Vegetarian Butter Chicken

Vegetarian Butter Chicken is a delicious butter chicken with cauliflower instead of chicken. It’s a creamy sauce that is deliciously spiced made completely vegetarian — perfect for Meatless Monday! Serve alongside some naan for a complete meal!

This vegetarian butter chicken cauliflower recipe is a simple version of the popular Indian dish, Indian Butter Chicken. Except it’s completely vegetarian! I love swapping out cauliflower for chicken in this classic Indian dish. It’s a simple and easy way to make dinner a little bit healthier. This is also a great gluten-free dinner option. When it comes to a vegetarian or gluten-free diet, you should never have to sacrifice for flavor!

Why This Recipe Works

• Vegetarian butter chicken. I love a good Indian Butter Chicken recipe, but it’s awesome to have a vegetarian option! The cauliflower is the perfect stand in and has a delicious flavor and texture.
• Delicious Indian spices. I love making Indian food for my family. I think it’s important for my kids to have an opportunity to taste foods from a variety of cultures and spices that aren’t as common for them. The good news is this is a delicious sauce the whole family’s taste buds will love! 
• 30-minute meal. This butter chicken cauliflower is an easy meal that comes together in just 30 minutes! 

Ingredient Notes

• Cauliflower: Cut into florets (about 4 -5 cups) or 1 medium sized cauliflower. The cauliflower florets are a great meat alternative for this delicious recipe. 
• Unsalted Butter: The butter gives us that buttery element to the sauce. 
• Ginger Root: When at the grocery store, select a firm piece of ginger. To prepare the ginger root for cooking use a metal spoon to scrape away the skin of the ginger. The skin should come off with a gentle scrape. You can now grate the fresh ginger that you just revealed beneath the skin coating.
• Tomato Sauce: This gives us that red tomato base for the Indian butter sauce. 
• Plain Greek Yogurt: Feel free to use full fat or nonfat yogurt, whatever you prefer. 
• Garam Masala: This is a spice blend widely used in Indian cuisine. The spice is made using cinnamon, mace, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and cardamom pod that are then toasted in a pan to release their aromatic flavors. Once that is completed the spices are ground to a powder.
• Cardamom: I know garam masala has cardamom, but adding a touch extra makes a big difference! 
• Heavy Cream: I prefer to use heavy creamy because it makes the sauce nice and creamy, however, if you’re looking to make this dish even healthier you can substitute half and half.
• Cilantro: You can use fresh chopped cilantro or even cilantro paste (sold in tubes at grocery stores) if you don’t have any fresh cilantro on hand. I would avoid using dried cilantro spice as it won’t really be as potent. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Make the Indian butter sauce. Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the minced garlic, the grated ginger root, 3 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp cumin, the can of tomato sauce, 1/3 cup Plain Greek Yogurt, and 1/4 cup water. Stir to combine.
2. Add the cauliflower. Bring the sauce to a boil. Once boiling, add in the cauliflower florets and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Add the heavy cream and cilantro. Once the cauliflower is cooked, stir in 1/2 cup heavy cream and 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro. Serve over a bed of cooked rice with a side of homemade naan. Enjoy! 

Recipe Tips

For an extra kick, add more cayenne pepper to the cauliflower butter chicken! You can completely omit it if you’re worried about any spice levels. The measurement I have in the recipe is fairly mild. 

If you don’t have tomato sauce, you can use crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes and blend them in a high-speed blender until smooth. 

As discussed in the “ingredients” portion, select a piece of ginger root that is firm and without wrinkles. To prepare the ginger root for cooking use a metal spoon (like a cereal spoon) to scrape away the skin of the ginger. The skin should come off with a gentle scrape. You can now grate the fresh ginger using a small grater or citrus zester. 

I highly suggest making some of the homemade naan I suggested above. Indian food just seems to be incomplete without some naan! 

If you’re looking for a completely gluten free meal, just make sure you swap out the normal flour for gluten free flour in the naan if you make it!

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

You can make the sauce ahead of time and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Add the cauliflower and cook, following the recipe instructions. 

Store any leftover Indian butter cauliflower in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. 

If you want to freeze the sauce, I would freeze it without the cauliflower and without the heavy cream. Then, thaw it and bring it to a boil, add the cauliflower and cook it. Add the heavy cream and cilantro. 

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

• Indian Butter Chicken
• Massaman Curry
• Curry Chicken and Rice
• Chickpea Curry
• Chicken Tikka Masala