You wanted more Indian food, so we delivered with this Chicken Saag Recipe! If you like a combination of creamy, spicy and hearty, this recipe should be on tonight’s dinner menu.
Spinach has always been one of my least favorite vegetables, but when it comes to saag, (Indian spinach) I’m all about it. This can quickly be made any night of the week using frozen spinach and some chicken thighs, but my personal favorite touch would be to swap the chicken for some lamb! Go ahead and try it tonight.
Low-Carb Indian Food is Possible
The problem with getting Indian take-out is you don’t know when and if, (and they most likely are), adding sugar to the food. It’s hard to truly be safe when eating out in general, but particularly with Indian food. Your best bet is to make it at home.
There are several recipes online you can easily tweak, but why do that when we can tweak it for you. We use a combination of sour cream and heavy cream in this recipe for a creamier texture, but feel free to swap out the sour cream and use all heavy cream in this recipe!
You Can Eat Keto Indian Food with Keto Naan
We’ve done our best to make it all possible, including coming up with our Naan recipe, so your only option isn’t boring cauliflower rice. Personally, cauliflower makes me bloated and it just doesn’t sit well in my stomach, so I prefer to use our Keto Naan when eating food or even for making sandwiches!
What makes this recipe so simple is that the only spice you may not own is turmeric, and you can easily find that in any local grocery store. Once you own it, you’ll be making Indian food every week.
Simple Chicken Saag Recipe
Not a fan of spinach, but love Indian food? Give our Keto Butter Chicken a try. It’s all the rage and will turn you into an Indian food lover if you aren’t already. If you don’t have turmeric in your pantry, it’s about time you start owning some. There are several dishes you make using just that one spice if you don’t want to splurge on all the others, such as garham masala and coriander powder.
I do my best to make recipes using as little outlandish spices as possible! With Indian food being my favorite food, believe me when I say this Chicken Saag Recipe is not the last Indian recipe you’ll see on our food blog.
Recipe can be quickly added to MyFitnessPal – Search “KetoConnect – Low Carb Chicken Saag”
Chicken Saag Recipe | Simple and Low Carb!
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Boneless/Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 4 cups Frozen Spinach
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/3 white onion, sliced
- 1 roma tomato, diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated
- 2 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt
- 1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1/4 cup sour cream
Instructions:
- Dice the chicken thighs into bite sized chunks and set aside. Dice the tomato and slice the onion into strips. Thaw and drain the spinach and set aside in a bowl
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tbsp ghee. Add the chicken to the hot skillet, cook through, and remove and set aside.
- Add the second tbsp of ghee to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the dice onions and tomatoes and cook down for 3-5 minutes until the onions are tender and the tomatoes are soggy. Add the minced garlic, and fresh ginger. Stir with a wooden spoon until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the cumin, turmeric, chili powder, allspice and salt. Combine and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Turn the heat up to medium and add the chicken, and thawed and drained spinach. Combine through coating everything entirely in the spices. Cook through for 2-3 minutes, allowing any excess water to evaporate.
- Add the heavy whipping cream and sour cream and combine with the spoon until you get a smooth smooth cooked through consistency. At this point taste for spice level and feel free to add more slat, chili powder, cumin or ginger powder in place of freshly grated ginger. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat.
- Serve immediately with our low carb naan or some cauliflower rice!
- Note: Indian dishes are all about taste testing and adjusting spice level to your liking!
- TIP: Lamb would be a great swap out for the chicken in this recipe!
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
Jenn says
I am obsessed with this recipe!! I can’t believe how filling it is, especially being so low-calorie in addition to low-carb!
Erin Lepage says
Sorry I meant to also ask if you can switch out chicken and use paneer…
Megha Barot says
Paneer would be a great swap out!
Erin Lepage says
Can you make this dairy free and use coconut milk?
Megha Barot says
Absolutely!
Nicole says
Is the tomato important for the flavor profile? I’ve never had Saag and have everything in house but the tomato. Thanks!
April says
Made this tonight with fresh spinach. Absolutely delicious.
Vanessa says
We just made this for the second time, because it tastes so so good! My boyfriend was craving saag and this hit the spot, and we’ve added it to our rotation. The only change I made was using chicken breast instead of thighs, and added a diced jalapeño and just a little more sour cream. 🙂
Art says
How many grams or onzes of fresh spinach is 4 cups?
A cup of frozen spinach is rather confusing outside the US. Onzes and lbs I can convert to grams in the blink of an eye
Matt Gaedke says
I believe it would be about 150g frozen
Maria says
Hello guys
I love your blog! And it is such a plus that you’ve added Indian dishes. I loooove Indian food! But Indian restaurants here in Copenhagen have too much starch and sugar in the food. So thanks again!
A request: Is it possible that you could add a metric converter to your recipes? Would make your recipes so much easier to follow.
Matt Gaedke says
We’re trying our best to get this added.
Vanessa says
We are using ginger paste since it’s all we have. About how much would you say is a 1/2 inch?
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
about a teaspoon
sarah says
would you have dairy free options for this recipe? i really want to try it
Megha Barot says
You can use canned coconut milk/cream!
Arlyne says
How did you get such a low carb count?? I got 6 net
Megha Barot says
Sorry about the confusion – i did do some adjustments after recalculating everything and came out with 4 nets carbs! If you want more clarification feel free to comment again. Thanks!
Naz says
Wow this was so easy and YUMMY! I’m new to the world of Keto, thanks for everything you guys do!
Mandy says
Can you use Cardamom in place of allspice? I have every spice mentioned above besides garham masala. 🙂
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
Sounds perfect!
Rachel O'Brien says
Can I use powdered ginger instead of fresh?
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
sure can
Paula says
What circumference with the ginger? I’ve got some really FAT ginger! Or how much in tsp.? You really can’t over do with ginger though,I eat it raw every day!
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
around 1/2″ we say
Leila says
The frozen spinach I can find is either a block of chopped spinach or little nuggets. What kind of frozen spinach are you using then? It’s kind of hard to figure out how much I need.
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
Block of chopped or bag is fine!
Angel says
I’m sorry, I’m still a bit confused about how much spinach I need as well. About how many ounces of frozen would you say? I’m trying to do the math and I believe a 10oz package is almost 2 cups, so would this require 2 packages of frozen spinach? I’m excited to try this recipe since it’s one of my Indian faves, but that measurement was an odd choice in cups vs. weight.
Matt Gaedke says
Honestly you can use as much as you’d like. I don’t remember exactly but I think it was about 1 bag of frozen spinach.
Susan says
Richard, all you will need to do is cook your fresh spinach FIRST, THEN measure out the 4 cups that you’ll need. (Make sure to drain the spinach after you cook it!)
May says
Can’t wait to dive into this book
Amber says
Hi, just wondering what ingredient is added to the pot in step 2? I love your recipes, keep them coming!
Megha Barot says
Just made the adjustment – chicken 🙂
Richard says
Can you use fresh spinach versus frozen?
Keto Connect (Shannon) says
Sure, but the measurements will be much different as frozen is cooked spinach.