Vegan Creamy Coconut Lime Chicken
As a vegetarian, tofu is one of my main sources of protein. But I like to try new things from time to time and I ended up buying Tofurky plant-based chick’n. I haven’t eaten meat for over ten years now so my memory of it might be a bit blurry but I would say it’s pretty close to real chicken when it comes to the look and texture. Taste is really good too, I chose the lightly seasoned chick’n because this dish is already full of flavors.
If you don’t want to use meat-like products, you can substitute the chick’n with tofu or tempeh. I would proceed the same way with tofu but, for the tempeh, I would simply grill it and not cook it in the sauce.
I served this dish with a coconut rice – using the rest of the coconut cream can I opened to make the sauce. You can also serve it with noodles or pasta. I think it would go better with thicker noodles or bigger pasta since the sauce is very creamy.
I first fried the plant based chicken in the pot with olive oil. You really want to stir very often because it tends to stick to the bottom. Once browned, set aside on a plate and use the same pot to make the sauce. This way, you’ll be able to enhance the flavors when deglazing. I used water to deglaze but you can use wine or some vegetable stock.
The recipe is very easy to follow and pretty quick, enjoy!
Vegan coconut lime chicken
Ingredients
- 1 package plant based chicken I used Tofurky lightly seasoned chick'n – 227g
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¾ cup red onion diced
- 1 carrot ½ inch slices
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ cup vegetable stock ½ cube dissolved in ½ cup water
- ½ tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp chili sauce
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ½ 14 oz can coconut cream
- 1½ tbsp lime juice
- ¼ cup soy cream
- spring onion to sprinkle – optional
- paprika to sprinkle – optional
Instructions
- In a pot, heat up ½ tbsp olive oil and fry the chicken for a couple of minutes on medium heat. Set aside on a plate.
- Pour ½ tbsp olive oil in the same pot and cook the garlic and onion for two minutes. Deglaze with ¼ cup water.
- When the water is evaporated, add the chili sauce and turmeric, cook for one minute, stirring constantly.Reduce the heat to low-medium.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cornstarch with the vegetable stock and pour in the pot while stirring. Simmer until it thickens, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the coconut cream and the carrots and simmer for a few more minutes.
- Pour in the lime juice, soy cream and fried chicken, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Serve with rice, noodles or pasta.You can keep in the fridge for 5 days or freeze for a few months.
