Crock Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
Classic Indian Chicken Tikka Masala made in the slow cooker results in tender chicken and the richest aromatic creamy sauce! Serve it up with your choice of steamed white rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice for an amazing meal!
Servings: 3 to 4 Servings
Calories: 370kcal
Ingredients
For the Chicken Marinade:
- 1.5 to 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs chopped into bite sizes
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 1 ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder*
- 1 tsp sea salt
For the Tikka Masala Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 Tbsp curry powder**
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp kashmiri red chili powder*
- 1 15-oz can tomato sauce
- 1 ¼ cups heavy whipping cream***
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken:
- Mix the ingredients for the marinade together in a container with a lid and add in the chopped chicken. Stir until the chicken is well coated in marinade.
- Seal the container and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes (ideally 1 to 24 hours).
- While the chicken is marinating, you can prepare the chicken tikka masala sauce.
Make the Tikka Masala Sauce:
- Heat oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the minced garlic, grated ginger, garam masala, curry powder, paprika, kashmiri red chili powder and sea salt. Stir until everything is combined and continue cooking for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the spices to open up.
- Pour the tomato sauce and heavy cream into the skillet and stir everything together until well-combined.
- Remove the sauce from the heat. There is no need to heat the sauce for longer, as it will be cooking in the crock pot for many hours.
- Pour the tikka masala sauce into the bottom of the crock pot. Add the marinated chicken and stir until everything is well-combined.
- Secure the lid on the crock pot and cook on Low Heat for 6 to 8 hours or High heat for 4 hours.
- Once the chicken tikka masala has finished cooking, taste it for flavor and add more salt to taste. You can also stir in ¼ cup of fresh cilantro if you’d like.
- Serve Chicken Tikka Masala with steamed white rice (I do jasmine rice) and enjoy! You can also serve it with my Ginger Turmeric Aromatic Rice for a real wild ride. Chicken tikka masala is also traditionally served with naan bread.
Notes
*The Kashmiri chili powder can be replaced with ½ tsp red chili powder or you can omit it for milk chicken tikka masala.
**Use 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, and 1 tsp ground turmeric instead of curry powder if you prefer.
***Replace the heavy cream with full-fat canned coconut milk for a dairy-free version.
Store any leftover chicken tikka masala in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It will be even more flavorful the next day, so you'll have something to look forward to.
Nutrition
Serving: 1of 6 | Calories: 370kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 18g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g