Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Rich and well spiced Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala! Made with bite size pieces of chicken, bright tomato puree, plenty of earthy spices, plus yogurt and cream to highlight. It’s a go-to dinner for busy days!

Yes that’s right a crockpot chicken tikka masala that doesn’t require any browning meat, sautéing aromatics, or the extra step of pureeing sauce. Everything is simply added right into a slow cooker, tossed together, cooked through, then finished off with a fair amount of cream.

It is the simplest way to cook this savory Indian-British dish and the final result is a full flavored, perfectly impressive curry style dinner. Who doesn’t love a dinner recipe that takes minimal effort but yields maximum flavor!

This near effortless dish simmers low and slow allowing all the flavors to meld and soak into the chicken, and its generous allotment of cooking time allows for all those spices to marry together in a overall unified flavor.

The key to a good slow cooker curry style dish like this is just to use plenty of spices, fresh aromatics (garlic, ginger and onion), and never forget the cream (it compliments the tomato beautifully). Serve it with basmati rice cooked in a rice cooker for continued ease, and pair with a side of steamed peas or green beans to include a veggie.

Crockpot Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe Ingredients and Substitutes

Chicken thighs: Chicken thighs are the best option for this recipe for flavor and texture. Chicken breasts can be used as well but they will tend to dry out easier plus lack the fat thighs have so won’t have quite as much flavor.
Yellow onion: A white or red onion may be substituted.
Ginger: Fresh ginger will give the best flavor but when in a hurry you can use ginger paste.
Garlic: Fresh garlic will also offer optimal flavor but again you may substitute bottled to save time.
Spices: You’ll need cumin, kashmiri chili powder, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, cayenne, salt and black pepper.
Sugar: Honey will work great too. This just balances the acidity of the tomato and yogurt.
Dried fenugreek: This is a dried herb commonly used in Indian cooking. If you can’t find it at your local grocer you can purchase it from retailers online.
Tomato puree: If you are having trouble finding tomato puree try a substitute of equal parts water and tomato paste or tomato sauce.
Plain Greek yogurt: Regular yogurt will work as well, you may just want to add a touch more tapioca starch at the end since it’s a thinner yogurt.
Heavy cream: A good alternative would be canned coconut cream for equal richness.
Tapioca starch: This is used as a thickener for the sauce. It works better than cornstarch here because it doesn’t need to boil to thicken the curry.
Cilantro: This adds a flavorful herby finish at the end. If cilantro taste bitter or soapy to your taste buds replace it with parsley or omit.

How to Make Chicken Tikka Masala in the Crockpot

For the spice blend whisk together all spices listed under “spice blend” in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

To a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker add chicken thighs, onion, garlic, and ginger then sprinkle over spice blend. Toss to coat.

Add tomato puree and Greek yogurt. Toss with the chicken.

Cover and cook on low heat until chicken is cooked through, about 4 to 5 hours.

In liquid measuring cup used to measure the heavy cream, whisk together the heavy cream with tapioca starch. Pour mixture into slow cooker with the cooked chicken, along with the fenugreek and gently stir.

Season with cayenne pepper to taste if you’d like additional spicy heat, and taste to see if you’d like additional salt added.

Serve with basmati rice if desired garnished with cilantro.

Helpful Tips

Spices: Use spices that are fairly fresh for better flavor. For the very best flavor use fresh ground spices.

Create your own spice blend using the spices listed, garam masala is commonly used in this dish BUT this spice blends varies so widely by brand that each one would yield a very different flavor profile.

Kashmiri chili and fenugreek: To me these two ingredients really help build up the unique, crave-able flavor of the dish, but if you’d rather not purchase them try boosting spice flavor using other spices such as 2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp mustard powder or 1/2 tsp fennel seeds.

Storage: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Or it can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Reheating: Rewarm in a saucepan on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring frequently and thinning with chicken broth as needed. Or rewarm individual servings in the microwave on a microwave safe dish on 50% power until warmed through.

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