Freezer and Slow Cooker Friendly! Healthier version of Indian Butterchicken.

Hi guys! 

Are you ready for some more freezer meal ideas?

In my last blog post I had made mention of my Indian Butter Chicken Recipe as part of my freezer meal stash. It's one of my favorites. Easy to make, easy to freeze, delicious to eat. So I'm sharing!

This recipe is dairy free, using coconut milk instead of heavy cream, and simple enough to add veggies. I added sweet potatoes to the last batch I froze. Besides the taste, I love this recipe because it is so easy to throw together in the morning and slow cook all day. It also freezes well so you can toss all the ingredients in a freezer bag or container and you have a meal ready to throw into the slow cooker without prepping freezer meals all day. You can also control the heat. The more spices you add, the richer the spice and flavor. You can back it off some by just putting enough to get the flavor in there. Either way it is simple and inexpensive. The only thing that can get pricey is buying the spices if you don't have them already. I always have these particular spices on hand because I use them so much. Walmart has a good deal on their organic brand of spices.

I usually use boneless skinless chicken thighs but this last time I used boneless skinless breasts. Whether you are dumping this recipe into the slow cooker, or dumping it into a freezer bag, it is just everything all together...dump it.

You can make this recipe smaller or double it. Once I had made some in the slow cooker, not previously frozen, and ended up with a ton of the sauce left over so once it was cooled, I poured it into a freezer bag and added more frozen chicken. Then I had a whole meal in the freezer for another night.

Let's get started!

1.5 lbs Chicken Thighs or Breasts, tenderloins are good too (boneless and skinless)

1 can of Coconut Milk

1 can of Tomato Sauce

3 T Garam Masala

1 T Curry Powder

2 t Corriander

1 t Turmeric

1/2  t Cinnamon

Salt and Pepper to taste

(Remember, I don't measure my spices, so this is my estimate. Don't be scared to play around and add more or less. I just take a sniff of mine and test out a finger dip to see if it is where I like it)

Pot of rice to serve over

Use organic if you can!

Place chicken in your slow cooker. About half of the typical 2.5-3 lb bag from the grocery store. 

In a large bowl, stir together cans of coconut milk and tomato sauce.

Add all spices and mix together gently.

Pour mixture over chicken and cook on low for 8 hours.

Chicken will pull apart easily with a fork when done. Serve chunks of chicken and your sauce over basmati rice (or any other rice). Sweet potatoes and squash would be a great addition to this, or even broccoli and potatoes. 

You can make big batches to feed company or smaller batches if you are a smaller family. I would suggest to just double the recipe. You can use the whole bag of chicken and you just need an extra can of coconut milk and tomato sauce plus the extra spices. You will be happy you did when you freeze one and have dinner ready for a busy day next week. I love that you can freeze it after cooking or before and it is faithfully there waiting for you on a busy or just lazy weeknight.

Look at these gorgeous left overs! Tender chicken, beautifully rich sauce.

Simple, delicious, dairy free.

Let me know if you try it!