Creamy Butter Chicken

  • 10MINS
  • 25MINS
  • Serves 6
  • 210KCAL

A Creamy Butter Chicken dish might seem impossible if you're counting calories, but never fear – this slimming recipe is perfect no matter what plan you're following!

  • Batch Cook pinchofnom.com
  • Everyday Light pinchofnom.com
  • Fakeaways pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Creamy Butter Chicken pinchofnom.com
4

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories210
  • Carbs9g
  • Protein28g
  • Fat2g
  • Saturates0.5g
  • Sugars4g

Creamy Butter Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

Normally, butter chicken is packed full of… well, butter!  Although you’d never believe it, there’s no real butter in our version but it’s still just as creamy.

We used to love a takeaway before we started our slimming journey and in our opinion there’s nothing better than a beautiful, warm creamy curry on a cold winters day.  We’ve used almond flour and fat free natural yoghurt to give this Creamy Butter Chicken its creamy sauce and you can easily adjust the amount of chilli powder to give this dish more or less of a kick!

What diets is this Creamy Butter Chicken suitable for?

This Creamy Butter Chicken recipe can be made dairy free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for dairy free alternatives;

  • Reduced fat spread
  • Fat free natural yoghurt
  • Creme fraiche

It can also be made gluten free by swapping the following ingredients for gluten free alternatives;

  • Chicken stock cubes

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

What do I need to make this Creamy Butter Chicken?

You’ll need a food processor or a stick blender to make this Creamy Butter Chicken dish and you can pick either of these up over on Amazon.

We’ve used a stick blender for this recipe and it’s one of our favourite kitchen gadgets – we use it for loads of our other curry recipes as well!

The Secret Ingredient!

We usually use almonds for this and blend them until fine. The only issue with using almonds is how high they are in calories and Points! 100g is around 600 calories, which is CRAZY! So instead of using almonds we use Sukrin Almond Flour instead because at just 315 calories per 100g it is SO much lower. Other almond flours probably won’t be this low as the almonds are not de-fatted like Sukrin.

You can usually find this, and other brands of defatted almond flour, online on Amazon or in some health food shops. With only 10g per serving in this Creamy Butter Chicken, you will find that a little goes a long way!

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

sensational, creamy you'd never know it was fakeaway.
Great tasting curry, so nice for all the family, A great way to introduce children to curry. I didnt have almond flour so I ground 30g almonds, for us i swapped the meat for quorn and chicken cubes for meatfree ones, making this dish vegetarian,
Very tasty
I didn’t have a lime so used a lemon. I added fat free greek yoghurt along with the natural yoghurt.
1
Delicious!
I used only half a lemon and as couldn’t find the almond flour mentioned, substituted it for 30g of coconut flour. I added a 1 tsp of chilli flakes as I like a bit of kick. Creme Fraiche for extra creaminess. Think this is my new favourite!
Creamy, tasty fabulousness!
Used hot water with the stock cubes, tomatoes and paste
Such a yummy moreish dish for all the family.
A great tip is to prepare all your ingredients having everything to hand so you can immerse into cooking.

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

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‘Omg I have finally found a curry I can eat and its absolutely delicious without being spicy. This was a simple recipe to follow and we loved it that much we are having it again tonight. I love pinch of nom’

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You’ll need a food processor to make this Creamy Butter Chicken! You can pick this up over on Amazon!

Or you could get this stick blender. You can pick this up over on Amazon!

Defatted almond flour is available by other brands and can be found in some health shops, or online!

These fancy restaurant style curry serving dishes are the ideal finishing touch at dinner time!

How many calories are in this Creamy Butter Chicken?

There are 210 calories per portion in this Creamy Butter Chicken, which means it falls into our Everyday Light category. 

A butter chicken from your local takeaway will set you back around 400 calories for a small portion, so our version is a fantastic saving!

This Creamy Butter Chicken is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers. 

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Finely chop the garlic, ginger and onion using a food processor or stick blender, then gently sauté in the low calorie cooking spray until soft and coloured slightly.

Step 2

Puree the tomatoes, almond flour, tomato paste, stock cubes and water together, then add it to the pan.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Add the chicken, yoghurt, lime juice, spices, and reduced fat spread then stir well.

Step 4

Bring up to the boil, stirring continuously, then cover and simmer on LOW for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 5

After 15-20 minutes check to see if the chicken is cooked through. If not let it simmer for another 5 minutes.

Step 6

Serve over boiled rice.

Creamy Butter Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with this Creamy Butter Chicken?

This Creamy Butter Chicken works really well when served alongside lots of fluffy, boiled rice as well as any of the following dishes:

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How do you know when this Creamy Butter Chicken is cooked?

You’ll need to cook this Creamy Butter Chicken for around 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe. 

How long can you keep this Creamy Butter Chicken in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftovers of this Creamy Butter Chicken in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so. 

Can I freeze this Creamy Butter Chicken recipe?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer! 

How do I reheat this Creamy Butter Chicken recipe?

From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.

From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.

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Creamy Butter Chicken

A Creamy Butter Chicken dish might seem impossible if you're counting calories, but never fear - this slimming recipe is perfect no matter what plan you're following!
  • Prep Time
    10 MINS
  • Cook Time
    25 MINS
  • KCals 210
  • Carbs 9G

Ingredients

Spice Mix

  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp garam masala you can also use curry powder
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • ½ tsp chilli powder or fresh chilli if you prefer

For the Curry

  • 4 chicken breast around 600-700g/1.5lb, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 or 4 sprays low calorie cooking spray
  • 1-2 centimetre ginger
  • 1 onion
  • 1 tbsp reduced fat spread
  • 60 g Sukrin Almond Flour
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree no added oil
  • 3 tbsp fat free natural yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 lime Juiced
  • 2 chicken stock cubes
  • spice mix as above
  • 1 tbsp creme fraiche Optional - add with the yoghurt for extra creamyness

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Finely chop the garlic, ginger and onion using a food processor or stick blender, then gently sauté in the low calorie cooking spray until soft and coloured slightly.
  2. Puree the tomatoes, almond flour, tomato paste, stock cubes and water together, then add it to the pan.
  3. Add the chicken, yoghurt, lime juice, spices, and reduced fat spread then stir well.
  4. Bring up to the boil, stirring continuously, then cover and simmer on LOW for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. After 15-20 minutes check to see if the chicken is cooked through. If not let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
  6. Serve over boiled rice.

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149 comments

See what others have to say

Debbie woodsSaturday 16th March 2024

Hi. Can you use ground almonds instead of flour?

Reply

    HollyMonday 18th March 2024

    Hi Debbie, you can substitute the almond flour for ground almonds using an equivalent amount. Bear in mind our recipe uses defatted almond flour which is much lower in calories than ground almonds, so if you are keeping an eye on the nutritional values you will have to adjust them accordingly using this guide HERE hope that helps!

    Reply

SophieThursday 14th December 2023

Hi, this calls for almond flour. Can I substitute for plain if someone has an allergy to almonds?

Reply

    Cheryl LloydThursday 8th February 2024

    Almonds or almond flour are one of the main ingredients in this recipe and the flavour of the dish will be affected if they’re left out. We would suggest trying a similar recipe such as Creamy Chicken Curry. This is a creamy curry without nuts that your family might enjoy. 😊

    https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/creamy-chicken-curry/

    Reply

GeorgiaTuesday 31st October 2023

Can I use a different flour? I have an allergy to almonds.

Thanks

Reply

    Cheryl LloydThursday 8th February 2024

    Almonds or almond flour are one of the main ingredients in this recipe and the flavour of the dish will be affected if they’re left out. We would suggest trying a similar recipe such as Creamy Chicken Curry. This is a creamy curry without nuts that you might enjoy 😊

    Reply

TeresaMonday 11th September 2023

What size tin of tomatoes please ?

Reply

    LisaTuesday 12th September 2023

    Hi Teresa. Its a 400g tin of tomatoes. I’ll update the website to make it clearer in future

    Reply

SarwitFriday 28th April 2023

Can I use coconut flour instead of almond? Will it make much difference?

Reply

    SharonTuesday 16th May 2023

    Hi Sarwit, we haven’t tried this recipe with coconut flour and it behaves quite differently to other flours, so the best alternative would be to use an equal amount of ground almonds. Bear in mind our recipe uses defatted almond flour which is much lower in calories than ground almonds, so if you’re keeping an eye on calories you will have to adjust them accordingly using this guide: How to work out calories and points in a recipe Hope this helps!

    Reply

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