I made these vegan butter “chicken” bowls last week. I ate them that day for breakfast and lunch. The next day, I ate them for breakfast and lunch. The following day, I realized I had polished it off and was incredibly sad, because I actually still wanted more. That’s how good them bowls are! I’m not sure at this point if I will ever get tired of them. Crispy soy curls, simmered in a simple Indian-inspired butter chicken sauce. Served on a bed of rice with pickled veggies and mint chutney drizzled on top.
What You Need For These Bowls:
- Soy Curls: I always use Butler’s. They are amazing.
- Cornstarch: To coat the soy curls and make them crispy.
- Tomato Sauce: You need canned tomato puree for this sauce.
- Coconut Cream: Or full fat coconut milk.
- Turmeric, Garam Masala, Cumin, Cayenne, Ginger, Garlic and Agave: To flavor the sauce.
- Mint and Cilantro: These are the base for the mint chutney.
- Lemon Juice: Goes in the sauce and the chutney.
- Silken Tofu: This is to thicken the chutney. You can also use nuts if you want. Or have the chutney be thinner if you prefer.
I know you are probably wondering, what sets this vegan butter “chicken” apart from other recipes? For this recipe, I wanted the sauce to act more as a BBQ sauce. Thick and not so saucy, so it can just be part of the bowl. Rather than most butter chicken recipes, where the sauce is almost a soup and you just add rice to that. The results are truly incredible. When served with the pickled veggies (I chose red onions and cucumbers) and the mint chutney, you will be the happiest person ever! It is easy, and it will convert anyone who thinks vegan food isn’t flavorful.
Why Should You Make These Butter “Chicken” Bowls?
- I’m not sure any other combination of food tastes as good as these do.
- The recipe is simple, hearty and heart stoppingly delish!
- The mint chutney is so good, you’ll want to put it on everything.
- Impress all the non-vegans in your life with this one.
- Perfect for meal prep, it reheats well and the chutney stays good in the fridge for at least a week.
Vegan Butter “Chicken” Bowls
Ingredients
Butter "Chicken"
- 8 Ounces Soy curls, I used Butler's(soaked/drained according to pkg. directions.
- 2 teaspoons Salt, divided
- 1/3 Cup Cornstarch
- 1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 Cup Coconut cream or full fat coconut milk
- 1 Cup Canned tomato sauce (tomato puree not ketchup)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon Ginger powder
- 2 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1 Tablespoon Maple syrup or agave
Mint Chutney
- 1 Fresh jalapeno, de-seeded and sliced
- 1 Cup Mint, fresh
- 1 Cup Cilantro, fresh
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cane sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 1/4 Cup Water
- 1/4 Cup Silken tofu, optional for thicker chutney
For The Bowls
- Rice for serving
- Pickled red onions and cucumbers
Instructions
- Once you have soaked and drained the soy curls, put them in a large mixing bowl. Then sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over them and the cornstarch. Toss to coat them in the salt and cornstarch.
- Heat the olive oil on medium high in a large non-stick skillet. Then add the soy curls. Sauté the soy curls, reducing heat as needed until the soy curls are nice and brown. About 10-15 minutes.
- While the soy curls brown, make the butter sauce. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the coconut milk, tomato sauce, lemon juice, spices(as well as the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt), garlic and maple syrup until fully combined.
- Once the soy curls are nice and brown and crispy, pour the sauce into the skillet. Toss to coat all the soy curls, then let simmer for a 1-2 minutes or until the sauce thickens up and fully coats the soy curls. Turn off the heat.
- Now, make the chutney. Add all the chutney ingredients to a food processor and blend, scraping down the sides as needed until the chutney is smooth. This may take a few minutes.
- Serve a bowl of rice with the soy curls on top, top that with the mint chutney and pickled veggies.
Saw this recipe come into my in-box earlier today and realize I had everything on hand to make it. Well, I only had half a bag of soy curls so I added some peas to the pan a few minutes before it was ready to eat.
OH MY DELICIOUSNESS!! You weren’t join when you say it is flavor-FULL!!!!! I already love and use many of your recipes, but I think this one will definitely be in my regular rotation!
Thank you so much for your dedication to creating such fabulous dishes!!
* weren’t JOKING… sorry for typo!
This is seriously so delicious. The flavors are amazing and it didn’t take much to bring it all together. I could eat this 3x a day. LOL.
Made this one tonight. Total winner!! My omni hubby LOVED it. Told me it was a dish worthy of company. That’s high praise.
So great and easy! The chutney is so refreshing; always looking for more ways to use the mint the takes over my yard!
We loved this recipe as we love so many of your others! All three kids liked it and they aren’t huge soy curl fans (and I have tried many different recipes). 4 out of 5 of us thought it didn’t need the mint chutney and was delicious on it’s own, but the 7 year old feels strongly that she likes it with the mint chutney. Thanks for another winner of a recipe!
This was a hit in my house the two times I made this. The delicious and fresh mint chutney really pushes this over the top and the pickled veggies make this restaurant quality. Really easy for the amount of flavor!
I didn’t have soy curls but I had curry tofu nuggets and that worked well – similar texture, nice addition to the flavor. I wish I’d doubled the sauce bc it was really good! I added some coriander, cinnamon, and fenugreek to the sauce, and toasted some coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and cardamom to add to the pickled veg. I served everything with rice that i made with coconut milk, I only wish I’d had some naan or roti to go with it!
This tasted like it took a whole lot longer to make than it did! It is crazy delicious and super easy to make making this the perfect weeknight meal! Me and my husband are already calling dibs on leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
I had held off from this recipe as I thought it would be a lot of work but it definitely was not and it was SO GOOD! I couldn’t help from eating a couple bites of the mint chutney as I was cooking – so tasty!! The flavors of everything really melded together really well – I just used store bought pickles instead of making the pickled cucumbers and it worked just fine! Definitely adding this into our rotation!