We never tasted many different ethnic cuisines growing up. My mom was a great cook, but we were a typical meat & potatoes or Italian dinner kinda family. The first time I actually had Indian food was when I worked as a banquet waitress at a Holiday Inn hotel. The hotel used to host lots of weddings, and when there was an Indian wedding they typically used their own caterer rather than the hotel catering. If there were leftovers, a lot of times the caterers would let us waitresses have some of the food for dinner.
I remember just how much I loved chicken tikka masala (along with naan, of course) the first time I had it. When I got to college and went out to eat a bit more, it was my default choice when we would go to an Indian restaurant.
Now, of course, we don’t eat out super often (both for health and budget reasons) – so I wanted to come up with a way to create this delicious dish at home. I’ll by no means claim that this is 100% authentic because I am obviously not super well versed in Indian cooking. And this is a slow cooker chicken tikka masala dish, which isn’t the traditional way of preparing the meal.
But – I do think the flavors are pretty darn representative of chicken tikka masala. And I love that this is made in the slow cooker and can be left to cook all day while you’re at work.
And of course, it is delicious. The sauce is rich and full of flavor from the yogurt and spices. The chicken is moist thanks to using chicken thighs and letting those cook all day in that sauce. And paired with some rice or naan? Oh my goodness, it’s like heaven in my belly.
When I first started cooking this, we hadn’t reintroduced any dairy back into my son’s diet yet (he was born with some food intolerences) so I made this dairy free version. This is a great option for anyone with dairy allergies that still wants a tasty slow cooker chicken tikka masala. No need to give up amazing food just because you’ve got an allergy!
So grab the ingredients, pop it in the slow cooker, and let me know what ya think. 🙂
Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala {Dairy Free!}
Ingredients
For tikka masala:
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 6 bone-in chicken thighs
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 29 oz can tomato puree
- 1 cup coconut milk yogurt (if you’re not dairy free, you could try regular plain greek yogurt)
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 0 to ½ tsp cayenne (according to spice preferences)
- 1 cup coconut milk
Optional for topping:
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
For serving:
- Rice or Naan (note – naan is generally not dairy free)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to crockpot except coconut milk and optional cilantro. {When it comes to the cayenne, add based on your preferences – I like the ½ teaspoon when I’m making it for just me and my husband, but when I know my son will be eating it too, I leave it out.}
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Stir in coconut milk and let cook for another 15-30 minutes.
- Remove from crockpot and serve with either naan or rice (and a side of veggies of course!). If desired, top with some chopped cilantro.
Notes
- If you prefer a thicker sauce, you can bring the sauce to a simmer in a pot to reduce a bit before serving.
- You can remove skin from chicken to reduce calories and saturated fat.
Nutrition
Share with me: Do you love Indian food as much as I do? Did you eat a lot of different cuisines growing up, or did you start experimenting with them a little later in life?
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Yum!! I am definitely adding this to my list of recipes to try. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Rachel! I hope you enjoy it. You know how much I love my slow cooker!
Made this tonight — your resharing on Facebook paid off! — and it was a big hit. I made a few changes to meet my husband’s (picky) tastes (using boneless, skinless chicken thighs and shredding the chicken before adding the coconut milk) and used Chobani coconut yogurt since that’s what we had, and added a can of chickpeas because I love them — so you might want to try that sometime. It was so delicious I will be making it again!
Haha, yayyyy! So glad you enjoyed it. Regular yogurt is a great option for this; I know when I originally created the recipe I had to be dairy-free for nursing so the coconut milk yogurt was a go to for me. LOVE the idea of adding chickpeas to it too!!