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Dairy-Free Keto Butter Chicken

Not only is this Butter Chicken Recipe Keto friendly, but it is also dairy-free which means Clean Keto approved!! WHOOOHOOO.

Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken

I am sitting in the library close to my house with a raging headache. I’m talking a 10/10 on the headache scale.

Why? Your first guess is that I drank too much last night. Last night was a Monday, and I’m a mom. Come on people.

No, I ate too many brownies last night. Huh?

Yeah, too many brownies with too many sweeteners. See I have been on a mission; a mission from above (Boss Baby quote). I am trying to develop the best Keto Brownies.

After four failed attempts, I am starting to think that such a thing doesn’t exist. I want them to taste like the boxed Ghiradelli brownies that I used to buy in bulk from Costco, but I realized that isn’t going to happen.

I have this problem when I set my mind on something; I won’t stop until achieving my goal. The problem here is that my body is telling me to stop by giving me this terrible headache.

One side effect of too many sweeteners is headaches, and I am feeling it today. I’m all out of the water, and I wish I had an Advil. But oh, butter chicken! (What a great transition, self)

I made this recipe a few days ago because I’ve been craving butter chicken for months now. However, the traditional recipe calls for Greek Yogurt and Heavy Cream, and I’ve since cut dairy out since going Clean Keto.

If you want to know more about Clean Keto, you can read the post here, but basically, I don’t eat dairy anymore.

I realized I could experiment using Coconut Cream and Coconut Milk instead and if it turned out well, I would share the recipe.

Usually, it takes weeks before I get a recipe out but I am so excited about how well this turned out, I’m sharing it as fast as I can!

The key to making the chicken soft and tender is to marinade it, usually in greek yogurt but in my recipe, I used a can of coconut cream, and it worked well.

I recommend you marinade it for at least 30 minutes, but overnight would be ideal if possible. I ended up marinating it overnight because it was starting to get dark and I couldn’t take pictures of it anyways, and because of that the chicken ended up soft and juicy.

Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken

Also, in the end, I used a secret ingredient for the sauce that I have never seen used before in any Butter Chicken recipe; Fish sauce. Well, it’s not a secret ingredient anymore, but that’s ok because I want you to have that OMG reaction like I did after a bite of this Keto Butter Chicken.

Fish sauce is pretty much what it sounds like, fish in a liquid form. I know, it seems disgusting. It even smells disgusting. I’m talking about old grandpa socks, and from the grandpa who never showers.

I know, I’m not selling it up but just trust me with this one. Plug your nose and add in about a tablespoon, even two if you want (taste it first after adding more). Fish sauce is the Umami flavor that you taste in Thai and Asian food. It really makes a difference in this dish.

Nowadays, you can find Fish Sauce in the Asian section of the grocery store. If you live in a rural area, you may have a hard time finding it and may have to go to an Asian store or order it online.

Fish sauce is often made from anchovies, salt, and water, and is intensely flavored. Anchovies and salt are arranged in wooden barrels to ferment and are slowly pressed, yielding the salty, fishy liquid. The salt extracts the fluid via osmosis. (compliments of Google)

So we got the coconut cream, we got the Fish Sauce, what else? You’ll need a few Indian spices of course, and some coconut milk and broth or stock for the sauce. Oh, and of course, butter! It is called “Butter Chicken” after all.

If you are dairy-free like I have been lately since switching to Clean Keto, use Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter with all the milk solids removed. Think of it as liquid gold. (Not to be mistaken for breast milk)

I am obsessed with these GIFs if you can’t tell already. I hope you have a sense of humor or you’re going to get quickly annoyed with my posts. On the other hand, that’s why I included the “Jump to Recipe” button.

Ok, speaking of which let’s jump to that recipe.

Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken
Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken

Diary-Free Keto Butter Chicken

Yield: 8-10 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

For marinade

  • 1- 14 oz can of Organic Coconut Cream
  • 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
  • 2 tbsp Turmeric
  • 2 tbsp Garam Masala
  • 2 tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 3 lbs Chicken breast, chopped into 1" pieces

For sauce

  • 1/4 cup Ghee 
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 2 medium Onions, diced
  • 4 small cloves of Garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp freshly grated Ginger
  • 1 13 oz canned chopped tomatoes
  • 1 jalapeno chili (optional)
  • 1/2 cup Chicken Broth
  • 1 1/2 cup Coconut Milk
  • 1 tbsp Tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp Fish sauce 

For serving:

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl whisk together the coconut cream, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, and ground cumin. Add in the chicken and marinade for 30 minutes or overnight if you can.
  2. To make the sauce, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add in the olive oil and Ghee. Cook until the Ghee starts to foam.
  3. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions start to get translucent.
  4. Add in the tomatoes, and pepper if using. Season with salt and pepper. 
  5. Cook for 5-10 minutes then add in the chicken with the marinade. 
  6. Add in chicken broth and bring to a boil. 
  7. Lower the heat to simmer and let the sauce simmer for about 30 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile whisk in the coconut milk, tomato paste, and fish sauce together in a small bowl.
  9. After 30 minutes add the coconut milk mixture to the sauce and cook for 10 minutes.
  10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  11. Serve with fresh cilantro and Cauliflower rice.
Nutrition Information

Amount Per Serving Calories 338Total Fat 19gCarbohydrates 5gFiber 1gProtein 33g

Did you make this recipe?

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Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken
Keto Dairy-Free Butter Chicken
Baby's hand trying to hold the food
Baby Zoë almost got into the butter chicken. Whew!
Food in a bowl

More Keto Recipes to try:

  1. The Best Easy Clean Keto Lunch Recipes
  2. The Best Keto Chicken Recipes

4 thoughts on “Dairy-Free Keto Butter Chicken”

  1. This is the best Butter Chicken recipe I have ever tried. I can’t believe it’s dairy-free! It’s so full of flavor and I can’t even taste the coconut. I will be making this on the regular. Thanks for sharing!

  2. This dish was so flavorful! I love Indian food and this butter chicken satisfied my craving. I was surprised about the fish sauce too, but it did make the dish taste so much better!

  3. I was reeeally hoping to love this, but it just came out too sweet!!! 🙁 I used coconut cream that didn’t have added sugar either so I don’t know if it’s just supposed to taste like that. I even added more lemon and it didn’t really help. I would suggest cutting the recipe in half before making all that food if you still want to try it.

  4. Deanna, not sure what happened there, it’s definitely supposed to be spicy not sweet. Did you use the exact spices that are mentioned in the recipe? Also, sugar has many names. Maybe the cream you used had sugar but you didn’t think it was sugar?

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