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Macro Friendly Crockpot Butter Chicken
I am no Indian Food Connoiseur, but this stuff was good. Now, it's definitely a healthier riff on regular Butter Chicken because, hello, I can't use as much butter and heavy cream that is normally used. Delicious, yes. But I certainly won't get to my goals quicker eating that. SO! Enter this low fat, super flavorful, sweet, savory and spicy crockpot version. My kids didn't love this, but my husband and I (and my trainer!) did. You do have to add salt, pepper and sugar to your discretion because the canned tomatoes you use can have different acidity levels. The sugar helps balance that out and the salt certainly brings out all the spices and anchors the overall dish.
Ingredients
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or more to taste
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper or more to taste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 20 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 cup fat free evaporated milk
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In the bottom of a cold crockpot, stir tomatoes together with sugar, garam masala, coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and chicken. Cover and cook on high for 2-2 1/2 hours until chicken is fully cooked.
- Sauce will be a little watery because of the chicken. This is normal. Add butter and stir to melt into sauce. In a separate bowl, whisk evaporated milk with flour until smooth. Pour milk mixture into crockpot and stir. After 10 minutes, sauce should have thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, sugar). Divide into four equal portions, top with cilantro and serve with naan or rice.
Notes
The more accurate macros for 1 serving (1/4th) of this recipe are as follows: 374 calories, 7.9g F/34.3g C/39.6g P. These macros don’t include rice or naan.
Nutrition
Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 1402mg | Potassium: 1381mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 860IU | Vitamin C: 22mg | Calcium: 281mg | Iron: 5mg
Once again you don’t disappoint. This recipe is wonderful and super easy. I wasn’t able to find fat free evaporated milk and had to use regular evaporated milk, so my butter chicken is a wee-bit more rich, but the flavors are still perfect and the sauce has so much depth to it. Served this over Basmati rice.