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 a great butter chicken recipe. Thank you.
Just wondering when you simmer the chicken and sauce mixture for 20 minutes should I keep the lid on the pan or remove it?
Hi Liz – It should be uncovered – N x
Absolutely loved this butter chicken recipe, Will be making it often, so flavoursome and not spicy, my kids devoured it. Love ur recipes.
Winning!!!
I made this tonight in my multi cooker. The only change was that I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream. AND I did not marinate it. Otherwise, I did the same thing in the multi cooker.
Excellent!
Hi Nagi,
Made this ahead and froze for a weekend away with family.
WOW, what a winner!!! Dish was empty in no time,
Had rave reviews 😋
Was going to make it with a potato topping, decided not to, but will do it like that when I make it again, SOON!!
Thank you again for sharing such delicious recipes.
I’m so glad it was a hit Kerry!
Best chicken curry dat I hav ever made😃
Thankuu soo much Nagii❤️
Wahoooo! Thanks so much ❤️
Made this for lunch today and so so happy! the family loved it! Thank you so much for such a lovely recipe
Hi Nagi… Looking forward to making this… Sounds yummy! How many mls in half a cup of yogurt? Thank you. x
Nagi, you’re recipes are the BOMB!!!! Made this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it! Thank you!!!!!!
Awesome!!!
Can you tell me why you would not add the remaining marinade into the pot?
Thanks
Hi David, if you pour the remaining marinade into the pot when cooking the chicken it will stew rather than fry. The chicken has infused with the flavour so the marinade is not required ☺️
Why am I only finding your website this late in the game? I’ve been living under a rock! Bloody delicious! Can’t wait to try more.
I’m so glad you found me!! Enjoy!
I didn’t have garam masala….argh….next time. Substituted cumin (1 part) allspice (1/4 part). It was good!!! Can’t wait to try it without the substitution! Thanks!!
I’m so glad you loved it Heidi!
Oh. My. Word. I made this for dinner for my family last night and it was divine!!!!
We all loved it so much – stuffed ourselves silly infact. I also made your no yeast flatbreads to go with it (I added nigella seeds to the dough for that extra naan bread flavour). I will never make another butter chicken recipe again – this one is for life and will probably become everyone’s birthday dinner that they request I make. Thank you so much Nagi. I love your recipes.
Had this for dinner tonight. We were a little skeptical as the sauce started really runny and pink, but it was fine by end of simmering.
Dear lord this was good though! My OH doesn’t like curry, but couldn’t stop raving about this and has requested I make it again!
If you are in doubt – MAKE THIS. I promise you won’t regret it! I’d give it 6 stars if I could…
Woah that’s so great Lola!
Very tasty and full of flavor. I used breast fillets instead of thighs & left in for 48 hrs giving it more time to infuse the flavor.. will be making again…
Yesss! I’m so glad you likes it Jodie!!
I’ve been searching for a good butter chicken recipe for ages. I just couldn’t find the flavour creaminess and sweetness I was after but this one hit the mark. My husband said this was the best butter chicken he’s ever had.
Woah what a great compliment!!!
I kept looking at the recipe thinking “it can’t be that easy, can it?” and it’s approximately 15% more effort to mix up the marinade than it is to open a jar of Patak’s (so, not hard at all!) but WHOO BOY, THAT FLAVOUR!!! It’s about eleventy squillion times better!
I’ve been going to the same Indian restaurant for 20 years and their butter chicken is consistently the best I’ve ever had but this is definitely, definitely up there. I added a bit of sriracha for extra kick but it was pretty much perfect already. I also made your flatbreads and brushed them with garlicky melted ghee when I flipped them in the skillet and they were delish.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you love it Chris!!!
Made it – loved it – but made too much even for us. Is it freezable?
Hi Chris – Yes perfect to keep leftovers in the freezer!
This was fantastic! I have little tolerance for spice but this was just the right amount. My husband loved it though the kids were a bit fussy with it but will definitely make again. Thank you!
Hi Nagi
We love the butter chicken. Thank you.
I was looking for an Indian lamb curry on your website but couldn’t find one. Any reason? I would love to have your take on an Indian lamb curry. Thanks.
Hi Tanya, I’m so glad you love the butter chicken!! I don’t have any Indian Lamb Curries yet – one to add to my long list!
Hi Nagi,
Is this best eaten with no leftovers? It was amazing when I had it on the first night. On the second night, I think the yogurt curdled and the curry was a little runny. Anyway around this?
Thanks
Hi Nagi – I r ally love this recipe so if you could reply about my leftovers comment, I’d really appreciate it!!!!