The dish I missed most when I started eating a more plant-focused diet was butter chicken, aka murgh makhani. My mom used to make it all the time for us, to the point that it was a staple in our household. So obviously, I had to fill the gap and make a vegan butter chicken recipe!
And this healthy vegan butter chicken tastes almost exactly the same. It’s a rich, buttery, and sweet tomato-based curry, packed with chickpeas and crispy tofu. Plus, it’s packed with over 30g of plant protein per serving!
And unlike most butter chicken recipes, this vegan version is super easy to whip up and doesn’t require marinating the tofu, or anything for that matter. It’s low effort and high reward!
P.S. If you want to make this vegan butter chicken without tofu, you can substitute the tofu for 2 cans of chickpeas.
What Is Butter Chicken, aka Murgh Makhani?
Butter chicken is a dish that originated in Northern India, it’s also known as murgh makhani.
It’s traditionally made by marinating chicken in a spicy yogurt marinade and combining it with a buttery, rich, and slightly sweet tomato curry. Makhani translates to “butter”, so this dish is known for its richness!
Quick Disclaimer
So now that you know the origins behind butter chicken, I wanted to give a quick disclaimer.
This vegan butter chicken is by no means made the traditional way, nor does it use the traditional ingredients. However, the end result and flavor profile are almost exact.
I opted to use tofu and chickpeas as a replacement for the chicken, which obviously isn’t authentic. And instead of using whole tomatoes, I opted to use tomato paste for a richer tomato flavor.
Additionally, using coconut milk instead of heavy cream and tons of ghee helps lighten this dish. So you can technically make it every day and not feel stuffed or bloated like you would from traditional butter chicken.
Vegan Butter Chicken Ingredients
By now, you can probably see that most Indian curries have similar ingredients and cooking methods. And this one’s no different. It’s a super similar process to making dal makhani.
- High-protein tofu: If you can’t find high-protein tofu, extra firm tofu is the next best thing!
- Chickpeas
- Coconut milk
- Tomato paste
- Sweet white onions: While it is traditional to use onion in this dal makhani, I’ve made it several times without, and you can’t even tell the difference. So if you feel like frying onions, go for it, if not, it won’t make a big difference if you leave it out.
- Coconut sugar
- Aromatics: Including garlic and fresh ginger.
- Spices: Including curry powder, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander, cayenne pepper, and cardamom.
- Kosher salt
- Lemon juice
- Cilantro
Serving & Storing
I love serving this vegan butter chicken over white basmati rice. It also tastes amazing with naan, any sort of flatbread, or even sourdough bread (which is definitely not traditional but tastes amazing).
If you have any leftovers, simply pop them in a glass Tupperware and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To reheat the dal, pop it back into a small saucepan with a dash of cashew milk or water, and heat on medium-low until warm. Make sure to stir it occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Even More Vegan Indian Recipes
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Vegan Butter Chicken
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Indian
Description
This vegan butter chicken is rich, buttery, and sweet tomato-based curry, packed with chickpeas and crispy tofu. And unlike most butter chicken recipes, this vegan version is super easy to whip up and doesn’t require marinating the tofu, or anything for that matter. It’s low effort and high reward!
Ingredients
Baked Tofu
- 1 package extra-firm or high-protein tofu
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
Butter Curry
- 5 tbsp vegan butter (sub with olive oil)
- 1/2 medium white onion, finely chopped*
- 5 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 2” piece ginger, finely grated
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin seeds or powder
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Other Ingredients
- 1 can (13.5oz) full-fat coconut milk**
- 1 can (13.5oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- Finely minced cilantro, for garnish
- Squeeze of lemon juice, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Squeeze out any excess water from the tofu, then crumble it into small chunks on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle over a generous amount of olive and salt, toss to mix, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until crispy and golden brown.
- While the tofu bakes, prepare the curry. Heat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat and add in the vegan butter. Once the butter is melted, add in the onion, and saute until translucent. Next, add in the garlic, ginger, and tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent the garlic from burning.
- Sprinkle in the coconut sugar, kosher salt, curry powder, cumin, coriander, garam masala, cayenne pepper, and cardamom. Cook the spices for 30-60 seconds until fragrant, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
- Finally, add in the coconut milk and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and partially cover the pot with a lid. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. I wanted to note that it’s important to keep the lid partially over the pot, so the water from the coconut milk can evaporate. Next, add in the baked tofu and chickpeas and stir well. Continue to simmer the curry for an additional 10 minutes or until thickened and creamy.
- Serve the vegan butter chicken with a squeeze of lemon and cilantro for garnish, along with rice/flatbread/pita/even sourdough bread. Store leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Notes
*While it is traditional to use onions in butter chicken, I’ve made it several times without, and you can’t even tell the difference. So if you feel like frying onions, go for it, if not, it won’t make a big difference if you leave it out.
**Instead of coconut milk, you can use cashew cream. Simply blend 1 ½ cups of water with ½ cup of raw cashews until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. It’ll add the same richness and creaminess to the dal. Tbh, the cashew cream tastes even better than the coconut milk, as it replicates the texture of heavy cream.
What can be used instead of coconut sugar?
You can sub in any type of granulated sugar or leave it out entirely!
Can I use oat cream instead of coconut milk?
Unfortunately not, a good substitute would be a creamy cashew cream or almond cream.
I’ve just made this. I had to substitute the coconut milk for cashew milk, following your instructions, due to allergies. It was amazing! Thank you so much for this 😎
Aaaah so happy you liked it!! Thank you so much for leaving a review! 🙂
This recipe is simply delicious! I only changed a few things: used red kidney beans instead of chick peas, used regular granulated sugar instead of coconut sugar, and added more veggies. I’m definitely going to make a bigger batch next time so I have some spare 😋 Thank you for such a great recipe!
So happy you liked it Brighid!!! The kidney beans sound so good in this, might try that next time I make this!! 🤤
Indian food was my absolute favorite guilty pleasure before I went vegan. I am beyond grateful this recipe exists!! It honestly tastes even better than I remember the non-vegan versions tasting. And miles better than any other butter chicken recipes I tried in the past!! I’ve made it 4 times since discovering it earlier this year :’)
MADE MY DAY READING THIS!!! So happy you liked it, and thank you so much for leaving such a lovely review Emily!! 🥰
SO GOOD! I made this vegetarian instead using local Amish butter and it was incredible! Definitely more rich than vegan butter which I’ll try next time. It’s delicious and will definitely be making this again! I froze a portion for later and it froze really well and was so nice to have a complete meal ready to go. A great comfort food and so fun to make something I’ve never made before! Thank you!
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! Thankfully we made a double recipe along with some homemade vegan garlic naan. Best meal ever!!