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??
Hi Nagi I absolutely love your butter chicken, just a question is it possible to prep the marinade and chicken then freeze so it’s ready to defrost and cook on the day you want to cook it?
Hi amanda – freezing yogurt changes the texture and makes it grainy so I don’t recommend you freeze this marinade, sorry! N x
Could this be made in a slow cooker?
Another success, thanks Nagi. I’ve cooked this many times and every time it’s a winner. I know it changes the flavour, but I cook this with coconut milk rather than cream. It’s still always delicious. K xx
So glad that it works for you and you like the recipe Kate! N x
What can I say but “YUMMMM!”
Hubby is not a Butter Chicken fan mainly because the restaurants make it so so sweet, but this feels authentic and tasted amazing – he had 2 serves! I marinated the chicken for 24hrs as recommended and definitely made a difference. Have made this twice, first time without marinating overnight and this time I did so definitely recommend the overnight marinating. Thankyou Nagi, love your recipes so much!! xx
Love to hear that!!! Thanks, Jessica! N x
Absolutely delicious! Best butter chicken I’ve ever had! So authentic and flavorful!
Made this recipe for the first time last week and it was awesome!
We have been looking for a “keeper” butter chicken recipe for at least 5 years now. We tried most of the pre-mixed sauces available from the grocery store, including the gourmet ones but they all tend to be too spicy – even the ones that claim to be “mild” – and didn’t really have quite the flavour we wanted.
I don’t know why I was putting off trying to make it from scratch for so long. Nagi, you are a cookery genius – thank you so much 🙂
I went to my pantry tonight for my customary jar of butter chicken sauce and quelle horreur(!) found I had none. So I found your recipe, discovered I had most of the ingredients on hand and voila it turned out really well. Thanks Nagi this may become one of my go tos from now on. Very easy. Think I won’t use the jar stuff anymore.
Death to jar sauce!!! N x
Delicious and much easier than I thought! I’m introducing my boyfriend to foods from around the world with your help! He thinks I’m a great cook, but I always say “it’s Nagi’s great recipe!” Thank you for sharing!
I forgot the stars! lol
Turns out amazing everytime.
What a delicious recipe, my hubby and I both loved this recipe, we like a little spice, so I added a little Birdseye chilli, definitely a favourite!!
Forgot to leave my rating. Definitely a 5 star.
Have never left a comment for a recipe before, but this one deserves it. This butter chicken is by far the best recipe I have found that tastes like a dish we once had while in Goa, Southern India. My husband couldn’t believe it when I made it. And the easy naan came out better than expected and even better the next day. I didn’t have Basmati Rice but I did have Jasmine Rice, just as good. I live in an area that does not have an East Indian restaurant, but after making this recipe, we have our go to fix. Thank you, Can’t wait to try your other curry recipes.
I am so glad you both enjoyed it Brenda! N x
I have never left a comment before but this recipe deserves it. My husband and I currently live in a country that does not have an East Indian restaurant. I tried another butter chicken recipe from Pinterest but the flavor wasn’t quite right but after trying yours I knew I had found my go to recipe. And the naan was so easy to make, my husband couldn’t believe how good it tasted. I didn’t have any Basmati rice but used jasmine rice instead. The dinner turned out so flavorful, it reminded me so much of the butter chicken dish we had in Goa, in southern India. Thank you so much for this easy, easy but so flavorful recipe. Can’t wait to try your other recipes.
First time making butter chicken from scratch (one of my partners favourites) and we both loved it, super tasty! Only issue was the sauce was runny and he prefers it thicker. Any suggestions? ☺️
We like a thicker sauce too, so instead of heavy cream I used full-fat sour cream. You could also try greek-style yogurt as it is much thicker than regular. Either choice will make the sauce a little more tangy and less sweet than with regular cream – which we like so it’s perfect for us.
If you prefer the sweeter taste of cream, simmer uncovered for an extra 5-10 minutes to reduce.
Made this as a birthday meal. Everybody loved it!!
Happy birthday! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
I made this tonight and there was not a morsel left! Delicious and so much simpler than many other Butter Chicken recipes I looked at. Also followed your directions for cooking Basmati rice and for the first time ever made perfect rice! Thank you
Hi, can I put this sauce in the freezer?
I have frozen this sauce a few times now and it was fine! I just heated it slowly on the stove.
Hi Angela – not recommended sorry as it could split. N x
I cannot count the number of times I have made this dish. My family loves it! Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it Aisha! N x
I love this recipe and have made about a dozen times. I usually thicken with cornstarch. I have chronic illness with brainfog and today added custard powder instead. Good thing I forgot sugar too! (and salt. Its a bad day) No worries. It’s incredible.
Bwa ha ha ha!! I have done that sort of thing a MILLION times! 🤣 N x
All your food recipes are mouth watering
You are too kind! N x
I absolutely love this recipe! From a personal preference I would add just a little less tomato purée. Mine was a little too tomatoey than what I have eaten before, but everything else was spot on! Also, the naan recipe (garlic cheese) was great to dip in the sauce!
Thanks! N x