One of my favorite Indian meals is butter chicken. Making preparations for the slow cooker in the morning makes it simple to enjoy the delightful aroma of heated Indian spices when you get home. Serve with warm naan bread and basmati rice.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 4 hrs 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 large skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon curry paste
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons tandoori masala
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 15 green cardamom pods
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
- 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat butter and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in chicken, onion, and garlic. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, curry paste, curry powder, tandoori masala, and garam masala until no lumps of tomato paste remain.
- Pour mixture into a slow cooker; stir in cardamom pods, coconut milk, and yogurt. Season with salt.
- Cook on High for 4 to 6 hours (or on Low for 6 to 8 hours) until chicken is tender and sauce has reduced to desired consistency. Remove and discard cardamom pods before serving.
- Pierce a needle with thread through the top of a cardamom pod. Continue with all the cardamom pods, then tie the ends together in a knot, so it looks like a ring. This makes it easy to remove the pods after cooking and prevents someone from biting down on one while eating.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 480 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 17 g |
| Cholesterol | 103 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 31 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Sodium | 442 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 33 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Followed this recipe exactly. My husband proclaimed that it was better than anything we’ve ordered at our favorite Indian restaurant.
It was good, but not great. I’d make it again. As another reviewer noted, if you add 1 1/2 t of paprika, 1 1/2 t cinnamon, and 1/2 – 1 t of cayenne, it enriches the flavor. I also added some ground cumin. That all gave it more character. I’m not familiar with the taste of butter chicken, but this was a good dish.
Made this minus the curry paste and cardamom pods (didn’t have those things.) Completed dish was tasty enough though the flavor was mild probably because of the missing ingredients. Will try it again. EDIT – Make this a 2nd time substituting the can of tomato paste with a can of Red Curry Paste. Also, deleted the cardamom pods and curry powder. 5 hours in the slow cooker, finished it off with some Brunoised carrots and basil leaves. Was quite delicious.
Added more paste but man o man, stunning recipe
Followed the recipe to the letter and it is absolutely delicious. The top tip about the cardamon seeds is priceless, no more searching through the slow cooker looking for the last evasive seed. My go to curry when entertaining.
I made this 3 times, it’s really great and my Indian boyfriend loved it, so success! I added more tomato paste to make more curry, doubled the chicken thighs as advised, and skipped the curry paste because I didn’t have it. Most importantly I add fresh coriander at the end to any curry I make – this adds so much flavor and is a must in my opinion.
It’s the best just the same as getting in a restaurant
This dish is almost entirely unreminiscent of butter chicken so if I’m rating it on a butter chicken clone, it gets a 2. It is missing at least one spice and something creamy. If I’m rating it on being an Indian-flavored chicken dish, it was fairly good and I appreciate the technique and the recipe as a potential starting point for another dish. So I’ll give it a 3.
I made this for my guests and everyone loved it.
Delicious and easy.
Delicious!!! Cost of spices adds up quick but if you make this often, which you will, it will be worthwhile. Not hard to make.
No big changes except used ground cardamom instead of whole; those are kind of hard to come by these days–and expensive! Flavor was “okay” and may have been related to the “brand” of spices I was using. Not sure. I would have liked it to be a bit hotter spice-wise than it was. I think I’d try this again but would increase the spice allotment to see if I could amp it up a little.
Amazing. I also make a vegan version which works out just as lovely but you have to calm the spice a little
I love butter chicken and thought I would give it a try. I was pleased with the results but left the yogurt out as I always thought yogurt would curdle in a crock pot. I think I will let it cool a bit and add it next time as I think it really does add to the flavor. Am I wrong about yogurt curdling?
After you put the chicken mix into the slow cooker, pour the coconut milk into the pan and heat gently so it can loosen and capture all the spices left in the pan. Don’t want to waste those! Also, if you don’t have tandoori masala, sub 1.5 t paprika, 1/2t cayenne, and a pinch of cinnamon. I followed the cook’s note and sewed the cardamom pods. It was surprisingly easy.
This has become one of our family’s favorite recipes! I followed another reviewer’s suggestion to add a tsp of fenugreek and it’s an important ingredient for this dish. Be sure to not forget the salt. I also buy bulk cardamom pods on Amazon and put them in tea bags, also from Amazon. This way, I don’t have to spend time trying to sew them together and have them break apart in the process.
Great recipe. I’ve used it for years. I stick my cardamom pods into some unused panty hose, tie a knot in it, and fish it out when done.
Not sure it needed to cook eight hours, but it was delicious. I love cardamom pods.
I have been using this recipe for years now. I never tried any other recipe for butter chicken, this is it. I live busy life so this dish is something I do before I go to work, it’s slow cooker friendly and that’s what I love about it. Thank you so much for sharing, I will make this dish again on Wednesday for a special visitor who loves butter chicken
This was very yummy. Instead of the coconut milk I added one can of cream of chicken. I also added two packages of frozen broccoli and cauliflower with an hour left of cooking. I double the entire recipe to feed a family of four and I also added 2 tablespoons of red pepper flakes and, salt,
Loving this recipe! I Butter chicken is amazingly delicious. I’d love to put it on a naan and make a pizza out of it!!