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??
Can you freeze this recipe as is? Or add cream later? I’ve made this several times. Best Butter Chicken recipe. Perfect consistency as well. Never had probs with this being watery.
YOu can freeze it but the sauce does get a bit more watery after thawing Kerrin! N x
Can you freeze this recipe as is? Or add cream later? I’ve made this several times. Best Butter Chicken recipe. Perfect consistency as well. Never had probs with this being watery.
I was torn between giving the recipe four and five stars. I love how easy it is and that you can make it with pantry items! However, I did find the flavor lacking just a tad when I made the recipe as is. I ended up adding two scoops of almond meal (I didn’t have any cashews and also, it’s so easy) and two teaspoons or so of mild-medium chilli powder for some smokiness and a very subtle kick. I found the texture of the chicken thigh meat to detract a bit from the sauce and think I would have liked it better with chicken breast. Next time, I might grill marinated chicken breast on the barbecue to get more smokiness into the recipe. The sauce ended up so delicious and fragrant though and other people might actually prefer dark meat so 5 stars it is. 🙂
Do you think this recipe can be remade and frozen?
** 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
** 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
Great recipe. Turned out really watery for some reason but someone else in the comments had this same issue and was told to take the chicken out to thicken the sauce which worked, although I think I thickened at a bit high a heat as the sauce started to split a bit. I was a bit worried that i had ruined it but it tasted awesome, very rich and flavourful. Served on rice with roti, kachumber salad and raita (highly recommend, compliments amazingly). Happy to hear any tips/ideas as to why mine became so watery tho since I will definitely be making again.
Is it possible that the chicken was injected with a brine or water before you purchased it Alysha? Was there any other ingredient (ie salt etc) besides chicken on the packet? That’s the only reason I can see that the sauce would be too liquid. N x
I’ve made this numerous times and the one time it was very runny was because I covered the pot while the meat was cooking— bad idea. I’ve never done that again and the recipe is perfect every time!
I’m happy you have had such success with the recipe Kim!! N x
Shouldnt be any brine that i know of. I did freeze it beforehand and defrosted it but i havent had an issue with doing this before. Maybe this made it hold more water than i thought
I think the marinade makes the frozen chicken hold in more water because it doesn’t really sear. If I use frozen I pat dry the chicken before coating in the marinade. Or, if I’m lazy I just simmer for longer. I haven’t had a problem with the thighs drying out even with the longer simmer.
Frozen and then defrosted* chicken
AMAZING!
A big family favourite, and i enjoy so much cooking as its so easy and tasty. Thank you Nagi for another awesome recipe. 🙂
I marinate the chicken thighs whole then par-cook on the bbq before cutting into bite size chunks. Tasty!
Hello, can you make this ahead of time and freeze it?
You can Zoe, but the sauce gets a bit more watery after freezing! N x
Would coconut oil, yoghurt and cream substitute ok in this recipe to make it dairy free ?
I don’t know Rai as I haven’t tested that sorry! N x
Love, love, love this! Lol… made it for my mother in law who was so excited she said she’d be happy for me to make this for her next big birthday rather than going out for dinner – and thats next month. Making the Tika in two days. Thanks so much!
It’s always good to impress the in-laws! N x
this is the simplest and closest to the butter chicken I loved so much my first time – and therefore judged all other dishes against. I didn’t realize there were so many different variations! I personally like it a little sweeter to match my favorite Indian restaurant in Seoul (Wazwan and later Taj Palace) which introduced me to, and hooked me on, both this dish and saag gosht. (Eating until overly full, and still eating the gravy in a bowl for dessert 😅) I make this every once in a while and we judge other takeout compared to this recipe. Also, it took me several years to understand the “add the rest of the marinade before simmering for 20 minutes” – I was always so reluctant to throw away the marinade, something I did for a while. Therefore, any time I look for any other curry recipe, I trust yours above others! thank you!!!!
This was DELICIOUS! The very best butter chicken I’ve ever had. My husband is from Eastern Europe and doesn’t usually like Indian food but he helped himself to seconds and still asked for more. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Woo hoo that’s great Ashley!! N x
Hello!
Do you think this would be ok to freeze? Looking for some good meals to freeze for when the new baby arrives!
PS I love your recipes xo
Yes you can Bridget! The sauce gets a bit more watery but it’s still very tasty! N x
OMG Nagi this was the bomb!!!
I tried making Butter Chicken years ago and was an epic fail (prob the million spices the recipe asked for) lol.
Your recipe was so easy and tasted just like an Indian take away. Can’t wait to make it again. 🙂
Woo hoo!!! I’m so happy you liked it Katrina!! N x
Perfect recipe, as always! This was my first attempt, and I used extra firm tofu instead of chicken, but kept everything else the same. Browned the marinated tofu and simmered in the sauce. O.m.g… sooo good! Thank you!
That’s great to know for a vegan option Sabrina! N x
One of the yummiest things I’ve ever made
Woo hoo!! That is great D! N x
Made this for my husband – who is a very picky eater and he LOVED it. He never raves about new recipes I try and this one he complimented three times. Definitely will be saving it in the recipe book for next time!
I’ve got quite a few tasty curries you could try Jessica! Enjoy!! N x
Really awesome recipe thanks Nagi. I’ve attempted butter chicken many many times before, but it’s always been so so. This was a crowd pleaser – beautifully tender chicken in a perfectly spiced sauce. Going in the rotation.
Woo hoo!! I am glad you liked it Matt!! N x