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Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken

Thank you all so much for the great response to my first video!! If you missed it, you can find it on The Kitchen Paper YouTube Channel! xoxo

Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken | thekitchenpaper.com

Remember a few months ago when I pretty much wrote a love letter to Indian food and made extreme claims of a life changing recipe? I WASN’T KIDDING. And, based on the crazy traffic and high level of comments on that post: I wasn’t the only one. I was so so so glad to hear that other people made that recipe (Indian Butter Chicken) and loved is just as much as I did! I still make it and love it! And … I realize how much cream goes into it and that *maybe* it’s not a sustainable thing to eat 10x per week. Um, run more? OR: make this version.

I did some googling and found various “lighter” butter chicken (or tikka masala) recipes, but most of them still had quite a bit of cream. And butter. And I questioned how “healthier” or “lighter” was applicable at. all. for their recipes. SO, I made this one with a few criteria: NO butter. NO cream. STILL TONS O’ FLAVOR! Did I succeed? HECK YES. Um, this probably can’t really be called “butter chicken” though, because there is no butter. SO… oops?

Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken | thekitchenpaper.com

I won’t lie to you and say it’s the same as the original. There’s just no way to replace 2 cups of cream and many tablespoons of butter. That’s life. BUT: it’s still creamy (thanks, Greek yogurt!), flavorful, uh-mazing — and, it’s really easy. The crock pot does all the work for you. Which brings me to my second set of priorities: SLOW COOKER EASE. If something is a slow cooker recipe, I expect to not have to do any extra frying/dish dirtying/cooking. I want to throw it in the crock pot and move on. If I’m going to spend 20 minutes cooking over the stove, I might as well just cook the regular dish. Amiright? Yeah. So. No fussing around here! JUST THROW IT IN! (Admittedly, recipe where you brown the meat first will OF COURSE have a more complex final flavor, but when I want to cook in a slow cooker I’m willing to give that up. If you want to brown your meat, go for it!).

Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken | thekitchenpaper.com

OK. Back to the chicken. You guys know I love Indian food. It’s just so freaking flavorful! I took that original recipe and basically just cut out the cream and butter, and replaced it with nonfat Greek yogurt, which is mixed in (carefully) at the end. If you just dump it in and mix, it’ll probably curdle — which isn’t very attractive — so I suggest taking some of the warm sauce and gradually adding it into the cold yogurt. This will bring the temperature of the yogurt up, slowly, and you can then add it to the crockpot to heat fully without curdling. IF yours does curdle, take all the chicken out, blend up the sauce, and put it all back in. It might be weird, but it’ll solve the texture problem if you experience the dreaded curdle. Moral of this story: SLOWLY add the hot to the cold and mix away!

Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken | thekitchenpaper.com

I’ll be sharing a REAL naan recipe with you on Wednesday to go with this! In the meantime, you’ll have to live with the quick yeastless naan — way easier, but let me tell you: the “real” naan will BLOW. YOU. AWAY. No joke.

Have a wonderful week!

Healthy Slow Cooker Indian Butter Chicken
 
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Recipe:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 tsp garam masala
  • 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 14oz cans of tomato sauce
  • 2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into 1" chunks
  • 2 cups nonfat Greek yogurt
  • salt & pepper
  • lime & cilantro, for garnish
  • naan & rice for serving
Instructions
  1. Combine the onion, garlic, all spices, and tomato sauce in your slow cooker. Mix to combine, then add the cut up chicken. Stir, and cook on low for 6 hours (or high for 4).
  2. Twenty minutes before you want to eat, put the yogurt into a separate bowl. Stirring continuously, add ¼ cup at a time of the hot tomato sauce to the yogurt, until you've added about 2 cups. Then, pour the entire thing back into the crock pot and stir to combine.
  3. Cook another 15-20 minutes, or until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Serve garnished with lime and cilantro, along with naan and rice.

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Comments

  1. This looks so good! I am with you, Indian is one of my favorite foods – I can’t wait to see your recipe for Naan. I haven’t been brave enough to try it, but perhaps you will inspire me. I will be checking out your video also as it is something we are thinking of doing for our site :).

    • Thanks, Allison! The naan is really easy — you’ll have to try it! The video was also surprisingly easy… just a bit scary to actually do! You guys should definitely jump on it! xo

  4. Is there a way to make this without a slow cooker? I love the idea of a lighter version but I don’t have a slow cooker to make this 🙁 Could I somehow make it from scratch after I get home in the evening? Thank you 🙂

    • Victoria — check out my normal butter chicken recipe, and just omit the butter, and replace the cream with the yogurt (use the same method as here to avoid curdling!). It should be done in 30ish minutes! Enjoy!

  5. Thanks for the recipe. I tried making it. Even though it tastes great the color I obtain was very pale orange. I followed the recipe completely. I was wondering what could I have done wrong.
    Once again thanks for the recipe.

    • Hi Sun! I’m glad you liked it! I’ve had varying colors simply based on what kind (brand) of tomatoes I’m using. I wouldn’t worry about it! xo

  6. This recipe is awesome!! When storing it for leftovers, do you keep the yogurt in and then refrigerate? Or add the yogurt when you are about to eat it?

    • Hi Katie! Interesting question… I think I’d put the yogurt in all at the same time, so that the recipe is “complete” and then refrigerate it. I suppose either way would work, though! Enjoy! xo

  9. Hi Mary, I notice that this recipe calls for 1 lb of diced chicken, whereas the “buttery” version calls for 2 lbs, but they both call for the same amount of spices. I know it’s somewhat a matter of personal taste, but does it not really matter whether you’re using 1 or 2 lbs for this amount of spice? Please let me know ASAP as I’m hoping to try it for dinner tonight. Thanks!

    Jenn

    • Hi Jenn! Thanks so much for pointing that out — I think I’ll change them to both call for 2 lbs… but I would definitely taste as you go and add more spices if needed.

      Enjoy! xo

  11. Hey, I was looking at your other recipe for butter chicken and went out to buy a cup of heavy cream when I saw this! Is there a way to incorporate the heavy cream while skipping out on the butter in the other recipe, while still using a slow-cooker? Thanks!

    • Hi Ana! I think you could totally do that! I’d just make it according to the slow cooker recipe, but swap out the yogurt for the cream — still just adding it at the end, like you would with the yogurt. Hopefully that answers the question! Enjoy! xo

  12. I saw the other recipe looks not as healthy, is there need for more tomato sauce here or no !?!?

    • Hi Julia! I’m a little confused what you’re asking … the amount of tomato sauce listed in the recipe is accurate!

  14. I made this today! I used freshly ground garam masala made from the epicurious recipe, and my own homemade yogurt. My husband and I both agreed it was pretty good, but was more of a spicy tomato chicken dish… the sauce is a little boring. :\ I think I should have added a bit of salt, and maybe less tomato sauce. I’m sure it would have been a bit smoother/creamier with all the butter from the other recipe, maybe I’ll have to try that one!

    Thanks for the new idea!

  15. OH HEY, I just noticed– that comment from above is right! This recipe calls for two 14 oz cans of tomato sauce, and the butter/cream recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 cup or ONE 14 oz can! No wonder mine was so soupy and tomato-y! Maaaaaan~ 🙁

  19. Made this for dinner and was a success. I had no problem with yogurt curdling. I also made only with cauliflower for vegetarian version. Yum!

  20. Delicious! My yogurt curdled, but only because I didn’t take enough care at the end to slowly bring the temp. of the yogurt up. My husband and I decided to look past that and we ate it anyway, because it was still really good! We will make it again, but I’ll definitely take my time with the yogurt next time…I was just too eager! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  21. The healthy slow cooker recipe has twice the amount of tomato sauce than the original recipe. I’m wondering if this is an error. Should I be using 1 or 2 fourteen ounce cans of tomato sauce?

  22. This recipe has become a staple in our home! I’m so thankful because we used to live in Bangkok where it was easy to get delicious Indian food. We first made the regular version, secondly looked at the fat content on the heavy whipping cream ?, then made the healthy version, and were so happy to find it to be 95% of the taste for what must be 10% (maybe 5%!) of the fat! No looking for us!

    • Ha! That’s exactly why I made the healthier version — 95% of the taste for a fraction of the fat! Glad you guys enjoyed it. xo

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