This slow cooker butter chicken is by far the easiest way to make butter chicken. Just chuck everything in the slow cooker and leave it to do all of the work.

Just because this butter chicken is easy, it doesn’t mean it’s compromising on flavour. The slow cooking allows the flavours to develop, resulting in a dish the entire family is sure to love.

Slow cooker recipes

If you love slow cooker recipes as much as I do, take a look at the recipes below:

• Slow cooker bolognese
• Slow cooker beef and broccoli
• Slow cooker Mongolian beef
• Slow cooker chicken wild rice soup

How to make slow cooker butter chicken

Before making a start on the butter chicken sauce, brown the chicken. This step can be done either in a frying pan using the stove top, or in your slow cooker if it has a saute function.

Drizzle the olive oil in the frying pan or slow cooker. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and cook on each side until browned. Set aside.

Add the diced onion, ginger and garlic to the slow cooker and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften. Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, paprika and turmeric, and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Transfer the onion mixture to the slow cooker at this point if using a frying pan.

Add to the slow cooker the crushed tomatoes, yoghurt, water, tomato paste and butter. Stir until all ingredients are combined, then add the chicken breasts. Slow cooker for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.

Once the cooking time has finished, remove the chicken breasts from the slow cooker and shred using two forks. Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker.

Combine the cornflour with the extra water in a small bowl. Add the cornflour slurry to the slow cooker along with the thickened cream and baby spinach. Stir to combine and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Storage

Store this butter chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat until piping hot using the microwave or stovetop.

This chicken is suitable for freezing. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating until piping hot.