Gluten Free Chicken Tikka Masala
This Gluten Free Chicken Tikka Masala is easy to make, packed with flavor and perfect for a family favorite dinner. This recipe is dairy free friendly, creamy and made with pantry staple ingredients.
Meet your new favorite dinner recipe: gluten free tikka masala! It’s weeknight manageable, perfectly spicy, made with easy to find pantry staple ingredients, creamy and even dairy free friendly.
The ingredient list might seem long, but I promise this recipe is incredibly easy! It’s a lot of pantry staple ingredients and spices you need here, and there’s some repeats with the marinade and the sauce.
Tikka masala, and many other Indian dishes, are already naturally gluten free so there isn’t anything special or fancy you need to swap to make this dish GF friendly.
Serve this recipe up for a dinner party or just a family favorite Tuesday night meal! If you love this recipe, try my white bean chicken chili or kung pao chicken noodles next.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Rich & creamy
- Dairy free friendly
- Easy to make
- Freezer friendly
How to make gluten free tikka masala
Cut the chicken in to about 1 inch cubes. Add to a bowl with the yogurt, garlic, ginger, spices and salt.
Mix well to combine, then cover and let marinate for 30 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter to a skillet and melt over medium heat.
Add the chicken and cook on each side for about 3 minutes. Set aside and wipe the pan down.
Add the other 2 tablespoons of butter and melt. Add in the diced onion and saute for about 5-7 minutes. Mix in the garlic and ginger and saute 1 more minute. Add in all remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes.
Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. It helps to keep the lid slightly ajar so heat can escape and start the blender on very low speed.
Add the sauce back to the pan and add in the chicken. Let everything simmer together for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
Garnish with fresh cilantro, serve with jasmine or basmati rice and my homemade gluten free naan. You can add a touch of red pepper flakes for extra spice! Enjoy!
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How to store and freeze
Once prepared, this gluten free tikka masala will store in the fridge for about 3 days. The sauce will thicken as it sits, so you can heat it back up on the stove with a splash of cream, water or broth to thin it out.
My favorite part about this tikka masala is that it’s freezer friendly! Allow the fully prepared dish to cool, then transfer to a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
Let thaw in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, then heat on the stove with a touch of butter until warm through the center.
Can I make it dairy free?
Yes! This recipe calls for butter, yogurt and heavy cream, but you can easily swap all of those for a dairy free version.
I suggest either coconut oil (refined so there is no coconut flavor) or a vegan butter such as Earth Balance. For the heavy cream, I like to either use a slightly watered down version of my cashew cream or just coconut cream from a can. For yogurt, I like just a plain, unsweetened coconut based yogurt.
If you use coconut cream (or full fat coconut milk) in place of heavy cream, just be sure to shake the can really well or blend it together so the white part and watery part are well combined.
Butter Chicken vs. Tikka Masala
Butter chicken is a traditional Indian dish that is rich and creamy with a slight smoky flavor. Tikka masala is a British Indian dish with more tangy and spicy flavors.
Though they have very similar methods of preparation and flavors, butter chicken is generally sweeter and milder in spiciness, while tikka masala is tangy and spicy.
Chicken thighs vs. breasts
If you really don’t like chicken thighs, you can use breasts here, but chicken thighs are going to be much juicer which is important since we are cooking the chicken on a pretty high heat!
I have come to prefer chicken thighs to breasts, the texture is a bit smoother and always juicier, even if it’s over cooked slightly!
More gluten free dinner recipes you’ll love!
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Gluten Free Chicken Tikka Masala
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 ¼ pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- ⅓ cup plain yogurt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teapsoons fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ¾ teaspoon paprika
- ¾ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup tomato puree or strained tomatoes
- ½ cup heavy cream can sub for coconut cream
- 2-4 tablespoons water as needed to thin
Instructions
- Cut the chicken in to about 1 inch cubes.
- Add to a bowl with the yogurt, garlic, ginger, spices and salt.
- Mix well to combine, then cover and let marinate for 30 minutes.
- Add the 2 tablespoons of butter to a skillet and melt over high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook on each side for about 2-3 minutes. You want it to get a nice char.
- Set aside and wipe the pan down.
- Add the other 2 tablespoons of butter and melt. Add in the diced onion and saute for about 5-7 minutes.
- Mix in the garlic and ginger and saute 1 more minute.
- Add in all remaining ingredients aside from the water and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. It helps to keep the lid slightly ajar so heat can escape and start the blender on very low speed.
- Add the sauce back to the pan. If it is too thick, whisk in a couple tablespoons of water as needed then add in the chicken.
- Let everything simmer together for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro, serve with rice and my homemade gluten free naan. Enjoy!
Notes
Comments
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We love this! We love all of Claire’s recipes! Finally, I’ve found things that everyone in the house likes to eat vs. just a few people like. Thank you! I make the chicken in the instapot, shred it and then add the sauce to the chicken. This is super simple and easy!
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Love that idea! Thanks so much, so glad you’re a fan!
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This was really good. Even my picky boys loved it. I would probably double or triple the sauce to make more sauce. I would want enough sauce to dip my naan in. You could probably also add some crushed red pepper if you wanted to add some spice. Definitely a “re do” meal.
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Such a delicious and savory!!
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