Indian Tomato Chicken

Indian Tomato Chicken is an easy one pot kid friendly dinner made in less than an hour! Chicken breasts simmered in a flavorful mild tomato curry.

Chicken Tikka Masala is one of the most well-loved Indian Recipes with it’s mild, creamy tomato sauce that everyone can enjoy. This dairy-free tomato curry is just as full of flavor and crowd pleasing!

Indian Tomato Chicken in large pot

INDIAN TOMATO CHICKEN CURRY

This flavorful mild curry dish is a great recipe for a weeknight dinner that kids love. Tomato Chicken Curry comes together in minutes and then its hands off for about a half an hour. Once its done, serve over rice and an easy vegetable side for a healthy, kid friendly chicken dinner with savory flavors that adults like too!

Tomato Curry Chicken may seem like it has a lot of ingredients, but it’s actually just a good amount of basic, bold flavored spices plus chicken, canned tomatoes, butter, and onion. Even the turmeric is a pretty common spice that you probably have on hand. If not just leave it out or swap with more common curry powder!

Tomato Curry

Tomato curries and tomatoes in curry are nothing new, in fact a lot of Indian curries are tomato based besides this recipe and Tikka Masala. What sets this Chicken Tomato Curry apart is that there is no cream or coconut milk, making a more zesty, robust tomato flavor. The spice blend has no garam masala, garlic, or heat added, making a curry sauce that is warm and slightly sweet.

You can always play with the seasonings, depending on your taste, but this Indian Tomato Curry Chicken recipe was made to be as kid friendly as possible. Its a great recipe for picky eaters who aren’t fans of curries heavy in garlic or spicy seasonings like cayenne pepper and hot chili flakes. If you need some inspiration to add more bold or spicy flavors, check out the variations.

Indian Tomato Chicken Curry is an easy, budget friendly slow cooker and freezer meal! There are slow cooker instructions later in the post and freezing ahead is as simple as cooking, cooling, and storing for up to 3 months. A freezer trick for saucy chicken dinners like this one: Place the chicken curry in freezer safe bags, lay flat on a baking tray and freeze until solid, then stack to store. Reheat in the slow cooker or on the stove top!

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What to serve with this dish:

There’s nothing quite like creamy Indian Raita drizzled over Chicken Tomato Curry, it’s like the sour cream on enchiladas… ya gotta have it! Along with the Raita, serve Indian Tomato Curry with Steamed Rice or Brown Rice and Roasted Broccoli for a flavorful healthy dinner. Make some Pita Chips to dip in the extra tomato curry sauce and Raita too!

Indian Tomato Chicken in bowl with chickpeas and rice

VARIATIONS ON INDIAN TOMATO CHICKEN CURRY

  • Veggies: Make this healthy Tomato Chicken Curry more healthy and hearty with veggies! Use veggies like carrots, green beans, peas, bell peppers, mushrooms, pearl onions, or spinach.
  • Potatoes: Potatoes and curry are a perfect pair. Serve over Mashed Potatoes, or add diced red potatoes, gold potatoes, or sweet potatoes to the broth. You can also add a can or two chickpeas.
  • Meat: Swap chicken breasts for boneless chicken thighs, or a whole chicken cut in pieces. You can also make Tomato Curry with boneless pork, jumbo shrimp, or baked tofu.
  • Creamy: Make Chicken Tomato Curry creamy by adding a cup of heavy cream, full fat coconut milk, or plain yogurt in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Make sure dairy is room temperature and temper by whisking in 2-3 tablespoons hot curry before adding.
  • Spices: Adjust the spice blend by adding spices like cardamom, garam masala, curry powder, fresh ginger, a cinnamon stick, paprika, or cayenne pepper. Add ground spices a 1/4 teaspoon at a time, tasting each time until you get the flavor you like.

Slow Cooker Indian Tomato Chicken Curry

    • In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté onions over medium high heat until translucent.
    • Stir in minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
    • Add onion-garlic mixture to the slow cooker.
    • Toast spices for 1 minute in hot skillet. Remove pan from heat.
    • Toss chicken in spices until just coated, add to slow cooker.
    • Deglaze skillet with 1/4 cup water or chicken broth, just enough so you get all the remaining spices to pour into the slow cooker.
    • Top chicken and onion mixture with tomatoes, stir a few times.
    • Cover with lid and cook on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.

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HOW TO STORE INDIAN TOMATO CHICKEN CURRY

  • Serve: Indian Tomato Chicken Curry can be at room temperature for up to 2 hours before it needs to be stored.
  • Store: Store cooled Tomato Chicken Curry in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
  • Freeze: Cool Tomato Chicken Curry and freeze in a sealed container or freezer safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or reheat in a slow cooker from frozen.

Indian Tomato Chicken with bread

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Indian Tomato Chicken Curry

Indian Tomato Chicken is an easy, one pot chicken dinner made in less than an hour! Chicken breasts simmered in a flavorful, kid friendly mild tomato curry.
Course Dinner
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Indian Tomato Chicken Curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 333 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion , chopped
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 pound chicken breasts , boneless skinless, cut into 1" chunks
  • 28 ounces crushed tomatoes

Instructions

  1. Add onion and butter to a dutch oven on medium heat.
  2. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5-6 minutes.

  3. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds.

  4. Add the cumin, turmeric, salt, black pepper, cinnamon, ground ginger, sugar, ground cloves, nutmeg and bay leaves to the pot and stir well, cooking for 1 minute.
  5. Add in the chicken and stir into the spices.
  6. Cook the chicken for 3 minutes, then pour in the crushed tomatoes.

  7. Bring tomatoes to a simmer and lower heat to medium-low heat.

  8. Cook for 30 minutes.

Nutrition Facts
Indian Tomato Chicken Curry
Amount Per Serving
Calories 333 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Cholesterol 124mg41%
Sodium 1045mg45%
Potassium 1279mg37%
Carbohydrates 20g7%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 11g12%
Protein 40g80%
Vitamin A 665IU13%
Vitamin C 22mg27%
Calcium 97mg10%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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