Crockpot Butter Chicken
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This crockpot butter chicken takes everything you love about the classic dish and turns it into the easiest, most hands-off dinner. The sauce is rich, creamy, and full of warm spices, and the slow cooker does all the work while you go about your day. It’s simple, comforting, and exactly the kind of meal you’ll want to come home to.
I’ve adapted my popular butter chicken recipe into a crockpot version! Even though the original doesn’t take long to make, there are days when I want dinner prepped early, so it’s ready the moment we’re hungry.
This slow-cooker version is incredibly easy — it only takes a few minutes to put together, and then the slow cooker does all the work. By the time you lift the lid, the sauce is rich and flavorful, and the chicken is beautifully tender.
Tips for making crockpot butter chicken
- Butter chicken at some restaurants can be quite sweet. If that’s the version you love, simply add a little extra sugar at the end to tailor the sauce to your taste.
- Fresh spices make a huge difference here. Give yours a quick sniff before using them — if the aroma is faint or dusty, it’s time to replace them for the best flavor.
- For extra richness, stir in a small knob of butter or an extra splash of cream just before serving. It makes the sauce even silkier and more luxurious without much effort.
Serving ideas
A pot of basmat rice is almost mandatory. Coconut rice or ginger rice is nice if you want to switch things up. I love naan with butter chicken – pick some up at your grocery store to keep dinner simple.
If I want to add a vegetable to a curry dinner, it’s usually my creamy cucumber salad. Some roasted tandoori cauliflower is another good option. Or sometimes I’ll even go rogue and add some veggies to the curry, as I do in my loaded vegan butter chicken.
Tip: If you have leftovers, make my butter chicken poutine tomorrow!
Crockpot Butter Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion (chopped)
- 3 tablespoons chopped ginger
- 6 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 2 tablespoons EACH: almond butter and coconut sugar (can sub brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon EACH: turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, and salt
- 4 chicken breasts (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- ½ cup whipping cream, plain yogurt, or coconut milk
Instructions
- Add the canned tomatoes, onion, ginger, garlic, almond butter, coconut sugar, garam masala, turmeric coriander, cumin, chili powder, and salt to your blender and blend on high until smooth. Pour the sauce into your slow cooker.28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes, 1 yellow onion, 3 tablespoons chopped ginger, 6 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons EACH: almond butter and coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon EACH: turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder, and salt
- Add the chicken and mix well. Turn your slow cooker to high for 3-4 hours or low for 7-8 hours.4 chicken breasts
- When you are ready to eat, stir in the cream, yogurt, or coconut milk. Taste and add more salt, if needed.½ cup whipping cream, plain yogurt, or coconut milk
Video
Nutrition
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For more inspiration, check out all of our chicken recipes!
Flavorful and very easy. I was worried it might be too spicy, as some butter chicken can be. But this is spot on. Even my picky husband liked it. Served with cilantro rice.
It’s not bad but it’s definitely not great. The tomatoes really steal the show and made it quite bitter. Recipe isn’t bad but definitely needs tweaking with seasonings to make it more of a savory dish
Is the teaspoon of “chili powder” the chili powder that is a mixture of cumin, cinnamon, paprika, etc that’s used as a base for a southwestern-style chili, or the chili powder as in the ground up powder of dried hot red chiles, like cayenne pepper?
Hi Jessica, we use what is considered a chili powder blend, which is mostly mild red chili peppers but also has cumin, onion powder and garlic powder.
What can you substitute almond butter with? My son is allergic. Thank you
Hi Wendy, this recipe should work well with other nut or seed butters like cashew or sunflower.
Thanks so much for sharing this great butto chucked recipe. It is a breeze to make .your instructions are very clear and concise.
Can you use peanut butter in place of almond butter?
Peanut butter will really change the flavor of the curry. It might still be very good, but it will taste like peanuts. Almond butter is more neutral.
Could this be made in the Instant Pot?
I would think it could be, but I haven’t tried it yet to say for sure.
I’m a 55-year-old male who doesn’t know jack about cooking. I decided to make this and it turned out pretty great really really great. The chicken was incredibly tender and tasty. The good thing about this is you don’t have to use the expensive chicken. The whole family loved it! It is really easy to make. I added garbanzo beans and water chestnuts towards the end. We only used two chicken breasts and that combined with everything else is enough for 10 people I’m serious. As far as I’m concerned it’s restaurant quality!
Hello, I am curious about the sodium content in this recipe. Other than salt to season it (you don’t specify an amount) and maybe the canned tomatoes, none of the other components seem like high sodium foods. As we are on a low sodium diet I would like to confirm if this is the correct preserving? I would love to try this! It sounds amazing. THANKS!
Easy, tasty and classically aromatic.
I’ve tried your easy butter chicken recipe before so thought I would try this. I think I like the original better, but this one is great for making ahead of time. I’ll make it again the next time I’m wanting a crock pot dinner.