Warm curry flavors and coconut milk add flavor and moisture to lean chicken breasts to make this Slow Cooker Chicken Curry recipe an authentic one pot dish.
When it comes to preparing moist and delicious dishes using lean, boneless skinless breasts I’ve learned the that the slow cooker is your friend! By locking in the moisture and cooking the meat slowly, you always end up with tender and juicy chicken without relying on fat, oil or extra calories from the skin.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty thrilled that grilling season has finally arrived but the truth is when it is sweltering hot out, sometimes it is nice to cook dinner inside. The slow cooker is a great alternative to the stove and oven because it doesn’t heat up your kitchen and house. (Anyone else live with an A/C control freak husband? No? Oh…)
This dish is extremely versatile. Of course, there’s always the vegetarian version full of delicious veggies like cauliflower and Brussels. Don’t have sweet potatoes on hand? Butternut squash would be a great substitute. Want to use chicken thighs instead? Be my guest – they are full of flavor. Want to douse it in sriracha before serving? By all means.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Do I have to use white meat?
No. You can can use Chicken thighs or any type of dark meat.
Is the dish freezer friendly?
Yes!
How do I reduce the sodium count?
Just look for chicken with low sodium and buy low sodium canned products. You can also use dried chickpeas instead of canned.
I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes. Do you have a suggestion on what I can swap this with?
You can replace with any other potato or perhaps another vegetable like Brussels?
Could I use curry paste instead of curry powder?
Yes. I would suggest doubling the amount of curry paste to powder.
Could I make this on a stovetop?
You can make it on the stove top very easily! Just Saute the chicken and vegetables then add the liquid ingredients and let simmer for 45-60 minutes.
I don’t have canned tomato sauce available. What can I use instead?
You can use crushed tomatoes.
Is this considered a spicy dish?
No.
Is this dish freezer friendly?
Yes!
Your fork is waiting.
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk light
- 1/2 cup chicken stock low sodium
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons curry powder salt-free
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder optional
- 1 cup green peas frozen
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- cilantro optional garnish
Instructions
- In the bottom of the slow cooker, whisk together coconut milk, chicken stock, tomato sauce, curry powder, salt and cayenne.
- Add chicken breasts, onion, chickpeas and sweet potatoes. Using tongs, gently toss ingredients together to ensure evenly coated.
- Cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours.
- Stir in peas and lemon juice 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve over rice and with plenty of fresh cilantro.
Video
Recipe Notes:
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Can this be prepared the evening before, left in fridge overnight and cooked in the morning?
YES! Great idea!
This is fabulous! Just delicious!
To keep it from being runny, I omitted the half cup of water and just added half a teaspoon liquid bullion. Consistency was perfect!! Also used salt free tomato sauce, low sodium chickpeas, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt (rather than full teaspoon – found half teaspoon wasn’t enough).
Try it!! Thank you for the awesome recipe!!
Great idea!
I really liked this! Really easy to make and was tasty. I accidentally added a whole can of coconut milk, so tried to compensate by adding more tomatoes and chickpeas and a bit more curry powder and cayenne pepper but probably didn’t put enough in.
To those saying this isn’t flavorful enough- I disagree, and I love strong flavor. It’s delicious as it is and would be a good base to add other veggies.
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe-will definitely be making this again
That sounds perfect!!
Can I add the chicken breasts from frozen or should they be thawed first? Can’t wait to try this!
Either works!
I have this sitting in the slow cooker now- looking forward to dinner tonight!
I used passata instead of tomato sauce, and a combo of pumpkin and sweet potato. Nom nom
Also used chicken thighs instead of breast
Great idea!
Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Love this simple recipe and can’t wait to try it..I was wondering if I could use chicken nibbles in this recipe? Chicken Breast is quite expensive here in NZ.
Yes that would work great!!! Any type would work including thigh/dark meat!
This looks so good I can’t wait to make it can I add frozen vegetables and the peas to this dish also I love chickpeas can I also add more chickpeas or another bean to this dish.???????
Thank you.
Yes absolutely!!!!
Delicious!! We had this tonight & it was a winner all round. Are the leftovers freezable?
Oh I’m so glad! Yes very freezer friendly!
This will be an easy regular! Delicious! I used 750 grams boneless chicken thighs (my preference). In Australia, the can of tomato sauce is a can of crushed tomatoes. Looking forward to the leftovers which are stored in the freezer. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it! One of my favorites!
Hi!
Question about scale for this.
Suggestions on quantities fr this recipe if I wanted to cook for a crowd of 50?
I would do three slow cookers worth!
Quick question, can I toss the frozen peas in with everything instead of waiting to put them in before serving? Please email me back my answer :)
Yes you can! Enjoy!
So easy to make. My family really enjoyed this recipe.
That’s great news Terry!
Any idea how to transition this to a InstantPot fast cooking recipe?
I would just make it on the stovetop instead – chicken breasts are quick cooking. Instant pots are more for large buts of meat like a roast.
Does it hold overnight? Meal prep for next day lunch?
Oh yes it’s great for up to 3-4 days!
My husband and I LOVE this recipe. I make it at least once per month. We use tomato sauce and the flavor is great, but we also like how loose it is. If you don’t want to to be as loose, you can use a slotted spoon. Tomato paste would not have the same flavor. It is perfect just the way it is 😁
I’m so glad you like it!!!
Making this dish for my husbands bday..
hoping it comes out good. I used tomatoe sauce, but after reading comments I think you actually meant to say was tomato Passat :/ looks really runny ….
How did it turn out? I’ve never heard of Tomato Passat. In America we use tomato sauce which is pureed tomatoes. Does that help?
I made this but forgot to add the peas and lemon juice but it was still very yummy! I also left out the cayenne this time. Served it over brown rice and used chicken thighs instead of breast because I had that on hand. I think next time I may add some ginger, garlic and a bit of cinnamon as well as the cayenne pepper for a little more spice. Overall we really liked this and especially loved the ease!
I’m so glad you loved it!!
I love this recipe and use it often! I juts got an instapot- has anyone tried it in the instapot?
The sodium count is ridiculous! You can’t say that is healthy! Lunch none for me!
Hi Barb – You can easily reduce the sodium count. :) Just look for chicken with low sodium and buy low sodium canned products. You can also use dried chickpeas. :) Enjoy!
Hi, when you say tomato sauce do you mean chopped tomatoes or a pasatta?
Pasta!
Oops! Pasatta!
I am allergic to coconut. Any ideas as a substitute for coconut milk?
Hmm how about a little half and half? Maybe 1/2 cup?
Turn out great, my wife liked it very much and that’s an accomplishment. I may try making it with chicken thigh meat.
That makes me so happy!
Hi! I am excited to try this recipe out and bought all the ingredients today. However, I want to make around 4-5 chicken breasts. Do you think I should also increase the other ingredients? If I added more chicken but kept the same proportions would lack flavor?
Yes you would need to add more of the other ingredients, particularly the spices, salt and tomato sauce (tomato puree)/coconut milk. You should be ok not adding more veggies!
Made this yesterday and LOVED IT. You can use this as the jumping off point and add more flavour, spice, etc but for dead simple, no mess (literally you don’t need to dirty any bowls or cut up raw chicken which I hate!) and have dinner on the table as soon as you get home from work, it’s awesome!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!!!!! Isn’t it the best?
This is delicious. Instead of cayenne pepper, I used 1 tsp red pepper flakes.
Great idea!
I made it for 20 people it was delicious, definitely I highly recommend it. Thank .you for the recipe ????????
I totally agree recipe is solid as and as springing off point. I love veggie adds in you suggested. I second time I made it I added some fresh ginger and garlic. It’s tasty.
A great idea to add depth of flavor is to toast the spices whole then crush them into your own curry powder!
This was a good base recipe, but I agree with other commentators it lacks dimension. it needs something else. it’s an easy recipe to make and will make again, but with only one spice and onion driving the flavors it falls flat. any ideas of what could be added. Garlic? other spices? Suggestions
good news is kids loved it,
Hi Erin – I’m so glad your kids enjoyed the recipe! If you’d like to make it richer in flavor, I would recommend making a homemade curry spice blend and toasting your spices before your grind them. Since most of my readers are busy moms or busy with day jobs I wanted to streamline the recipe for busy week nights. Enjoy!
I made it for 20 people and I love it, I added mushrooms, green, red peppers , courgette, spring onion you can add many veggies you want, all are delicious on it…I will make again today for friendslove it just put in the pot and chat way then the last the rice…
I’m so glad you like it Maria!