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.
I LOVED this recipe and it was so easy!!! Super tasty and great for leftovers. Will definitely be making it again!
Aww thanks so much Leah!!
I am new to vegan cooking and I, too, love Indian food but I don’t know what it means when you say “press” the tofu. Can you please help me with this step and then I would jump right in and make this recipe. Thank you!
Hi Janet no problem! You can wrap the tofu in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, then add a weighted pot or book to help press the water out of the tofu. You can keep the weight on the block of tofu for about 30 mins. The easiest method is to buy a tofu press on amazon and this does all the work. I hope this helps.
This is one of my go-to recipes whenever I have a big day of cooking. It just sits there on the side while I cook other dishes and voila! I’m not sure about the exact tofu quantities, but I just use two packs. I buy one firm and one pre-pressed. I find the mix of the two gives the meal a nice texture. The pre-pressed tofu is thicker/chewier and resembles chicken the most, whereas the firm tofu is a little softer but absorbs aaaall the flavor the best! Recent;y I’ve started using only 1 lime, as I found it a little too overpowering when I used two. So so tasty!
Thanks so much for this in depth review Miya! We’re so happy that. you like it.
So little effort for so much flavor! Family loved it, definitely making again.
Awesome! Thank you for such a nice review James, we’re happy that you liked it.
This looks amazing. Any suggestions for a non-dairy milk substitution due to multiple allergies including tree nuts & coconut? Thank you!
Hi Ruth,
Ah! Try oat milk, a nice thick and creamy one. I hope that helps!
Absolutely delicious, thank you for this great recipe!
Thank you so much Melina!
This was amazing- especially for how easy it is! I prepared everything the night before and threw it in the crock pot the next day. Meat eaters even enjoyed this meal! I substituted the rice with riced cauliflower and it was so delicious and low calorie. Definitely bookmarking this as a go-to.
Wow we’re so happy that you feel this way Jillian! Thank you so much for this really nice review.
This sounds delicious! Looking forward to trying. May I ask how hot this is? I would love to make it for guests but they don’t love ‘very spicy food’. Is it the normal mild butter chicken flavour? Thanks so much 🙂
Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much! I personally did not find this spicy at all. It is mild to me! I hope that helps!
This recipe is amazing! I made it as written and it’s definitely a staple for me now. My meat-eating husband loves it as well 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Jenny, love that!!
The recipe starts, “after the tofu is finished pressing…”. What does this mean? I think some instructions are missing?
Hi Vee Thanks so much for reading! You can press your tofu by wrapping it with a thin sheet of paper towel then placing it between two plates on the top plate you can add a heavy book, cast iron skillet or anything with weight. The function of this is to remove some of the moisture in the tofu. This causes the tofu to absorb the liquid that it’s cooking in. I hope this helps.