Restaurant-Style Butter Chicken Vegan (1 pan!)

Learn to make the best ever Indian restaurant style Vegan Butter Chicken! Marinated and crisped Tofu in a creamy, decadent Indian butter curry sauce, the most delicious you’ll ever taste! (gluten-free with nut-free and soy-free options)

I have many butter chicken recipes on the blog already. There’s my Instant Pot butter chicken, which uses soy curls. There’s my super quick butter chickpeas that takes just 10 minutes to put together, and it’s almost a dump-and-done recipe. I also have lots of fusion butter chicken recipes! But, I didn’t have a restaurant-style butter chicken that is decadent, complex spiced, smoky, mind-glowingly delicious, smooth and creamy, like the sort you’d get at an Indian restaurant, so I created this one for you! This vegan butter chicken with is perfect to serve for any party, dinner, holiday, thanksgiving, family get together and will please anyone and everyone!

Make this at your next dinner party to impress your guests!

What is Butter Chicken?

there are several stories associated with butter chicken. One of them has this restaurant wanting to use up their leftover tandoori chicken (marinated and grilled chicken) so they made this creamy smooth tomato sauce and simmered the day old dryish chicken. The butter chicken sauce is translation from Makhani sauce which means – like makkhan – like butter, so smooth like butter :). The sauce hence usually gets strained to move fibrous ness to get a silky smooth sauce.

There are also variations of the sauce based on region, chef, recipe. Some sauces have onion, some don’t, spices may vary slightly, some are creamier and some lighter and so on.

Protein: We are using tofu as the chicken substitute, and we tear it into these organic shapes to help the tofu absorb the marinade and also crisp up just like chicken on the stovetop. It even gets that firm, chicken-like texture. If you don’t want to use tofu, you can use vegan chicken substitute of choice, such as soy curls, chickpea tofu, or just add some beans or roasted veggies to the sauce. 

There’s a ton of flavor in the sauce, and since this is a restaurant-style version, there are a few more steps and a few more spices than a homestyle version. If you don’t have all of the spices, missing a spice here and there is still going to give you a fantastic result.

The keys to that authentic butter chicken flavor

• Using the right spices for both the marinade and the sauce (dried fenugreek leaves and Kashmiri chili powder.  I use both of these spices pretty frequently in my Indian recipes, so if you don’t have them, do get them and try more of my vegan Indian recipes! )
• marinade the tofu in a flavorful spice and yogurt mix and crisp it up to make the tandoori tofu.
• Cook the aromatics and add several layers of flavors by adding the same spices at different points in the recipe( during sautéing, making spiced oil, using as garnish etc)
• Add extra creamy and smooth texture by blending well and using both cashews and coconut milk.
• use canned tomato purée to reduce the extra step of straining the sauce
• Add some crunch garnish to cut through the thick creamy sauce. Chopped green chili, fresh ginger, cilantro

Why You’ll Love Vegan Butter Chicken

• same textures and flavors, no animals harmed! Plant-based protein in a creamy, tomatoey, buttery curry sauce.
• easy to make in 1 pan on the stovetop
• restaurant-style flavor without the price tag
• naturally gluten-free and easily made soy-free and nut-free
• same spices are used in various steps, they make the recipe look long but it isn’t

Ingredients and Substitutions

• tofu – Pressed and torn extra firm tofu is your vegan chicken substitute. You can use other vegan chicken substitutes, like soy curls, seitan, etc. You can even use beans or roasted veggies instead of the tofu, if you like.
• non-dairy yogurt – Adds tang and helps the spices stick to the tofu. Choose soy-free and/or nut-free, if needed.
• ginger garlic paste – Adds flavor to the tofu and to the sauce. Use minced instead
• ground spices – For the tofu, you need garam masala, fenugreek, kashmiri chili powder, chaat masala or black salt, and salt. For the sauce, you use turmeric, kashmiri chili powder, garam masala, and fenugreek.
• cornstarch – Helps the spices stick to the tofu. For substituting, Use other starch such as tapioca, potato or arrowroot
• oil and/or vegan butter – To sauté. Choose soy-free and/or nut-free vegan butter, if needed.
• whole spices – For the sauce, you will need cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Yes also make a spice oil toward the end of cooking that uses a bay leaf, green cardamom, cloves, and a cinnamon stick.
• red onion – Adds flavor and volume to the sauce.
• tomato puree – canned purée or unseasoned tomato sauce/Passats, Adds umami and color to the sauce.
• cashews and coconut milk – Makes the sauce creamy. You can replace the cashews with more coconut milk or vice versa, if needed.
• garnish – To finish the dish, garnish with fresh cilantro, lemon juice, sliced green chili, crushed red pepper flakes.

How to Make Vegan Butter Chicken

Press and tear the tofu, if you haven’t already, and add to a bowl. (To press the tofu, use a tofu press or wrap in kitchen towel, and place some books or cutting board on it and let sit for 15 minutes. Then tear into bite size pieces) and Add in the non-dairy yogurt and ginger and garlic paste and toss well to coat the tofu.

Then, in a small bowl, mix all the spices, salt, and cornstarch really well, and sprinkle it all over the tofu. Toss well to coat.

Now, you can pan fry, bake, or air fry the tofu.

To pan fry, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, spread the oil on the skillet and then transfer the coated tofu onto the skillet, and spread into a single layer. Let this tofu sit undisturbed for 2 to 3 minutes, so that the bottoms can crisp, and it can release from the pan. Once the tofu is releasing from the pan, flip the tofu and continue to cook the other side, and repeat 2 to 3 times, until the tofu is golden and crisp on most of the edges. This can take anywhere from 6 to 8 minutes. Set aside for now.

See the recipe card for baking and air fryer directions.

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the oil to the same pan you used for the tofu. Once oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds and mix, and let the cumin seeds start to change color significantly and get fragrant. This will take anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on your pan. 

Mix in the chopped onion and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook until the onions are starting to turn translucent. Add a splash of water in between to help the onions cook evenly. We don’t want the onions to reduce too much, because we’re also using the onions as some of the volume of the sauce.

Once the onion is translucent, add a splash of water and the ginger garlic paste. Mix well, then add in all of the ground spices and remaining salt. Mix and cook this for 30 seconds, if you’re using ginger garlic paste, and cook this for up to 1 minute for minced ginger and garlic. Add a splash of water or oil to help the minced garlic cook.

Then, stir in the tomato puree and cook for a minute or so, until the tomato puree comes to a boil.

Then, mix in the cashews and coconut milk. Bring that to a boil, then let this simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, then switch off the heat and let the sauce cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the cooled sauce to a blender with a cup of water, and blend until smooth. I usually blend it for a minute, and then let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes, then blend again for half a minute. If this doesn’t make it smooth enough, then I blend it again for half a minute. 

Then, in the same skillet, heat the vegan butter or oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon stick and mix in. If your sauce is not red enough for you, add in some more Kashmiri chilli powder here, and then carefully add your blended sauce back to the skillet and mix well.

Bring the sauce to a boil for about 2 minutes, then taste the flavor of the sauce and adjust the salt, heat, and flavor. You can add some cayenne, if you like, for heat. You can also add in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, if you want the sauce slightly sweeter. Also adjust the consistency at this time, adding more water or non-dairy milk, if you want a thinner sauce. Continue to simmer for another 2 to 3 minutes, then fold in your crispy tofu. You just want to lightly toss, because you don’t want the coating to come off of the tofu.

Let it simmer another 1 to 2 minutes, then switch off the heat and garnish with cilantro, lemon juice, chopped green chili and optional pepper flakes. Crush the fenugreek leaves with your fingers, and sprinkle them all over the dish, as well(optional). Green chilies or pepper flakes adds texture to the creamy dish making it even more pleasing. You can also serve kachumbar salad or pickled onion on the side , which also help balance out the decadent creaminess.

Many restaurants also smoke the butter chicken sauce before serving. To smoke the sauce, use a small, food grade charcoal and heat it on a flame until it is red hot, then place it in a small, heat-proof bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of oil over the charcoal and immediately nestle the bowl into your sauce and cover the pan with a lid.

Let this smoke for 5 minutes or so, and then remove the bowl from your butter chicken. If you don’t have charcoal, you can use a cinnamon stick to smoke the butter chicken instead. See my chicken angara recipe for photos and more details on this method for smoking the sauce.

What to Serve with Butter Chicken

Serve vegan butter chicken with rice, or naan. You can also make a pizza with it! You can also serve with cumin scented rice or a North Indian biryani, like Lucknowi biryani.