Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) is one of the most popular curries in the world and yet happens to be one of the easiest! No hunting down hard to find ingredients, this chef recipe that makes the most incredible curry sauce.
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Butter Chicken – a chef recipe!
As someone who loves food with big, BIG flavours, it’s no surprise that Indian is one of my favourite foods. A good curry and binge watching Netflix is pretty much my idea of a perfect Friday night. #NanaAlert! 😂
As much as I love making Indian food at home, sometimes I find the list of ingredients daunting. It’s easy enough to make once I gather all the ingredients, but that’s where I usually fall short because it requires a trip to an Indian grocery store – and my closest one is a fair drive away.
Butter Chicken is one of the few exceptions. I was elated when I discovered a Chef recipe for Butter Chicken and realised how easy it is. But more importantly, you can get all the ingredients from any supermarket. Yes!
Is Butter Chicken really Indian??
YES it is! It’s called Murgh Makhani and it hails from Northern India. It’s quite a mild curry compared to many Indian curries, and outside of India, it’s become just about everybody’s favourite curry!
How to make Butter Chicken – in 3 Simple Steps
Make Butter Chicken Marinade and marinate chicken for 3+ hours (overnight is best)
Cook chicken
Make sauce in the same skillet
The secret to the tender, flavour infused chicken is a spice infused yogurt marinade made with fresh ginger, garlic, lemon juice and spices. The spices in Butter Chicken are turmeric, garam masala, chilli powder and cumin.
Did you know….You don’t need copious amounts of butter for a great Butter Chicken!
The beautiful Butter Chicken Sauce mostly gets its richness from cream. While some restaurants take it over the top by stirring in a (very!) generous amount of butter into the sauce at the end, I find that it’s rich enough as it is. The Butter Chicken flavour and experience – but less oily than restaurant versions!
The sauce will initially be a pale orange colour but as it simmers and thickens, the colour will deepen to a rich orange colour.
What to serve with Butter Chicken
To make a proper Indian feast, sides and starters are essentials! Because every curry needs papadums for dunking and naan to scoop up the sauce with, right?
No-fry quick papadums – just microwave them! Place the papadums around the edge of the microwave turntable and cook on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute or until they are puffed up. They’ll be soft while warm but as soon as they cool down, they crisp up. They don’t expand as much as when deep fried, but neither will your thighs. 😂
Samosas! The ultimate Indian appetiser. Leftovers make great snacks or even lunch!
Proper naan – A recipe in the works for 5 years, I’m thrilled to finally share my proper naan recipe that can be easily made at home (no tandoor needed!)
Shortcut “naan” – For a simpler, no-yeast flatbread that’s just as good, my Easy No Yeast Flatbread looks and tastes very similar to real naan (except it’s much faster and easier!). Try telling me this doesn’t look like it belongs in this feast!
And it’s MADE for dunking in that creamy Butter Chicken Sauce!!
Sides for Butter Chicken
Readers have also asked for Vegetable Side options – to add some greens to a meal. Indian food doesn’t really have fresh side salads like in Western cuisine. Partly because so much Indian food is vegetarian, so you get plenty of veggies in your diet!
But here are some Vegetable Side Options you can add on the side of Butter Chicken:
Indian Tomato Salad – with a refreshing minted yogurt dressing;
Cucumber salad with lemon yogurt dressing – another great refreshing salad that goes perfectly with curries;
Just some sliced cucumber and wedges of tomato – not dressed. Nice cool, refreshing side
South Indian Thoran-style Cabbage and Carrot Salad with Coconut is fresh, crunchy and shot through with gentle spices and coconut!
For a simpler cabbage salad, try my Everyday Cabbage Salad
I hope this has inspired you to try your hand at making an Indian feast at home! You will honestly be amazed how much depth of flavour there is in the Butter Chicken despite how few ingredients are in it. – Nagi x
PS Don’t miss the new streamlined oven version: One-Pan Baked Butter Chicken. Readers are loving it!
Watch How To Make It
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
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Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt , full fat
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 2 tsp garam masala (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper powder (Note 2)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1.5 lb / 750 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite size pieces
Curry
- 2 tbsp (30 g) ghee or butter, OR 1 tbsp vegetable oil (Note 3)
- 1 cup tomato passata (aka tomato puree) (Note 4)
- 1 cup heavy / thickened cream (Note 5)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
To serve – choose
- Basmati rice
- White rice
- Coriander/cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Optional blitz: for an extra smooth sauce, combine the Marinade ingredients (except the chicken) in a food processor and blend until smooth. (I do not do this)
- Marinade: Combine the Marinade ingredients with the chicken in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or up to 24 hours (minimum 3 hrs).
- Cook chicken: Heat the ghee (butter or oil) over high heat in a large fry pan. Take the chicken out of the Marinade but do not wipe or shake off the marinade from the chicken (but don’t pour the Marinade left in the bowl into the fry pan).
- Place chicken in the fry pan and cook for around 3 minutes, or until the chicken is white all over (it doesn’t really brown because of the Marinade).
- Sauce: Add the tomato passata, cream, sugar and salt. Also add any remaining marinade left in the bowl. Turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do a taste test to see if it needs more salt.
- Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves if using. Serve with basmati rice.
- The Butter Chicken is pictured with my very easy No Yeast Flatbread and no-fry papadums (Note 5).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2015. Updated for housekeeping matters and a new video added January 2019. But most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
For Indian Curry Lovers
- Chicken Tikka Masala – kind of like Butter Chicken on steroids!
- Palak Paneer – Indian cottage cheese and spinach curry
- Rogan Josh – fall apart lamb in a rich creamy sauce!
- Dal – the highest and best use of lentils, ever. Period.
- Biryani – the world’s best Chicken & Rice. Full stop!
- Qeema: Curried Ground Beef (Mince) – the fastest way ever to get a real Indian curry fix
- Curry lovers, head here -> Curry Collection
Life of Dozer
Flashback: Dozer’s first time in water. Look at those wild eyes!!! 😂 Fear? Excitement??
Such an easy but delicious recipe!
Hi Nagi, Thought you’d like this comment from my daughter on our family chat page…
“Community Service announcement!!! Make the butter chicken and naan bread in Recipetineats cookbook now! It’s so delicious we ate it all up without taking a picture!” I think they liked it 😉 😊
Forgot to add my rating!
Star ALL The WAY!
Bless.
Nagi,
Another successful dinner at my place!
This time your amazing Butter Chicken!
Going in for seconds!
Deee-Licious!
Mwah!
Is it better to add a bit of salt in the marinade so the chicken has a bit more flavour ?
Loved it but I often marinade meats with a touch of salt first
Thanks !!
Hello! I’m wondering… do you think coconut cream would be a good substitute for the cream?
This is the BEST. I have been on the lookout for years for a butter chicken I would stick to. This is IT. So simple, so delicious. I used Kashmiri chilli powder – which is delicious. This will now be my go-to. Thanks Nagi x
I have made this a few times and the flavor is delicious but the sauce is quite thin and runny. Do I need to simmer longer or is it because our whipping cream is different here in Canada?
It is a runny sauce – which is why it is so good with a big bowl of basmati rice and some naan.
I’m having the same issue with a very thin and runny sauce. I’m use American heavy whipping cream so I don’t think the Canadian version is the problem.
I have made this recipe several times and I add a bit of cornstarch slurry as it is simmering to thicken it just a bit.
Try pureed cashews instead of cornstarch. Cornstarch is not typical in Indian cooking, a nut purée will work beautifully if you want a thicker sauce
It could be that you’re not leaving it long enough. It starts off very runny for me, and I think it’s never going to thicken but it is possible for it to become too thick if you leave it too long.
That has been my experience at least.
What would be different if I used light yogurt? It’s all my store has right now.
I’ve made this recipe several times and it’s become the family favorite! So easy to make and delicious every time!
Super easy to make, very creamy and delicious!
Just made a enormously big pot of this mouthwatering food – and will deliver half of it – the rest stays in my home!!! – to my son‘s family…… soulfood for my pregnant daughter in law = my grandchild will for sure become a 👨🍳 Love from 🇦🇹
Can’t rate as haven’t made but I’ve read rave reviews. My question is, can you substitute chicken with pork? If yes, what cut and would I still need to marinate it?
I would substitute pork tenderloin and marinade overnight at the very minimum. Just know that it won’t be authentic Indian food if you use pork, but I do so all the time.
I’ve tried some of your recipes and I guess I came short but they were good.
I’ve tasted Butter Chicken in many Indian restaurants and have always found it bland, like chicken cooked in Campbell’s Soup, ha ha. Your recipe is full of flavour. I love it.
Amazing! I used the 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne and it was perfect spice kick for us. My husband has always hated Indian food and he adored this.
I live in an extremely small town and we do not have full fat Greek yogurt in our local store. Would sour cream be a reasonable substitute? Or should I grab some full fat when I’m out of town? TIA
Note to self
** Made 05/2022 ** THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING! WE BOTH LOVE IT
THE ONLY BUTTER CHICKEN RECIPE TO EVER MAKE AGAIN!!!
Adjust recipe to 20 servings.
Make in huge stock pot.
10# bag frozen Tyson breast (only 7# once thawed)
32 oz Chiobani whole milk plain greek yogurt,
2T 3/4t Tumeric,
4T 11/2t Garam Masala,
1 Rounded T Gunter Chili Powder,
2T + 3/4t cumin,
6 3/4T Minced ginger (from Jar)
6 3/4T lemon juice,
14 cloves garlic = aprox 1 head
Hi
I have to make this for 12 people. Can I just 4x the ingredients? Thanks so much’
This was so easy to make and so amazingly tasty! Thank you, Nagi, for another tasty dish! ❤️
I make this all the time and have gotten so many compliments on it! So thank you!