slow cooker chicken tikka masala

+ the winner of our February giveaway!

Happy Friday friends,

This week it felt like we skipped straight from winter to summer, with lots of sunshine and highs in the 80s yesterday. But I’ve lived in North Carolina long enough to know that we still have plenty of frosty days and nights in our future before spring is in full swing… so I shouldn’t put away all my sweaters just yet.

But because of the unseasonably warm weather, yesterday I learned that thousands of spring seedlings that I ordered from a local greenhouse will be arriving here two whole weeks early… a significant curveball that means I need to hustle and get all our outside beds prepped ASAP. Never a dull moment!

Speaking of bed prep, this week we got all the beds in our second tunnel prepped and ready for planting (see photos below for a before and after) – so ready or not (!?) we are rocking and rolling around here.

Tunnel before and after bed prep

It’s giveaway time!

As a paid subscriber to this newsletter, you’re automatically entered in a randomly-chosen monthly giveaway, where I share some of my favorite tools, books, swag, etc with this rad community. You don’t have to do anything extra to enter – it’s just my way to thank you for being here and your continued support.

This month, I’m excited to give away a rad Farmbelly tote bag… CONGRATS Tara Jones, you’re our giveaway recipient for February! I’ll be in touch separately to coordinate the delivery of your new tote. :)

Congrats Tara Jones, you’re the winner of our February giveaway!

One more gardening related note! Just in case you’ve missed it, the past few weeks I’ve been sharing my 4-Part *Guide to Starting a Garden* – here are links to all four parts of the guide:

• Part 1: Goals & Set Up

• Part 2: How to Make a Planting Plan

• Part 3: Cultivating Healthy Soil

• Part 4: Seed Starting 101

As always, if you have any garden questions or need help getting started this season, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you ASAP!

Now that I’ve got a toddler and a vegetable farm both running full speed ahead, recently I’ve been leaning heavily on my slow cooker to crank out meals to keep us all fueled. This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala has become one of our family’s favorites. It is suuuper creamy and flavorful, packed with hearty veggies and chicken, and you can put it together in just 15 minutes in the morning (and the smell of the yummy spices will fill your home all day until dinner).

I should be clear this is a tikka masala inspired recipe, not an authentic recipe. It’s an important distinction because all too often, well-meaning cooks/recipe writers claim ownership over different food traditions, which I think can be hurtful to people from the region where a culturally significant dish comes from.

So if you’ve heard of tikka masala, but aren’t quite sure exactly what it is… it’s a traditional Indian sauce/dish made from tomato and cream (typically in the form of heavy cream, coconut milk, or yogurt) and with traditional Indian spices like ginger, turmeric, garam masala, coriander and cumin. It is slightly sweet and earthy, and is delicious over a bowl of rice and some toasty naan bread.

So this recipe is a very simplified version of an authentic tikka masala, but it is still incredibly delicious and couldn’t be easier thanks to your slow cooker.

See below for the full recipe (which I adapted from The Kitchn), and you’ll also find a one-page PDF version for easy printing. If you make this recipe, let me know how it goes in the comments + share some pics / tag me on insta!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves 4-6