Who doesn't love a great Slow Cooker Chicken Masala. There's tender, fall apart chicken in thick, rich, creamy indian curry sauce. The chicken is marinated for 3 hrs and its just 10 minutes prep to pull the recipe together and get it into the slow cooker for 8 hours.
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Recipe Highlights
- Its all made in one pot so minimal cleaning, like this Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken
- The chicken is super juicy and tender thanks to overnight marinating in yoghurt and curry paste
- Only 10 minutes of prep to get everything in the slow cooker
- Its a flavor packed dinner under 500 calories
- Its not too spicy but its easy to add extra spice at the end
- There's loads of thick creamy curry sauce, perfect for soaking up the rice and naan bread
- Its freezer friendly and makes great leftovers!
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: Skinless chicken thigh is the best cut to use. Avoid skin on chicken as there is no pre cooking/browning of the chicken to render the fat. Using skin on chicken will result in soft chicken skin that's not very pleasant to eat.
- Yoghurt: Any plain, full fat yoghurt will work. Alternatively if you’re looking to keep it low fat, use a fat free plain yoghurt.
- Cream: Thickened cream is the best as it will easily thicken the curry sauce and make it rich and velvety. You can substitute for cooking cream or pouring cream.
- Curry Paste: I used Pataks Tika Masala Paste - Medium Heat. Its available from Woolworths and Coles in the International Food Aisle. * Make sure to not buy the masala simmer sauce as this won't be strong enough.
- Chilli: Use the long green chillis for this recipe – the ones that are not too hot.
Making dinners under 500 calories is my specialty, with many of my most popular being low calorie chicken recipes, low calorie meal prepping recipes and low calorie slow cooker recipes.
How To Make This Recipe
Marinate the chicken
Combine the chicken, yoghurt and half the masala paste into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine together. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in fridge for 2 to 3 hours
Prepare the Curry Sauce
Heat oil in pan on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cook for a couple minutes until onion becomes translucent. Add remaining curry paste, cooking for a minute until fragrant and aromatic.
Add Chicken and Rest of Ingredients
Add marinated chicken to slow cooker, along with onion garlic, chilli, ginger and curry paste mixture. Stir through.
Set Slow Cooker to 8 hours on Low
Add the chicken stock/broth, tomato paste and canned tomatoes to slow cooker pot and stir through. Put lid on and slow cook on low for 8 hours. Just before serving, stir though the thickened cream, and lemon juice.
Serving Options
- Basmati Rice: Steamed fresh, or use the microwave packets for convenience
- Potatoes: mashed, or roasted
- Naan Bread: garlic naan or original, storebought, or why not try making this easy 3 ingredient flatbread - its so easy and tastes way better when you make it yourself.
- Cauliflower Rice: I love the convenience of buying frozen cauliflower rice and cooking it in the microwave as it only takes a couple of minutes.
How To Make This Dish More Spicy
- Add an additional green chilli and leave the seeds in. This should take it to a full medium heat curry, similar in heat to this Slow Cooker Red Thai Curry.
- Add diced green or red chilli on top to serve.
- Instead of 4 tablespoons of curry paste, try 6 tablespoons
Recipe Tips
- Making it Kid Friendly/Totally Mild: Don't put the green chilli in it, and reduce the curry paste from 4 tablespoons, to 3.
- Storing Leftovers: Store in an air tight container in the fridge for 3 days.
- Freezing: portion out into freezer containers (without rice), date and label and they will be good for 3 months.
More Delicious Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Kerala Beef Curry
- Slow Cooker Spicy Moroccan Chicken
- Slow Cooker Mango Curry Chicken
- Slow Cooker Thai Green Beef Curry
- Slow Cooker Lamb Ragu with Pappadelle Pasta
- Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken and Potatoes
- All Slow Cooker Recipes
Slow Cooker Chicken Masala
Ingredients
- 8 Boneless and Skinless Chicken Thighs
- ½ cup Plain yoghurt - 80 ml
- 4 tablespoons Tikka Masala Curry Paste
- 2 tablespoons Oil
- 1 medium Brown onion - diced
- 1 fresh Green chilli - seeded and finely chopped
- 3 teaspoons Crushed garlic
- 3 teaspoon Grated ginger
- ¾ cup Chicken Stock/Broth - 200 ml
- 400 grams/14 oz can Diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Tomato paste
- ⅓ cup Thickened cream
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- Fresh coriander to garnish
To Thicken
- 2 tablespoons Cornflour/cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Tap water
Instructions
- PREP: Marinate the chicken: Combine the chicken, yoghurt and half the masala paste into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine together. Cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in fridge for 2 to 3 hours
- COOK: Heat oil in pan on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger. Cook for a couple minutes until onion becomes translucent. Add remaining curry paste, cooking for a minute until fragrant and aromatic.
- Add marinated chicken to slow cooker, along with onion garlic, chilli, ginger and curry paste mixture. Stir through.
- Add the chicken stock/broth, tomato paste and canned tomatoes to slow cooker pot and stir through. Slow cook on low for 8 hours.
- Stir though the thickened cream, and lemon juice.
- Make a cornflour slurry by mixing the cornflour with water. Pour in and stir with a spoon for a couple of minutes until curry starts to thicken a little.
- Serve with Cauliflower rice or steamed vegetables to keep it under 500 calories.
Notes
- Chicken: Skinless chicken thigh is the best cut to use. Avoid skin on chicken as there is no pre cooking/browning of the chicken to render the fat. Using skin on chicken will result in soft chicken skin that's not very pleasant to eat.
- Yoghurt: Any plain, full fat yoghurt will work. Alternatively if you’re looking to keep it low fat, use a fat free plain yoghurt.
- Cream: Thickened cream is the best as it will easily thicken the curry sauce and make it rich and velvety. You can substitute for cooking cream or pouring cream.
- Curry Paste: I used Pataks Tika Masala Paste - Medium Heat. Its available from Woolworths and Coles in the International Food Aisle. * Make sure to not buy the masala simmer sauce as this won't be strong enough.
- Chilli: Use the long green chillis for this recipe – the ones that are not too hot.
- Heat: This is a mild to medium Indian curry. For extra heat, add additional green chillis, or feel free to add a variety of chillis to taste.
- To Serve: Steamed Basmati rice, or for a low carb option, cauliflower rice.
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
Rosie says
can you use coconut cream instead of thickened cream?
Kim says
Yes you definitely could.
Kim says
Yes you could. That would work.