This creamy Vegan Butter Chicken is rich, comforting and filling. Made with extra firm tofu for protein, it is simple to prepare and totally delicious.
What is Vegan Butter Chicken?
Butter chicken is a popular Indian dish with chicken, tomato sauce, and various spices. The dish is usually creamy and rich, making it a popular choice for those looking for a hearty meal.
Vegan butter chicken is a vegan dish that uses tofu instead of chicken. The tofu is cooked in a tomato-based sauce spiced with garam masala, cumin powder, and other Indian spices. The result is a dish that’s just as tasty as the original – but without animal products.
Ingredients
Here’s a shopping list of everything you’ll need to make Vegan Butter Chicken:
- Brown onions
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Extra firm tofu
- Corn flour
- Light vegetable oil suitable for frying
- Spring onion
- Coconut milk
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Sugar
- Garam masala
- Cumin powder
- Ground coriander
- Turmeric
- White rice
Instructions
Follow along with this step-by-step guide to make your Vegan Butter Chicken. You’ll find all the exact times, temperatures, and measurements in the recipe card below
Step one: Heat a splash of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion for about 4 minutes, then add garlic, ginger, sugar, and spices for 1 minute.
Step two: Pour in the diced tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and let the sauce thicken slightly.
Step three: Tear the tofu into bite-sized pieces, toss in corn flour, then fry in hot oil until golden. Drain on paper towel.
Step four: Stir coconut milk into the sauce, season to taste.
Step five: Fold in the tofu and sliced spring onions off the heat.
Step six: Serve over cooked white rice and garnish with extra spring onion.
Storage instructions for Vegan Butter Chicken
The recipe makes enough for four servings, perfect for dinner parties or family gatherings. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can freeze the dish for up to 2 months.
FAQs
Yes, you can substitute chickpeas or tempeh for the tofu in this recipe. The chickpeas do not need to be pan fried, so you can skip this step and simply add them to the sauce along with the coconut milk.
Yes, you can freeze the leftovers for up to 2 months.
This Vegan Butter Chicken is a delicious plant-based twist on the classic Indian dish. It only takes 40 minutes all up to prepare, making it perfect for weeknight dinners. Have you tried this vegan butter chicken recipe? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
Vegan Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 brown onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 cm fresh ginger
- 600 g extra firm tofu
- 4 tbsp corn flour
- 3 tbsp light vegetable oil (divided)
- 4 spring onion
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 800 g diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp sugar
Spice mix
- 3 tsp garam masala
- 2.5 tsp cumin powder
- 1.5 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp turmeric
To serve
- white rice cooked
- spring onion sliced
Instructions
- Finely dice onions. Mince garlic and ginger. Slice spring onions.
- In a very small bowl, combine spices to make a mix.
- Heat large saucepan on medium heat with 1/2 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Add onion and cook for 4 minutes. Next, add ginger, garlic, sugar and spice mix and cook for a further 1 minute.
- Add diced tomato and bring to a simmer.
- Break tofu apart with your hands into roughly 2cm bite size pieces. Place the pieces into a large mixing bowl and coat with corn flour.
- Heat the remaining oil in small-medium size saucepan on high heat. Once the oil is hot, fry tofu until golden and crispy, then place onto paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Add coconut milk to the sauce. Stir through and taste test, season with salt if required. Once the sauce is hot, remove from the heat. Mix in the spring onion and tofu pieces into the sauce.
- Serve over white rice and top with extra spring onion if desired.
Amelia says
Love this. Butter chicken is my favourite, so good to have a go-to vegan version! Thanks
Lorena R. says
Did this one a few nights ago and my boys loved it. Thanks for the inspiration.
Liz says
I’m so glad they enjoyed it!!
Grace says
Made this for my family and it was a hit 😍
Jade H says
Curry is life! And finding a great vegan recipe is a godsend.
Great flavors, easy and quick enough to wow the daily dinner crowd. Thanks Liz!
Patricija says
Thank you for recipe !
Gareth Tan Yiam Leem says
Loved this recipe
Sarah says
Been trying your recipes all week and I’m hooked! This one tops the list.
Hong Nguyen says
Can’t wait to try more of your recipes