This keto butter chicken is ridiculously tasty, aromatic, and a breeze to whip up! Plus, it just so happens to be a naturally low carb dish (and we’ve since added a dairy free and paleo option too!).
Oh, and be sure not to forget the keto naan!
Paleo & Keto Butter Chicken
Suuuper Creamy (& Easy!)
Butter chicken might just be the most famous curry export from India, wow-ing palates wherever it goes. Plus, it also happens to be incredibly easy to get just right!
And while there are a myriad of versions out there, it’s in essence a yogurt-with-spices-and-lime marinated chicken, cooked up in a mildly spiced and incredible curry sauce. And for a paleo version, coconut yoghurt and cream work wonderful with the flavors!
Said curry sauce is also a breeze to make. Think sautéed onions cooked up with the incredibly aromatic ginger, garam masala, cumin, turmeric and just a hint of cinnamon. All naturally keto ingredients, whoop whop!
Oh! And be sure not to forget to whip up a batch of our keto naan (with yeast!).
The Method 🔍
For exceptional butter chicken, browning each ingredient before adding on the next is paramount. You see this over and over again in cuisines worldwide: from Mexican mole, to American chili, Italian ragù, or French bourguignon.
The one thing all these stellar dishes have in common? Browning each ingredient fully before you add in the next one. The complexity of flavors that you get by doing this, simply cannot be replicated any other way.
So repeat after me: browning is truly essential.
The good news? This keto butter chicken ain’t mole or chili! i.e. you won’t need to leave it cooking all day. Think an hour tops, but more like 45 mins or so.
Serving Suggestions
If keto or low carb, I cannot recommend enough to serve it up with cauliflower rice. It’s wonderful this way, trust me. Just keep in mind that I prefer to rice our cauliflower slightly bigger here, so you get more of a ‘mouthful’ and it doesn’t completely blend into the butter chicken.
And once again, don’t forget the naan!
Paleo, Low Carb & Keto Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken marinade:
- 1 cup plain full-fat Greek-style yogurt or plain coconut yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- kosher salt to taste
- 900 g boneless chicken skinless chicken, diced into bite-sized pieces*
For the butter sauce:
- 60 g butter or ghee
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil such as avocado
- 1 medium onion peeled and diced
- 3 cloves garlic ran through a press
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 14-ounce can diced tomatoes or 2 medium-sized tomatoes diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and diced
- kosher salt to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2-1 cup heavy cream or coconut cream/full-fat milk, to taste
- 2 tablespoons almond flour
To serve:
- our keto naan (with yeast!) brushed with garlic-infused ghee
- 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves roughly chopped
- cauliflower rice
Instructions
- Mix in a bowl yogurt, lemon juice, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and season with salt to taste. Stir in chicken pieces. If possible, cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours (or up to a day).
- Melt butter with oil in a large pan over medium heat until bubbly. Add in onion and cook, stirring often, until translucent. Add in garlic, ginger, cumin seeds and cinnamon. Continue to cook until onions are browned, stirring frequently.
- Add in tomatoes, chili and season with salt. Cook until the tomatoes are fully cooked and the chili soft, about 10 minutes.
- Add in the chicken with the yogurt marinade into the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in stock and bring the mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.*
- Stir in cream and almond flour and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes until chicken is fully cooked. Season to taste.
- Serve right away over a bed of cauliflower rice and garnished with cilantro leaves.
Hi, does the nutritional information include the cauliflower rice and if so, how much?
Thanks!
S Fisher
This recipe was unbelievable! My wife and I are about to make it for the second time in as many weeks. Highly recommend.
Awesome to hear pk! enjoy!
We just had this for supper and it was absolutely delicious. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you so much. 😁
Not sure what I did wrong, but mine came out more yellow, like a Curry Chicken – and it has more of a curry chicken taste.
No orange Butter Chicken colour, or taste. Hmm. Could have sworn I followed it by the book! Still tastes good however.
The most straightforward explanation could simply be a difference in spices used? They can vary a lot from brand to brand xo!
Soooooo yummy!! I never write reviews but this one was needed. I’d eat this even if I wasn’t keto-ing. Delish!
Hello, can you use something else to replace the yogurt? Thank you in advance.
Hi LC! You can try sour cream or coconut cream (not the same, but good) xo!
Simmer with the lid on or off?
Off, you want it to reduce slightly! xo
Yum! Thank you so much for this great recipe! I used to get this wonderful butter chicken at a restaurant near us that since closed, and have tried many other recipes that just weren’t right. I’m on a keto diet and loved this, but even better, my non-keto eating family all liked it, too! Finding keto recipes that I can serve to my husband and kids without making two versions is so nice!
I was really skeptical when I began making this since I’ve never made butter chicken before, but WOW this was delicious. I kept letting the smells of all the spices fool me into thinking I would be disappointed but I wasn’t. It also made way more food than I was expecting!
LOL that’s awesome to hear AR! Thank you for reporting back with your success!
If I use Trader Joe’s Seasoned Buffalo Ghee (made from Buffalo Milk) what spices would I omit or adjust amounts? I never make or eat Indian food, so I have no idea how this should taste. Thanks!!
Hi Carolyn! I’m sorry I can’t help you here because I’ve never cooked with it xo!
Just made it with that ghee…added more turmeric and delish…if anything add a bit more seasoning all around…used pepper flakes instead of jalepeno
What’s the measurement for one serving?
Hi Kourtney! Number of servings is always on top of the recipe card and nutrition facts are calculated per one serving xo
Hi Paola, I just wanted to confirm how much of the can of tomatoes is required. When I look at the metric measurements it’s 1/2 a 14 ounce can. When I switch to US cups it says 14 ounce can. Could you let me know which is correct please? Btw I have tried a few of your recipes and all have been amazing. Can’t wait to try more. Especially the cinnamon toast crunch!
Hi Shehneela! It should be 1/2 can, so thanks for letting me know about the slip up! P.s. always trust more the metric measurements if in doubt 😉
And I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipes so much! Always awesome to hear 🙂 xo and have a lovely weekend!
Thanks so much xx
I was also going to ask, would you consider making a panang curry or thai curry recipe? I LOVE Thai food! Thanks!!
There’s a quick (i.e. lazy!) Thai coconut curry already (and pad Thai!). I love Thai food too, so will definitely keep on adding to that 😉
I’m working my way through every recipe on your website. This was fantastic!!
I’ve never tried real butter chicken but I definitely don’t feel like I’m missing out cuz this recipe was the bomb!
I’m going to make a bunch of this ahead of time for an easy freezer meal. Any tips on freezing? Thanks!!!
That’s awesome Devyn!! So happy you enjoyed it so much (definitely one of my favorites too!)
I made this and wanted to love it, but my chicken came out super dry! 🙁 The sauce was good, so maybe I’ll try chicken thighs instead of breasts next time.
Hi Kaity! Oh no! Maybe they were cooked too long while searing them? Any chicken piece will work the charm here, just be sure to add extra time if using bone-in pieces xo!
Hi… I can’t find anywhere in the recipe where it says to sear the chicken. At what point do you do this?
I had this problem too! They were cooked through before the second simmer:( Still delicious, but sooo dry.
What is the serving size per portion? It’s not listed on the nutritional facts. Also, does that include if you’re serving it over any kind of rice?
Thank you!
Hi there Breezy! Number of servings is always listed on top of the recipe card and nutrition facts are always calculated per serving. No rice is included so you guys portion according to macros xo!
Thanks for responding but that still doesn’t answer my question. I know it makes 6 servings but how big are those servings? 1 cup? 1.5 cups?
I’m trying to start measuring servings out for myself and it’s hard to make a big batch and eye-ball one-sixth of a pot. Plus, it’s so delicious I could easily end up eating twice as much as I should… Thanks for any help.
I fully understood your question, but the thing here is that in a recipe like this it’s ironically much more precise to eye ball it (unless you weigh the whole batch yourself and then divide it by 6). Reason being that servings by volume and weight will depend A LOT on how much you boil down your butter chicken, how much stock/water you add etc.
While I might get say 8 cups, other people might get 7-9 cups with the same ingredients. Does that make sense?
Paola,
I so appreciate this recipe. Regarding serving size. I’m afraid I am still a little confused. I understand there are 6 servings in your recipe. However, I’m unclear on the grand total of grams of the dish that are then being divided into 6.
I’ve double the recipe and am using left overs through the week. I’m eating 200 grams of the dish at one sitting. Can you help me understand how to calculate that out?
Thanks for all of these lovely dishes. We are new to the Keto Diet but are great lovers of food and your site is a welcome resource.
-Brooke
Hi Brooke! If I give you guys grams or cups for this recipe they’ll be useless as all your batches will have a different yield depending on how you cook it (how much it reduces etc). I hope this makes sense! Its actually more accurate to eyeball it and divide it in 6. Unless you do your own weighing etc of each individual ingredient 😉
What is the serving size? Trying to input it into my app. Thanks!
Hi Sabi! Number of servings is always at the top of the recipe card and nutrition values are calculated per serving xo!
What is the chili that im suppose to add in with the tomatoes? I cant find it on the reciepe im so confused!
Hi Tonya! The jalapeño is the chili 😉 xo!
Oh that makes since thanks!!! I had it toight for dimner and it was so good and i love the keto naan to go with it!
So happy you enjoyed it Tonya! Thanks so much for reporting back xo!
60 g butter?! I hope that’s a mistake! Just finished preparing the marinade, excited to try this tmrw, sounds delicious.
My bad y’all… I typed it wrong into MyFitnessPal and was getting the wrong info… 60g is no biggie haha.
LOL! I was going to say ‘butter’ chicken! xo!
It was a great low-carb dinner but found myself wanting the flavor of the spices to be a more pronounced. Still, it was a great meal that I’d be happy to serve to guest!
Hi Antonio! So happy you enjoyed! Just keep in mind that spice strength does vary a lot from brand to brand (and how long they’ve been in your cupboard!) xo
I keep track of my macros and your nutritional info says how much they are but don’t say what the serving size is…maybe I missed it somewhere in the recipe…ps it looks amazing I miss butter chk
Hi Teena! It’s at the top of the recipe card (6 servings). xo!
Why is the almond flour added? Can I substitute with coconut flour? Recipe sounds really yummy and would love to try it.
Hi Dee! It’s for flavor, not to thicken. Feel free to leave it out xo!
This was just fabulous! Found you on Pinterest, but you’re getting bookmarked right onto my web browser now. I also tried your brownie recipe and oh man! This is going to be my go to website for recipes.
Huge win y’all!! I made this for my family tonight, my first EVER Indian dish, (eating or cooking), and it was so good!!! Granted, it certainly took me longer than an hour, but it was well worth it! I also made the “naan” and oh my goodness, a game changer. My husband has stars in his eyes for all the things we’re going to use those tortillas for. Impressed!! Thank you for sharing this!!!
Just made this, so delicious. Thank you for the recipe! xx
This was actually outstanding! Served it up with your ‘tortillas’ and the boyfriend may have even loved me a little more afterwards! 😉
Glad you guys enjoyed it so much Jennifer! And yup, SO good with the ‘naan’ tortillas 😉
This is by far one of the absolute best butter chicken recipes I’ve tried THANK YOU! Leftovers were out of this world!
Glad you loved it Emma!! Thanks for reporting back! xo
So happy you enjoyed it Emma! I always think it’s worth making double of this one just for the leftovers (they freeze great too!) xo
Do you just freeze everything together minus the cauli rice?
Also I was thinking of putting the ingredients together (except the heavy cream) for a “dump” bag. So I could just throw it in a slow cooker, and then add the cream at the end of the day. Thoughts?
Yup, freeze minus the cauliflower rice. Slow cooking isn’t my specialty, but keep in mind that what builds the flavors a lot here is the method of cooking layer by layer. So while I’m sure you’ll still get a good butter chicken in the slow cooker you won’t get the depth from doing it on the stove top. hope this helps!
This looks delish, Paola! Just one tinsy thing. We, the Keto crowd need Nourishment Facts and I couldn’t find them for this recipe. Help!
They’ve been added 😉 xo!
I use your tortilla recipe for everything bread related, so definitely naan lol! I love the idea of brushing it with ghee and garlic though tnx! Looks delicious as always love the gif 🙂
looks delicious! thank you paola!