Put this recipe in the slow cooker at the start of your day and come home to the warm rich flavors of curry, coconut and cumin in this Slow Cooker Chicken Curry. This is a meal your family will love served alongside rice and warm naan.
The flavors in today’s Slow Cooker Chicken Curry are some of my favorite.
I don’t know about you, but I love crockpot meals.
I have them on rotation including the Slow Cooker Butter Chicken and this Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Chickpea Soup. It makes life so much easier on those busy days!
I also love curry dishes like these Curry Meatballs Recipe, Red Lentil Curry, Chickpeas with Curry or this Butternut Squash Chickpea Coconut Curry.
Today’s a great mixture of a slow cooker meal bursting with that curry flavor.
Chicken, diced tomatoes and vegetables are cooked in coconut milk along with curry powder, cumin and cayenne red pepper.
This is the type of meal I would prep the night before and have everything ready to throw in the slow cooker the next day before work.
You can chop your vegetables the night before and store in the fridge to put in when you are ready to cook it. There is just something so warm and cozy about a chicken curry recipe. When I make this meal I like to serve it over cauliflower rice, basmati rice or jasmine rice and some warm naan bread.
Recipe Ingredients
Here’s an overview of the simple ingredients we’re using. Jump to the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts and printable instructions.
- Chicken: This curry recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They cook in the juices and become tender and flavorful. You can use other cuts of chicken like chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins.
- Vegetables: The vegetable mixture is bell pepper, jalapeños, sweet onion, carrots and diced tomatoes. It is a hearty and delicious mixture of veggies.
- Coconut Milk: Full-fat coconut milk helps to create a rich, creamy sauce in this curry recipe. You can also use half and half or cream in place of the coconut milk.
- Spices: The spice mixture is my favorite and brings so much flavor to the dish. It mixes together curry powder, cumin, coriander and cayenne red pepper.
Ways to Modify this Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken
- Beans: Beans are a nice addition of protein to this meal. Try chickpeas or white beans. You can add them into the slow cooker with the other ingredients in the beginning of the recipe.
- Vegetables: I like my slow cooker curry dish to have a lot of vegetables. Feel free to bulk this dish up more with a variety of vegetables. Zucchini, celery, cauliflower and green beans are nice additions.
- Spices: Feel free to modify the spices in this dish. If you like more spice try adding crushed red pepper and cayenne red pepper. Jalapeños also can add some kick!
- Citrus: Add a squeeze of lime juice to the finished dish for a bit of acidity.
- Potatoes: Potatoes or sweet potatoes would be a nice addition to this dish. I like to chop them into small chunks and add them into the crockpot.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chicken Curry
Step 1: Place Chicken and Vegetables in Crockpot: Trim the fat off of the chicken thighs. Place the chicken, green pepper, jalapeño, sweet onion, carrot and diced tomatoes in the slow cooker.
Step 2: Create Curry Sauce: In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the minced garlic, coconut milk, tomato paste, curry, cumin, cayenne red pepper, coriander and until it is combined.
Step 3: Add Curry Sauce to Chicken: Pour the curry mixture over the chicken and use tongs to cover the chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
Step 4: Cook on Low: Cook on low for 4-5 hours (make sure the chicken is cooked through, if not cook an hour longer) or on high for 2 hours. You don’t want the chicken to dry out so don’t overcook. Serve the chicken curry over brown rice and fresh cilantro and cashews with whole wheat Naan on the side.
Storage Tips
Store this in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To reheat you can microwave it or you can quickly heat it in a skillet.
Recipe FAQ
I used chicken thighs for this recipe because I feel like the meat stays more tender in the crockpot. You can easily use chicken tenders or breasts. Both work great!
I put this dish over rice but you could do a variety of grains. Try couscous, bulgur wheat, farro or quinoa. Another option to serve this meal with is pasta. You can use Asian style noodles, like rice noodles, or traditional wheat pasta.
One important tip to remember when using chicken in the slow cooker is to make sure you don’t dry out the meat. For this dish it took about 4 hours for my chicken thighs to be done. They were on the thinner side, so they cooked faster. Make sure you check in on the meat at about the 4 or 5 hour mark to make sure it isn’t overcooking.
More Chicken Recipes
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Slow Cooker Coconut Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat trimmed {or you can use chicken of your choice like chicken breasts or tenderloins}
- 1 bell pepper, seeds removed, chopped into large chunks (you can also use red, orange or yellow)
- 1 jalapeño, seeds removed, sliced {optional for spice}
- 1/2 of a medium sweet onion, chopped
- 5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 – 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- 1 – 6 ounce can of tomato paste
- 2 Tablespoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne red pepper {optional for spice}
- 1 teaspoon coriander
Instructions
- Trim the fat off of the chicken thighs. Place the chicken, green pepper, jalapeño, sweet onion, carrot and diced tomatoes in the slow cooker.
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the minced garlic, coconut milk, tomato paste, curry, cumin, cayenne red pepper, coriander and until it is combined.
- Pour the curry mixture over the chicken and use tongs to cover the chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
- Cook on low for 4-5 hours (make sure the chicken is cooked through, if not cook an hour longer) or on high for 2 hours. You don't want the chicken to dry out so don't overcook.
- Serve the chicken curry over brown rice and fresh cilantro and cashews with whole wheat Naan on the side.
Notes
- I check my recipe at the 4 hour mark on low to see how the chicken is cooking. Sometimes I will shred it, other times I will leave the chicken in pieces. You just don’t want to dry out the chicken so check it to make sure it isn’t drying out at the 4 hour mark.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
wow, keep these great recipes coming!
thanks!
You have tomato paste listed twice in the recipe…do you really use 2 cans? Thans
sorry just one!
Nice post enjoy every bit of it.
Very tasty. I made this with jalapeños and didn’t remove all of the seeds so it was a little to spicy for me. Next time I think I will leave those out 🙂 But overall it was pretty easy to make and had a great flavor. The chicken was very tender and the cashews added the right amount of crunch!
Dear Julia, with the heatwave we’re having this would be a perfect meal. I have to break out my slow cooker more often! xo, Catherine
Yes it has been so hot here, too! The slow cooker is a great way to not have to turn on that oven.
I love how easy and flavorful this was. It’s one of our new favorite curries!
Thanks! We love this dish!
Very delicious looking. I love a good curry!
Thanks Kristi!
So mouth watering! That looks impressive.
omg… very tempting… This recipe is new for me… Bookmarked ! I am gonna try this for sure
I love new slow cooker meals to try during the busy months that are coming up. Thanks for the great recipe!