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Butter Chicken Recipe

You undoubtedly know this dish if you like Indian food or Indian eateries. We love Indian food, and butter chicken is a family favorite. We spent months and months getting our simple butter chicken recipe and method just right. This Indian recipe has been changed a little bit so that the components may be found easily at an American grocery shop. We also use cut-up pieces of chicken to make this a faster weeknight meal for families. I adore recipes that taste well, but I don’t have time to cook all day!

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About Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is a tasty and fragrant dish with a creamy tomato sauce and a special mix of spices. The dish tastes a little sweet, a little sour, and a little salty. The milk and butter make it taste even better.

Butter, cream, and a mix of spices including ginger, garlic, and garam masala make up the creamy tomato sauce that gives the meal its unique taste. The sauce is thick and smooth, and it coats the chicken pieces. It tastes great with the smokey characteristics of the chicken.

The flavor of butter chicken is really nuanced. It has a delicate balance of sweet, acidic, and savory flavors that are made even better by the cream and butter. Butter chicken is a really tasty and filling dish because of the mix of spices and the creamy tomato-based sauce.

Why You’ll Love This

Taste: This dish for creamy butter chicken is excellent! The sauce made with tomatoes is thick and creamy. Also, you can find all of the ingredients in most U.S. grocery stores.
Nutrition: Each dish has 440 calories and 33 grams of protein.
Time: 10 minutes to get ready, 30 minutes to marinate, and 30 minutes to cook
Diet: Vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto-friendly
Method: On the stove, however you may change it for an Instant Pot or pressure cooker.

Recipe for Creamy Butter Chicken

Indian Main Course

Time to Prepare: 5 minutes
Time to cook: 25 minutes
30 minutes to marinate
One hour total time
Serves 6 persons

Butter chicken is a well-known Indian meal created with pieces of boneless chicken that have been soaked in yogurt and spices. The chicken is then cooked in a creamy tomato-based sauce that is flavored with butter and a variety of fragrant spices. It is usually served with rice or bread, like naan.

2–3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat, and chopped into pieces that are easy to eat
¼ cup of plain Greek yogurt
9 cloves of garlic, chopped up
2 tablespoons of minced ginger (or ginger paste)
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2 ½ teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of chili powder
2 ½ teaspoons of sea salt
2 tablespoons of vegetable, canola, or avocado oil
3 tablespoons of ghee (or butter)
14 ounces of tomato sauce (or a homemade tomato puree)
½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 cup of full-fat coconut milk or heavy cream
½ teaspoon of dried fenugreek or crushed kasoori methi
fresh cilantro (optional)

How to Make It Safe for People with Celiac Disease

This recipe for butter chicken on the stove is gluten-free by nature. As always, check to see whether your spices and other items have gluten in them.

How to Make It Without Dairy

If you want to prepare this recipe without dairy, use canned full-fat coconut milk instead of heavy cream. We adore this dish with coconut milk, and we always have some on hand, even when we don’t have heavy cream. Use oil instead of ghee. Instead of Greek yogurt, use a dairy-free yogurt or sour cream. If you can’t find any, use 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil instead.

The recipe card below has all the ingredients and directions for making butter chicken. You can save it to Pinterest or print it off.

Before you start, measure and prepare the spices and ingredients using the recipe card below. This is very useful before creating the sauce after cooking the chicken. Adding spices and other ingredients to the sauce doesn’t take long. If you have to stop and measure each spice as you go, your garlic and ginger will burn.

You will need a big pot or pan. If you have one, a 12-inch skillet is best.

How to Do It

Marinate the chicken.

In a big bowl or ziploc bag, mix together the sauce ingredients: 1 teaspoon of sea salt, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of crushed cumin, and 1 teaspoon of red chili powder. Make sure to mix well. Add pieces of chicken and toss to coat.
Put the sauce ingredients in a big bowl: yogurt, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Blend well. Add pieces of chicken and toss them to coat.
For optimal results, cover and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to 24 hours. You can skip ahead to the cooking phase if you’re in a rush.
Put a lid on it and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Brown the chicken.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is very heated, add the chicken pieces and throw away the leftover marinade. Cook till brown, then turn. Don’t put too much in the pan. You may have to cook in two halves.
Take the chicken out of the pan when it is brown and put it in a separate bowl. Cover it and set it aside. The sauce will finish cooking the chicken later.

Make the sauce.

Turn the heat down to medium on the pan. Put 2 tablespoons of ghee in the pan and heat it. Add 1 tablespoon of minced ginger and 5 cloves of minced garlic. Sauté for a minute or until it smells good.
Put 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 ½ teaspoon of cumin, ½ teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, and ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional) into the heated pan. For about 30 seconds, stir.
Put in the salt and tomato sauce. To blend the spices into the tomato sauce, use a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan. Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about five minutes to let the flavors mix. Stir every now and then.
Turn the heat down to low. As you pour in the heavy cream (heavy whipping cream), whisk it in slowly to mix. Put in the dried fenugreek. Mix.
Put the chicken and fluids back in the pan and heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through to 165°F and the sauce is thick and boiling.
If the sauce is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of butter or ghee. Mix together.
Take off the heat. Add chopped cilantro to the cooked chicken and creamy sauce. Serve with rice and naan.

Butter Chicken in a Slow Cooker

To turn your quick butter chicken into a crockpot meal, you need to do steps 1–5. Next, put the chicken that has been browned and the sauce from the pan into your slow cooker and cook on low until you are ready to eat. Make sure the chicken’s inside is at least 165°F by checking it.

Butter Chicken in an Instant Pot

You can easily change this dish into an Instant Pot butter chicken recipe. Do steps 1 and 2 as they are told. Then turn on the sauté setting on your Instant Pot. Do steps 3 and 4 again on the sauté setting. For steps 5 and 6, turn off the Instant Pot. Don’t add the heavy cream yet! Next, put the lid on the pressure cooker and lock it. Close the vent and set the timer for 6 minutes. Carefully detach the manual and take off the lid. Stir in the heavy cream and fenugreek to mix them together. Give it to them.

How to Make Butter Chicken

Make sure your chicken pieces are no bigger than 1 inch by cutting them into pieces that are ½ inch to 1 inch length. If they are all approximately the same size, they will all cook at the same rate in the pan. Bite-sized portions also cook faster than large pieces of chicken, which cuts down on the time you need to prepare them.
Before you start creating your sauce, measure out the spices you need. Get them ready before you heat up your ghee.
Marinate your chicken all day if you have the time. The extra time in the marinade makes the tastes stronger.
While the sauce is simmering, taste it! If you want, you can add additional spice.
If you’re using coconut milk, use the full-fat version and largely the solid cream part at the top of the can.

What to eat with butter chicken

People usually eat butter chicken with rice (basmati or jasmine) or bread, like naan or roti. The dish’s creamy tomato sauce goes well with the bland taste of rice, which is why it is often served with butter chicken.

Another frequent side dish for butter chicken is naan bread. Naan is a soft, fluffy Indian flatbread that you can use to pick up the sauce from the dish. Roti is another form of Indian flatbread that is thinner and crisper than naan. It can also be eaten with butter chicken.

Butter chicken can be served with rice and toast, as well as a number of vegetable dishes or side salads. A simple salad of cucumbers and tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of salt, for example, can be a nice change from the rich and creamy flavors of the entrée.

In general, the most important thing is to pick sides that go well with the butter chicken’s flavors without overpowering them. A classic side dish with rice or bread goes well with the dish.

Notes

Cut the chicken into small pieces so it cooks faster.
Before you start cooking, open the can of tomato sauce and measure out the seasonings. Put the coriander, cumin, garam masala, chili powder, and cayenne pepper in one small bowl.
If you have the time, let the chicken soak in the marinade all day. The extra time in the marinade makes the tastes stronger.
Use the full-fat kind of coconut milk and largely the solid cream part at the top of the can.
Try the sauce while it’s cooking! If you like, you can add additional spice.

Where did butter chicken come from?

Butter chicken is a well-known Indian dish that has become popular all over the world. The meal is sometimes called murgh makhani. It is a creamy tomato-based curry that is usually eaten with rice or naan bread. There is some disagreement about where butter chicken came from, although most people think it was made in Delhi, India, in the 1950s.

A chef named Kundan Lal Gujral, who owned a restaurant called Moti Mahal Delux, is said to have made the dish. Gujral had worked in a restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he learned how to make tandoori chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. He improved the recipe after moving to Delhi after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 and started serving it at Moti Mahal Delux.

People in Delhi rapidly fell in love with butter chicken, and it soon spread to the rest of India. In the last several years, it has become a popular dish in the US, the UK, and Canada, among other places. But the dish has changed a little bit to fit the tastes of the people who eat it.

Butter chicken is usually made in India with bone-in chicken that has been marinated in yogurt and spices and then grilled in a tandoor oven. The chicken is then simmered in a tomato-based sauce that is made with butter, cream, and a variety of spices, including ginger, garlic, and garam masala. The sauce is usually thick and creamy, and it contains a hint of sweetness. Some parts of India also call the dish chicken makhani.

In other parts of the world, butter chicken can be made with chicken breasts or boneless chicken instead of chicken with bones. You can alternatively make the sauce with less cream and butter, which will make the dish lighter and less creamy. Some kinds of butter chicken have more than just chicken in it, like veggies or fruit.

The amount of spice in butter chicken is another thing that varies from country to country. In India, the meal can be very hot, but in other places, it might be less spicy to make it more appealing to a wider range of people. But the essential ingredients and flavors of the dish stay the same no matter where you make it.

Butter chicken is a tasty and well-known meal that is now a part of Indian cooking and recipes. The basic recipe stays the same, even though the meal may taste different in other nations. The chicken is marinated in yogurt and spices and then cooked in a creamy tomato sauce with a variety of spices.