Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken

By Jennifer Steinhauer

Updated Jan. 12, 2026

Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
Total Time
About 5 hours
Rating
4(10,803)
Comments
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Not every version of butter chicken uses butter. Coconut milk gives this slow-cooker chicken its creamy richness. This is a fast recipe for the cook: Just prep it earlier in the day, even during your morning routine, getting your onion and spices going on the stove while simultaneously making lunches for grumpy children, folding dish towels, feeding the dogs and wondering once again why no one else has done any of the above. If you're preparing pork or beef in the slow cooker, you'll want to brown the meat first, but that's not necessary with boneless cuts of chicken. The meat will be cooked within 4½ or 5 hours, but if you need to let it sit a little longer — up to 7 hours total, on low heat — it will still be delicious, though the chicken may be very soft and shred a tad.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 3tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1medium yellow onion, diced
  • 3cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3tablespoons grated ginger
  • 1tablespoon garam masala
  • 16-ounce can tomato paste
  • ¾teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1teaspoon lime zest
  • 1tablespoon lime juice
  • 1cup coconut milk (if necessary, whisk to combine the liquid and solids before measuring)
  • ½cup chicken stock
  • ¼cup cilantro leaves, for garnish (optional)
  • Cooked basmati or jasmine rice, for serving
  • Naan, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

534 calories; 26 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 50 grams protein; 816 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In medium skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions to skillet, and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add garlic and ginger, and cook another 2 minutes. Add garam masala, tomato paste and salt; cook and stir 2 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Place chicken pieces in a slow cooker, then add tomato paste mixture, lime zest and juice, coconut milk and chicken stock. Stir everything together, cover and cook on low heat setting for 4½ to 5 hours, until the chicken is cooked through. (You may let it cook up to 7 hours if necessary, but the chicken may be very soft and shred.) Garnish with cilantro and serve with basmati or jasmine rice, and naan if you have some.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
10,803 user ratings
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Comments

Katje

FYI, you can store whole ginger root in your freezer. It makes it really easy to grate, and you just pop it back in to await the next meal!

Bob T.

Your suggestion is helpful, although your tone is somewhat less so. A quick version in a pressure cooker is a truly great alternative, and thank you for suggesting it. But many of us really do like a slow cooker: it uses very little energy, it can be left unattended, and it's very forgiving if you don't know how late you'll get home from wherever you've been.

Mary O

Based on the comments, I doubled the garam masala to 2 TBSP, and used 6 cloves of garlic. I upped the salt to a full tsp. I used the zest and juice of 2 limes -- added the zest as instructed but stirred the lime juice in at the end after cooking. I also used the whole can of coconut milk. This was delicious! And the leftovers were just as good the next day. Served with basmati rice and garlic naan. Definitely will make this again.

Erica

Followed the recipe to the letter and… what? The photo looks completely different from reality. The sauce is basically soup and the color is much, much lighter. It was also extremely bland - added extra salt, garam masala, curry, and green onions to each bowl and my husband still couldn’t eat it.

Jamie

This turned out incredibly bland, very disappointed. I made the coconut curry from NYT and that also was super bland so this is the last time I trust NYT cooking with Indian food.

Aaron

This was wildly under-salted when I made it the first time, so much so that the chicken came out dry and had very little flavor. Typically one targets ~1% of salt by weight to properly season a protein. That means for 3lb of chicken, one should use ~5tsp of Diamond Crystal kosher salt. The second time I made it I upped the salt substantially (eyeballed it, but probably 3-4tsp) and added a whole can of coconut milk as other comments suggested, and it was vastly better.

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