Slow Cooker Japanese Chicken Curry
Slow Cooker Japanese Chicken Curry combines tender chicken, potatoes, carrots, and onion with the warm, savory spices of Japanese curry, all made in your slow cooker for an effortless meal!
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Slow Cooker Japanese Chicken Curry takes all the warm spices and comforting goodness from the stovetop version, and transforms it into a slow cooker meal that’s a cinch to make!
I’ve been eating Japanese curry since I was a kid. My mom made it all the time when I was growing up, and now, as an adult, it is nostalgic comfort food!
I’ve been making my own family Japanese curry on the stove for years, but I’ve recently started making it in a slow cooker to save time and it turns out great!
There are several different brands of Japanese curry mix, but I always use the one my mom does, which is pictured below.
Chickpea Cauliflower Curry is another great one-pot curry recipe!
Ingredients needed (scroll down to recipe card for complete recipe):
- Potatoes – I like red potatoes best because they don’t fall apart
- Carrots
- Yellow onion
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Japanese curry mix
- Chicken broth or water
- Bay leaf
What is Japanese curry?
Japanese curry is a stew-like, roux-based brown curry with chunks of meat and vegetables. The flour in the curry mix gives the dish a thicker consistency.
Unlike curries from Thailand or India, you really get a “curry powder” flavor, which is warm and aromatic.
It is said that it was brought to Japan in the late 1800’s from the British navy.
How to make Slow Cooker Japanese Curry:
- Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, and chicken to the slow cooker.
- Stir boiling broth with the Japanese curry bricks and mix until dissolved, pour it over everything.
- Cook according to directions on recipe card below. Serve with rice and enjoy!
📍The full recipe with exact ingredient amounts and instructions is on the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
How to serve Japanese curry?
This curry is traditionally served with rice.
I like to serve it with a fragrant rice like basmati or jasmine, but regular white or brown rice is great too.
Looking for more slow cooker recipes? Here are some favorites:
- Slow Cooker BBQ Beef Cornbread Casserole
- Slow Cooker Cajun Sausage, Green Beans, and Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Pepper Steak
- Slow Cooker Chicken Provencal
NOTES:
- S & B Golden Curry Japanese curry mix is available in mild, medium hot, hot, and extra hot.
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Slow Cooker Japanese Chicken Curry
Equipment
- 5 quart slow cooker or larger
- small mixing bowl
- fork
Ingredients
- 1 pound red potatoes cut into bite-size chunks
- 2-3 carrots chopped
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1.75 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 3.2 ounce Japanese curry mix
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or water
Instructions
- Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, chicken, and bay leaf to slow cooker.
- Break up the Japanese curry mix bricks and place them in a mixing bowl.
- Either microwave the broth or bring it to a boil on the stove. We need it really hot to soften the bricks. Once boiling, pour it over the broken up curry bricks in the mixing bowl and use a fork to mash the bricks. Stir and mash until the curry mix is smooth, then pour it over everything in the slow cooker and give it all a stir. This will be a thick, stew-like curry, not soupy/liquidy.
- Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until the vegetables have softened and the chicken is cooked through (165°). Remove and discard bay leaf. Serve with rice and enjoy! *See notes below about the thickness of the sauce.
Video
Notes
- Thighs can be used instead of breasts, but they’ll cook quicker.
- The Japanese curry mix comes in a variety of spice levels: mild, medium-hot, hot, and extra hot.
- This recipe is designed to be a thick, stew-like curry. Feel free to add a little more broth at the end if you want it saucier, but don’t add too much or you’ll dilute the curry flavor.
- I like to use red potatoes because they hold their shape and don’t fall apart like Russets.
- Once cooled, store leftovers in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- The curry can be frozen in freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months. You may need to add more liquid when reheating.
If I were to use 2 packages of the roux would I also double the broth used? Just want to make sure I don’t dilute the flavors or make an overly soupy curry.
Yes, if you double the curry bricks, you’d double the broth too or it would be too concentrated. Enjoy!
Hi! I was wondering if you’ve ever made this with frozen chicken? Or have any idea how i could? I have so much frozen chicken breast I’m trying to go through
Hi there. The USDA recommends not using frozen chicken in slow cookers, so I always defrost it first.
I have made this several times and I’m making it again today. Last time I tried adding another box of curry, two boxes of mild instead of one. It really made a difference. I end up using more chicken and potatoes than listed in the recipe so the extra box and a little more liquid turned a great dish into an awesome one!
I do have a question. The prep time is listed as 10 minutes. It takes me much longer. Am I just a slow “prepper”? Can all the chopping and preparation really be done in 10 minutes?
Thanks!
Thanks for your feedback! To answer your question about the prep time, the ingredients should already be ready, which is why it says, “2-3 carrots, chopped” and “1 yellow onion, diced”. If the recipe had called for “2-3 carrots”, the recipe’s instructions would have to include chopping the carrots, but for my recipe, all the ingredients should be ready so when you go to make it, you can expect to take 10 minutes to prep it. Hope that helps answer your question.
This was my first attempt at any kind of curry and really enjoyed it! My second time making it though, I loved it because I slightly altered your recipe. I felt it needed a little more and always made a double batch. If anyone feels like it needs more as well, make the first two minor changes. If you think it needs more of a kick, add the last two.
I added an extra package of Japanese curry (3 instead of 2), a can of coconut milk, 2 tsp of paprika, and 2 tsp of crushed red pepper. Using an additional curry package helped make it more flavorful and the coconut milk thickened the curry.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s not a Japanese curry with coconut milk, but if you enjoyed that, you would probably want to try a Thai curry recipe. This recipe is traditional for Japanese curry, so it may be that you don’t like Japanese curry as much as others :)
I love this recipe my kids love it too, I use the medium
I have used that Curry Mix before and it is great! This is such a nice dish, so flavorful and easy to make.
When adding the potatoes, carrots, onion, chicken, and bay leaf to slow cooker, do I need to add some water? If yes, how much?
You’re on step one of the instructions. If you proceed to step 2 and 3, you’ll see how to make the liquid part of the recipe.
What kind of potatoes?
Hi there! This is from the “NOTES” part of the post above the recipe. Hope it helps! “I like red potatoes best for this recipe because they hold their shape better than russet potatoes. Feel free to use what you like best.:
half a cup of broth is very little liquid for the amount of chicken ad vegetables. Is that a typo?
It seems like it might not be enough, but the condensation from the slow cooker adds to the liquid and it turns out as shown in the photos. If you want a more liquidy/less thick curry, you could add more broth, but you’d be diluting the flavors of the curry mix. Hope that helps!
I found it to be nowhere near enough liquid too! Used probably 2 cups of broth and then maybe 2 cups of water just so the curry would cook in the slow cooker.
Hi there. This is designed to be a thick, stew-like curry like I’ve always had it. The amount of broth in the recipe is due to the slow cooker creating condensation, which adds to the liquids and also to not dilute the curry flavor, requiring another curry package. Feel free to add more liquid if desired :)
Hi i put it on low for 4 hours and it wasn’t Cooked through the vegetables where hard do you mean high setting
Hi there. Each slow cooker runs a little different from another temperature wise. It should be done at the 4-5 hour mark. There may be something wrong with your slow cooker if the the vegetables are still hard much long after that. I will update the post to include a longer cook time if necessary. Thank you for the feedback!
I normally make it on the stove but will try the crock pot version. Love this and both of my kids
Delicious!!! Took me back to my childhood. I remember eating curry in Japan when we visited one summer and my mother used to make it at home. I will definitely be making this again!
This recipe is nostalgic for me too! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :)
I forgot to cube the chicken. I’m hoping I can just shred it at the end like I do for other recipes. What do you think?
I’m sure it will be fine. Just a different, unconventional texture, but should still be delicious.
Do we have nutritional info for this?
Hi there! I don’t have the nutritional info for this, but you can plug in the ingredients online for free. Enjoy!
Making this Japanese Chicken Curry in the slow cooker is a game changer! This is the only way I make it now!