Easiest curry rice recipe slowly marinated Indian spices in the slow cooker with cabbage, broccoli and mushrooms. An excellent vegetarian kid-friendly dish! Serve as a side or add cannellini beans and broth to turn into soup. Ten minutes of chopping, then the slow cooker does the rest.
More slow cooker bowls from our kitchen: healing slow cooker rice soup, slow cooker Tex-Mex quinoa and cabbage soup diet recipe.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 2 to 4 hours on low
- ⏳ Total Time: About 4 hours, hands-off
- 🍽️ Serving: 4 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 214kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Mild golden curry with thyme and a tang of apple cider vinegar over fluffy brown rice
- ✋ Difficulty: Chop, dump, cover, walk away.
Quick Answer
Add 1 cup brown or wild rice, 1 cup finely chopped broccoli, 2 cups chopped mushrooms, 1 ½ cups chopped green cabbage, 4 cups vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon curry powder, ½ teaspoon each black pepper and garlic powder, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon dry thyme and 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 4 hours until the rice has absorbed the liquid, then fluff with a spoon and serve.
Watch How to Make It
Here is a quick video how to make curry rice.
Jump to:
My son looked at this picture and said "I like that one mom." I had to ask him twice to repeat that because he has eaten this once when we originally made it. But I have to question with kids since they like something one day and hate it the next. So I made again and it checked out 5-year old approved! This is one curry rice recipe that both the boys enjoyed a few times and I am sharing in hopes your picky eaters like it too since it is packed with veggies!
That sure makes for a nice meal when curry rice is slowly cooked for hours with no effort in preparing it. And a bonus is that it has chopped cabbage, broccoli and mushrooms in it. Sneaking in these vegetables works sometimes, but not all the time with my boys. How the heck do they see every. single. dot of green! If I chop veggies super fine I can sometimes get away with it. It kind of blends with other textures like the light and fluffy brown rice.
I like to tell the boys "those are power mushrooms that make your bones grow - but only if you eat them with a food that is yellow. What, the rice is yellow so lets see if it works! Wow, I see your bones growing!" They think its a fun game! Not sure how long that one will last! The nice thing about adding chopped green cabbage and cooked broccoli is that it blends into the yellow color of the brown rice. Wow, double bone growth power!
Growing up I hated rice for some reason. We ate mostly Italian dishes, steak and potatoes, chicken with salad but never really Mexican or rice as a side dish. It was not until I married my husband and was in my mid 30's that I started to slowly appreciate rice. I even asked restaurants to leave it out in my burritos until I was about 34. I remember that only because I have been eating rice for a year now! SAAAAY WHAAT??! Ha! Sushi rolls are my favorite. I totally dig a big log of rice served that way. I am slowly appreciating rice more and more each day. An acquired taste, specially now that I know the health benefits of brown rice and wild rice (as opposed to white rice).
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- The rice cooks in seasoned broth. Four cups of vegetable broth with curry, garlic, thyme and salt means every grain absorbs flavor instead of plain water.
- Low and slow keeps the rice fluffy. Two to four hours on low lets brown or wild rice absorb the liquid gently without turning to mush.
- Fine chopping hides the vegetables. Cabbage and broccoli chopped small blend into the yellow rice so picky eaters barely notice.
- Apple cider vinegar brightens the curry. Two tablespoons cut through the earthy spices and mushrooms.
- It scales into soup. Add cannellini beans and more broth and the same pot becomes dinner.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- No effort. Curry rice is slowly cooked for hours with no effort in preparing it.
- Packed with veggies that both the boys enjoyed a few times.
- Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free with vegetable broth.
- Side dish or soup. Serve it as a side or add cannellini beans and broth to turn into soup.
- Anti-inflammatory spices. Curry and turmeric, the same idea as my turmeric overnight oatmeal and ginger turmeric wellness shot.
Key Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice or wild rice - the whole grains that make this filling. Have extra rice? Turn it into brown rice flour to use for another recipe!
- 1 cup broccoli, 2 cups mushrooms, 1 ½ cups green cabbage, all finely chopped.
- 4 cups vegetable broth - the rice absorbs all of it.
- 1 teaspoon curry powder, ¼ teaspoon dry thyme, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon Himalayan salt.
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar - the tang.
Full recipe ingredients and measurements are in the recipe card below.
Variations
- Curry rice soup - add a can of cannellini beans and 2 more cups of broth.
- Add chicken - stir in shredded cooked chicken at the end, or make my Indian coconut curry chicken rice soup instead.
- Coconut curry - swap 1 cup of the broth for canned coconut milk for a creamier bowl.
- More vegetables - finely chopped carrots, peas or zucchini blend in the same way; my purple cabbage soup covers the rest of the cabbage.
- Bowl it - top with roasted carrots from my roasted turmeric carrots and a fried egg.
How to Make Slow Cooker Curry Rice
1Finely chop the broccoli, mushrooms and cabbage. The smaller the chop, the better it blends into the rice.
2Add all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours until the rice has absorbed the liquid.
3Fluff with a spoon and serve. Add more fluid if needed (water or broth).
As always, be sure to check out the full recipe details in the recipe card below.
Expert Tips and Benefits
- Check at 2 hours. Slow cookers vary; wild rice takes longer than brown. Add a splash of broth if it looks dry before the rice is tender.
- Chop everything the night before and the morning prep is dumping the bowl into the cooker.
- Brown rice is rich in selenium and manganese. Helps reduce the build-up of artery plaque since it is a whole grain. Brown rice is high in fiber which helps promote weight loss.
- Wild rice helps to reduce diabetes, promotes weight loss due to high fiber, boosts the immune system and is anti-aging (source).
- Curry spices are incredibly healing. Turmeric is the main spice in most Indian dishes. It compliments vegetables and helps prevent cancer, aids to protect the body against heart disease, reduces Alzheimer's disease symptoms, decreases inflammation and helps the liver to flush out toxins from the body.
- Meal prep. It reheats well for lunches and freezes in portions, like my chicken freezer meals.
Serving Ideas
Serve it as a side with stir fry vegetables or thai peanut turkey cabbage bowls, or make it the meal in a bowl with a soft egg on top. It also makes a great base for my vegetarian burrito bowl or a scoop of roasted sweet potato buddha bowl.
Curry Rice FAQs
Yes, but it cooks faster and softer. Check it at 1 ½ to 2 hours on low. Brown rice or wild rice hold their texture better over the longer cook.
Yes. Bring everything to a boil in a covered pot, reduce to a simmer and cook 40 to 45 minutes for brown rice (55 for wild rice) until the liquid is absorbed, then fluff.
Yes when made with vegetable broth. It is also gluten-free and dairy-free.
Add a can of drained cannellini beans and 2 more cups of broth during the last hour, and season to taste.
Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container or freeze in portions for up to 3 months. Reheat with a splash of broth.
Any mild yellow curry powder. One teaspoon keeps it kid-friendly; double it for a deeper curry flavor.
Anti-Inflammatory Curry Rice Vegetable Bowl
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Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice or wild rice
- 1 cup broccoli finely chopped
- 2 cups mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 ½ cups green cabbage finely chopped
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan Salt
- ¼ teaspoon dry thyme
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 2-4 hours until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Fluff with a spoon and serve. Add more fluid if needed (water or broth).
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