Vegan Garlic Butter Chicken is just as big of a hit vegan as it was non-vegan. You’ll love how simple and flavorful this easy vegan dinner idea can be!
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Garlic and butter (vegan butter that is here) is a huge hit combination wise! They just go together so beautifully. And if you loved garlic butter chicken before being vegan, you will absolutely love this recipe as vegan garlic butter chicken.
We want to clarify before getting into this recipe that this is not butter chicken, which is a traditional Indian dish with a delicious curry. This is vegan butter with lots of garlic to make a rich and flavorful, but super simple sauce.
While traditionally, chicken breasts are used, we are going to be using soy curls for this recipe to have a great taste and texture to this dish. If you don’t have soy curls, no worries, we will share substitution ideas below as well.
What are soy curls?
Soy curls are literally just non-GMO soy beans. That is the only ingredient. It has been processed and formed into meat like pieces that are dehydrated. When ready to use them, you just rehydrate them in some form of liquid (water or stock). It is a great source of protein, zero cholesterol, and completely gluten free.
Vegan Garlic Butter Chicken INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this vegetarian Mongolian beef recipe:
- Soy curls – We are using soy curls in this recipe because of their meat like texture, but also because of their neutral flavor and ability to soak up any flavor
- Baby Potatoes – this is a sheet pan/skillet dish so we are using baby potatoes because of how fast they can cook because of their size, but also their varying colors, make the dish stand out even more.
- Vegan Butter – we need a delicious and rich vegan butter for this dish since it’s one of the key ingredients. If you need help on picking a vegan butter option, you can check out our vegan butter review.
- Garlic – again, one of our main ingredients for our sauce and what is going to add so much delicious flavor. Fresh is really best here and we do not recommend subbing for powders or jarred/bottled products.
- Vegetable Broth – we use vegetable broth in the marinade and the recipe. We encourage you to use your favorite, rich vegetable broth for this recipe.
- Seasonings – we are using a variety of seasonings both in the garlic butter sauce and in the marinade we suggest making. These have been picked and formulated to give the best taste to your dish and recommend sticking with them.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Soy curls – sub the soy for tofu, vegan chicken breasts, cauliflower, seitan, mushrooms, or any other main vegan component that you wish
- Baby Potatoes -you could do cubed russet or yukon potatoes, sweet potatoes, or add/swap other vegetables like
We don’t recommend any other substitutions for this dish.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Soy curls are the base of our dish here, but you can do the same sauce with mushrooms, chickpeas, cauliflower or broccoli, and more!
Yes! You can make this and reheat up to 3-5 days later. Let cool completely and then store in an air tight container in your refrigerator.
In order to reheat you can do for 30 seconds at a time in a microwave until desired temperature or you can place back into a skillet over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until heated throughout.
To make oil free, you would have to omit all the vegan butter and since it’s the base of the dish, we don’t recommend making this dish oil free. If you would like a garlicky dish that can be made oil free, we recommend our vegan crispy tofu in garlic sauce and follow the instructions in the post for making oil free.
WHAT ARE OTHER VEGAN DINNER IDEAS I WOULD LIKE?
If you love soy curls, then check out some of our other vegan dinner recipes with soy curls:
Looking for more? If you like the flavors of this dish, then you will also love our:
- Chickpea, cashew and broccoli dish in garlic sauce skillet.
- Vegan Kung Pao Cauliflower
- Vegan Walnut Meat Cheese Fries
- Garlic Soy Lime Tofu
- Vegan Sesame Tofu
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Vegan Garlic Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the Marinade
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth (340g)
- 2 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon sriracha, optional
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For the Dish
- ½ bag soy curls (113g)
- 1 ½ lb baby yellow potatoes, quartered (650g)
- 6 tablespoon vegan butter, divided (more to taste/saucy level desired)
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup vegetable broth (227g)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning blend*
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional, more or less to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (for the potatoes)
- In a separate large pot, add of the marinade ingredients and bring to a simmer (not boiling). Once hot, turn off heat, add soy curls and press into the marinade. Let soy curls hydrate while you proceed with recipe. DO NOT DRAIN ANY MARINADE OFF.
- Add the baby potatoes into the water once boiling and parboil for 8 minutes. Then drain. (This will accelerate cooking time in the skillet and ensure a nice golden crust on the potatoes).
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoon vegan butter. When butter is melted, add drained potatoes. Cook for about 4 minutes, stir and cook an additional 4-5 minutes until potatoes are golden brown and fork-tender, careful not to burn. Transfer potatoes to a plate and set aside.
- In the same skillet over medium heat, add oil. When hot, place the soy curls in a single layer in the skillet. Cook curls on each side for 2-4 minute each until nicely browned – adjust timing depending on how you like. Remove and set aside.
- At this point, there should be some browning left for the soy curls at the bottom of skillet. Over medium heat, carefully add vegetable stock. As it bubbles, use a spatula to scrape the bottom of the skillet. Add in remaining vegan butter, and stir to combine. Once melted, add In garlic. Cook until fragrant (about 30-60 seconds).
- Add soy curls back in, along with all-purpose seasoning, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes, if adding. Stir together. Add potatoes back in and let cook until everything is heated through. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately. Enjoy!
This was delicious. Thanks for another great recipe.
Thank you so much! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
This was so good. Thank you both for another delicious recipe—much appreciated.
You’re so welcome!
The whole family enjoyed this. A quote from the 16 year old: “soy curls aren’t bad!”
always a win when the teens don’t complain!
I made this today it turned out great. But I did add green beans, didn’t have any asparagus, and I like to see some green I’m my meals. Will definitely keep this in rotation. Thanks for sharing.
Great idea with the green beans!
Made this for dinner last night, SOOOO YUMMY! The only changes I made were using Trader Joe’s Bomba Sauce (fermented Calabrian peppers) instead of sriracha for the marinade and then just using a little bit more Italian seasoning instead of the all-purpose seasoning. Also added a tiny bit of Trader Joe’s vegan Parmesan. We ate this with a simple salad of arugula dressed with olive oil/lemon juice/nutritional yeast/salt/pepper. Amazing dinner, will be adding it to my regular rotation!!! Thanks for the recipe!
So glad that you enjoyed it Madisynn! The salad on the side sounds the perfect accompaniment
Can you guys make an ackee dish?it is Jamaican and vegan
Great idea! Will add to our list