This tender and juicy low FODMAP tandoori chicken is an easy low FODMAP chicken recipe filled with all kinds of Indian-inspired flavors! Either marinate and grill the chicken for a more traditional option or cook in the slow cooker for a convenient shredded alternative.
Low FODMAP Tandoori Chicken
If you’re not familiar, tandoori chicken is a popular Indian dish filled with all kinds of flavor from spices like coriander, cumin, ginger, and more. At many Indian restaurants, at least here in the US, you’ll easily spot the tandoori chicken, as it’s typically bright red-orange in color (from added food coloring).
This recipe is really easy to make. You just mix the marinade ingredients (a lot of which you might already have on hand), add chicken, marinate, and then grill. To make it even more simple you can even mix everything in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, seal it, place it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook. Easy peasy!
Recipes for tandoori chicken usually call for yogurt as a base marinade ingredient. So, to make it a little bit more FODMAP-friendly (and dairy-free for folks like me), I’ve swapped out the yogurt for canned coconut milk instead. The coconut milk adds a nice creaminess to the marinade and also helps keep the chicken really tender. Serving this chicken with lime wedges also helps add some tang which the yogurt also typically adds. It’s delish!
Now, as I mentioned before, tandoori chicken is commonly served as a bright red-orange dish. You’re welcome to add food coloring to the marinade if you’d like to achieve that color, but for my low FODMAP chicken tandoori, I’ve opted for the more natural yellow-orange hue from antioxidant-packed turmeric.
Serving Suggestions:
Typically tandoori chicken is served with rice and an Indian flatbread called naan. As many types of rice are low FODMAP, rice would be a great side dish to have with this low FODMAP tandoori chicken.
Basmati, white, brown, and red rice are all low FODMAP in 1 cup servings. If you have an Instant Pot, try making my Instant Pot Low FODMAP Basmati Rice. 🙂
Naan, however, is usually made with wheat flour and yogurt. So unless you can find a FODMAP-friendly option (and if you do, please let me know!), it’s best to avoid naan while low FODMAP-ing.
I typically also serve this with a side of FODMAP-friendly veggies. My personal favorites are broccoli (low FODMAP in ¾ cup servings), carrots, and red bell pepper.
Low FODMAP Tandoori Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 8 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
- Diet: Low Lactose
Description
This tender and juicy low FODMAP tandoori chicken is an easy low FODMAP chicken recipe filled with all kinds of Indian-inspired flavors! Either marinate & grill for a more traditional version, or cook in the slow cooker for a convenient shredded option.
Ingredients
- ½ cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt (save until the end, if using slow cooker instructions)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
- 1 to 1.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
Instructions
Marinate & Grill Option
- In a medium bowl (with a lid) whisk together coconut milk, oil, paprika, salt, coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric, and optional cayenne pepper.
- Add chicken and stir until the chicken is well-coated with marinade. Marinate for at least 1 hour, but ideally 8 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat grill or oven broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard any remaining marinade. Grill (or broil) the chicken until cooked. Chicken is fully cooked when a food thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 165°F.
- Serve chicken warm.
Slow Cooker Instructions (Shredded Chicken Option)
- Place coconut milk, oil, paprika, coriander, cumin, ginger, turmeric, and optional cayenne in a slow cooker. Whisk to mix.
- Add chicken. Stir until chicken is evenly coated with sauce. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until the chicken easily shreds.
- Once cooked, use two forks to shred chicken into the remaining liquid. Add seasoning to taste. I use less salt for this method, about ½ teaspoon.
- Serve chicken warm.
Notes
By ingredients, one serving of this recipe is low FODMAP. Please refer to the Monash FODMAP app for more information about low FODMAP serving sizes of ingredients.
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: Indian-Inspired
Keywords: low FODMAP chicken, chicken, grilled, marinade, summer, dairy-free
Laura says
Hi! I don’t have grill access – can this be baked in the oven?
Sara says
Cant wait to try this! It looks sooo delish. I’m thinking of making paleo naan with this — I found it on the Lovely Culinary blog and made it once and it’s a great alternative! (:
Em Schwartz, MS, RDN says
Nice! Thanks for the recommendation, Sara!
Debra says
What a fantastic recipe. I opted not to use the cayenne pepper and it was plenty spicy. My coconut milk was Chao Thai Coconut Cream Powder which I always have on hand (purchase through Amazon). I used chicken breast strips and allowed it to marinate overnight. The chicken was extremely moist and tender, packed a flavor punch, and my body is happy. Served with jasmine rice and small helping of sweet potatoes. I plan on using the spice mix as a substitute for garlic powder. It’s really extraordinary. Thanks!
★★★★★
Em Schwartz, MS, RDN says
Thank YOU, Debra! I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with this recipe. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Eryn says
OMG – made this tonight and used fresh ginger because that is what I had on hand and it is SO freaking good! Tastes like butter chicken. I had to force myself to stop eating it haha!
★★★★★
Em Schwartz, MS, RDN says
Thanks, Eryn! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Marlene says
OMG! This is so incredibly delicious. Who knew Low FodMap recipes could be so flavourful!
Thank You for sharing.. this will become a regular on my menu.
★★★★★
Emiliana says
Hi thanks for this great recipe. Do you think you can freeze the chicken in the marinade?
★★★★★
Emily says
Hi Emiliana! Great question! I am 99% positive it will work, but I haven’t tried it yet. It’s on my list of things to test. 🙂
Ilene says
We grilled this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I marinated the chicken overnight and it came out so flavorful. I will definitely be making this again.
Emily says
Glad you enjoyed it, Ilene! Thanks for sharing!
Dalin Rowell says
Hi there – I’m currently doing a low FODMAP diet for my IBS, and this was the first thing I decided to cook! The only question I have is that I’ve seen that coconut milk on the Monash app (at least with inulin) is considered a no no for the diet, do you have a specific kind of coconut milk you suggest?
Emily says
Hi Dalin, I use canned coconut milk which has a low FODMAP serving on the Monash app. It was mentioned in the narrative above the recipe, but I see I forgot to include that clarifying detail in the recipe itself. It’s now updated. Thanks! And, I hope you enjoy it.
Misty says
I had this last night and it was so hard to not go back for seconds. This is going into my regular rotation.
Served it with basmati rice and sautéed Swiss chard/grape tomatoes. So. Good.
★★★★★
Emily says
Yay! I’m so glad you loved this, Misty! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Jane Mulloy says
Cooked this last night and served it with vegies. Easy to make and very tasty. Will definitely have again. Thank you Emily.
★★★★★
Emily says
Thanks for sharing, Jane! Glad you enjoyed it!!
Lys says
This recipe is truly delicious! I’ve made it a few times in the crockpot and the chicken is sooo tender and packed with flavours. It’s a life saver on the low FODMAP diet!!!! Thank you 😊
★★★★★
Em Schwartz, MS, RDN says
Thanks for taking the time to share, Lys! I’ve done similar types of recipes in the crockpot, but not this one yet. I will have to try it out. Thanks for the great idea! -Em