Easy & Healthy Butter Chicken: Weight Watchers friendly & Gluten-free

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I love that my kids are learning to cook at school because they bring home lots of easy and delicious recipes that they now make for ME,  including THIS Easy Butter Chicken. I had never been the biggest fan of butter chicken, but this recipe was a game changer!

But not every recipe they’ve brought home has been such a success…..

Weight Watchers Friendly Butter Chicken

However, when I plugged the original recipe into my WW calculator and saw that it had 40 grams of fat and was 20 WW fsp points, I understood why it was sooo good; FAT MADE IT GOOD.

So…. I made it my mission to make it into a delicious Healthy Butter Chicken that was Weight Watchers friendly and brought it down to 6 WW freestyle smart points!! And this Easy & Healthy Butter Chicken recipe with Greek yogurt does not disappoint. However, I knew it was a true success when my kids said they liked my Weight Watchers butter chicken better than the original fattening version!

Cooking Independence

When my son had been bringing home recipes from school for a few years and making them with my close supervision, one day I decided to give him a bit more freedom in the kitchen and backed off a bit. He seemed to like not being micromanaged. But when it came time to taste the cookies he made, he carefully watched my reaction as I took that first bite, yearning for my “expert baker” (as he calls me) approval. And as those cookie morsels met my taste buds in that very first split second, I really wasn’t sure what to do…

Tasting time

Being a parent is hard. And every parent’s very real struggle is balancing being supportive with honesty, helping them to learn, grow, and navigate disappointment, while keeping their confidence intact and not inadvertently crushing their little spirits. Because honestly, you can never really predict how they’ll react. And just then you think you have them figured out, they go and change. And then they are teenagers….

So, as my son sat there waiting for my ‘expert baker’ cookie endorsement, I managed to muster a “Mmmm… can I see the recipe?”

Then I got him to taste it and asked if that was how it was supposed to taste (as they made it in school). He concurred that it was a bit too salty and we soon discovered that he had doubled the salt by not reading the instructions carefully enough. Although he was clearly disappointed, luckily he is pretty easy-going, even as a teenager, and took it as a lesson learned. And fortunately, many subsequent successful recipes, like this butter chicken, served to boost his culinary confidence!

Jasmine rice

I love to serve this recipe with jasmine rice because jasmine rice has a subtle floral aroma and a soft, sticky texture when cooked. It makes your house smell amazing! Jasmine rice is originally from Thailand and is commonly used in Southeast Asian cooking and is a longer grain variety of rice. You can also serve this butter chicken with basmati rice. Even though jasmine and basmati rice are often used interchangeably, there are some differences. One of the differences is that jasmine rice grains are shorter and thicker than basmati rice. You can read more about it HERE.

But when I’m trying to really keep my WW points down,  I’ll use Cauliflower Rice (and skip the oil in this recipe).

It takes a Village

I love that my kids are learning to cook with others, in addition to me. I think it takes a village to raise a cook. Whether it’s the Foods Teacher at school, their Dad, their Grandma or Aunties, cooking with others gives them a different perspective, which expands their culinary horizons. But like I said, my favorite part is that they can cook and that means not only will they be able to survive without me one day, in the meantime, they cook for me!

If you are looking for additional Weight Watchers Friendly and easy chicken recipes, give my Baked Hoisin Chicken a try!

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5 from 6 votes

Easy & Healthy Butter Chicken - Weight Watchers Friendly

This Easy & Healthy Butter Chicken does not contain butter, is gluten-free and is Weight Watchers Friendly @ only 6 Weight Watchers freestyle Smart Points! 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword butter chicken, healthy, weight watchers

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 288kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast * can substitute leftover chicken
• 2-3 tsp olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 5 oz - can tomato paste
• 3/4 cup -diced/crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups non-fat Greek yogurt
• 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk

Instructions

• Cook chicken breast on stove top until no longer pink. Cut into bite sized pieces and set aside.
• Heat oil in medium pot on medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Add minced garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato paste, then add spices and saute for 5 minutes.
• Stir in water and heat sauce over medium to high heat until sauce is thoroughly warm. 
• Reduce heat to low and whisk in Greek yogurt and condensed milk and heat until warm, whisking constantly.
• Once warm, set aside, then add chicken. 
• Serve over jasmine rice, basmati rice or cauliflower rice.

Notes

*Note: The Weight Watchers Freestyle Points calculated do not include rice

**Note: This recipe is quite spicy, so if it's too spicy, simply reduce spice amounts

 

Nutrition Facts

Easy & Healthy Butter Chicken - Weight Watchers Friendly

Amount Per Serving

Calories 288 Calories from Fat 72

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 8g 12%

Saturated Fat 2g 10%

Cholesterol 83mg 28%

Sodium 1130mg 47%

Potassium 773mg 22%

Total Carbohydrates 19g 6%

Dietary Fiber 2g 8%

Sugars 15g

Protein 35g 70%

Vitamin A 23.3%

Vitamin C 9.5%

Calcium 18.2%

Iron 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 288kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 1130mg | Potassium: 773mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 23.3% | Vitamin C: 9.5% | Calcium: 18.2% | Iron: 11%

This Recipe is part of Country Cook’s Weekend Potluck!