Meal Prep Chicken Tikka Jalfrezi

Jalfrezi is a proper British Indian restaurant classic. Fast cooked, full of colour and big on flavour, it’s a curry that’s always been about impact rather than heavy sauces. While its roots trace back to the Indian subcontinent, the jalfrezi most of us know was shaped in UK curry houses, where it became known for its bold tomato base, peppers, onions and a noticeable kick of spice. It’s a drier-style curry, which already makes it a great starting point for a lighter, calorie-counted meal.

The sauce itself keeps things simple and traditional. Onions are softened but not overcooked, garlic and ginger add aroma, and tomatoes bring a fresh acidity that cuts through the spices. Peppers go in towards the end so they stay crisp and colourful, giving that signature jalfrezi texture and bite. A final hit of spice ties everything together without overpowering the dish.

What makes this recipe ideal for meal prep is that it proves great curry doesn’t need to be heavy to be satisfying. By focusing on spices, cooking technique and balance, you get all the flavour you’d expect from a takeaway jalfrezi, but with calories kept firmly in check. It reheats well, holds its texture, and delivers on taste every single time.

I batch cooked this for work, and ate it through the week. I combined it with rice and a naan but also had it loaded on a jacket spud. This is quite a dry curry, so it worked fantastic on a jacket potato.

The macros for this dish, excluding rice:

• Calories 402
• Protein: 49g
• Fat: 14g
• Carbs: 20g

Key Points

• If you don’t want to use tikka, you can replace this with plain cooked chicken. If you need a super simple Chicken Tikka marinade, check out our webstore.
• This can be freezable as long as it used within 6 months of cooking