Too often we think that eating healthy has to mean eating bland.

Not with this savory meal!

This Indian-food-inspired paleo butter chicken dish is extra-yummy.

I slightly adapted the recipe from Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso (my most-used paleo cookbook)

It’s go time…

Ingredients For Paleo Butter Chicken:

• 2.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 red onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 6oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 can coconut milk (full fat!)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 tablespoons grassfed butter

Directions For Cooking Paleo Butter Chicken:

Cut the chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces and set aside.  (I’ve made it with breast meat instead and it was great!  Now I usually make a double batch with 2.5# breasts and 2.5# thighs)

Dice the red onion.

Use a stainless steel pot or a porcelain-covered cast iron pot.  Don’t use a bare cast iron pot because the tomato paste will lead to faster rusting.

Heat the coconut oil over medium heat and add the diced red onion.  Saute until the onion starts to become a little see-through.

Turn the heat down to low and add the minced garlic, cardamom, coriander, turmeric, and chili powder.  Stir everything together.  This is going to make your kitchen smell delicious!

(Why do I use pre-minced garlic?  I’m lazy, that’s why)

Add the tomato paste and stir well.  It is very thick at this point, but keep stirring it up.

Turn the heat up to medium and add the coconut milk (this is where you add the sea salt if you would like, I don’t).  Stir everything really well to make a sauce.

Turn the heat to low (simmer) and add the chicken pieces.  Stir well, cover, and simmer at medium-low heat for 15 minutes – until the chicken is cooked all the way through.  Lift the lid and stir every few minutes to the chicken cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the pot.

When the chicken is cooked all the way through, add the grassfed butter and stir it around until the butter melts.

And then you’re all set!

(My camera doesn’t do this dish justice, it is actually BRIGHT red-orange)

When I serve this to guests, I usually speed blanch either chard or baby kale by putting the greens in a strainer in the sink, then pouring boiling water over them until they start to wilt.  I use the blanched greens as a bed for the butter chicken.

My taste-testing crew all cleared their plates and went back for more!  Let’s call this the end of bland diet foods

If you want more delicious recipes, click the “Recipes” category on the right side of this page.  And if you want a LOT of recipes, pick up Sarah’s book for yourself (It’s much cheaper on Amazon than at the book store): Everyday Paleo