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”!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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,
When you say plain yogurt, I’m guessing you don’t mean Greek yogurt?
I do use Greek yoghurt just plain I’ve never thought of plain plain yoghurt 🤣
Thank you, Nagi, for such a wonderful looking recipe! I’m wondering if I could sub the heavy cream for coconut cream (not milk)?
You can but it’s going to change the flavour of the traditional butter chicken – but will still be delicious! N x
OMG! This is the best! Will never use a bottled sauce again. Nor will I have to go to my local Indian restaurant either!!
YES! Homemade is so much better Ben!! N x
Easy and delicious
I have cooked the butter chicken recipe many times and my wife and I absolutely love it
I made this recipe and it is restaurant level butter chicken. Thank you! Loved it.
I just made this butter chicken recipe.. and turned out delicious, creamy and so tasty.. thank you so much for sharing the recipe.. you’re awesome 🙂
This recipie is phenomenal. My family love it and it is easy to make. Definitely the best butter chicken I have ever made. I made your naan recipie to go with it and it was awesome. I have found my new favorite cooking website. Thank you, ❤️🙏
Made this dish several times with another recipe… this one blew it out of the water! 10 out of 5!
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
This applies to the whole website!
Nagi, you are my go-to for everything! And now for my friends and family. I started with your ridiculously easy no-knead bread and have used your RTE recipes ever since. You make tricky simple and simple delicious. THANK YOU.
Nagi you are brilliant, thank you for helping us crack the code in a very approachable way on dishes like this. Butter chicken is one of my top 5 favorite dishes and I’ve tried several recipes but none turned out this great. Just made a double batch. Delicious!!!
our recipes are always delicious and super easy. Thanks for being a fantastic and reliable source of food inspo!
Made this for the family last week (minus the chilli, my small kids can’t take the heat) and everyone loved it. As you said, the sauce was amazing! Thank you for the recipe.
Em, if I just wanted to make the sauce, would I just cook the marinade ingredients with the tomato etc? Just asking . . . 😎
I made this for my family and they loved it. Great flavours. Do you have any suggestion for thickening the sauce? It seemed a bit thin. I used a 10% cream – maybe not enough?
Hi Debbie, just try simmer it down a little bit to reduce and thicken up the sauce. N x
Hey Nagi, love the Indian recipes you do!
Noticed that you have not used cashew nut paste here… that’s a staple feature of butter chicken, and it also helps in the thickening of the sauce. The cashews provide a really rich and distinctive flavor:)
Loved this recipe. Cook your recipes often. Easy directions. Always look to your recipes no matter what I am wanting to cook.
Some of the best butter chicken I’ve had, and so easy. I used breast, and added one chopped and sauteed onion near the end for extra texture and flavour. Served with salad, rice, cilantro, and naan. Will experiment with alternatives to heavy cream next time.
I have been looking for the perfect butter chicken recipe for YEARS and this is it! Living in Seattle got me hooked on good Indian food. Living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and now on Maui had left me desperate to make my own butter chicken. Thank you SO much for such a delicious and easy way to get my ‘fix’.
Hi Nagi, thank you for the recipe. Could you plz confirm 1/2 cup plain yogurt. How much is it in grams? I live outside Australia and wanted to make sure about the amount. Thank you 🥰
Hi Julia, 150g is half a cup of yogurt. N x
Thank you so much ❤️
This is my go to recipe for butter chicken. Never buying the jar again. Yours is so simple and a 100 percent better Nagi❤️