Lemon Butter Garlic Chicken is a one-pan, low-carb, easy-to-make, finger-licking-good chicken dish made with basic ingredients from your kitchen for lunch and dinner. Garlic Chicken is one of the best chicken recipes for your weight loss diet.
Keto chicken recipe
Keto Garlic Chicken, or Lehsuni Murgh, is a one-pan, simple, fuss-free chicken recipe under 500 calories, ready in 30 minutes. Because it's a one-pan recipe, cleanup is easy, making it a perfect dish for your weeknight dinner.
This chicken recipe is not only good for weight loss; it is also so tasty and quick to prepare that you can add it to your weekly dinner rotation. And if you have vegetarians in your family, replace chicken with paneer and make the same recipe.
While you are here, also check out our keto weight loss omelet recipe.
Ingredients
For the chicken marination: chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces, lemon juice, red chile powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
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For lemon butter garlic chicken: butter, garlic, onion, chilies, lemon juice, curry powder, cilantro, and cashew paste.
Check out the recipe card for the full list of ingredients.
Keto chicken recipe
- In a bowl, add chicken thighs, lemon juice, red chile powder, turmeric powder, and salt, and mix; marinate this for 30 minutes.
- Heat butter in a pan. To this, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Next, add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add green chilies halfway through while sauteing onions.
- Add the marinated chicken, spread it across the pan, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for another 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through.
- To this, add lemon juice, garam masala, cashew paste, and coriander leaves and mix well.
- Now add approx ¼ cup of water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Keto Garlic Butter Chicken is ready. Serve and enjoy.
Tips and Substitutes
- For smooth cashew paste, soak about 10 to 12 cashews in water for 30 minutes and then grind to a smooth paste.
- If desired, you can use curry powder or tandoori masala powder instead of garam masala powder.
- Adjust the number of green chilies or jalapenos to taste.
- You can add veggies like spinach, asparagus, capsicum or red bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, or any seasonal veggies of your choice to make it nutritious and filling.
- To make it dairy-free, use oil instead of butter in the recipe.
Serving suggestions
You can serve it on its own, with cucumber and carrots on the side. Try it with our creamy cucumber salad, apple coleslaw.
You can also serve it with zucchini noodles (or zoodles) or cauliflower rice. If you want to add carbs and make your meal non-keto, you can serve Keto Garlic Chicken with Indian breads like chapati, naan, or roti, or simply with steamed rice or Ghee Rice
FAQs
Use any protein, such as paneer, steak, shrimp, or chicken breast, instead of chicken thighs if desired.
Yes, you can use heavy whipping cream instead of cashew paste in the recipe.
Chicken is low in carbs and high in protein. For the keto diet, I highly recommend chicken thighs or chicken legs, as these are high in fat. Chicken breasts can also be used to make this recipe.
Marination helps tenderize and flavor the chicken. If you are short of time, you can skip the marination step.
Alternatively, you can marinate the chicken well in advance and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours. When you return home from a busy day at work, you have perfectly marinated chicken waiting for you.
More similar chicken recipes
Recipe card
Lemon Butter Garlic Chicken | Keto Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Pan or Skillet
Ingredients
Chicken Marination
- 400 g Chicken Thighs
- 1 Lemon freshly squeezed juice
- ½ to 1 teaspoon Red Chilie Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Lemon butter garlic chicken
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 20 g Garlic finely chopped ( 6 to 8 cloves)
- 100 g Onion finely chopped (1 large)
- 1 to 2 Green chilies ( or ½ Jalapeno), for heat
- ½ Lemon freshly squeezed juice
- ½ to 1 teaspoon Garam masala curry powder
- 20 g Cashews ground to paste using 3 tablespoon water (10 to 12)
- 10 g Cilantro or Coriander leaves finely chopped ( 1 to 2 tbsp)
Instructions
- In a bowl, add chicken thighs, lemon juice, red chile powder, turmeric powder, and salt, and mix; marinate this for 30 minutes.400 g Chicken Thighs, 1 Lemon, ½ to 1 tsp Red Chilie Powder, ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder, 1 tsp Salt
- Heat butter in a pan. To this, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute.1 tbsp Butter, 20 g Garlic
- Next, add the onion and saute until translucent for 6 to 8 minutes. Add green chilies halfway through while sauteing onions.1 to 2 Green chilies, 100 g Onion
- To this, add lemon juice, garam masala, cashew paste, and coriander leaves and mix well.½ Lemon, ½ to 1 tsp Garam masala, 20 g Cashews, 10 g Cilantro or Coriander leaves
- Now add approx ¼ cup of hot water and cook for 5 minutes.
- Keto Chicken Recipe for your meal is ready. Serve and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- For smooth cashew paste, soak about 10 to 12 cashews in water for 30 minutes and then grind to a smooth paste.
- If desired, you can use curry powder or tandoori masala powder instead of garam masala powder.
- Adjust the number of green chilies or jalapenos to taste. Adding is optional.
- You can add veggies like spinach, asparagus, capsicum or red bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, or any seasonal veggies of your choice to make it nutritious and filling.
- To make it dairy free, use oil instead of butter in the recipe.
Nutrition
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Note: We originally posted this keto garlic chicken recipe in October 2022. It has now been modified in May 2026 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, etc.
Kelley says
This was so good and full of flavor!
Savita says
This turned out really good, loved the recipe totally!!
nancy says
super delicious Keto garlic chicken ! Easy to make and everyone loves it
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
Thank you so much! The flavors are perfect and I can’t wait to try this recipe!