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This Indian Butter Chicken is rich, flavorful and perfect for a cold fall day. Served best along side some cauliflower or jasmine rice with fresh naan bread.
A few years back I finally started to enjoy Indian food. It took a long time, but once I started to like Indian food, I started to REALLY like Indian food. The flavor is so incredible and is honestly hard to beat. I started with Thai curries then quickly moved in Indian curry and have never looked back.
Naturally, the first thing I fell in love with was Chicken Tikka Masala. Then I found butter chicken, which I absolutely loved, but at the same time the dairy completely killed me. It was a love-hate relationship at first, that’s for sure. That’s why I decided to make a completely Whole30 version without the dairy, so you can eat all of this and not feel guilty at all.
This dish is so tasty with a silky tomato sauce that I swear sends you straight to heaven. Blend up that sauce right before serving and you’re all set and ready to go!
This Indian butter chicken is perfect for these cozy fall nights where you want to cuddle up with a hot bowl of something warm and watch 10 things I hate about you. Which, by the way is seriously one of my favorites. If you’re looking for other fall favorites of mine, check out my Sausage and Kale potato soup or my Apple Cider Sangria.
You can make this completely Whole30 with cilantro turmeric cauliflower rice or add in some cilantro and turmeric jasmine rice and naan. Either way you 100% have to top this with cashews and fresh cilantro. That’s a given.
To make the jasmine rice, I just cooked the rice as directed on the package, but also added some ghee, and a little bit of cardamom and coriander, turmeric is also amazing with this.
Whole30 Indian Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breast boneless and skinless
- 1 lb chicken thigh boneless and skinless
Marinade
- 1/2 cup coconut cream
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger fresh and grated
- 1 tsp chili powder
Sauce
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes drained
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 handful cashews
- 1 tsp ginger freshly grated
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1-2 dates chopped
Instructions
- Chop chicken into 1 inch pieces and add to large bowl. Add all marinade ingredients, stir a few times to coat and let sit in bowl in fridge 45 minutes to 1 hour
- Once chicken is done marinating, add ghee to a dutch oven or large pan and once hot, add chicken in small batches to cook through. Once chicken is cooked, set aside
- Once chicken is cooked through, add onion and cook until translucent
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute more, then add all dry ingredients and let cook 1-2 minutes.
- Add all wet ingredients and bring to simmer. Let simmer 10 minutes and then add to blender and blend until creamy and smooth
- Add chicken back to pan and strain sauce in mesh sieve over the chicken. Stir to incorporate. Serve along side cauliflower or jasmine rice and with some naan!
Healthy but doesn’t taste healthy. I could eat this every day