Warm curry flavors and coconut milk add flavor and moisture to lean chicken breasts to make this Slow Cooker Chicken Curry recipe a delicious one-pot dish.
When it comes to preparing moist and delicious dishes using lean chicken breasts, I’ve learned 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. My Slow Cooker Chicken Curry is a family favorite, as it’s mild enough for anyone to enjoy! It’s also extremely versatile, so you can change it up to be whatever you like!
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts: While I prefer lean chicken breasts you can use Chicken thighs or any type of dark meat. The darker meats will boost the flavor!
- Onion: White onion will add great, strong flavor without adding more sweetness.
- Sweet potatoes: Mild and sweet, they make the curry filling and hearty.
- Chickpeas: A great source of protein, and makes the curry more hearty and filling.
- Coconut milk: A staple in many curries, it adds sweetness to balance out the savory and sometimes spicy flavor.
- Chicken stock: While you can also use veggie stock, I think chicken stock adds the best flavor to curry.
- Tomato sauce: Slightly sweet and slightly acidic, you could also use crushed or diced tomatoes if you want your curry more chunky.
- Curry powder: Different brands have different blends, but it usually consists of cumin, turmeric, ginger, and pepper, but they all add a delicious warmth.
- Green peas: Added towards the end of cooking, they don’t soften too much to add a great pop as well as fiber and antioxidants.
- Lemon juice: Bright, acidic flavor that adds freshness to the curry.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Start your Slow Cooker Chicken Curry by peeling and chopping up your sweet potatoes, and dicing your onion.
Then add the sweet potato to the bowl of your slow cooker.
Followed by the diced onion.
Then drain and rinse your chickpeas, and add them to the pot.
Next pour in the full-fat coconut milk.
And your chicken or veggie stock.
And the tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.
Next add the curry powder and cayenne.
Then place your raw chicken breasts and season with some salt and pepper.
Using a large spoon or tongs, gently stir until mixed and chicken is coated. Then cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8.
During the last couple minutes, add the frozen peas until warmed through and the lemon juice. Then serve over rice, garnish with fresh scallions or cilantro, and enjoy your Slow Cooker Chicken Curry!
Easy substitutions
- Swap the potatoes: If you aren’t a fan of sweet potatoes, use regular or try something new like Brussels sprouts.
- Make it vegetarian: Swap the chicken out for extra veggies, or follow the recipe for my vegetarian curry.
Frequently asked questions:
Can you put raw chicken in a slow cooker?
Yes you can! And you can even start with frozen breasts, not needing to thaw them ahead of time.
Will coconut milk curdle in slow cooker?
As long as you use a good quality brand, you shouldn’t have to worry about curdling.
Can I make this curry in a instant pot?
Yes you can! Follow the first 2 steps the same, then seal and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Stir in the peas and lemon juice, until heated through. Then serve!
More Slow Cooker Meals
Did you try this slow cooker recipe? The next time you make it, snap a picture and share it to your socials! Tag @thelemonbowl and #thelemonbowl so we can admire and share your meal.
With so many ways to play with curry, let me know how you decide to serve yours in a commet below!
Your fork is waiting.
Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless (skinless chicken breasts)
- 1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- 15 ounces can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (peeled and diced)
- ½ cup full-fat coconut milk (light)
- ½ cup chicken stock (low sodium)
- 15 ounces can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons curry powder (salt-free)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ 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. Shred the chicken.
- Stir in peas and lemon juice 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve over rice and with plenty of fresh cilantro.
Doubled the recipe. Far to spicy. We ended up removing the chicken, rinsing it off, and shredding it for other uses. We threw the rest away.
Hi Jayne, I’m so sorry this didnt work out for you. Out of curiosity, did you accidentally add cayenne? There’s no spice in this curry. Let me know – it should’t be spicy unless you add in cayenne. :)
If it was too spicy I bet you used red curry, not mild green curry. My family prefers spicy red curry, but my elderly mama cannot do spice. This recipe reminds me of growing up near a woman who lived her growing up years in India and shared her recipes with my mama. Be sure to use quality jasmine rice (or basmati if you prefer a slightly stronger flavor).
Actually this is not a Thai curry recipe – it uses Indian curry powder which has no spice. :)
Sorry you didn’t like it! If you skim the comments, a lot of people have made adjustments to make it their own, and maybe something they’ve tried would alter it to your liking! But everyone has their own tastes. Some people will like it, and some won’t :)
I doubled the recipe and it tasted very bland to me. I added crushed tomatoes instead of the sauce…how would you make it not bland?
Did you add enough salt?
Wondering if you mean full fat coconut milk because the word light is after it. Thank you!
So I use Thai Style Coconut Milk – full fat or light work. :)
Has anyone tried spinach at end instead of peas and adding apples?
Thanks!
That’s a wonderful idea on both fronts!
I skimped on the curry powder because of my one year old and regretted it later!..added it in later and was lovely. I shredded the chicken and served it with rice..yum!
Forgot to mention I added red lentils to thicken it up and only put the stock cube in a small amount of boiling water
Sounds amazing!!!
You deadass made a CURRY and skipped on curry powder. K.
I’m not sure what you mean there’s curry powder? :)
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!!!