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Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala

★★★★★★★★★★
4.3 stars, average of 106 ratings

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This vegan and keto Cauliflower Tikka Masala is a great meat free option for Meatless Monday’s or whenever you’re filling something lighter. The low carb tikka masala sauce is packed full of flavor from cumin, ginger, garam masala, and other delicious aromatics. Typically, I would serve this with some cucumber raita, sliced cucumber, and charred onions for a complete meal.

Hands-on Overall

Allergy information for Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala

✔  Gluten free
✔  Dairy free
✔  Nut free
✔  Pork free
✔  Avocado free
✔  Fish free
✔  Shellfish free
✔  Beef free
Pescatarian
Vegetarian
Vegan

Nutritional values (per serving)

Net carbs8.9 grams
Protein4.7 grams
Fat21.2 grams
Calories248 kcal
Calories from carbs 14%, protein 8%, fat 78%
Total carbs14.5 gramsFiber5.6 gramsSugars5.3 gramsSaturated fat13.7 gramsSodium298 mg(13% RDA)Magnesium43 mg(11% RDA)Potassium716 mg(36% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 5 servings)

Cauliflower Ingredients:
  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets (640 g/ 1.4 lb)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
Sauce Ingredients:
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter or virgin coconut oil (58 g/ 2 oz)
  • 1/2 white onion, diced (95 g/ 3.4 oz)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger (6 g/ 0.2 oz)
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (360 g/ 12.7 oz)
  • 1/2 cup water (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream or heavy whipping cream (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 220 °C/ 425 °F (conventional), or 200 °C/ 400 °F (fan assisted). Toss the cauliflower florets in a large bowl with the oil and spices. Arrange onto a foil lined baking sheet, bake for 30 minutes until tender. Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala
  2. When the cauliflower has 15 minutes left start on the sauce. Heat the butter in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add in the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until the onion starts to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala
  3. Add in the spices and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in the tomatoes, water, and cream. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
    Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala
  4. Once the cauliflower is done add it to the skillet with the cilantro. Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala
  5. Toss to combine and serve. Vegetarian Keto Tikka Masala

Vegetarian Tikka Masala
Step by Step

★★★★★★★★★★
4.3 stars, average of 106 ratings
Vegetarian Tikka Masala
This tasty aromatic Indian classic can be made in just half an hour. High in healthy fats and low in carbs, it's the perfect keto, paleo & vegan dish!
Hands on20m
Overall35m
Servings5
Calories248 kcal
Pin it

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets (640 g/ 1.4 lb)
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter or virgin coconut oil (58 g/ 2 oz)
  • 1/2 white onion, diced (95 g/ 3.4 oz)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp minced ginger (6 g/ 0.2 oz)
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes (360 g/ 12.7 oz)
  • 1/2 cup water (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
  • 1/2 cup coconut cream or heavy whipping cream (120 ml/ 4 fl oz)
  • 1/4 cup minced cilantro

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 220 °C/ 425 °F (conventional), or 200 °C/ 400 °F (fan assisted). Toss the cauliflower florets in a large bowl with the oil and spices. Arrange onto a foil lined baking sheet, bake for 30 minutes until tender.
  2. When the cauliflower has 15 minutes left start on the sauce. Heat the butter in a large deep skillet over medium high heat. Add in the onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until the onion starts to caramelize, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add in the spices and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Pour in the tomatoes, water, and cream. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
  4. Once the cauliflower is done add it to the skillet with the cilantro.
  5. Toss to combine and serve.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories248kcal
Net Carbs8.9g
Carbohydrates14.5g
Protein4.7g
Fat21.2g
Saturated Fat13.7g
Fiber5.6g
Sugar5.3g
Sodium298mg
Magnesium43mg
Potassium716mg

Detailed nutritional breakdown (per serving)

Net carbsProteinFatCalories
Total per serving
8.9 g4.7 g21.2 g248 kcal
Cauliflower, fresh
3.8 g2.5 g0.4 g32 kcal
Cumin, ground
0.1 g0.1 g0.1 g1 kcal
Garam masala, spice mix
0.1 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Pepper, cayenne, spices
0.1 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Olive oil, extra virgin
0 g0 g2.7 g24 kcal
Butter, unsalted, grass-fed
0 g0.1 g9.2 g81 kcal
Onion, white, fresh
1.5 g0.2 g0 g8 kcal
Garlic, fresh
0.4 g0.1 g0 g2 kcal
Ginger root, fresh
0.2 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Garam masala, spice mix
0.3 g0.1 g0.1 g3 kcal
Paprika, spices
0.1 g0.1 g0.1 g2 kcal
Cumin, ground
0.1 g0.1 g0.1 g1 kcal
Pepper, cayenne, spices
0.1 g0 g0 g1 kcal
Salt, pink Himalayan rock salt
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Tomatoes, canned (unsweetened)
1.1 g0.6 g0.2 g12 kcal
Water, still
0 g0 g0 g0 kcal
Coconut cream, creamed coconut milk (organic, unsweetened)
1.1 g0.9 g8.3 g79 kcal
Coriander (cilantro), fresh
0 g0.1 g0 g1 kcal

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Lauren Lester
Creator of Healthful Creative

Lauren Lester

Lauren is a food photographer, recipe developer, and author.

She is the founder of the creative content agency, Healthful Creative. HC specializes in helping food centered brands share their story through recipe development + food photography.

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Comments (18)

Hi & thanks so much for this recipe! I was wondering if it works with frozen cawliflower. Thanks for letting me know.

Hi Andrea, I think you can use frozen (defrosted) cauliflower too, it should work the same way although it may not need as much cooking.

This was delicious and really easy to make  and definitely compares in flavors to a good restaurant dish! I subbed the cauliflower with paneer and had it with cumin cauliflower rice and stir fried beans with garlic. Keto Indian lunch - success!!

Thank you for sharing this Archie, I'm glad you enjoyed!

Easy and absolutely delicious! My son (who hates veggies) was licking his plate! Thank you.

Thank you so much Jeri!

YUMM! Made the whole house smell so good. If I had to describe it in one sentence...It has spice, its nice and everything right.  Its like comfort food. Great replacement for mac and cheese. Thanks you for this great recipe!!

Thank you so much, I'm happy you enjoyed!

I was very disappointed that this recipe would not print. I clicked on print and it would not. I tried downloading it hoping to print from there, but it would not. I tried copying the text and placing it on a Word doc trying to be able to print from there. That did not work either. I give up...

Hi Patty, I've seen someone else mentioning it but I can't figure out why this happens. It seems to be very rare. Are you trying to print it using the buttons on the website or the print icon in the KetoDiet App?
On the website one button is for 'Print' and one for 'Download Recipe' which saves it on your device as PDF).
I've tried it on 4 different devices and 3 different browsers and didn't have any issues with the printing. Could you please send me a screenshot at martina[at]ketodietapp[dot]com? Thank you!

This is now my favourite dinner. Gotta tweak the spices a bit, but it's fabulous as is already! So simple, yummy and satisfying. I used heavy cream, skipped the cilantro and put the ginger in as a large piece, then discarding it. Also added curcuma. Can't wait to cook it again 😊

Thank you Claudia, I'm glad you enjoyed!

I noticed that blue dragon Coconut Cream only has 21g fat per 100g  whereas coconut oil (used in this recipe) is 99g of fag per 100g and still very low carb.
Do you think I could use the coconut cream instead of coconut oil to reduce the calories a bit?
Thanks 😊

Hi Kath, you need the oil to cook the aromatics. You could reduce it by half but I would not substitute it.

I just made this today. Easy and delicious! This one will be made at my house again and again. Thank you for your excellent instructions that make it possible even for a beginner to get delicious results!!

I've tried this recipe and it's awesome. I love it and so does my husband. Thank you.

Marvelous tasty tikka Massala!  Good with quinoa and a chiffonade of black kale sprinkled with dry roasted garlic chips!

This is brilliant! It would never have occurred to me to even attempt a vegan, low carb version of one of my all time favs. Thank you!