Chicken Curry Clafouti
Almond flour and coconut flour can be perfect substitutes for traditional flour in many Primal baked goods, but they don’t always provide a texture that is as light and airy as we want. This is why we were so pleased when Katie Hudgens sent us a recipe for baked clafouti that eliminates flour entirely. Her Chicken Curry Clafouti bakes up into a rich, savory pastry with a texture that’s so smooth and buttery it made us wonder why we ever thought clafouti needed flour in the first place.
A clafouti is a French pastry with a texture somewhere between cake and custard. It’s usually served as a dessert, and Katie often makes it this way herself by adding mixed berries to the batter. As good as this sounds, don’t let the temptation of berry clafouti dissuade you from trying Katie’s savory version, Chicken Curry Clafouti. A simple batter of eggs, butter and coconut milk (or whole cream) bakes into a flourless, sugarless pastry that’s more like a quiche than a cake. It does retain a pastry-like quality, however, in the puffy, light-as-air crust and in the sinfully buttery texture. The butter and coconut milk also lend a slightly sweet flavor that is the perfect backdrop for spicy curry powder. A generous amount of chicken adds to the ample amount of protein already in this savory, eggy custard that can be enjoyed any time of day. Make it for dinner and eat the leftovers for breakfast, or pack it up for lunch or an afternoon snack. Whenever you eat it, we think you’ll find it as surprisingly delicious as we did.
Now that we have this flourless clafouti recipe down, Katie has inspired us to experiment with all the tasty combinations we can think of. Salmon and dill? Ground bison and basil? Numerous combinations abound. With a little experimentation, you die-hard pizza lovers might even be able to turn this clafouti into the perfect pizza crust. We haven’t tried it ourselves but can imagine adding sausage to the batter and then in the last 15 minutes of baking, spreading tomato sauce, sautéed veggies and a little cheese over the middle of the clafouti. If you try this, let us know how it turns out.
Before you go wild with variations, however, Katie’s recipe for Chicken Curry Clafouti is the first one you should try. Mainly because it’s so dang good, and secondly, because tinkering with baking is always easier once you’ve mastered the original recipe. But any way you slice it, this clafouti is an easy way to satisfy any sweet, or savory, cravings and is sure to be a favorite of kids and adults.
Ingredients:
- 6 eggs
- 6 tablespoons melted butter cooled to room temp. + 1 pat for greasing pan
- 3/4 cup cream, half & half or coconut milk
- 4 cups cooked, chopped chicken
- 2 tablespoons curry spice, or to taste
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Butter a 10” round or 13×9” baking dish.
Whisk together eggs, butter & cream until frothy.
Mix in chicken and spices and pour into baking dish.
Bake about 45 minutes or until top is golden brown and puffy.
Grab The Primal Blueprint Cookbook Today and Receive Free S&H and a Free Primal Blueprint Poster
Posted By: Worker Bee
(
Oh my this looks so good. I think I’ll make it tonight.
Made this today for a late lunch and found it very easy to put it all together. The smells were wonderful and it was getting difficult to wait for it to finish cooking when one is so hungry. But it was worth the wait, very ‘yummy’ and enjoyed it very much. Next time I will be a little creative with the recipe………….Thank you for sharing!!
I will have to try this sometime,looks really tasty!
OH MAN this looks incredible. Can I sub something for the butter? Like bacon fat?
You should try grape seed oil as a butter substitute. Not sure on how much you should use, but it has a mild flavor and acts a lot like butter in baking.
Love anything with eggs in it, and this looks and sounds fantastic.
This looks FANTASTIC. Love that it can even win over the hardcore Primal and Paleo crowd since it doesn’t have anything remotely flour-like in it. This is SO getting made this week.
Yessssssssss I can’t wait to eat this!
I was about to give up on chicken entirely as I just couldn’t find anything that I liked about it. This could be a cure. And I had been noticing lately when making a frittata that it will sometimes puff up like a souffle and get crusty at the edges… this could be the ticket.
This seriously looks yum!
I can not wait to try this! As soon as I find myself some grass-fed raw butter this will be put in the oven
THIS looks so easy to make! What could be better than a super-fast, primal way to use up your leftover roast chicken?
making this 2nite!
Mmmmmmmm
Made it for lunch as soon as I saw it. Mine got done in about 35 minutes instead of 45. It’s as good as it looks, but I recommend that you keep an eye on it after about 30 minutes cooking time.
mine in a 9X13 pan was done in 25 minutes.
Mmmm, perfect timing! Just had a chicken for lunch and didn’t know what to do with the leftovers
Yummy. I love anything w/ eggs! Thanks for the tips.
Wow, so delicious and simple!
I’m going straight for the berries!
Just got my Primal Cook Book in the mail yesterday! So excited to try the recipes and this one too! Looks awesome andyou can never overuse the word “buttery” in a recipe description.
Just Excellent!
nom nom nom nom!
That looks good!!
I’m making this right now. I was low on chicken so I substituted. 1 cup of chicken to 3 cups sweet potato. I’ll let you know how it all goes
where can I find the recipe for the pastry?
I’m so glad you reminded me of clafouti. Haven’t made it in ages. I remember making dessert clafouti — cherry and pear. Yum.
Could not resist the urge to experiment. I used what I had on hand, which was heavy cream, eggs, and butter. Grok no is edumacated so could no count to 6 and therefore somehow only put 4 tablespoons of butter and did not realize until half baked. Oops! For the rest, Grok added a small banana and some strawberries chopped up plus a bit of stevia and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Someone once told Grok that stevia is eaten by native tribes in south america and so Grok decided to risk it! Baked it at 400 degrees F for about 40 minutes. Holy cats did that puppy rise up as it baked! Now Grok has to clean bottom of oven from spill over. Oops! Mother of Grok swears this is the BEST lowcarb recipe Grok has made so far. Her other comment was “Are you SURE this is lowcarb?!?” With the banana, I am thinking it is very rougly about 15 grams of carb per serving, depending on how much you eat, but I am almost positive it would be equally good with more berry and no carby banana. End result was on the sweet side but not overpoweringly so. The flavor to me was surprisingly complex and subtle for such a simple easy recipe. Me likes.
I’m soooooo making this tomorrow!!
@ Patrick — I’m not a chef by any means, but I read this recipe to mean that you don’t need a pastry. The clafouti will become pastry-like on its own.
Oh, does this ever look good though! I love fruit pies and the variations will absolutely do it.
Made this with spatchcocked chicken leftovers. Delish.
Perfect lunch idea
Thanks!
thanks for the idea(s)! Think I’ll spatchcock a chicken & clafouti the leftovers! or maybe a blueberry coconut clafouti for Sunday morning??
Currently in the oven using mushrooms, spinach, and artichokes. Will have bacon on the side with it. Can’t wait to eat it – yum!
This does look good, but an entire stick of butter?? That does not sound like a great way to go…
Why?
I spy a tourist. It’s like Marla from Fight Club, just here looking and decided to comment. Fear of butter, coconut, and bacon is an immediate sign of CW.
sounds good to me.
BTW – there are 8 tablespoons of butter in a stick. Might need to double the recipe
@nelle – I made it with shrimp and didn’t incorporate the butter with the egg &cream batter – just melted a pat of butter in the casserole dish while mixing the ingredients – worked like a charm.
Excellent recipe, thanks for sharing!
Made it today with salmon and prawns.
Delicious! Never heard of Clafouti before but to me its just a baked omelette with slight crust on top!
Had never heard of clafouti either. My husband made it with shrimp, spinach, sundried tomatoes in olive oil, no butter (none on hand), coconut mil, capers, curry powder and lemon pepper. It was phenomenal!
Based on all the successful variations, sounds like a pretty robust recipe.
Last night we had shrimp scampi clafouti! Since shrimp was what we had on hand, I just added them with several cloves of minced garlic.
I love how it’s adaptable to dessert, too!
Just made this, and it is excellent. However, I would second the recommendation to keep an eye on it after 30 minutes of cooking – mine was done in about 32 minutes. Served with sauteed zucchini on the side.
just made this but substituted the chicken with avocado, bacon, and tomato. layered the bottom with TWO layers of sliced avocado, topped with one layer of half-cooked bacon, topped with a layer of diced tomatoes. i also mixed in diced red onions and garlic to the egg mix. cooked for 1.5 hours at 325. chased it with some mango lemonade! OH MAN.
OMG!!! That sounds divine to say the least–kinda like a hot BLT… er BAT!!
Had to try this. I had all the ingredients: I just got an egg delivery, there was a box of chunked and deboned crockpot-simmered chicken in the fridge, though I used slightly sour raw cream this time. Just took it out of the oven (glad I peeked early – it only took 28 minutes to bake to a golden color). Smells delicious.
Made this myself, followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious. I can’t wait to try it again as a desert and with the other variations listed here.
In the oven now with vanilla bean paste, nutmeg, cinnamon, blueberries, and chopped apple. Hope it’s good!
I made the batter, divided it between 2 pans, one with fresh apricots, the other with frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blackberries and red raspberries), both batter and fruit slightly sweetened with liquid Splenda, but stevia or honey or your sweetener of choice should work. Might have been fine w/o sweetener. I couldn’t chooose which I liked better. The berry clafouti was a lot like my Mom’s blackberry cobbler, so it was kind of like going back in time with that one. I ate it warm, and also had some this morning for breakfast, cold from the fridge with a bit of half & half. Added a touch of nutmeg to the batter, too. Oh, boy, it was so good! Thanks for the recipe.
I made this yesterday for lunch and everyone (except my 5 year old) loved it. Can’t wait to try it with different ingredients. BTW, it was ready in 30 or so minutes, so keep an eye on it. 45 min would’ve been too long for my oven. Thanks for the recipe!
You know what this tastes like? Chicken divan! It’s like an omelette version of “chicken divan”. I should have added broccoli! Next time, then….
Just made this with some leftover fish I had. Curry and fish go so well together. It was delicious and had incredible texture! A winner for sure
.
Wowzers- look how creative we all are! It’s clafouti madness at the MDA. I have a whole list of things to try & I’m going to bake mini ones in muffin pans. Then I can have an assortment for lunch this week. (ps, my blueberry coconut one yesterday was dee-lish. seasoned with nutmeg. only 4 eggs & 1/2 can of coconut milk)
I like that muffin tin idea.
I wonder how these freeze? Anybody try that?
Oooh, I love all the new adaptations!!!
Yes, it does depend on your oven as to length of baking time, I should have mentioned that!!
After reading all of the comments, this seems to be an absolute winner.
I’m cooking a big meal for family in a few weeks and one of my non-primal relatives challenged me to develop a good sausage gravy (like that eaten with biscuits and gravy). I’ve got the gravy down, but am looking for something delicious to put it on.
Although this dish seems to stand well on its own, is the texture and consistency conducive to some primal sausage gravy on top? Let me know!
I made this tonight following the recipe very closely. I took it out after 40 minutes and I think I let it get a little too brown. Next time I’ll keep a closer eye on it. It was very tasty. It will be great tomorrow with some left over meat sauce I made a few days ago. Served it wish some acorn squash dusted with cinnamon on the side.
I feel so boring. I followed the recipe exactly- chicken, heavy cream, eggs, butter spices.
But oh, it was so good! The top layer does kind of crisp up like a crust. I felt like there was some kind of flaky pastry involved, which is something I miss quite a bit. Hubby wasn’t as enthused as I was (he only ate one piece) but I suspect it stems from an aversion to curry.
I made it with canned red salmon and chopped scallions and a half teaspoon of sea salt.
I poured it into buttered ramekins, and cooked them for 30 minutes.
I let them cool down, and they slipped right out of the ramekins, so I had a bunch of mini-cakes.
They were delicious. This recipe is adaptable–let your imagination run wild! I’m going to make a chocolate version next time, with chopped nuts.
However, I shall cook it at a 350 degrees. I found 400 degrees too hot an oven.
Rhonda: I’m with you one a chocolate version! Part of my plan…
I’m going to try a curry coconut plantain variation also.
Here’s another adaptation: I added 1T coconut flour & 2T hazelnut meal to my orig blueberry batch. think hazelnut with the chocolate, eh?
or Thai curry paste with chicken or shrimp.
Infinate combos!
Ramekins! What a great idea. And I’m also going to turn the oven down to 350 next time I make this. The 400F setting on my oven was too hot for a proper browning of the crust.
This recipe seems to have sparked more people’s imagination and enthusiasm than any other from the cookbook contest! Maybe there should be a special prize for the top recipe. This one gets my vote!
ok, one batch just out of the oven: plantain/coconut/garam masala
still baking: thai curry coconut shrimp, and chocolate/hazelnut (added blueberries to one ramekin)
judging from aromas, 2 thumbs up & a happy tummy.
All made with coconut milk & coconut oil instead of butter, and a tablespoon coconut flour. Used red thai curry paste, grated ginger & a smidge of sambal oelek with baby shrimps. Chocolate one I added a little vanilla, nutmeg, cardamon & hazelnut flour/meal.
I’m *evil*… I think the chocolate ones (made in custard dishes) would be great “bases” for strawberry shortcake. Just top with berries & cream. just a thought
I made this last night with fresh blueberries, lots of cinnamon, and a couple of tablespoons of raw honey instead of the chicken curry ingredients, and little bit of fresh made whipped cream on top to serve. It was delicious! I think next time I am going to try and add walnuts, cinnamon, and mashed banana to the mix and make something that resembles banana bread. Or maybe omit the walnuts and make it more like a banana cream custard…the possibilities are endless! Thanks for the recipe!
Mine didn’t rise the way I hoped–I really wanted that crispy looking edge. I used whipping cream because that is all I could find–that’s the same as heavy cream, right? I think I probably didn’t whisk it long enough. Would it be a good idea to use an electric beater to add more volume?
It was still good and leftovers for breakfast was a nice change from the routine. Thanks.
I sent this to my wife thinking she could put whatever in it like a quiche, but she picked up on the pizza idea that I glossed over. She put some Italian sausage (and herbs) in the crust as suggested and it made a pretty good pizza. It wasn’t as crisp and chewy as a good pizza crust, and a fork was necessary, but the flavor was very good. The kids didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.
Anyone have a recommendation on how to cook that chicken before placing it in the recipe?
@Benny, I haven’t made it yet–will this weekend, but I would think left over roast chicken would be perfect–either baked at home or rotisserie chicken (organic) from the store.
Although the concept was great I didn’t like the uncooked curry powder simply being mixed in as a flavouring – it was lacking in the depth you get from sauteeing your spices properly. I would probably make this again but use fresh herbs, chicken and chunks of camembert or brie, with a few sun dried tomatoes.
True, true… I think when I make mine, I will cook the curry in a bit of butter, and then whisk the cream or coconut milk into that…
I made this last night. I took two huge pastured chicken breasts, cut them in big chunks and boiled for 15 minutes (I did not want to wait 45-50min to bake them) and made a rough dice. Pretty much followed the recipe aside from some pureed garlic and celtic salt. Hilarity ensued when a foodie friend freaked out because apparently an actual “clafouti” in France is the basis for dessert. Of course mine did not look as pretty as the one in the pic but it was excellent, and I just had another 1/4 of the pie for leftovers. So much rich fat!
I made this yesterday with freshly picked rhubarb and heavy cream… super summer sensation! yummmmm
Went for an apple and shrimp adaptation… Worked wonderfully!
Does anyone know if almond milk can be subbed for the liquid?
I have tried almond milk in lieu of coconut milk, cream, 1/2 and 1/2 before. It does not bode well due to the relative lack of fat density. 1 cup of almond milk is 75% fat, but it’s only 40-50 calories, meaning that most of it is water. 1 Tbs of cream has a higher calorie count than a full cup of almond water, so it’s more conducive to baking due to density and lack of water.
To those whom tried this, how many “servings” does this make, given the quantity of ingredients above? I know “servings” is an arbitrary term here, but do your best!
Thanks.
Wow, that turned out better than I thought. It is a lot more like a low density ommlette. all that butter definitely WAS worth it!
Delicious!
400F is definitely too hot. I almost burnt it at 38 minutes.
checkin’ it out. in the oven with a bit of peas.. felt it needed a vegetable? Maybe next time some potatoes and carrots too?
I love curry but my wife is not a big fan. I threw in a package of dry, onion soup mix and sprinkled on some shredded, Mexican cheese mix prior to serving. Went over well and tasted pretty darn good if I do say so myself!
ok, it’s awesome. really looking forward to the many variations! I added canned peas and some precooked butternut squash pieces. Forgot the salt and pepper and it doesn’t need it. It cooked about 40 mins and I preheated to 400 and then turned to 350 when I put it in the oven. nice golden crust – but check it early and often.
OK, I made it again this weekend and added chunks of fried pork, bell pepper and onion sauteed in coconut oil. Because I’m in New Mexico I also added green chile. (I’d lose my driver’s license if I didn’t.)
This time I used an electric mixer to get enough air into the eggs and heavy cream.
Baked 30 minutes at about 350.
Came out perfect.
I made it just now with cherries although for some strange reason it failed to occur to me to add vanilla or spices. For the batter I just whipped together the butter, eggs, cream and 2 tsp honey. I had two leftover egg whites left over in the fridge so I tossed them in there as well. This resulted in a quite runny batter, however, and I had to bake it for a full 60 minutes at 350 F for it to set properly. The top didn’t burn but thanks to the honey it got wonderfully caramelized. It is incredibly addictive. Many more variations to follow!
I was just reading about Mark’s recipes, I have a recipe for bread, muffins, pancakes, etc., all made with seeds, eggs and cream, plus some other ingredients that will not spike your sugar, Went to this workshop for losing weight. It is pretty much the premise of what Mark is putting forth to the public, no carbs and sugar, But using no grains and sugar, flours, is much better. Substitutes for sugar, use Stevia and xyzitol, which is actually good for your teeth.
For animal lovers, be care with xylitol; it is deadly for dogs.
Mark,
Thanks for this recipe…amazing! What would be a good substitution for the butter? I am trying to get away from diary. Olive Oil? Coconut butter? Please advise.
Thanks,
Justin
Lard.
Made it with berries. Delicious, but next time I’d add cinnamon & vanilla. Also going to try a mushroom/cheese variation. The other ideas in this thread look good, too.
This is an excellent recipe. I tried the traditional Curried Chicken version and then made another one with peaches, cinnamon and vanilla with cinnamon coconut cream as a topping.
Had to try it the *minute* I read it — the only chicken I had in the house was the Applewood sliced deli chicken from Whole Foods. Okay, cut that into tiny strips and mixed it in. Don’t like curry, didn’t use it. YUMMY!
Second time, I intentionally used the Applewood deli chicken (bought some just for this!), and added some sliced mozzarella. Third time, chunked ham, mozzarella. All superb!
Am thinking about those strawberries in the freezer…. hmmmmmmmm. Thanks Mark (and Katie!)
p.s., I am reading “Primal Blueprint” to my husband in the car — we’re both really enjoying it! He’s FINALLY quitting soda (YAY!) (Now, on to getting him off grains! Fingers crossed!)
Yum! I made it with berries (fresh picked) for breakfast and it was wonderful. I’ve also started doing a scaled down version on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet. Doesn’t heat the house up quite so much as the oven. I add a touch of stevia, vanilla, and whatever berries I have on hand. The young spawn loves it. She ate almost all of mine this morning. She doesn’t like it so well savory, though she didn’t mind the bacon version….
Here’s a variation I’m taking to a 4th of July party:
A tin of sweet, frozen Canadian LOBSTER meat, tarragon and pinch of nutmeg. Sprinkle w/freshly grated Parmesan.
I used chopped ham and a little less than 3 TB bacon fat and kept everything else in the recipe the same, and it came out tasting delicious.
Oops, I meant I used ham instead of chicken and bacon fat instead of butter, but kept everything else the same.
Is carob OK for PB ? I made a version & added a cup of carob powder and a handful of cherries and walnuts. It made a good cake-ish desert.
After reading all of the comments, this seems to be an absolute winner.
I’m cooking a big meal for family in a few weeks and one of my non-primal relatives challenged me to develop a good sausage gravy (like that eaten with biscuits and gravy). I’ve got the gravy down, but am looking for something delicious to put it on.
Although this dish seems to stand well on its own, is the texture and consistency conducive to some primal sausage gravy on top? Let me know!
I used 3 parts half and half, 1 part cream, and added garlic to the melted butter.
For ingredients, I used Italian sausage, 1 minced jalapeno, minced white onion, sliced black olives, and some sharp cheddar.
I recommend whipping cream, butter, egg combo very well. I took some extra time and effort for this and it paid dividends with a very light and fluffy form!