I’ve mentioned before that I consider myself relatively slow at prep work in the kitchen. I had this Crock Pot Chicken Vindaloo in my slow cooker in exactly 10 minutes, and that included gathering all my ingredients. Unfortunately, in my whirlwind I sliced my finger open while cutting the onions. So perhaps you should aim for 15 minutes of prep!
I used almost 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Otherwise, I followed the seasoning pretty closely, using what I had in my spice rack. Use it as a guideline: I subbed ground cinnamon for the stick, used whole cloves instead of ground, and skipped the cardamom.
I had steamed a lot of green beans for Thursday night’s dinner, and I had about two cups leftover, so I did not include them in the slow cooker until about a half hour before the vindaloo finished cooking — just enough time to heat them through. I finished the dish with a large handful of chopped cilantro.
I have become a total convert to boneless, skinless chicken thighs as my slow cooker meat of choice. They handle the long cooking time very well, and never seem to dry out. Plus they have a lot more flavor than chicken breasts. They performed as I expected in this meal, which is seriously delicious. I tend to under-spice food when left to my own devices, and I’m sometimes surprised at how absolutely popping with flavor a meal can be when you use a liberal amount of seasoning. The tomato-based sauce is thick and perfect for spooning over rice.
I couldn’t help but think of Merrie as I was plating this dinner, because she is a big fan of adding potatoes to meals in her Crock-Pot. They would be a perfect addition to this dish.
I retried this recipe tonight, following the original recipe closely in terms of ingredients — I omitted the butter and only seasoned the chicken with pepper rather than Montreal seasoning — and pretty closely as far as technique. Instead of cooking the chicken first, I caramelized the onions, and then set them aside in a bowl with the raw, diced tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients other than the seasoned chicken breasts and oil. I browned the chicken in a large skillet, just for color (they were not cooked through). Then I dumped the bowl of remaining ingredients on top of the chicken and let it all simmer, uncovered, for about 25 minutes.
It was great! The brown sugar is a sweet counterpoint to the mouth-puckering vinegar, and pre-cooking the onions helps them melt into the sauce and lend it body. The sauce is wants to be mopped up with a piece of bread, which we happily did. Cooking this dish tonight reminded me that it’s worth going back to recipes that didn’t work out as planned the first time.
What a difference a year and a half makes. Now we keep sriracha on hand as a condiment (J. loves it) and it’s readily available at my local grocery store. I had been thinking about trying this recipe again and decided to do it when my parents were over, since they are OK with a little more heat. I followed the recipe as written this time, though I caramelized the onions for nearly three times as long as recommended.
The presentation is beautiful — browned chicken, golden onions, and a thick and glossy sauce are professional-looking on top of white rice. It is spicy, but not in an uncomfortable way. It’s just the right amount to pack a punch of sweet and heat — the ginger also comes through. I put roasted asparagus alongside, which I’ve been making at least once a week lately. My parents and I loved it, and I would definitely make it again.
Updated to add: I used a 16 oz. jar of medium salsa, which is more than the original recipe calls for. Also, I did get some slight burning of the beans around the bottom edge of the crock, but not enough to bother me or really detract from the recipe.
I bookmarked this Martha Stewart recipe for Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans a couple of months ago because I wanted to start experimenting with using dried beans in my slow cooker. I wound up starting it late — it was almost 11 AM — and I was worried about the beans finishing in time. So I cooked it on high for 3 hours, and then once I saw that the beans were softening enough, I switched it to low for another 3 hours (yes, I open my Crock-Pot during cooking).
I used vegetable stock instead of water, and omitted the canned chipotle chiles because I was hoping to make something mild enough for the kids to eat. I liked it a lot; it’s a solid recipe that doesn’t take on that generic mushiness that some slow cooker recipes have. The dried beans hold their texture, and I find that the dark meat of the chicken holds up better than white meat does. My preparation wasn’t bland, but I do think it would have been a lot tastier with the chipotle, or with some chili powder or other spices added. As leftovers today for lunch, the pintos reminded me of refried beans, which I like. I’ll definitely make this dish again.
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I offered A. 25¢ to try the meal. He bargained me up to 50¢, and took a bite. Then he took several more bites because apparently it wasn’t quite as horrible as he’d expected. I’ll take it as a small victory.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more about me and CITK, and keep in touch:
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Cheesy Kale Crisps: We rarely eat kale now that our farm share is over, and I want to fix that. I've wanted to try using nutritional yeast, and this recipe looks like a tasty way to do it.
I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two school-aged boys and husband. Feeding my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 
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