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
Just quick question do I need to be careful of curdling the yoghurt in the marinade? Is there any cautions I need to take with this recipe
Thanks
Hi Laura! Nope not at all, it mixes through just fine!
I just had to leave a comment, such an easy and tasty recipe! Thanks so much, it has become a family favorite. Quick question, does the calorie/nutrition information per serve include the rice it is served on, or not? I’m guessing not, but just wanted to double check.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this Chantelle! Thank you for letting me know – N x ❤️ PS Nutrition excludes rice, sorry to say! 🙂
Nagi, I made this on Thursday (our house’s standard curry night!) for myself and my housemate, and it went down brilliantly – as do all of the recipes I’ve made from your site! To quote, his response was a firm “this is the best curry I’ve had outside of a proper curry house” – cheers!
Fantastic to hear Anthony! Thank you for leaving a review. N x ❤️
This recipe is AMAZING! It is so easy to follow, and it turns out beautifully. My family has requested that I make it once a week. Because I am a vegetarian, I make it with homemade paneer. The only problem I had was my first time making it. I forgot to read how much it made XD!! I ended up watching my family scramble over the table to get to the very last of it. From then on I have always doubled it. Thank you soooo much!!!
That’s great to hear Asher! Thanks for letting me know! N xx
Hi Nagi
Do you think coconut cream would work ok or would it change the flavour?
Hi Jac – it will change the flavour but it will still be delicious!
Hello Nagi,
What type of cream do you suggest using for the most tasty effect? 🙂
Cheers!
Any full fat cream will be fine!
Though honestly, in my personal opinion, low fat is great too! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
Am wondering will it be ok to use plain greek style yoghurt? I have heaps to use up!!
Thank you
YES!!
Nagi, I should have posted this review sooner but as you know, the best laid plans and all that…… So here goes.
This is a fantastic recipe. I’ve made this three times and each time it has come out identical to that found in the Indian restaurants in our city and it’s oh so yummy. I’ve made it exactly as the recipe is written except for one variation. I’ve made it with thighs and made it with white meat depending what we have on hand. Either way it comes out great. It even calls for ingredients that we always have on hand except for the garam masala and a quick trip to Penzey’s took care of that.
Thanks for a great recipe.
YOUR BLOG ROCKS!
I’m so thrilled to hear you enjoyed this Don! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback – N xx
Hi,
I was hoping to make this sometime this week, is Tomato passata the same as tomato paste? or tomato sauce.
Hunt sells both! and was trying to figure out which one to buy!!
Hi Karen! It’s different but Hunt’s tomato sauce will be just fine 🙂 N xx
Wow this was just scrumptious ! The first time we had butter chicken was on vacation on a cruise this past June the Hubs loved it and I mentioned I had your recipe ear marked back home… Finally made it and it was just wonderful…. Hubby took one taste and says ‘ya know I’m beginning to think this Nagi lady knows what she’s talking about” lol lol he has loved every recipe we have tried of yours! So glad I found you! 💕
Whoot! That’s a high praise 🙂 But I just provided the tools, YOU’RE the one who made it! N xx
Hi Nagi, I’m not a huge fan of Indian curries but my daughter is very fond of butter chicken so I made this at the weekend. It was absolutely fantastic, we both enjoyed it enormously. Thank you so much.
I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed this Faye! Thanks for letting me know – N xx
This was excellent. I’m not a huge fan of Indian but loved this. I made a 2nd attempt at your flat breads and they came out perfect. Thanks Nagi. 😁
What wonderful feedback Steven, I’m so pleased to hear that, thank you! N xx
oh my, Oh My, O-H M-Y!!!
I just finished dinner and this dish was ..oh my goodness …delicious!
Thanks Nagi!
Colorado Karen
WHOOT! So happy to hear that Karen, thank you! N xx
This is the best recipe for butter chicken ever! I used a different recipe before that called for a lot more spices and took longer to cook but it didn’t have near as much flavor as this recipe does! Yeah!!!! I have cooked at least 15 of your awesome recipes and they have all been so so so GOOD!!! My husband is in heaven 🙂 Thank you so much for this website!
What wonderful feedback Elizabeth, I’m so pleased to hear that, thank you! N xx
I love indian and i love no fussing about – this ticked both boxes, just added a little Kashmiri chilli for a bit more bite, so good!
Thanks for the compliment Hilary! So pleased you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
I’m a recent convert for Indian food, and I like butter chicken. You’re recipe looked the best so here I am!
On that note… Is it normal for the marinade to appear to get a bit chunky while cooking the chicken? I didn’t dump the excess marinade in… To be honest it looks like the yogurt has curdled in the hot pan?
Thanks for the advice! 🙂
It appears that if you want a smooth sauce is to blits the marinade/ ingredients minus the chicken in the food processor as stated in the cooks notes 🙂
That’s right, it will! Did you see the video? Mine looks curdled too! But it dissolves into the sauce:) N x
Awesome! My wife and daughter loved it! Thanks Nagi….
That’s so fantastic Nathan! Thanks for letting me know! N x
This is an awesome recipe, I’ve made this three times now and we can’t get enough of it! I serve with rice and garlic roti bread. Like all your recipes it’s easy to follow and the results are amazing.
Trying the Asian Salmon tonight.
Thanks Nagi.
Thanks Anthony! So glad you enjoyed this! N xx
Another winning recipe Nagi – thank you very much. I marinated the chicken from Thursday night and cooked on Friday evening after a long week at work.
Curries always feel like a big faff to me – lots of work, time, ingredients etc. So we often get a take away, which works out really expensive. This recipe is perfect and far nicer than anything we could get from the take away. Served it with rice, chickpea/spinach and of course your flatbreads, which have rapidly become a big favourite in our family.
I’m such a fan, I’m going to work my way through all your recipes. Thank you. X
That’s wonderful to hear Nicola, thank you for letting me know! Hope you are having a lovely weekend – N xx
Thank you Nagi – I am! Hope you are too.
Tonight: ‘Truly golden crunchy baked chicken’. Will let you know how it goes. Xx
made this one the other day. spiciness is just ok. hadleftover sauce, i just mix it with rice.
thanks for the recipe.
That’s wonderful to hear Annie, thank you for letting me know! N xx