Gluten Free
Vegan Butter Chicken

Prep
10 minutes
Cook
40 minutes
Yield
4 -5
🍛 Transform the classic Indian favorite into a plant-based delight with this vegan butter chicken recipe! Packed with authentic spices, hearty chickpeas, and potatoes in a rich tomato sauce - you won't miss the meat in this aromatic, comforting curry.
Wait, did you say this is a VEGAN butter chicken recipe? You betcha! This plant-based version of the classic Indian favorite captures all those rich, creamy flavors you love, just without the animal products. Loaded with authentic Indian spices and hearty ingredients like chickpeas and potatoes, this vegan butter chicken is seriously one of the best curry dishes I’ve made to date.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Vegan Butter Chicken
- Authentic Flavors: All the rich, aromatic spices of traditional butter chicken, made completely plant-based.
- Easy: Simple ingredients and straightforward steps for a restaurant-quality result.
- Crowd-Pleaser: Even non-vegans will be impressed by this flavorful curry.

🍲 Ingredients
Garam Masala – This spice blend is absolutely essential for authentic vegan butter chicken. It combines cumin seed powder, coriander seed powder, cardamom powder, black pepper, cassia cinnamon powder, clove powder, and nutmeg powder – creating the perfect foundation of flavors that gives this dish its distinctive taste.
Tomatoes – The base of any good butter chicken sauce, canned tomatoes create that rich, tangy foundation that simmers down to create the signature velvety texture this dish is known for. When cooked down and blended, they transform into the luscious sauce that makes vegan butter chicken so irresistible.
👩🍳 How to Make Vegan Butter Chicken

- In a large skillet or pot heat coconut oil or vegan butter on medium-low heat till melted. Add your white onion and sweat for around 6 minutes or until translucent. Stir often to avoid burning, scraping the browned bottom bits for extra flavour.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant, then add garam masala, curry powder, coriander, paprika and cinnamon. Let cook for about 20 seconds until fragrant, while stirring occasionally.

3. To the skillet or pot add the chili flakes, vegetable stock paste and canned tomatoes. Let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and becomes a deep, rich red-brown in colour.

4. Remove mixture from heat and scoop into a blender and blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick to blend, then add up to 1/4 cup water to blend. If you have a smaller blender, blend in batches.

5. Pour the sauce back into the pan. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar and season to taste. At this point you would add your cooked lentils, potatoes, chickpeas, vegan chicken etc. and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Simmer for 15 minutes even if you’re not adding a protein or root of choice. Serve with rice, cilantro and naan.

🗒 Tips and Tricks
- Spices: Bloom the spices in oil briefly to release their aromatics.
- Blending: For the smoothest sauce, blend in batches if needed.
- Simmering: Let the final dish simmer to allow flavors to meld properly.
🗒 Variations
Make this yummy Vegan Butter Chicken recipe your own with these variations:
- Protein: Use tofu, seitan, or vegan chicken alternatives instead of chickpeas.
- Creaminess: Coconut cream or cashew cream can be used interchangeably.
- Heat Level: Adjust chili flakes to your preferred spice tolerance.
- Vegetables: Add cauliflower, peas, or bell peppers for extra nutrition.

🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
This vegan butter chicken actually tastes even better the next day! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

🤔 Common Questions
Butter chicken originated in Delhi, India, during the 1950s. The legend says that the cooks of Moti Mahal restaurant would mix leftover tandoori chicken marinade with butter and tomato and stew the chicken in this sauce. This vegan butter chicken recipe captures those same flavors in a plant-based way.
This dish pairs perfectly with basmati rice, naan bread, and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Absolutely! You can add more chili flakes, fresh chopped chilies, or a dash of cayenne pepper to increase the heat level to your preference.
Blending creates that signature smooth, creamy texture that authentic butter chicken is known for. It helps the sauce cling to the chickpeas and potatoes, making every bite flavorful.
Yes! This vegan butter chicken recipe is perfect for meal prep. The flavors actually develop and improve over time, making it ideal for preparing a day ahead.

Vegan Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 2 tbsp. coconut oil or vegan butter
- 1 large white onion small dice
- 2 large cloves of garlic pressed
- 1 tbsp. fresh ginger grated
- 1 1/2 tbsp. garam masala
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes or just a dash
- 1 tsp vegetable stock paste optional
- 1 400 ml no-salt-added canned tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 400 ml can coconut milk
- season to taste
For serving:
Instructions
- In a large skillet or pot heat coconut oil or vegan butter on medium-low heat till melted. Add your white onion and sweat for around 6 minutes or until translucent. Stir often to avoid burning, scraping the browned bottom bits for extra flavour.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant, then add garam masala, curry powder, coriander, paprika and cinnamon. Let cook for about 20 seconds until fragrant, while stirring occasionally.
- To the skillet or pot add the chili flakes, vegetable stock paste and canned tomatoes. Let the mixture simmer for about 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and becomes a deep, rich red-brown in colour.
- Remove mixture from heat and scoop into a blender and blend until smooth. If the sauce is too thick to blend, then add up to 1/4 cup water to blend. If you have a smaller blender, blend in batches.
- Pour the sauce back into the pan. Stir in the coconut milk, sugar and season to taste. At this point you would add your cooked lentils, potatoes, chickpeas, vegan chicken etc. and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Simmer for 15 minutes even if you’re not adding a protein or root of choice. Serve with rice, cilantro and naan.
Video

Followed the directions but sauce turned out runny. What can I add to thicken it?
Hey Marian, can you confirm you used a Can of Coconut Milk and not regular coconut milk? This sauce should still be loose (sauce-like) but definitely not runny. I would cook it without a lid on to reduce the liquid but I am intrigued about which coconut milk you used. Hopefully we can help solve this!
Heya, approx how many potatoes and how much chickpeas did you (pre) cook? Thanks
It would depend on how much sauce you’re cooking, how many people you’re feeding etc. I made this sauce (exactly as in the recipe) and we likely used around 3 potatoes and 400 ml can of chickpeas. Hope that’s helpful. Please let us know how it goes and touch base with a star review if you can!
Holy coconuts—this recipe is delicious!! And, as is written all over this page, it is SUPER EASY. Yes, a lot of spices are involved, but it’s sooooo worth it. I loaded the sauce up with zucchini, pepper, and broccoli (I love how broccoli soaks up whatever sauce it’s in), and served over rice with some homemade pita. I will probably make this once a week. Thanks, Maria!
Thank you so much for the love, hun!!!!
This recipe is INSANE! Tastes just like the real deal and will hit the spot. Adding this to my rotation!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVE, ALICEEEE!!!!
YES! I loved this recipe! I added chickpeas and lentils and it turned out delicious. I am defenitely going to make this again, thanks Maria! 🙂
You’re so welcome Nina! Thanks for the love on this recipe!
Let me just start off my saying, I do not typically like Indian food. At all. Not sure if it’s the curry seasoning but it’s just not a genre of food I prefer to eat. My fiancé went to a restaurant and kept raving about how good this Indian food he had and said we needed to try it. I stumbled across your recipe and thought I’d give it a try to make something for him for once (lol) and I have to say I ate two helpings!!! So so good! So flavorful, sweet, spicy… etc After trying many Indian recipes that I never was a fan of, I’m so glad to say I have seriously fell in love with this one!! Thank you!!
YESSS!!!! This makes us so incredibly happy, thanks so much for the love, sweetie!
Super delicious. The whole family loved it.
So happy about this Tracy! Thanks so much for the love!
This recipe was incredible. I was craving butter chicken tonight and this absolutely hit the spot. So satisfying! I used chili oil instead of flakes and it kicked up the intensity. Thanks again Maria!
You’re so welcome Rebecca! I am so glad you enjoyed this!!!
If you’re using potatoes do you cook them prior to adding to the sauce for the last 15 minutes? Or does that cooked part only apply to if you are doing lentils?
I would cook them slightly before adding them to the sauce to simmer. Depending on how large you cut them that will also dictate how long they need to cook. I hope that helps!
So tasty and simple to make!
Thank you, Amy! So easy and delicious, right!
Delicious!! I made this with chickpeas and it was creamy, flavorful and made big portions. Will definitely be making again. Thank you Maria!
Thank you so much for the love, Emily! So glad you enjoyed this!