Anna's Easy and Delicious Butter Chicken Recipe

Easy Butter Chicken Recipe

It may not be the best looking meal on the plate but it's definitely delicious, balanced, and the perfect mid-week meal inspiration! A warming and easy butter chicken + steamed veggies and brown rice.

These are the healthy ingredient swaps I used to make it a good choice for a mid-week meal

• Extra virgin olive oil instead of butter to reduce the saturated fat content
• Low fat natural yoghurt instead of thickened cream to reduce the saturated fat content
  • It's good to reduce your overall saturated fat intake because eating a lot of unhealthy saturated fat increases the bad (LDL) cholesterol and therefore increases your risk of heart disease (1)
• No added salt tomatoes and tomato paste, and salt reduced chicken stock to lower the salt/sodium content
  • Over time, eating a lot of sodium can increase your risk of high blood pressure which is a major risk factor for heart disease (2)
• Brown rice instead of basmati rice to increase the fibre for a healthy digestive system
• I added vegetables to increase the fibre
• I also plated it up as per the ideal meal plate recommendation - 1/2 vegetables, 1/4 lean protein and 1/4 wholegrain carbohydrate

Ingredients

• 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil (or 2 tbs butter and 1 tbs vegetable oil)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1-2 tsp crushed ginger
• 2x 400g cans diced tomatoes (no added salt)
• 1 tbs tomato paste (no added salt)
• 1/3 cup salt reduced chicken stock
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 1/3 cup almond meal
• 3/4 cup low fat Greek-style natural yoghurt (or thickened cream)
• 4 chicken breast fillets
• Handful of mint leaves
• Brown rice (for extra fibre)
• Your choice of vegetables (I used what I had in the fridge - 2 carrots, 2 small zucchinis and a handful of brussels sprouts)

Method

1. Poach chicken in a large saucepan by covering with water and bringing to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes
2. Once cooked, remove chicken from water. Shred chicken once cooled
3. Cook rice according to packaging instructions
4. Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Add cumin, coriander, garam masala and ginger. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute
5. Stir in tomatoes, stock and chilli powder. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, partially cover and simmer for 15 minutes
6. Stir through almond meal and yoghurt. Simmer for 5 minutes or until thick. Season to taste
7. Add shredded chicken, stir to combine. Simmer until chicken is hot
8. Drizzle with extra yoghurt
9. Sprinkle with mint leaves
10. Steam vegetables in steamer over a saucepan
11. Serve chicken with rice and vegetables

 Enjoy!