This Butter Chicken recipe is beyond delicious, insanely easy, and perfect for Keto & Low Carb diets. When you combine butter, chicken, and super spices like Gram Masala, Tumeric, and Cumin, you end up with this fantastic dish.
- About this Recipe
- About the Key Ingredients
- How to make Butter Chicken for Keto & Low Carb Diets
- Pro Tips, Helpful Links and Recipe Time Savers
- Grab this Recipe!
About this Recipe
My family members and friends absolutely love butter chicken, but every time someone would request it, I would fret a little. There is definitely a stigma towards the difficulty of this dish, and I fully understand why. When I first started making this nearly ten years ago, it would take me between 4-6 hours, which is NOT easy and certainly NOT fun if you are not in the mood. Nevertheless, I would make it with love knowing it would bring everyone together and put smiles on more than a few faces. Yaaah!
Earlier this month, a close friend requested this dish for his birthday, which meant making this for 8 people. He also happens to follow a healthy ketogenic diet while also being gluten-free. Thankfully this recipe is naturally low-carb, but I did have to take a step back and review to ensure it was, in fact, gluten-free.
So, on the day of his birthday, I got an earlier start and deconstructed my original butter chicken recipe and came up with something unique, authentic, and super easy. A dish which generally took me 4+ hours you can make in under 60 minutes, and realistically even pull it off in 40 minutes once you know-how.
Impressive right? Lets recap! How to make butter chicken, which is keto-friendly, low carb, gluten-free, ready in 40 minutes, and serves a crowd. How about now?
About the Key Ingredients
This recipe is full of key ingredients, specifically super spices like Garam Masala, Turmeric, and Cumin. These super spices deliver a bomb of flavor but are also extraordinarily good for you.
Garam Masala
A genuine super spice, this powerful combination of spices helps improve digestion, linked to cancer prevention, fights diabetes, and general overall health booster. Adding garam masala to any dish elevates it to the next level.
Turmeric
Another super spice that is growing in popularity worldwide. Curcumin is the main active ingredient and has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a powerful antioxidant. Note that it is recommended to consume Turmeric with pepper, which enhances curcumin absorption.
Cumin
This super spice is far more common and is used in a variety of dishes. Even a small amount of cumin adds another level of flavor and packs extensive health benefits.
How to make Butter Chicken for Keto & Low Carb Diets
Yes, this is easy, like, super easy! The marinade takes about 5-10 minutes, and the butter sauce takes about 30 minutes. And the best part is no one will know you did this all in under an hour.
Since we are focused on making this easy, let’s do exactly that. For part one, throw all of your ingredients into a mixing bowl, combine, and refrigerate. Done!
Heat up your skillet or casserole and add your butter (ghee), olive oil, garlic, ginger, and cinnamon. As soon as the butter starts to bubble, give it another minute, and add your onion. Depending on your taste, you can sprinkle a tsp of sugar (brown) about halfway through. This helps caramelize the onions and is pure magic. Next, add a can of diced tomatoes, chili powder, and salt and cook on medium until the tomatoes are fully cooked. This will take less time with canned tomatoes and slightly longer with fresh tomatoes. And we are basically done, just grab the chicken marinade from the fridge and combine. Once the chicken is fully cooked, add sour cream, simmer briefly and garnish.
Your first time around, I’d estimate about 60 minutes. Your second time around, you should be able to pull this off in 40 minutes or less. I pretty much make this on autopilot, and we are eating butter chicken far more often now.
I love the fact this recipe is so easy, serves a crowd, tastes better the next day, and is a killer meal plan option. I have literally had people fighting over this the next day, which is pretty amazing.
Pro Tips, Helpful Links, And Recipe Time Savers
If you followed along above, you’d recall adding several spices to the butter and olive oil. This step helps release essential oils and re-activate ground spices. This is a universal pro tip!
Spices in local supermarkets are hit or miss. There is nothing worse than not finding a crucial spice, it is flat out frustrating. When it comes to spices, Amazon Pantry Staples is both a time saver and a helpful link. And I am picky when it comes to spices.
Another big time saver is how well this recipe works for meal plans and this is one recipe that definitely tastes better with time.
And you could quickly turn this into a Vegan Butter Chicken recipe by substituting the chicken for Tofu or possibly a veggie option. If you modify this recipe in any way and you like how it turns out, please let me know!
Oh, and be sure not to forget the Cauliflower Rice, which pairs perfectly with this Keto Butter Chicken!
Grab the Recipe!
Watch how to make it
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(Easy) Butter Chicken Recipe for Keto & Low Carb Diets
Ingredients
Easy Marinade
- 900 g Chicken Skinless
- 1 cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp Garam Masala
- 1 Tbsp Turmeric
- 1 Tbsp Cumin
- 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt to taste
Delicious Butter Sauce
- 60 g Unsalted Butter (Ghee)
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion Ideally Red
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Ginger Fresh
- 1/4 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 can Diced Tomatoes
- 1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
Instructions
Marinade Instructions
- Grab your mixing bowl and add your yogurt (1c), fresh lemon juice (2T), garam masala (2T), ground turmeric (1T), ground cumin (1T), and Kosher salt to taste. Mix until fully combined.
- Add boneless chicken (900g) and combine well. Make sure the chicken is fully coated so it can absorb the spices and flavors and refrigerate.
Butter Sauce Instructions
- Heat a large pan or even pot and add the butter or ghee and olive oil.
- Add garlic, ginger and cinnamon and fry for one minute. This helps release the flavors!
- Add in onion, stirring frequently until browned.
- Combine tomatoes, chilli powder, and salt. Cook on medium heat until the tomatoes are fully cooked, about 8-10 minutes.
- Get the marinade from the fridge and combine in your pan and cook for 5-10 minutes. Cooking time here depends on thickness of chicken.
- Add a touch of salt or squeeze of lemon to taste.
- Stir in cream and simmer for a few minutes.
- Server over cauliflower rice and garnish with cilantro or parsley.
Lucy says
Where did the olive oil go? You put in the butter sauce ingredient list, but not in the directions?
730 Sage Street says
Hi Lucy,
Heat up your skillet or casserole and add your butter (ghee), olive oil, garlic, ginger, and cinnamon. If you combine butter with olive oil you’ll increase the burn/smoke point and reduce the chance of the butter turning bitter. And you’ll still maintain that lovely buttery taste.