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  • Γ—
    Home Β» Chicken

    Crock Pot or Slow Cooker Butter Chicken

    Published: Jan 7, 2018 Β· Modified: Aug 8, 2023 by Vaishali Β· This post may contain affiliate links Β· 43 Comments

    Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and the weekend after. We had a great time with friends on Thanksgiving. A huge meal was made – fusion food – turkey with all the trimmings plus desi dishes that ranged from lamb roganjosh to kheer. It is always fun to have great conversations over yummy food. Some shopping on Black Friday and some AUsome college football on Saturday followed Thanksgiving. Then I got sick…some throat infection so I could not share much with you people here. I am still not a 100% but I missed my virtual blog family so I am back at it again.

    Aah…butter chicken! Irrespective of whichever part of the world you are from or whatever your food likings/dislikings are, I am sure you have heard of butter chicken (also known as chicken makhani). It is one of the most iconic North Indian (Punjabi) Chicken Dishes that has soft, melt in your mouth, chicken pieces cooked in a creamy tomato based sauce. The chicken is marinated in yogurt along with spices and ginger-garlic paste and then cooked in a velvety sauce made of butter, tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, and aromatic Indian spices.

    Nobody in our home is a fan of bone-in chicken and for the longest time I have struggled with boneless white chicken meat drying out while cooking. However tasty and flavorful the saucy or gravy is, nothing can save a chicken dish that has dry meat in it. After trying several methods and ways of making butter chicken, this slow cooker recipe has become my go to recipe for butter chicken. I would recommend using boneless skinless chicken thighs (dark meat) for this recipe, but if boneless skinless chicken breasts are your thing, go for it. The chicken would still be tender and falling apart by the time you are done cooking it in the slow cooker. So get ready to make this fuss-free recipe and have a party in your mouth with the very first bite.

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    Ingredients:

    Boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts) – 2lbs/ 1 kg

    For marinade:

    Garlic – 1 clove, grated

    Ginger – Β½ inch piece, grated

    Thick yogurt – 2 tablespoon

    Lime juice – from Β½ a lime

    Mustard/olive oil – 1 teaspoon

    Salt – 1 teaspoon

    Red chili powder/Paprika – Β½ teaspoon

    Garam masala – Β½ teaspoon

    For sauce:

    Butter – 1 tablespoon

    Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon

    Green cardamom – 2

    Cloves – 2

    Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece

    White Onion – Β½ big, cut into chunks

    Garlic – 3 cloves, smashed

    Ginger – 1-inch piece, cut into chunks

    Green chili – 1 (optional), cut into fourths

    Turmeric powder – ΒΌ teaspoon

    Red chili powder/Parika – ΒΌ teaspoon

    Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons

    Tomatoes – 2 cups crushed/pureed (about 4 big tomatoes)

    Sugar/honey – 1 tablespoon

    Tomato ketchup – 1 tablespoon (trust me – you need this)

    Kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves – 1 tablespoon

    Heavy cream – ΒΌ cup

    Salt – to taste

    Cilantro – 4-5 sprigs, chopped

    Method:

    Mix all the marinade ingredients together and marinate chicken for at least 2 hours.

    In a wide, heavy bottomed pan, heat some butter on medium heat. Add the marinated chicken pieces and sear them 3-4 minutes per side. Make sure that the chicken thighs are spread out in the pan in one layer. After the chicken has seared, take it out and put in the slow cooker.

    In the same pan, add cumin, green cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon. After about 30 seconds, add the chopped onion and smashed garlic cloves. If there were any chicken bits stuck to the pan, do not let them burn, add a drop or two of water and cook that deliciousness along with your masala. Cook the onions until translucent, about 2 minutes and then add ginger and green chili. Mix in and all the spice powders followed by the crushed tomatoes. Add a pinch of salt and cook till the sauce is bubbly, about 5 minutes.

    Turn the heat off and blend the sauce to a smooth paste. I use my hand blender for this. If you are using a regular blender, be very careful, as the sauce is hot.

    Add the blended sauce to the slow cooker (that already has the chicken in it), making sure it covers the seared chicken thighs. Add salt, sugar/honey and tomato ketchup, mix and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. After that time, finish with kasuri methi and heavy cream. Turn the slow cooker to warm and stir everything. The heat in the cooker will cook the heavy cream. If you want, you could take a fork to shred the chicken at this point. I normally just break it apart a little bit with a wooden spoon. The chicken is so soft that it shreds as you mix. Your call!

    Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with naan, chapathi (recipe here) or rice (recipe here). Your taste buds will be forever grateful!

    Love – Vaishali.

    Tools used:

    Slow cooker/crockpot

    Hand blender/blender

    Mixing bowl

    Measuring cups and spoons

    Knife and chopping board

    Heavy bottomed skillet

    Spatula

     

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Laurie Griggs

      February 02, 2025 at 8:59 am

      Need to make this. Suggestions to adapt to an Instant Pot version? πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        February 03, 2025 at 10:10 am

        Hi Laurie, here is the instant pot version: https://kitchendocs.com/instant-pot-butter-chicken/

        Reply
    2. T

      February 12, 2019 at 2:15 pm

      This will be my weekend project. Always order Butter Chicken when out but never thought about trying it at home.

      Reply
    3. Elizabeth O

      February 12, 2019 at 4:45 am

      thanks for sharing this recipe but i will pass it because i am vegetarian.

      Reply
    4. JK Darling

      February 11, 2019 at 2:09 am

      Butter chicken ... my fav. with butter naan or tandoori rotis. Thanks for the recipe. I will try this soon. πŸ€—

      Reply
    5. Chantelle Hadden

      February 10, 2019 at 3:00 pm

      I might cook this for my boyfriend. Looks delicious.

      Reply
    6. Samar

      February 10, 2019 at 11:39 am

      Thanks for sharing.
      Tonight we are trying this recipe πŸ™‚

      Reply
    7. Adharsh

      February 10, 2019 at 3:03 am

      Butter chicken.... Really yummy. Nice recipe with great pictures. Thanks for sharing and I will try it out.

      Reply
    8. Neil Alvin Nicerio

      February 09, 2019 at 10:07 pm

      Oh great! Another delish food from my favorite food blogger. I really do wanna try that out. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        February 10, 2019 at 6:24 pm

        Thanks a lot Neil

        Reply
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    Hey, I'm Vaishali!

    Welcome! I am so excited to cook and talk life with you. Here, you will find my kitchen journal full of mostly healthyish recipes that are family friendly, use seasonal and fresh ingredients, plant forward, packed with healing Indian spices and indulgent desserts.

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