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! Another delicious recipe of yours! However, I had a bit of a hiccup with this one. When I added the chicken to the frying pan a whole lot of moisture began to form. When the whole recipe was complete the flavour was delicious but the sauce was quite runny! Should I have poured the watery moisture out of the pan before adding the passata/cream etc? Or is there something I could do with the chicken to avoid this (such as towel dry it before marinating or something)? If you or any of your other lovely fans here could comment with some help that’d be hugely appreciated! Cheers.
Hi FrancElle, sounds like the chicken was stewing rather than frying. When you add too much chicken into a hot pan, the temperature of the pan drops dramatically and your protein won’t sear like it should. To avoid this, cook the chicken in smaller batches so that the pan stays hot and your meat sears rather than stews. 🙂 N x
I am so honoured by your reply! I feel like i’ve just heard from a celebrity (at least you are in our household due to your amazing recipes!) Thank you so much for the tip! 🙂
I unfortunately have done this and while it is simmering away now, I was thinking it is way too runny. I should have checked the comments first. Taste is amazing though. 2nd attempt will be much better. Thanks
I followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious!
Nagi, oh so delicious! Loved it and will definitely make it again!
Hey Nagi! I’ve cooked this dish more times than I can count and have loved it every time! However, recently I’ve become vegetarian and was wondering if you have any advice on using tofu in place of the chicken? Would you recommed marinating in the spices and then baking? thanks!
Hi do you use skinless chicken, or do you leave the skin on?
Hi Lexi – skinless here 🙂 N x
Omg, this is just the best. Followed recipe exactly and i dished up best Butter Chicken ever. Whole family said it was better than restaurant meal. Thank you Nagi. I love all your recipes.
This recipe was easy and absolutely delicious!!
Hi Nagi,
I love this recipe and have made in lots of times. Its delicious and popular in my house.
Just wondering if I could adapt it to the slow cooker or is it not really for this type of curry? Any advice would be appreciated.
Megan
First time making “Butter Chicken”, it was amazing! Loved the creamy, flavorful sauce. So much flavor! I used jasmine rice, as that was what I had in the pantry.
Thanks for this fantastic recipe Nagi, it is delicious and even my fussy children wolf it down! I’ve taken it a step further by bulk-preparing and storing the marinade spices which saves me a lot of time in preparation each time I make it – and I’m making it a lot!
I made this over the weekend – OMG. Yum overload! I marinated the chicken but only used half of it so ended up freezing the rest for another meal. I used a tin of finely chopped tomatoes (to use in the sauce instead of the passata) so also froze the rest of the tin for the next time I make this “lip smacking” meal. Oh…and used roti bread to mop up all the juices. Have I praised this recipe enough?? Thanks Nagi xx (& Dozer)
Another delicious recipe. Will taste even better tomorrow.
Took about a year to develop my own butter chicken recipe which was very very good. Then lost the recipe so went on-line and tried this one. Great recipe and easier than mine. Use to go to Taste.com but now recipetineats has become my go to site.
Hi, Nagi..
I am marinating my chicken right now. Should I leave it without salt and sugar? Since in your recipe, sugar and salt are not in marinate
Hi Sani, the salt and sugar go into the curry when you’re making the sauce – not in the marinade. I hope you love it!! N x
Nailed it again Nagi! Perfect creaminess, spice (i was a little generous for our family palate). I use your recipes nearly every night. To the point where my husband asks “Are we having “tin ” food tonight?”. Lmao
Hi Nagi
What would you recommend using to make a vegetarian version? Tofu? Vegetable/s? Tofu & veg?
And would the process be the same…marinate overnight etc?
Thank you : ))
Hi Nagi, can I substitute the yogurt with something else?
Hi. Can the heavy cream be substituted with Santan (thick Coconut milk)?
What does one use the leftover marinade for?
Dozer …. you’re just gorgeous 😘
Hi Nagi, I love your recipes. I have made this butter chicken recipe a number of times and its seriously yummy. I am trying to lose my COVID weight so could I replace the cream with greek yoghurt?
Hi Linda, Greek Yogurt will change the flavour here and it will have a slight tang, try low fat cream 🙂 N x
Currently marinading the chicken, and I was hoping to add onions and potato when would I do so, and should I precook them being adding them in etc. Thanks !
***before adding them