Slow Cooker Dairy-Free Butter Chicken

You’ll love this dairy-free butter chicken recipe made with coconut oil instead of butter. It’s loaded with flavor and absolutely delicious served over cauliflower rice.

In case you haven’t noticed, we LOVE Indian food over here! I basically add curry to everything. Prime example = my curried shakshuka.

What is Butter Chicken?

Anyhow, one of Isaac’s favorite Indian dishes is butter chicken. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s a popular dish with chicken in a spiced tomato, butter and cream sauce (or gravy). I decided it would be fun to create an untraditional, lightened up version without butter (or cream) so those who are dairy-free can enjoy butter chicken as well!

Side note: we have an awesome Indian restaurant in Richmond called Lehja that actually makes really delicious Indian cuisine. They’ll even make things dairy-free if you request it.  

Coconut Oil Instead of Butter

Don’t let the name fool ya, this butter chicken doesn’t have any butter. We’re using coconut oil instead and it works like a charm.

In traditional butter chicken recipes the chicken is marinated in a yogurt mixture, but I wanted this recipe to be 100% dairy-free so we’re using coconut milk and skipping the marinating process altogether. Don’t worry, cooking in slow cooker ensures the meat has plenty of time to soak up lots of flavor from the tomato sauce.

Nature’s Way coconut oil replaces the butter, but provides the same robust richness. It also works perfectly for sautéing the onion, garlic and ginger before placing everything in the slow cooker.

Added Veggies

Although butter chicken isn’t traditionally cooked with veggies I took it upon myself to add green beans to my version. Not only do they add another texture and some volume, you’re also getting a pop of color and additional nutrients.

Isaac and I loved the way this dairy-free butter chicken turned out. Not only did the kitchen smell amazing while the chicken cooked away in the slow cooker, but we enjoyed this dish for dinner three nights in a row and each night was better than the next.

I loved having it over cauliflower rice with a heavy sprinkle of chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. It was so delicious I almost didn’t miss the naan…. almost.

In terms of spice level this butter chicken isn’t super spicy, but there is a bit cayenne pepper. You can leave this out if you want a milder dish or add more for extra spice.

More Indian-Inspired Recipes You Might Enjoy

• Tempeh Tikka Masala
• Mattar Tofu
• Curried Tempeh Salad
• Coconut Curried Eggplant

If you make this slow cooker dairy-free butter chicken let me know how it turns out by leaving comment and star rating below. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other readers. 

Slow Cooker Dairy-Free Butter Chicken

5 from 47 votes

A lightened up version of an Indian food classic, you’ll love this slow cooker dairy-free butter chicken recipe made with coconut oil and coconut milk. 

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Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 6 hours

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Nature’s Way Coconut Oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch knob of ginger, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 Tablespoon garam masala
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (chopped into chunks)
• 15 oz can full fat coconut milk
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cups thawed frozen green beans, optional
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions

 

• Sauté: Add oil to a large skillet or saucepan and cook onion and garlic until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add fresh ginger, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cayenne and toss to combine. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. (This step can be done in the base of your slow cooker if it allows.)
• Add ingredients to slow cooker: Transfer onion and garlic mixture into your slow cooker. Add chicken, coconut milk, tomato sauce, lemon juice and cinnamon stick to the slow cooker as well.
• Cook: Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Add green beans when there's about 1 hour left in the cooking process.
• Serve: Serve butter chicken over cauliflower rice (or regular rice) with fresh cilantro and a wedge of lemon for squeezing.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 of recipe Calories: 304kcal Carbohydrates: 9g Protein: 28g Fat: 18g Saturated Fat: 14g Cholesterol: 83mg Sodium: 562mg Fiber: 2g Sugar: 3g

Author: Brittany Mullins

Course: Lunch/Dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: dairy-free butter chicken

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