Slow cooker chicken tikka masala

Affiliate links in this post will be clearly marked with a *. Clicking one of these links means I earn a discount or receive payment.

This slow cooker chicken tikka masala is something that has been requested multiple times now, over on my Instagram and so I thought I’d best get it written up pronto!

Making a heavy cream based curry dish is SO simple with the slow cooker. The flavours have lots of hours to come together and it is so fast to serve up, especially if you use microwave rice or shop bought naan bread.

We absolutely love using our slow cooker, and my slow cooker recipes are some of the easiest you’ll find. Most of them are designed to be prepared in just a few minutes, and then served up directly from the slow cooker pot.

I love making my own versions of takeaway dishes, and this is a great way to have both slightly healthier meals and save a large amount of money in the process too.

Sometimes I will meal prep this dish, by browning everything, and then freezing it all in a bag. I defrost in the fridge overnight before cooking in the slow cooker as per the same timings below.

Ingredients for slow cooker tikka masala:

1 red onion

15ml olive oil

1 tablespoon of Tikka Masala Mix

2 cloves of garlic

Salt + pepper

300g skinless chicken thighs (boneless)

30g tomato puree/tomato paste

200ml chicken stock

100g soured cream

Method for slow cooker chicken tikka masala:

I start by using the browning/sauté function on my multi-cooker (Ninja Foodi OL750UK) to brown the vegetables.

If you don’t have this function you can either use a frying pan on a hob, or skip this step entirely and just prepare the ingredients and throw into your pot and set to cook.

Only use slow cookers with their own specialist browning/heat setting, never place your pot on the hob.

Add the olive oil to your pot or pan. Finely chop your red onion. Lightly sauté this, until translucent. This usually takes me around 3-4 minutes.

Add the Tikka Masala spice mix and stir until well coated.

Crush or grate the garlic. Cook for 1 minute.

Add your chicken thigh. Stir to ensure everything is mixed evenly. You want to cook the chicken until it is lightly browned on the outside, but it doesn’t need to be cooked through.

Season well with salt & pepper.

Add the tomato puree and stir, cook for 1 minute.

Add the chicken stock.

Cook on high for 4+ hours or low for 8+ hours.

15 minutes before serving stir through the soured cream and mix well.

Once sufficiently warmed back through serve with add a little coriander to the top.

Serve alongside your favourite rice, I love to serve with Ninja Foodi white rice for speed, and with a nice homemade 3 ingredient flatbread, or other suitable accompaniments. We love Bombay potatoes or onion bhajis!

Can you cook a slow cooker tikka masala with a jarred sauce?

Yes, absolutely! I’ve done this lots of time, and it still has a lovely flavour.

Using a jar of sauce can be a great way to save money and save time too. You can still slow cook, but you’ll save time on prepping the other ingredients in advance.

When using a jar of sauce I love to still season the chicken well, and brown it off, alongside the vegetables.

You really can’t beat the convenience of a good jar of sauce, so don’t feel bad if you choose to use one of those instead.

Can you cook slow cooker chicken tikka masala with vegetables?

Yes, you can add butternut squash (as I have done), and near the end you can add spinach too.

Lots of other vegetables will work great too, including potatoes, white onions and kale. I’d add potatoes and onions at the beginning of the cooking time, and ensure that they are fully covered by the sauce.

I would suggest adding kale or spinach near the end, as these wilt down fast and you don’t want to cook them for hours really.

Don’t want to use soured cream? Want to make a slow cooker chicken tikka masala without cream?

Give coconut milk a try! You can even use a lighter one if you prefer.

The sauce may be a little thinner but it’ll still taste delicious, and will be a little healthier too if you choose a light one. If you want to thicken up the sauce then use the browning function again.

Or you can use yoghurt instead.

Add right near the end, the same as the soured cream, otherwise it will split and look unpleasant, although the taste will still be nice.

Want to make this a little spicier?

A little pinch of cayenne pepper when serving this up, just over the top, is a great way to add some extra spice.

Do you need garam masala for this dish?

The spice mix for this dish is a little different to the garam masala blend. That is more suitable for stronger curry flavours in my opinion.

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

Want to try some of my other recipes?

• The BEST air fryer vegetable recipes!
• Ninja Foodi roast chicken
• Mince pasta bake
• Root vegetable mash
• Air fryer sausages

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

How to cook chicken tikka masala in the slow cooker:

If you enjoyed this post I’d love it if you could pin it on Pinterest!