or bowl mix together the coconut milk, greek yogurt and cream. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger and all the spices. Mix well.
- Spray the inside of your crockpot bowl with cooking spray or grease with olive oil. To the bowl sprinkle the onion over the bottom. Add the chicken and then pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken so the chicken is completely covered. Add the butter and place the lid on the crockpot. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. I like to stir mine once or twice during cooking, but it is not necessary. When ready to serve taste and season with salt and pepper if desired. Serve over rice with a big piece of fresh [Naan | https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-naan-step-step-photos/]
Obviously.
Hi Tieghan,
I’ve been reading the blog for ages, but have only just found this recipe – it looks delicious! The only thing is, i don’t have a crockpot – could you suggest how i could adapt the recipe for a cast iron dish, either in the oven or on the stove?
Thanks!
Hey Lu! You can simmer all ingredients (layer as directed for the crockpot) in a large soup pot set over medium heat. I’d cook 30-45 minutes, stirring ever so often until the chicken is cooked and the sauce thickens slightly. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much! x Tieghan
I am so excited to try this recipe. I have been looking everywhere for a crock pot version of this, and this looks soooo yummy. One question though, can I substitute yellow curry paste instead of red? How will that effect the flavor? (I have yellow paste on hand already, and I’ve never tried red curry so I don’t know what it tastes like.)
Thanks in advance!!
Hi! Yes, yellow curry paste should be great and shouldn’t effect flavor too much! Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Oh my goodness…so, I made this recipe years ago, and absolutely loved it! Not only did I love it, but my family (including some picky eaters!) all devoured it!! I had the recipe in a notebook that I later needed last min for a class. I pulled out the recipe page, and gave it to my Mom for safe keeping. Luckily my Mom kept it safe for over a year, and when I recently remembered this dish, I was so excited she still had it. I gave my husband the recipe to run to the store for ingredients….and.he.lost.it!!! I literally almost cried and have been searching the internet for over a week. I didn’t think I would find the right recipe because their are SO many…but right when I found this page I recognized it! So happy to have found it again! (& so is my hubby! Considering he has been in fog house for a week lol). Thanks for the great recipe and family favorite!
Ah that is so amazing! Thank you so much Amanda! I am so glad you and your family love this recipe!
This is one of my favorite recipes. Thank you so much! I’ve made it a few times now and I’m trying to brainstorm what kinds of vegetables I can either cook alongside or toss in near the end. I’ve made a turmeric roasted cauliflower side so far. But the idea of just tossing something into the pot near the end of cooking sounds much more efficient. Any suggestions?
I! I would just add the cauliflower (or whatever veggie) to the crockpot 20 minutes before it’s done cooking. That will be great! Please let me know if you have other questions. So glad you love this recipe! Thanks! ?
amazing stuff … it looks so delicious.
Thank you Jenila!
Hey Tieghan! Any thoughts on how to do this in the InstantPot??
HI Sam! I haven’t tested the recipe in the instant pot, so it is hard to say. I would start by adding all ingredients to the instant pot and cooking it on high pressure for 15 minutes and then using the natural release. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! ?
I love this recipe! Do you have the nutritional value per serving?
Hi Nalani! I am sorry, but I do not have the nutritional information for this recipes. I find that online food calculators work best. Let me know if you have any questions! Thank you!
Marathi RecipeThis looks so easy and delicious-I want to try it! its very simple to make … really great !!
Thank you!
I’ve made this a few times and it is delicious! I do have a quick question though-the sauce doesn’t really thicken up at all in my crockpot. The only thing I’m doing differently is using low-fat coconut milk, do you think that would be it? Or is the sauce supposed to remain pretty much liquid?
Hi! Yes, it is probably the low fat milk, but to thicken it just leave the top off the crockpot for 30 minutes during the end of cooking. this will thicken the sauce. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Coconut milk — sweetened or unsweetened? Gonna make a huge batch to freeze for later, and I don’t want to mess this up!
Thanks!
I use unsweetened. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
Love your recipes! At least one of them are included in my weekly meal planning. Just came home to this one and it seems the sauce became gritty looking. Almost like the cream curdled. Any ideas why?cooked on low for 6 hours ?♀️
HI and thank you! 🙂
Did you use anything different in your recipe? What fat content was your yogurt? Sometimes low-fat dairy will curdle when slow cooked. So sorry for the trouble!
I’ve been making this for over a year and we love it! Funny story: Last year I made a double batch of this and put half in the freezer after I cooked it (minus the rice) because I was expecting baby number 3 and wanted to have a few meals prepared. 5 weeks or so after my baby was born, we unexpectedly ended up having over an Indian college student for breakfast on very short notice. He was telling us the evening before how he doesn’t like American food so I was nervous about serving him a traditional American breakfast. So I went to my freezer and pulled out the frozen Indian butter chicken and made a batch of rice in my rice cooker. He said it tasted great! This is still my #1 freezer meal.
My only tip for making this is that I’m often too cheap to buy boneless skinless chicken so I just cut the skin off of chicken thighs and let it cook all day. By dinnertime the chicken is so tender that it is easy to pull off of the bone.
I am so glad you and your guest loved this recipe Lindsey! Thank you!
I made this the other night and it was fantastic. I thought it was going to be too rich when I blended the cream and greek yoghurt together, but then it cooked down it becomes this incredibly flavorful spicy sauce. I warmed up my spices in a cast iron pan with a little oil first, to release the flavors first. Also, didn’t have curry powder but used cardomom, cumin, cloves, tumeric, sweet paprika, pepper, black mustard seeds, onion and garlic powder, in addition to the minced onion, garlic and ginger. I used extra spices because I like it. Didn’t do anything else different. Wondering if it freezes well, with the dairy in it. Will definitely make again!
Made this and it was delicious, but very rich. I didn’t have curry powder so I just threw together some spices, like tumeric, cardomom, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, paprika, ginger, black mustard, think that was it. I added extra spices because I like them and heated them all up in a little oil first to release the flavors.
That is so great! I am really glad this turned out amazing for you! Thank you!
Excellent recipe! I made some slight changes due to personal preferences. I used 1.5 pounds of chicken and I could have used even 2 without needing to add any additional liquid. For spices, I used a heaping T of garam masala (very strong stuff) and upped the (madras) curry powder to 1 tbsp. Because we’re spice wimps I only used 1 tsp of the red curry paste and 1/4 tsp of cayenne. The dish had just a hint of heat which was perfect for us. Before placing in the slow cooker, I sauteed the onion in a bit of oil, then added the spices and garlic, sauteeing for about a minute to blend and enhance the flavors. I then melted the butter into the mixture, stirred in the chicken just to blend and placed the mixture into the slow cooker along with the milks, yogurt and tomato paste. It was done in 3 hours on high, but my slow cooker is running a bit hot lately.
That sounds so great Linda, I am really glad you liked this and it turned out great for you! Thank you!