Slow cooker chicken saag curry

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We are big fans of using the slow cooker. It is low energy to use, low effort to prepare most meals and you just can't beat knowing that you've got dinner waiting for you when you come in from a busy day, or just want to avoid the takeaway! This slow cooker chicken saag curry, a better way to say a chicken and spinach curry, is always a winner in my home.

Making a chicken saag slow cooker dinner is SUPER simple and you can have it all ready to put in the slow cooker pot in just a few minutes! You can use dried ingredients if you have a well stocked pantry and you can use your choice of chicken including chicken breast or chicken thighs.

I'm a real lover of the slow cooker. I love nothing more than getting dinner ready in the slow cooker pot, before bed, placing it in the fridge overnight.

Then I know that in the morning I can just turn it on and leave it for 4-8 hours to cook. Depending on the recipe of course!

Having meals prepared like this helps me to stay focused with healthier eating goals and also helps me to save lots of money too. When my dinner is cooking throughout the day this leaves me free to spend more time working on growing my business or even just spending time with my small daughters.

The prep time for this curry is just a few minutes so it is ideal if you are short on time but want to serve something that is packed full of flavour to your family at the end of a long day.

I love to make it on the days my husband is working 12 hour shifts as I can prioritise my own work during the school day and then spend time with my children when they get home from school.

If you're looking for some inspiration for other slow cooker recipes then be sure to check out my Easy slow cooker recipes (UK recipes). I have an array of amazing slow cooker tips that will help you to make the most of your slow cooker too.

Also, my lovely friend Nyomi has this delicious healthy mung bean dal recipe too that you just have to try! It is packed full of flavour and healthy too.

Ingredients for my slow cooker chicken saag recipe:

Spray oil or olive oil

1 large sliced onion

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g approx)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4 chicken thighs

500g spinach

2 cloves of garlic

½ a thumb sized piece of ginger

1 tablespoon of mild chilli powder

1 tablespoon of mild curry powder

2 tablespoon of fresh coriander (or 2 teaspoons of ground coriander)

1 tablespoon of turmeric

1 tablespoon of garam masala

Method for slow cooker chicken and spinach curry

Add ALL of the ingredients, apart from the spinach.

Mix everything together well.

Spray around the edge of the slow cooker pot just above the ingredients with a little spray oil.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and you are ready to start cooking.

Slow cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours. You could leave it longer, but it is best after following these specific timings.

30 minutes before you wish to serve your saag curry make sure to add the spinach to the top of the slow cooker pot and then stir it well to mix it throughout your curry.

Personally I use chicken breast for this in the past but have switched to chicken thigh, as I find they have more flavour and bring some extra succulence to this dish. Both work great.

I started using frozen sliced or diced onions for this recipe also when I had a glut to freeze. They work just as well as you can't really tell the difference.

If you would like to thicken the sauce for your curry before serving then I would recommend making a cornflour slurry. 1 tablespoon of cornflour mixed into 3 tablespoons of cold water. Then add this to the slow cooker pot along with the spinach, stir through and cook for 30 minutes before serving.

Personally I like the curry to have quite a lot of sauce, and don't mind if it is thin, so I usually skip this step or just remove the lid towards the end of the cooking time.

What to serve with chicken saag curry:

Rice is always a must for us with a curry. I tend to make Ninja Foodi white rice, or instant pot white rice, as this is simple and tasty too.

Flatbreads are tasty too, and great for mopping up some of the sauce, so I like to make these easy and cheap 3 ingredient flatbreads.

Sometimes I will serve this chicken spinach curry with less traditional side dishes such as air fryer roast potatoes, air fryer mashed potatoes or even air fryer tortilla chips.

We are big fans of using up what we have available and on occasion we don't have rice to hand or I've misremembered the amount of rice that we have on hand and it won't stretch to the whole family.

Just about all carb based items will go great with this dish and help to soak up all of the delicious sauces and flavour. If you want to make this low carb then skip this step.

Can you use coconut milk in this recipe?

Chicken saag curry is meant to be a tomato based curry. If you're looking for a coconut milk based curry then one of my favourites is a chicken laksa. So simple to create but absolutely packed full of flavour.

Not a fan of spinach?

If you don't like the texture then don't skip adding it entirely, instead I would use a food processor to blend the spinach into a paste, add it to the curry at the beginning of the cooking time and over the hours most of the green colour will disappear leaving you with a lovely thick rich curry to enjoy!

Why is spinach so great for curries?

Firstly spinach is very straight forward to grow. It costs just pennies to grow and with regular seeding you can have a great supply of spinach for months each year.

Spinach is absolutely packed full of health benefits and rich in iron, vitamin C and E plus potassium and magnesium too.

The reason I tried this recipe for the first time was that I was growing spinach in my allotment and had absolutely tons. Since then I've been growing herbs and lots of great fresh produce too. Strawberries, tomatoes, apples, edible flowers and more have all been really simple to grow and low cost too.

Growing food ourselves has to be one of the most rewarding things that we have ever done in our own garden. It is amazing how enjoyable it is to see your own food growing and my daughters love to see the fast progress that seedlings make too.

I'd say that the flavour of this curry is mild, so if you are looking for something with more of a kick then you will want to add some chilli powder or even some fresh chillies. Even my daughter says that this curry is delicious - and she is not a fan of spice.

When you've got tons of spinach to use up saag paneer is a delicious dish to serve up too.

Why not take a look at one of my other slow cooker chicken recipes while you're here?

• Slow cooker chicken tikka masala
• Chicken and prawn paella in the slow cooker
• Slow cooker chicken curry
• Chicken nachos in the slow cooker
• Slow cooker chicken and mushroom pie filling
• Hunters chicken in the slow cooker
• Slow cooker whole chicken
• Chicken casserole in the slow cooker

Why not try one of these fantastic slow cooker accessories:

ALL of the slow cooker recipes on this website have been cooked using a Ninja Foodi OL750UK, or a previous Ninja multi-cooker model, but you can use ANY slow cooker, as timings should be very similar.

How to make a slow cooker spinach curry:

Note: All calorie information is for demonstration purposes only and is based on the specific uncooked ingredients that I used when creating the recipe.

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