I am Indian – first-generation in the United States – however grew up eating Indian food practically every day. My mom is an amazing cook, so I learned most of my skills from watching her – but we never honestly had butter chicken growing up. Or at least, that’s not what it was called. So when I went off the college and went to Indian restaurants where Butter Chicken was all the rage, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was but it essentially is a creamy curry-like chicken dish that’s overloaded with butter. Once I set out on this low carb lifestyle, Keto Butter Chicken was at the top of my list of keto Indian food recipes to perfect! So, in addition to being absolutely delicious, that makes it very keto friendly!
They key to making a rich and silky keto butter chicken is using high quality butter. I get Kerry Gold butter at Costco in bulk because it’s grass-fed, delicious and we go through a lot of it!
There are some great recipes for keto Indian food recipes to complement this one — Keto Naan that I’ve found is amazing (I have my own delicious low carb naan recipe in my latest book, Small-Batch Keto Baking) or of course, this is fantastic with cauliflower rice. I also like it with Cut Da Carb flatbreads, which is a favorite alternative to tortillas and wraps. As usual, I like to turn up the heat so I add more chili powder and usually a fresh chopped jalapeno to this, but that’s up to you!

Keto Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1 tbsp Pink Salt
- 1 pound Chicken Thighs cut into 1" pieces
- 1 Tomato chopped
- 1/2 cup Red Onion Sliced
- 1 tbsp Ginger grated
- 2 cloves Garlic minced
- 3 tbsp Unsalted Butter I like Kerry Gold
- 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 cup Cilantro Chopped
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 2 tsp Ground Cumin
Instructions
- Combine ginger, garlic, onion and tomato in a blender and puree.
- In a medium bowl, combine salt, ground coriander, chili powder, turmeric, garam masala and cumin powder. Add chicken and coat.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the chicken until it's nice and browned and cooked through. Flip each piece to ensure cooked thoroughly.
- Add in the puree and butter. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, remove from heat and mix in the heavy cream.
- Top with chopped cilantro.
- Serve with Keto naan or cauliflower rice.