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Butter Chicken, or Chicken Makhani, is probably one of the best known curries, and for good reason. It’s a rich and creamy spiced tomato gravy with tender pieces of marinated chicken, and it’s insanely delicious.
This recipe has a fairly long list of spices, but if you don’t have every single ingredient on hand, don’t worry. It’s going to be delicious even if you leave one or two things out. Here’s two important tips: try to use Kashmiri chili powder if possible, and don’t skip the fenugreek. Those two ingredients help keep this recipe authentic even with the lower calorie swaps; Kashmiri chili powder for the color, and fenugreek for the signature restaurant-quality flavor.
My version of Butter Chicken features a few simple swaps to reduce the overall fat and calories in this dish while sticking to the traditional recipe as much as possible for a truly authentic, flavor-packed dinner. Light cream is used instead of heavy cream and there’s less butter than the average recipe.
Much like other recipes that rely on spices to build flavor, the leftovers are even better the next day, so this is great for meal prep. And if you’re not a fan of spicy food, you can season the gravy to your liking. Skip the green chilies, and reduce the amount of chili powder to taste.
I love to serve this with Basmati rice, garlic butter naan, a little fresh cilantro and a drizzle of fresh cream.
The Best Easy Low Calorie Butter Chicken (that’s still authentic)
Equipment
- 1 large pot or saucepan
- 1 immersion blender or stand blender
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 1 ½ lbs chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp Kashmiri chili powder (see Note 1)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp coriander
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup fat free plain Greek yogurt
Butter Chicken Gravy
- 1 tsp avocado oil or avocado oil cooking spray
- 1 tbsp salted butter, divided
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1-2 green chilies, seeded and diced, optional
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder (see Note 1)
- ½ tsp cardamom, optional
- ¾ tsp salt, or more to taste
- 2 cups Roma tomatoes, diced (canned diced tomatoes or passata also work great; see Note 2)
- ½-1 cup water or chicken broth, for blending
- ½ cup light cream (5%)
- 1 ½ tsp dried fenugreek (don't skip this; see Note 3)
For Serving
- Fresh cilantro, chopped, to garnish
- Cream, for drizzling, optional
- 3 cups cooked Basmati rice (1 cup dry)
- Garlic naan
Instructions
For the Chicken Marinade
- In a glass bowl (to prevent turmeric stains) combine chicken and all marinade ingredients and mix until well combined and chicken is coated
- Cover and refrigerate; marinate chicken for at least 30 minutes, but ideally a few hours or overnight for better flavor
Butter Chicken Gravy
- Heat a large pot over medium high heat then spray with avocado oil spray and add 1 tsp of butter
- Add the chicken and the marinade; sear for 1-2 minutes on each side then remove from heat and set aside
- Add the onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes until softened, seasoning with salt
- Add the garlic, ginger and chilies and sauté for 30 seconds until fragrant
- Add the tomato paste and spices except the salt then toast for 30 seconds
- Add the tomatoes and stir then scrape the bottom of the pan well
- Cook for 8-10 mins until tomatoes are beginning to break down and reach a saucy consistency
- Using an immersion blender (my favorite method) or by transferring the contents of the pot to a stand blender, blend until smooth, adding between ½ cup – 1 cup water or chicken broth as needed
- Stir in the cream, then return the chicken to the pot, cover and cook for 8-10 minutes until chicken is cooked through
- Stir in the remaining 2 tsp of butter
- Gently crush the fenugreek leaves by hand then add them to the pot and stir (see Note 3)
- Top with chopped fresh cilantro and optionally a little more cream then serve with Basmati rice, garlic naan or both
Notes
Marcos including 45g dry Basmati rice, cooked: 498 cals/51g protein/54g carbs/10g fat
Nutrition
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