Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken (Vegan)
This Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken is even better than takeout! Incredibly rich in flavour and all one pot, this is great for meal prep all week long!
You guys may or may not know this but Indian food is my favourite cuisine. For almost every celebration we go out for Indian food, and I’ve officially lost track of how many times we’ve ordered Indian food in. As much as I love Indian food takeout, I love challenging myself to recreate my favourite dishes at home. That way I can enjoy them whenever (at a fraction of the cost) and you guys can too! This Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken was definitely inspired by that notion. Let me tell you friends – it TASTES like takeout that the chef made personally for you at home. Spoiler alert: it’s a winner.
Seriously, this Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken was probably the easiest meal we have made for the year so far. It’s also been one of the best meals I’ve had for the year so far. I was a bit skeptical since I didn’t pre-marinate the tofu, but I am so happy to say that the flavours truly do season the tofu and seep deep into it too. It tastes like it was marinating for 24 hours first! The sauce is incredibly creamy, rich in flavour, and so delicious. Also, I know many of you are still experiencing snow, so I can comfort that not only is this comforting and delicious, it is also heart-warming and perfect for all types of weather.
I discovered something while making this. I love my slow cooker and I definitely don’t use it enough. I’m about to tell you why, and how this post solved that problem.
Fun fact: I’m excited to partner with Reynolds Kitchens for this post! If you’re like me, you’ve probably been using Reynolds Kitchens in your house for forever. My mom would stock up on their aluminium foil paper as well as their parchment paper.
I was really excited to get to use their Slow Cooker Liners for this post. Their Slow Cooker Liners do exactly what they sound like – they line the slow cooker first, then you proceed as usual. I love these for a couple of reasons. Number one – it’s BPA-free! Secondly, I was so excited to have my slow cooker clean in literally 8 seconds! While my slow cooker is brand new, if you have an older slow cooker (like I did) then you know the struggles of food sticking to your slow cooker. You know what it’s like to have to soak your slow cooker overnight. Not fun, right?Also, you probably know that feeling of by the time you finish cleaning it, you don’t want to go through that all over again even though slow cooker meals are so handy!
That’s where the Slow Cooker Liners step in. This truly makes cleanup a breeze. Like, I wish I could apply that 8 second cleanup to everything else in life! After cooking, we put our food into our Tupperware containers, we pulled the slow cooker liner out and bam – that was it! I mean, I knew it would be easy, but it was also such a delight to do.
The Slow Cooker Liners also come in two different sizes, so whether you have a 1-3 QT or a 3-8QT slow cooker, you can grab the right size for you.
All the reasons for you to love this Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken:
- It’s slow cooker so very easy to prepare (while the tofu is prepping, just prep the ingredients!)
- Perfect for warming up in freezing cold weather
- Works all year round too
- Incredibly easy to make – no pre-cooking
- It’s a one pot
- The flavour beautifully seeps into the tofu
- Tastes even better the next day
- It freezes beautifully.
- It serves 6-8 people one time! Hello leftover heaven!
Your Questions Answered (FAQ)
Can I freeze this Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken?
Yes you can freeze this! It thaws beautifully in the fridge overnight, then reheated on the stove top even in the microwave.
How long will this last in the fridge?
This dish should last about a week in your fridge!
I’m looking forward to having this for dinner over and over again until it finishes. I hope you not only give it a try, but grab a package of Reynolds Kitchens Slow Cooker liners for it too! Eat up and enjoy friends!
P.S. if you love Indian recipes you will also love my Coconut Chickpea Curry and my Aloo Gobi Masala.
Slow Cooker Tofu Butter Chicken (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ tablespoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 red onion, diced (135g)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 14 oz each cans of coconut milk (28 ounces total)
- 12 ounces tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek, optional
- 2 1lb blocks firm tofu, pressed for 30 minutes* (2 lbs in total)
- 2 teaspoons coconut sugar, or brown sugar optional
- juice of two limes
Instructions
- After the tofu is finished pressing, cut the pressed tofu into cubes, or tear into cube size pieces for extra texture.
- Turn your slow cooker on and to warm. Line your slow cooker with one Reynolds Kitchens Slow Cooker Liner according to the box's directions.
- Into the Reynolds Kitchens Slow Cooker Liner, add all of the ingredients into the slow cooker except the tofu, coconut sugar and the lime.
- Whisk and mix together the ingredients and incorporate until the tomato paste is almost or completely mixed into the sauce.
- Add in the tofu, and stir gently, incorporating completely.
- Set the slow cooker to high for 3 to 4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours (for high, monitor the last 30 minutes and for low, monitor the last hour). At the end, stir in the lime juice and the coconut sugar. While the coconut sugar is optional, I found that it helped to really bring out some hidden flavours!
- Serve alongside naan bread and basmati rice and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Phenomenal! My husband absolutely loved this. I made it for the second time today and I had to double the batch.
Excellent!!Bursting with flavor. I substitute chickpeas for tofu and use unsweetened almond milk with 1/4 – 1/2 tsp of coconut extract in place of the coconut milk that I never seem to have on hand. This has become one of my favorite dishes. I also put this on top of basmati or jasmine rice with some steamed broccoli.
Its now one of my favorite recipe. Its quick to make and sooooo tasteful. We added some mushroom for a bit of veggies and it was perfect!
Can the coconut be subbed for other lower fat non daily milks?y
Hi Michelle,
Yes! Any kind you want. It won’t be as rich but will definitely work.
Hi Jessica,
I tried your receipt in my new crockpot today and it is so unbelievably delicious. I have never had a better dish with tofu. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Awesome we’re so happy you enjoyed it Dee! Thanks so much for reading!
This was out of this world! I used what I had and did half tofu half chickpeas. I also didn’t have enough tomato paste so I cooked down some canned tomatoes. I added spinach and subbed yellow onion for red onion. It’s so incredible. I also used an InstaPot and cooked it at high pressure for 18 min. This will definitely be a staple from now on! Delicious – THANK YOU!!!
We’re so happy that you enjoyed this recipe Rachel! Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
Fantastic! I am a newbie to cooking with tofu, and this was the first recipe I’ve found that I really liked! I am definitely going to keep this one in my dinner rotation. Thank you!!!
Awesome we’re so happy to hear this Lindsay! Thanks so much for reading!
Very excited to have found this recipe. Would it be possible to convert to use the slow cooker function on an Instant Pot? We don’t own a slow cooker, and I haven’t used the Instant Pot slow cooker function yet…still learning how to use it.
Hi Richard I haven’t tried this but it should work. We’re happy that you’re happy about. Thanks so much for reading!
This was delicious! Our entire family enjoyed it and our 5yo is a picky eater. The only alteration I made was to add less chilli powder than the recipe calls for. (Which my kids appreciated.) We will definitely make this again and again and again!
Aww yay – I’m so happy to hear this!! Thanks for sharing with me!!
My Friend and i cook for each other once a fortnight.as a non vegan, i’m always worried i will make a vegan meal my friend wont like. This dish is absolutely divine!, i cant stop ” testing ” it
i can honestly say i will be making this dish above any other variation in future. Thank you for sharing it with us.
You’re so welcome Helen! We’re so happy that you and your friend enjoy it so much.