Ridiculously Easy & Delicious Chicken Tikka Masala

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I’m so excited to bring you another recipe post today, because this one totally fits the bill on my food philosophy.  It’s a simple recipe, full of real food ingredients, and it is LOADED with flavor!  I hate that people think that real food is boring and bland, because it’s actually the most delicious!

I whipped this up on a weekday, when things just weren’t going as planned.  Landon was a little sick and a cough was making it hard to nap, so we ended up just spending more time cuddling and less time “getting things done” during nap time.  But hey, I’m getting a little better at being okay with this.  (Read about how I’m trying to “banish busy” here.)

Anyway, all that to say, this is a great dish to whip up when you don’t have a lot of time or energy.  Yes, it takes a bit of time to cook, but you can do something else while it cooks (like, drink a glass of wine!).

This recipe is adapted from Gwenyth Paltrow’s cookbook, It’s All Easy.  I highly recommend it!  Not only is it just beautiful, but the recipes are great!  I think I’ve enjoyed every single one that I’ve made.  In fact, I served this chicken with her ginger carrot soup recipe from the same cookbook.  It made for a nice, warm, and comforting (yet still nutrient dense) Fall dinner!

This chicken would taste great served over rice as well, but right now I’m trying to (mostly) avoid grains as my thyroid hasn’t been super happy lately.  But, if you can tolerate that, make yourself a pot of Basmati rice while the chicken cooks and throw a salad together.  Or, just throw some spinach on the plate next to the chicken and call it dinner!  Whatever you do, just try this recipe!

A few notes…

• I love chicken thighs in this recipe because they are so moist!  (Plus, the fat in chicken thighs is good for you and increases satiety!  But hey, masses of people who still think saturated fat causes high cholesterol…you keep thinking that.  You’re keeping my grocery costs lower!)  All that to say, I think chicken breasts would work just fine in this recipe as well, but I would opt for thighs!
• Don’t stress if you don’t have goat’s milk kefir.  It’s what I had on hand, because I am, well, crunchy and also because I don’t tolerate dairy terribly well.  You could certainly use coconut milk (full fat, please!) or whole milk plain yogurt.
• If you don’t have garam masala or tandoori spice on hand, buy some!  I’ll see that you use it again.  Even if that just means you make this recipe a gajillion times because it is that easy and delicious.
• You don’t have to marinade the chicken.  You could just mix it all up and throw it in the pan, but if you can marinade it, please do!  I think I marinaded mine for about two hours, but I bet it would work great to even whip this up the night before and let it marinade all day.  Oh the flavor…
• Keep in mind that cooking times will vary depending on the type of pan that you use and whether or not you’re pulling the chicken cold out of the fridge or using room temperature chicken.  Check for doneness with a meat thermometer.  You want the internal temperature to reach 165 degrees.