This vegan butter chicken recipe has a delicious creamy tomato sauce perfect for dipping warm garlic naan bread in or eating with scoops of basmati rice. This is the perfect weeknight recipe and I always double the recipe so that I have food for the entire week!
The vegan chicken is made out of soy curls giving it a meat-like texture and they are super simple to work with! Soy curls are a whole food and packed with protein, each serving of this vegan butter chicken recipe has over 24 grams of plant protein!
The Details
Butter Chicken is a classic Indian dish that was created in Northern India in 1948 by Kundan Lal Gujral. Contrary to what the name suggests 'butter' chicken actually contains very little butter in it. Butter chicken was invented with day-old chicken in mind and originally had a tomato and butter gravy. Slowly the butter has been replaced with cream in recipes although this recipe does still contain butter.
Using soy curls isn't too dissimilar from the initial intent of inventing butter chicken as the soy curls are dehydrated and need to be reconstituted and marinaded in order to be edible.
How To Make Vegan Butter Chicken
Our vegan butter chicken recipe is straightforward and relatively easy to make. If you've never cooked with soy curls before do not let them intimidate you, they are very easy to work with, and once you've cooked with them once you'll be a pro!
We use coconut cream for our vegan butter chicken recipe because we found that it gives the recipe a creamier and thicker gravy but full-fat coconut milk would also work well.
Ingredients for Vegan Butter Chicken
- Soy Curls
- Basmati Rice
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Coconut Cream
- Vegan Yogurt
- Crushed Tomatoes
- Garlic Naan Bread
- Garam Masala
- Spices
- Vegan Butter
- Cilantro
Kitchen Equipment I used for recipe:
- Pack of 3 Bags of Soy Curls – Soy curls are notoriously difficult to find, especially in small-town Manitoba. They are however easy to find and have free two-day shipping on Amazon, which is where I normally get mine from!
- Chickenless Vegan Chicken Broth – Better Than Bouillon is a top-of-the-line broth with deep rich flavors, but the vegan versions can sometimes be hard to track down. In Ontario you can find them at Costco in Winnipeg I usually order them here.
Instructions for Vegan Butter Chicken
- First, reconstitute the soy curls in a large bowl with 4 cups of chicken broth for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes dump soy curls in a strainer and squeeze excess broth from the soy curls with your hands.
- In a large bowl mix 1 cup of vegan greek yogurt (we used Silk), 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of turmeric, 2 tablespoons of garam masala, and 2 tablespoons of cumin. Mix in the soy curls and ensure they're fully coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes but up to 24 hours. Dice onion, mince garlic, grate ginger and set aside.
- In a large cast-iron pan or similar pan melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter on medium to high heat. when butter is melted and begins to bubble add your marinated soy curls and scrape the yogurt in the bowl into the pan with a spatula. Fry the soy curls and brown them on all sides for about 3 minutes per side. Set the soy curls aside.
- Heat the same pan on medium-high heat and add 2 more tablespoons of vegan butter. Add in your diced onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes being careful not to brown. Add in your minced garlic and grated ginger, and cook until they become fragrant about 3 min. Next add in 1 can of coconut cream, 1 cup of crushed tomatoes, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1 teaspoon of cayenne. Bring the sauce to a slight boil, add the soy curls back in, and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
- While the soy curls are cooking prepare your rice and naan bread.
- Plate your rice and top with butter chicken and cilantro. Serve with warm naan bread and a lime wedge.
Full Measurements & Instructions Below!
Commonly Asked Vegan Butter Chicken Questions
Can you prepare this recipe ahead of time?
Yes, you can prepare this vegan butter chicken recipe ahead of time. We found that letting the flavors mix together a little longer actually brought them out more as is the case with many recipes. This recipe may even be better the next day! To reheat this recipe add the vegan butter chicken into a pan with a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk on medium heat stirring frequently until heated
How do you store vegan butter chicken?
Store the vegan butter chicken in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Not going to lie I have never let this recipe last in my fridge for more than 48 hours so I don't predict that this will be a problem.
Vegan Butter Chicken (soy curls recipe)
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 4 cups soy curls
- 4 cups Vegan Chicken Broth
- 1 cup Soy Yogurt
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 2 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 2 tablespoon cumin
Sauce
- 2 tablespoon Vegan butter
- 1 onion
- 4 tablespoon garlic
- 3 tablespoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 can coconut cream
For Serving
- 6 pieces Naan
- 3 cup Basmati Rice
Instructions
- First, reconstitute the soy curls in a large bowl with 4 cups of chicken broth for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes dump soy curls in a strainer and squeeze excess broth from the soy curls with your hands.
- In a large bowl mix 1 cup of vegan greek yogurt (we used Silk), 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of turmeric, 2 tablespoons of garam masala, and 2 tablespoons of cumin. Mix in the soy curls and ensure they're fully coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes but up to 24 hours. Dice onion, mince garlic, grate ginger and set aside.
- In a large cast-iron pan or similar pan melt 2 tablespoons of vegan butter on medium to high heat. when butter is melted and begins to bubble add your marinated soy curls and scrape the yogurt in the bowl into the pan with a spatula. Fry the soy curls and brown them on all sides for about 3 minutes per side. Set the soy curls aside.
- Heat the same pan on medium-high heat and add 2 more tablespoons of vegan butter. Add in your diced onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes being careful not to brown. Add in your minced garlic and grated ginger, and cook until they become fragrant about 3 min. Next add in 1 can of coconut cream, 1 cup of crushed tomatoes, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1 teaspoon of cayenne. Bring the sauce to a slight boil, add the soy curls back in, and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.
- While the soy curls are cooking prepare your rice and naan bread.
- Plate your rice and top with butter chicken and cilantro. Serve with warm naan bread and a lime wedge.
Nutrition
If you try this recipe, please leave a 5-star review in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you! You can rate it, comment about it, send us pictures about it on Instagram @RescueDogKitchen.
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Julie
This butter “ chicken” was, truly, delicious. I’ll be making this again and again!
Jennifer Soares
This is soooo good!! Vegan butter chicken - who would’ve thought?? Easy to make and full of flavour, too!
Keisha
Do you think it’s possible to be addicted to soy curls? So flipping good!