A wonderful dairy free version of a favorite dish – this slow cooker butter chicken is creamy, warming, and comforting.
Have you ever had a really amazing meal while on vacation?
I’ve had so many delicious meals on vacations over the years. I remember wonderful meals in Toronto, in Hawaii, in California, all over Michigan, and in Chicago. A trip to Chicago with my husband many years ago is what inspired today’s recipe.
And I would love to say that it was an absolutely fabulous meal that inspired this post…but it was actually a vacation meal gone wrong. We went to an Indian restaurant that was highly recommended to us, and I ordered the Chicken Korma, and my husband ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala. Our dishes arrived, and looked beautiful, but although I had ordered my dish with a mild spice level, it was so spicy it made my mouth and stomach burn.
When we waved the waiter over, he actually was not apologetic at all, and said that most of the people in the restaurant were eating food that was ten times hotter than my dish. We left right after that, and headed to get ice cream to see if that would help my burning insides calm down. Once we got home again, we headed to our favorite Indian restaurant and had a great experience as usual – that helped erase the bad memories from that trip. :)
Because I LOVE Indian food, I do miss going to good Indian restaurants now that we have a nut allergy in our family. I was really in the mood for butter chicken, and I decided to make this slow cooker version. Make this in the morning and come home to a fragrant house and a comforting and warming meal of slow cooker butter chicken.
This slow cooker butter chicken is:
- flavorful and mildly spiced
- dairy free and gluten free
- comforting and warming
- easy to make in the slow cooker
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread use dairy butter if you prefer
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 8 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 15 ounces full fat coconut milk
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- rice for serving
Instructions
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Place the butter in the slow cooker along with the chopped onion. Turn the slow cooker on low heat and let the butter melt, and stir the onion to coat.
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Add the chicken, tomato sauce, coconut milk, and all of the spices. Stir.
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Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high.
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Serve the butter chicken over cooked Basmati rice.
Kelly Morrow
We have really enjoyed your recipes. This was a new one for me; I’ve never had butter chicken. Smelled wonderful all day as it cooked! I do need to ask how to spice this up just a tad. To us, it was somewhat bland. Could be the lo-salt tomato sauce I used? What spice should I increase, and how much? Thanks so much for help with this.
Kelly Roenicke
Just increase the chili powder and garam masala. If you need a little more salt, you can just add that at the end.
Kristy
Hello! It’s in the crock pot now! ☺️ Could someone tell me how big a serving is? A cup? Is the kcal for just the chicken and no rice?
Kelly Roenicke
Probably about 3/4 cup. The rice is not included in the nutrition facts. I hope you enjoy it!
Kelly Morrow
Hi, just wondering if the slow cooker butter chicken tastes coconutty? I have family members who do not like coconut, but sometimes when coconut is used, it’s not obvious in the finished product.
Kelly Roenicke
It isn’t very coconutty, it’s just flavorful because there are so many spices.
Pat C.Wilson
this looks so good. i haven’t eat chicken yet for a long time. must try it out in a cool autumn day. one question, would its flavor change if i make it in the morning and package it for lunch for my sons?
Kiki
I made this dish exactly as written and served it over jasmine rice. It smelled SO fantastic! It was really delicious but we (my family) all felt it could use more of each of the spices. I will definitely make this again!
Serena
This is a very funny story! Glad you got ice cream out of the deal! (: I love Indian food too…thus my @tspcurry handle!
Sarah @Whole and Heavenly Oven
I LOVE butter chicken so much, but I normally never make it at home and that is DEFINITELY changing as of right now because this looks that amazing, Denise! Love love how tender the chicken looks!
Kelly
Thanks Sarah!
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
I’ve never heard of butter chicken before, but this looks so good! Love that it’s made in the slow cooker!
Kelly
Thanks, Gayle!
Kalee
I love anything that can be made in a crockpot, and this looks delicious and SO simple!
Kelly
Thank you!
Farrah
Ahh, this sounds so good! :D I’ve been wanting to make butter chicken and hooray for slow cooker recipes! <3 I gotta go get some butter and tomato sauce! :] Pinning!!
Kelly
Thank you!
Shirley
coconut allergy….what can i use as a sub for the coconut milk?
Kelly Roenicke
You can use a different non-dairy milk, but you may have to add something to thicken the sauce. Try 1 Tablespoon cornstarch mixed into 3 Tablespoons non-dairy milk. Add during the last hour of cooking.