Kanchan Rawat
- May 9, 2021
- 3 min read

Vegan Butter "Chicken" Using Tofu

Updated: Oct 9, 2022

Today we are preparing Vegan Butter Chicken using Tofu, this vegan butter tofu recipe will have all the flavors and essence you are craving for and can be prepared quickly without any prior preparations. It ticks all the checkmarks for an authentic Indian dish as it's hearty, spicy, and full of flavors. I love serving it with rice, rotis and naans.

So let’s get started

Ingredients for Vegan Butter Tofu

Ingredients for Tofu

Tofu - 500 Grams

Lime Juice - Half a lime

Red Chili Powder - Half Teaspoon

Salt - 1 Teaspoon

Grated Ginger Garlic - 1 Tablespoon

Oil as needed for frying

Ingredients for the Sauce

Vegan Butter - 2 Tablespoons

Onion - 1 Medium

Grated Ginger garlic - 2 Teaspoons

Cashews - 100 grams

Tomatoes - 2

Water - 100-150 ml

Garam Masala Powder - Half teaspoon

Sugar - 1 Teaspoon(Optional)

Blend the Sauce after cooling down

Filtered Sauce

Vegan Butter - 1 Tablespoon

Vegan Cream - 2-3 Teaspoons

Dried Kasuri Methi - Half Teaspoon

I have taken around 500 grams of tofu and we are going to slice it in small pieces.

After that we will start the marinating process, add the tofu to a bowl and then add juice of half a lime, add half teaspoon of red chili powder, you can use paprika as well. Add 1 teaspoon of salt or salt as per taste, mix everything well, and I almost forgot we also have to add ginger garlic paste, Add 1 tablespoon of grated ginger garlic. I am using grated but you can use the paste as it coats well.

Marinate the tofu for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile let’s begin with our sauce, heat a pan and add 2 tablespoons of vegan butter or oil of your choice, let the butter melt. Then add 1 medium sliced onion, mix everything, and let it cook till the onion turns soft.

Make sure to stir in between so the onion doesn’t burn. Then add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste, stir and cook for 2 minutes over low heat. Then add 100 grams of soaked cashews, and 2 roughly chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of red chili powder, mix everything and now we need to cook till the onion turns soft, once the tomatoes turn soft, add around 100 ml of water or as per your gravy followed by half teaspoon of garam masala powder, additionally you can also add 1 teaspoon of vegan sugar to balance out the flavors but I prefer it this way.

Give it a mix. Turn off the heat and let this cool down before blending.

Meanwhile the tofu is marinated, add 2 teaspoons of oil or vegan butter to the pan. Add the marinated tofu piece to the pan, you can bake or air fry as well.

Let them cook on one side and then start to turn them so they get cooked from all the sides. I am not looking for a very crispy coating, just a light one. If you want to cook it using an airfryer, check out my other tofu recipe for the exact details, I will list it in the description section. The Tofu is done and we have blended the sauce too.

It’s time to filter it, since this is butter tofu we need the curry to be silky smooth. Towards the end you will just be left with some tomato skin and seeds. I have swirled some water in the blender and poured it in the pan to get every last bit of it. Look at the sauce - it’s silky smooth.

Now place the pan back on the heat, and once it’s hot add 1 tablespoon of vegan butter to it, and a teaspoon of vegan cream - which is optional as we have added the cashew and the gravy is already creamy. Now add the tofu, and mix everything so it's completed coated with the gravy. Make sure the heat is set to low so the gravy doesn’t get stuck to the pan. Switch off the heat and I am adding some more vegan cream so it looks pretty. I am going to add some dried kasuri methi for the flavor, The Vegan Butter Tofu is ready, it’s so creamy and the blend of flavors is just perfect.

It doesn’t have a ton of spices, just a few basic ones and you will be surprised how great it tastes. I love to serve it with some plain rice or naan or chapati. It is also a great dish for special occasions, just add a few onions, sliced lemon and it’s just perfect.