Do you love butter chicken but fear making it at home?
Please note that this review was not paid for or sponsored by any third party. I purchased this product with my own money and the opinions in this review are strictly my own. I am not affiliated with Costco or any of its suppliers. I am just a fan of the company. I write these reviews to help my fellow shoppers.
It’s Natalie from Costcuisine again! If you like Costco food reviews follow me on Instagram or Facebook and check out my blog Costcuisine where I review tons of Costco food products each week!
I hadn’t tried butter chicken up until a few years ago, but I pretty much fell in love with it right away. Still, I hadn’t dared to try making my own butter chicken at home until I purchased the KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce from Costco.
The Costco KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce comes in a two-pack. When I purchased it, it was on sale for $4.79 Canadian, which I feel is a very reasonable price. I feel that the regular price of $6.79 is still very fair. Even at full price, you can feel fairly comfortable purchasing it to see if you like it without fearing you’ll end up wasting a lot of money if you don’t.
Compared to making your own butter chicken sauce from scratch, this jar of sauce is obviously way more convenient. You basically just cook your chicken and add the sauce. That’s it. I like my butter chicken with rice, so I also made some rice to go with it (which was super easy). I can’t say it’s as convenient as the pre-made Costco butter chicken that you simply throw in the oven and heat up, but it’s pretty close. This sauce still saves a ton of time and makes a quick and easy dinner.
Some people might prefer the KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce to buying prepared butter chicken because it gives you a little bit more control over the nutritional aspect of your meal when compared with a pre-made option like the one Costco offers (or even one you might order at a restaurant). With the pre-made Costco butter chicken or a restaurant version, the nutritional information is a complete mystery, but I suspect butter chicken is generally fairly high in fat and calories. With this sauce, you can control how much you use, how much oil goes into your meal and what kind of chicken you use (breast or thigh). For ¼ cup of sauce you’re looking at 60 calories, four grams of fat, two grams of sugar and 410 milligrams of sodium. The amount of sodium is quite high, but the rest of the numbers are quite reasonable, especially if you try to use less sauce or add more chicken to your recipe to make your sauce stretch a little further.
The KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce is delicious and tastes comparable to butter chicken you get from restaurants. For those haven’t tried it, butter chicken is basically chicken coated in a tomatoey, butter cream sauce that has strong tandoori and garam masala flavors with a little bit of heat. It’s a very unique flavor. I generally find butter chicken warm and comforting, but I’ve definitely had butter chicken that wasn’t appealing due to it being too creamy, having too much tomato or not having the right mix of spices. I found that the KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce has the perfect blend of spices, with a mild to medium amount of heat. It also has just the right amount of creaminess.
My husband really enjoyed this and commented a few times how he would definitely eat this again. It was very easy to make and dinner was done in no time. I thought it tasted just as good as the restaurant versions of butter chicken I’ve had, so I agree with my husband and would purchase the KFI Butter Chicken Cooking Sauce again. I think next time I’ll try adding some veggies to my butter chicken.
Taste: 9/10
Cost: 9.5/10
Nutrition: 5/10
Convenience: 8.5/10
Do you add vegetables to your butter chicken? If so, which ones do you find work the best?
We finally tried it today. We added onion, mushrooms and chicken. It was so delicious! We accompanied with rice and naan bread. So yummy!
I buy a box (flat) of this each time it goes on sale, and it usually lasts me until the next time it goes on sale. As an alternative to chicken, I’ve make it with freshly pan cooked, broken up sole fillets mixed in. I more rarely make it with fresh cooked shrimp mixed in (cooked separately to avoid overcooking the shrimp). I’ve also pan fried cauliflower in ghee, and mixed it into the sauce (alone, or along with cooked chicken pieces) – it’s a good substitute for rice, if your eat a low glycemic index/load diet as I do. (Always cook anything you add to the sauce separately before adding, or it will mess up the taste of the dish.) I’ve tried the KFI coconut curry, but didn’t like it nearly as well as their butter chicken sauce. It’s a very versatile sauce – I hope Costco keeps carrying it!
Thanks also for your website – it’s invaluable for finding out when things are on sale. (Funny Costco made you change the website to “coco” a while back – ungrateful idiots – I’ve spent much more at the store when I’m aware of sales than I normally ever would have without your site!)
Oh yeah – if you want extra kick, add a 1/4 tsp (or more, to taste) of cayenne powder. The sauce is quite mild out of the jar.
We add cooked cauliflower -delish!
Also excellent if you add peeled hard boiled eggs. Let them simmer in the sauce and serve over Basmati rice. My fav.
We always add bell pepper, broccoli and whatever else is in the fridge. We often use spinach either in the sauce (frozen) or served over a bed of (fresh) spinach and rice, and lately have been spiralizing zucchini into it. Delicious!
I add chickpeas, cauliflower, peas and potato to mine.
Can of chickpeas cooked well until soft in the sauce and chicken in a frying pan. Sometimes we don’t even put chicken and it’s a good meatless dinner.
I pan fry paneer or chicken and then toss in the sauce.. always have some in the pantry… they had a taste tester a few years ago and have been in love with this sauce ever since! I have never tried the green jar… has anyone else?
The green jar is coconut curry and it is just as good as the butter chicken! We love both.
Does anyone know how long an open jar of the coconut curry sauce will last in the fridge? Because there is only two of us, we never use a full jar at once.
I sometimes add chickpeas, cauliflower, and quartered baby potatoes. Makes for a tasty full meal
I add cauliflower and carrots, and sometimes spinach
I love this butter chicken sauce. If Costco ever stops carrying it, I’ll be very disappointed!
It’s nice to see all the variations listed here — I’ll have to try some of them! I usually add 1 tbsp of sour cream and 2 tbsp of Mae Ploy red thai curry paste (sold at Superstore).
And of course it’s not complete without some Naan bread, which fortunately is also reasonably priced at Costco. Get them a slightly damp on top and toss in the oven at 350F until they’re no longer wet — yum!
Love this great product. We lightly saute onions, peppers, garlic and ginger then add the shrimp or chicken chunks to pan to lightly brown. Add a cup or so of chopped tomatoes, then add the jar of sauce to pan. Simmer for 10 minutes then add some whipping cream or coconut milk with a tablespoon of cornstarch and cook for a few minutes more. This extends one jar of sauce as we love it over rice. Makes a quick, flavourful meal.
I always slice up some red pepper and onion. I also rinse out the jar with a splash of milk to get it all out. I’ve recently started adding a bit of dried chillies to kick up the heat a bit more. Super yummy – especially when on sale!
My husband would love it if I added dried chillies. He loves spicy food so I think I’ll try it with red pepper and onion too. Thanks 🙂
We sautee onioins and garlic and add to the sauce. I agree, this is definitely an easy way to serve butter chicken that’s super fast and still tastes really good. When you compare with the time to make from scratch…this product tastes close enough to never make from scratch.
We also purchase the Naan bread from Superstore, which tastes better then most places we try.
I’ve had the superstore naan and agree it’s delicious!
I add a small container of whipping cream and some frozen peas. I never have found it watery. The whipping cream gives it a creamy texture with more to add over the rice. Always buy multiples when on sale.
The whipping cream idea sounds delicious. I’ll have to try it!
A great sauce and easy dinner. I add the raw chicken directly into the sauce- saves a step and reduce the fate requirement and tastes delicious! Great with homemade naan bread and coconut curried vegetables.
The coconut curried vegetables sound amazing! What’s your recipe?
I use the following recipe with a few changes-
I add:
1 1/2 c cubed sweet potatoes
1 cup broccoli or cauliflower (or both)
substitute 2 cups spinach for the kale
reduce the red curry paste to 1 Tbsp since hubby doesn’t like things too spicy
eliminate the salt
https://cookieandkate.com/2015/thai-red-curry-recipe/
Enjoy!
I love it with cauliflower and sometimes add chickpeas to extend the protein.
I was thinking cauliflower would work really well. Next time I’ll try that. Also I love chickpeas so I’ll throw some of those in too!
I just tried this last week – it was excellent!! I added onion and a can of diced tomatoes (drained a little) and I used a tiny bit of milk to rinse the last sauce from the jar. Tasted better than a restaurant!
Oh I hadn’t thought of adding tomatoes! Sounds really good!
I add diced tomatoes as well. I find the sauce just a touch spicy for our palates; the tomatoes extend the sauce a bit further and tones down the heat a bit.
The convenience and flavour of this wonderful sauce is very much appreciated. However, being health conscious, the canola oil ingredient is far from being a healthy part of one’s diet and the product is used extremely sparingly in our household
I like to have chick peas with mine. It is very tasty and convenient. If you compare cost to grocery store it is a deal even if not on sale.
We use onions and peppers as well. We keep it vegetarian by using paneer cut into cubes instead of chicken.
I use paneer at home too!
I’m going to have to try using paneer! I usually don’t use it at home and mainly eat it out but I’ll try it with this!
I like to add roasted peppers and onions
Going to try this!
I only add fairly large pieces of white onion with my chicken which I quickly brown in a pan. This sauce is perfect for the slower cooker!
The sauce is meant to be on the thicker side so I fear adding most other veggies would thin it down.
It’s good with pork tenderloin too!
Costco naan and some steamed brocolli.. yum!
I always buy when on sales
We Sautee garlic with minced ginger, a tablespoon of each, and then we cook our chicken with the sauce. Try it next time, it just adds an extra bit of home made flavors that really make an already delicious sauce even better…we serve it with steamed broccoli.
I’ll definitely try this. I love ginger and my husband is a garlic fanatic.