Slow Cooker Marmalade Curry Chicken Recipe


It's the first day of school. The baby is at my feet playing with computer cords and chewing on my slippers. She's crawled in and out of her sisters' room a few times, and seems genuinely surprised that they aren't there to shove her back out. The American Girl dolls smell faintly like spit-up.

I don't know anything about this.

nothing at all.

Here's a super simple chicken dish you can throw into the pot before you head out the door to conquer the world. Or the PTA.
same thing.

The Ingredients.
serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves or thighs
1 (18-ounce) jar orange marmalade (it can be sugar-free organic if that's the kind of thing that makes you happy. it's all good.)
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I didn't find this hot. if you've got a wussy palate, don't use so much.)
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup chicken broth

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into the bottom of your slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the marmalade with the dry spices and chicken broth. You'll end up with a slimy orange gel that smells like ginger. Pour this on top of the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or on high for about 4. If when fully cooked the chicken isn't quite as moist as you'd like, you can cut it into strips, then return it to the pot to soak in even more of the yummy sauce. Serve over brown basmati rice.

The Verdict.

The chicken gets a neat brown shiny glaze when it's cooked in this sauce. We all really liked the flavor, and there was hardly any left for my lunch the next day. Danielle, who's an EMT in New Jersey sent me this recipe. She really likes how she can rely on the crockpot to deliver a healthy, hot meal with very little time invested on her end. There's no chopping in this meal, but if you'd like to throw in some carrots, onion, or celery---go for it!

Thank you, Danielle!!

other quick and easy chicken dishes:
margarita chicken
brown sugar chicken
apricot chicken
bacon and cheese chicken
balsamic chicken w/ veggies
chicken parmesan
chicken cordon bleu
cream cheese chicken
salsa chicken

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Posted by: Stephanie O'Dea | A Year of Slow Cooking at August 30, 2010

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What they say about this article

  1. Anonymous8/30/2010

    Sounds delicious! One of my advisors at college used to make something similar to this and I loved it! I will have to try this out :)

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  2. Our tot is going to miss her big brothers so much when they're at school!

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  3. Sounds great! love orange chicken. :)

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  4. yeah for curry! thanks for posting!

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  5. Anonymous8/30/2010

    What do you think about adding some diced peppers to this? Red or green? put them in at the begginning or wait until the end? I love to throw as many veggies as I can in my dishes.

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  6. Sound & looks great - can't wait to try it!

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  7. Mmmm this sounds so good! I'm going to have to try this, probably later in the week since I have dinners planned this week lol.

    My husband probably wont like it, he's so picky....he'd love it if I made "cream of" stuff and meatloaf everynight.

    *yawn* :P

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  8. I totally want to make this! I LOVE orange chicken and love spicing it up with curry and cayenne! Yum! I'll probably throw veggies in there too, just cause that's what I like to do!!

    I just posted a crock pot recipe that you might like on my blog yesterday. I've made so many of your recipes and seriously, I would never have even started my blog with out you!! Sounds dramatic but so true!!

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  9. Do you think it'd work great with pork? My dd's allergic to chicken :(

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  10. I have a jar of apricot preserves in my pantry, think that would work in place of the marmalade?

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  11. This is awesome!! I actually have a jar of marmalade someone gave us once. I have been at a loss as to how to use it, since we don't eat a lot of toast in the mornings, plus this particular variety is SO sweet it's almost hard to eat! I have all the other ingredients for this. I will definitely be trying it this week. Maybe even tonight!

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  12. Question (I thought of it after) any thoughts on how to get the chicken to look like your picture? Anytime I use chicken breasts, they just shred/fall apart like crazy. Should I throw them in still frozen or use a different cut than breasts?

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  13. Mmmmm this sounds phenomenal!!! Especially the curry powder! I've made chicken with just an orange/honey marmalade glaze before and I am always disappointed because I don't really care for overly sweet sauces on my meat! But this seems PERFECT!!

    Once I pick up a jar of marmalade (probably not the organic kind, haha) this recipe is on! I made tofu with peanut sauce yesterday and the day before that I made both Apple Butter AND Jalapeno poppers in one of my three crockpots.

    Thank you for letting an obsession with crock pots flourish instead of being stifled by the same boring recipes that are in EVERY slowcooker cookbook (except yours <3)

    -Kate

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  14. I've just found your blog and am delighted. I've had a slow cooker for a few years but haven't used it! Now that school is starting again I'm determined to get slow cooking and create some healthy meals for my four kids. I'm going to be coming back regularly for some recipe ideas and will let you know how I get on!

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  15. Every time I cook b/s chicken breasts in the crockpot, it is dried up if it cooks longer than 3 hours on low. How do you get juicy chicken if you're cooking on low for 6-7 hours? What am I not doing right?

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  16. anon, I think that would be just fine!
    serene, absolutely. it'd be great with pork.
    chris, sure. I'm pretty sure preserves and marmalade are pretty interchangeable.

    kimberlee, it may mean that you just aren't cooking the chicken quite long enough. if it's dry you can cut it into strips and then return it to the sauce to soak up moisture and flavor. thighs and breasts on the bone will retain more moisture, as will leaving the skin on. I don't like the added fat, so like the boneless skinless, and the way I get around the dryness is to cook it until it's so tender it practically falls apart, which allows the juices from the gravy/sauce to permeate the meat.

    xoxo

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  17. Now Mama, is it really worth it for those dolls to smell like spit-up:)... or are you using some love-n-logic on the other two:)

    The recipe sounds great and Hubby thinks it would be 'interesting'. So the crock-pot comes out tomorrow.

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  18. I love orange chicken....haven't had it for so long. I'm sure I could find a sugar-free orange marmalade. And with curry, YUM!!

    I don't know what it's like to have kids crawling around but I have dogs that seem to tear things up when I'm not looking.

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  19. This recipe saved dinner tonight, since we went out in the afternoon and were getting home right at dinner time--no time to cook. I used probably half the marmalade, and I think it was the perfect amount. I also halved the pepper, but it was still a little spicy for my daughter, so I mixed hers with some cream cheese (I would have used plain yogurt, but we're out), and she loved it. The chicken came out very tender, but it would have been dry without sauce spooned on top. Already-cooked brown rice and nuked frozen spinach on the side, and dinner was served!

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  20. I just commented on your "Grits" post, but I wanted to let you know that I'm so glad I found your blog. I'm excited to try the vegetarian recipes! (I am commenting on this particular post because it's the most recent.)

    You might want to change the subtitle to something like: "Established for 2008, but Still Cooking!". You know. Or something. Hah-hah - not to be telling you how to run your blog, or anything!

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  21. This look delicious! Thanks. :)

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  22. Made recipe as is and even though my hubby and I aren't big curry fans we loved it and I will definitely make again!!

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  23. OK, I made this tonight for the fam. Note to all: don't get distracted while measuring the cayenne pepper. I just added 1 1/2 tsp. like everything else before it rather than the, what was it, 1/4 tsp it called for?! When I realized my mistake, I scraped out what I could, but I probably still had nearly 1 tsp. in there. NICE and spicey, but nearly too much for, too much for DH's lips, and the kids weren't thrilled. Good flavor, though. I think I'll try it again with less cayenne, a low-sugar marmalade and a whole chicken next time. (I used just the four pieces we often use when we cook for our fam....I get tired of leftovers since I'm the only one who eats them...) Thanks again for fun, easy kitchen pointers, recipes and other entertainment.

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  24. Step,

    I finally got a chance to make this chicken. Loved it! The house smelled so good that my normally quiet cat sounded like a demanding Siamese. She loved it too and I almost never give her people food. THANKS for the wonder blog and this recipe!

    Linda

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  25. I make something like this but I use apricot preserves (my friend cans them annually), catilina dressing, and a packet of Lipton onion soup mix... I like thighs if it is just for us at home... for parties I use the mini drumsticks and I put them under the broiler to crisp them up a little... the hubby regularly requests this dish...

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  26. Anonymous9/17/2010

    This was really yummy, thank you. I used frozen thighs and red pepper instead of cayenne. I bought orange marmalade, but I was half asleep when I put it in the crock pot, so I put in apricot preserve by mistake. It was all good after 8 hours! The curry really makes this dish. Thanks again!
    Audrey V

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  27. I just noticed the "COMPLETE" watermark behind your header.

    Duh.

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  28. Just made this last night. It was SO delicious. I didn't have as much marmalade as the recipe called for so I used some apricot jam in addition to the marmalade. I also upped the amount of curry (I love curry). I diced a small onion, a rib of celery, half a green pepper and a carrot and added them to the pot before I put in my chicken. They added a nice color and flavor. I served this over basmati rice. I will definitely be making this again.

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  29. Made this tonight and it was delicious! I loved it so much I even blogged about it!

    http://bluzel.blogspot.com/2010/09/orange-curry-chicken.html

    It's definitely a keeper. I, like Susan above me, used some apricot jam as well as orange marmalade and it turned out great. I can't wait to try more of your recipes!

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  30. This was so good! Even my husband loved it, who normally doesnt like fruit infused into his main courses lol. My 17 month old had a few bites even! This will be in our dinner rotation for sure, thank you :)

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  31. Anonymous10/14/2010

    Just made this dish and mine completely burnt. I cooked it for 6 hours on low and the suace was black and the chicken was so hard. I always make my kids eat what I make even if they don't like it. This would have been a punishment. I can tell it would have been delicious a few hours ago. Any suggestions?

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  32. Hi Anon,
    oh no! I think you used a larger than 4-quart slow cooker. Unfortunately, bigger does not mean better when it comes to cookers---they need to be 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full in order to cook properly. Or you've got a steam release problem. You might want to check out: Help! My CrockPot cooks too fast!

    I hope this helps a bit, and I'm so truly sorry you had burnt food. I hate wasting food.

    xoxo steph

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  33. yum, put this in the crockpot just now can't wait to eat it for dinner tonight.

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  34. I wrote about making this recipe here. This recipe is another winner in my book. You haven't steared me wrong on a crock pot recipe yet. This dish has even gotten me to re-evaluate my dislike of curry. Thank you for helping me broaden my food palate.

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  35. Just made this. I found it kind of bland; it smelt orange but didn't really taste like much. My chicken shredded to bits, but it was still okay. I don't think I'd make this with chicken thighs again, maybe it would be best with breasts, and a few alterations to the recipe.

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  36. My family loved this, including the 2 and 6 year olds. They are wusses so when I make it today I'll use just a pinch of cayenne. I also need to double it since everyone was left asking for more. Definitely use thighs. It's so much more moist.

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