Learn how to make restaurant-quality keto butter chicken at home in under 30 minutes! If you are looking for a delicious weeknight meal, you’ll love this Indian-inspired keto chicken recipe.

My Favorite Low Carb Butter Chicken

If I had to pick, my favorite take-out dish would be butter chicken. My family absolutely loves Indian food, and butter chicken is a definite

Eating out is a great time, but it can be tricky if you are trying to track your carbs and sugars. (Sometimes curries contain a little sugar or starchy thickeners.)

Don’t worry, though. This Keto Butter Chicken is easy to make at home. It’s super tasty, smells amazing, and it’s naturally low carb.

If you’ve never made Indian food at home before, don’t be intimidated. You’ll be surprised at just how easy this low-carb Butter Chicken is to whip up. It should take you no longer than 30 minutes.

Ingredients to Make Butter Chicken

Do a little Google searching, and you’ll find lots of different versions of Butter Chicken. In its most basic version, it’s marinated chicken cooked in a mildly-spiced, tomato-based curry sauce.

Some versions contain a lot of spices, some have just a few. For this recipe, I wanted to create a simple version with ingredients you already have at home. It may not be the most authentic — but it’s certainly easy and delicious!

Here are the spices you’ll need to get for this recipe:

turmeric
garam masala
cumin
cayenne pepper

Garam Masala is is a spice blend widely used in Indian cuisine. If you don’t have garam masala in your pantry, it’s easy to make your own. To make homemade garam masala, you can mix together:

1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

I also like to include fresh garlic and fresh ginger in this butter chicken. For this recipe, I really do think using fresh garlic and ginger is going to give you a better flavor than using dried garlic powder and dried ginger.

You can mince the garlic and ginger by hand, if you like. Or, to make things a bit easier, I like to grate them on a Microplane grater.

How to Make Keto Butter Chicken

To start this recipe, I like to marinate the chicken pieces for the best flavor. In a mixing bowl, combine chicken pieces with turmeric, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne. Stir to coat, and set aside.

Depending on how much time you have you can let the chicken marinate in the fridge for about an hour, or even overnight. (Some people like to add some full-fat yogurt to the marinade as well. It’s certainly delicious, and you can choose to add some if it fits with your diet.)

After the chicken has marinaded, it’s time to brown it. Getting the chicken nice and brown will give this dish even more flavor.

Heat half the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until browned. Transfer to a bowl while you cook the sauce.

Next, melt the rest of the butter in the same pot over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes, until softened. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until fragrant. At this point, the vegetables should be getting nice and golded.

Add the crushed tomatoes and heavy cream, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Add back the chicken pieces. Turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced. Season with salt.

What to Serve with Keto Butter Chicken

We like to serve this keto butter chicken with fresh chopped cilantro and cauliflower rice. A dollop of full-fat yogurt is nice, too.

Frozen cauliflower rice is quick in a pinch, but I do think homemade tastes better. Here is my favorite recipe for cauliflower rice.

Variations on This Recipe

To make this recipe non-dairy, you can substitute coconut oil for the butter, and coconut cream for the heavy cream. I’m not sure if you can still call it “Butter” Chicken at that point, but it will still taste delicious!

And if you don’t want to use chicken, you can certainly make this recipe with lamb.

Other Keto Chicken Recipes

For more keto chicken recipes, try these:

Keto Butter Chicken

Yield: 4 servings

Easy and delicious low-carb butter chicken that you can make in about 30 minutes.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 tbsp butter
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
14 oz crushed tomatoes
1/2 c heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, combine chicken pieces with turmeric, garam masala, cumin, and cayenne. Stir to coat, and set aside. (If you have extra time, you can let the chicken marinate in the fridge for about an hour.)
Heat half the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally, until browned. Transfer to a bowl while you cook the vegetables.
In the same skillet, melt the rest of the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes, until softened. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes more, until fragrant. Add the crushed tomatoes and heavy cream, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Add back the chicken pieces.
Turn the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced. Season with salt.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 420Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 257mgSodium: 387mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 31g

The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Carb count will vary with different ingredients and brands. It should not be considered as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

1 thought on “Keto Butter Chicken – Quick and Easy Recipe”

Ethan

October 7, 2020 at 10:46 am

Before we only went to Indian restaurants to have curry or spicy sauce. I don’t think can cook an Indian dish at home. The result is not a perfect but very different taste and important that we can cook every time we want. Certain I will try again.