This fall-inspired recipe for Roasted Butternut Tikka Masala can be made with chickpeas or chicken. The fragrant tomato coconut sauce is infused with Indian spices. Vegan & Gluten Free! A healthy delicious dinner recipe, perfect for fall!
This aromatic, flavorful recipe for Roasted Butternut Tikka Masala is bursting with Indian flavors. Traditionally, Tikka Masala is made with tandoori chicken, then bathed in creamy tomato curry sauce seasoned with garam masala.
In this recipe, roasted butternut is added to the mix, a nod to fall, giving it a hint of sweetness while adding extra nutrients and fiber. For vegetarians or vegans, the chicken can easily be replaced with chickpeas, tofu or paneer, which I enjoy just as well, but today I’ve made it with chicken.
The traditional heavy cream is replaced with either plain Greek yogurt or coconut milk, making for a lighter meal without sacrificing the richness that the dish needs. Serve this over fluffy basmati rice or with naan bread and enjoy the warming flavors. An added benefit to this dish, are the leftovers, which get even tastier as the ingredients have time to meld- perfect for weekday lunches during the week.
It starts with fresh ingredients. Butternut squash, ginger, garlic, Serrano chilies and roma tomatoes.
Butternut squash is peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes.
It’s tossed with olive oil, garam masala spice and salt and roasted in the oven.
It comes out tender and crispy. Roasting, rather that steaming, helps prevents the squash from falling apart in the curry, giving it a good texture. It’s actually quite good just served like this too.
If adding chicken, use thigh meat, and bake it at the same time as the butternut…with a little olive, salt, and garam masala.
While the butternut is roasting, make the sauce.
Ginger, garlic and chilies are chopped finely in a food processor.
This is browned over medium heat.
Tomato paste is added to the ginger garlic mixture, and also “browned” to give the curry depth.
Fresh roma tomatoes are added in next. Rough chop them… the sauce will eventually be blended.
Add water and spices and let this simmer on the stove for 20 minutes, then blend until it’s smooth. Whisk in yogurt and finally add the roasted butternut and chicken to the pot. To serve, place in a bowl over rice and garnish with cilantro and a dollop of plain yogurt.
Roasted Butternut Tikka Masala
This fall-inspired recipe for Roasted Butternut Tikka Masala can be made with chickpeas or chicken. The fragrant tomato coconut sauce is infused with Indian spices. Vegan & Gluten Free! A healthy delicious dinner recipe, perfect for fall!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Vegan Dinner Recipe, Vegetarian, Entree, Fall
- Method: Stove-top
- Cuisine: Indian
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed into 1 inch cubes ( about 6 cups)
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons Garam masala Spice Blend
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 lb boneless Chicken thigh cut into bite sized pieces ( optional- Substitute 2 C paneer or 2 C cooked chickpeas)
- Sauce Ingredients:
- ⅓ Cup sliced ginger
- ¼ Cup garlic ( 10 cloves)
- 2 fresh serrano chilies- cut in half lengthwise
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala (see below)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 8 roma tomatoes- rough chopped ( sauce will be blended)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ C water
- 1 Tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves ( optional)
- ¾ Cup plain yogurt ( or 1 can coconut milk, or ½ Cup Cream)
- —-
- ¼ Cup chopped cilantro for garnish
- Serve with Rice or naan bread
- Easy Garam Masala Spice Mix- see note below
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- Mix in a small bowl and store in airtight container
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl, toss butternut with 2 T oil, garam masala and salt, until evenly coated. Spread out on a parchment lined sheet pan and roast in the oven for 30 minutes.
- (If adding chicken, place cut up chicken into the same bowl. Drizzle with 1-2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon garam masala, and toss to coat. Place on another baking sheet or or baking dish, and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through. Broil for a minute or two to get deeper color.
- While butternut is roasting, make the sauce. Place sliced ginger, garlic and chiles in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven. Saute garlic ginger and chili mixture over medium heat for 7-8 minutes, stirring often, scraping up brown bits with a metal spatula. Cook until golden. Add tomato paste, and sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until color deepens. Add spices, and cook for 2 more minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, 1 ½ C water and optional fenugreek leaves. Bring to a simmer, lower heat and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. Blend the sauce in batches in a blender, covering the blender with a kitchen towel and firmly holding lid down ( to prevent an explosion). Return the blended sauce to the pot. Whisk in the yogurt ( or coconut milk or cream).
- Add the roasted butternut and cooked chicken( or chickpeas, seared tofu, or paneer) and bring to a simmer.
- Serve with rice ( or naan) , fresh cilantro and dollop of yogurt.
- Notes: If making the Easy Garam Masala, know that using whole seeds and toasting them, then grinding them, will make an even more flavorful spice blend. This is one is faster, but quite not as flavorful.
Notes
Serve over fluffy basmati rice, or with naan bread with a side of raita!
Nutrition
- Calories: 345
Keywords: Butternut Tikka Masala, Butternut Masala, Vegan tikka masala, chicken tikka masala, fall tikka masala recipe, butternut recipes
I love this dish! We substitute yukon gold potatoes and sweet potatoes for the butternut squash and add in a roasted chicken breast. This dish is also great the next day!
★★★★★
Thanks so much and so happy you liked it! 👏
I have used your recipes every single day this week. The stuffed poblano peppers are amazing, the zucchini cakes with the first zucchini of the season from our farmers market, the eggplant steaks with gremolata, and finally the tikka masala was not only easy but so easy!!! Plus my kitchen didn’t smell like ginger and spices for a week afterwards! I easily made it vegan with a macadamia nut milk creamer. I also love that your recipes are easily halved and can be made for two.
★★★★★
Thanks Kristen!