This is an easy baked Tandoori Chicken recipe for everyone who happens not to have a tandoor sitting in the middle of your kitchen! Made with accessible ingredients from scratch, chicken is infused with flavour from a yogurt tandoori chicken marinade then baked until golden with little charred bits.
Finger lickin’ good!
Tandoori Chicken recipe
Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala or Tandoori Chicken?? Any outing to an Indian restaurant causes a crisis of indecision as we battle it out between these 3 wildly popular Indian chicken dishes!
There’s no denying that one of the reasons why we love Tandoori chicken is the signature smokey chargrilled flavour that can only be achieved in a clay tandoor built to withhold fierce charcoal heat.
But don’t worry, you won’t miss the chargrill flavour in this Tandoori Chicken recipe. My trick is to jack up the flavour of the marinade to compensate – we’re talking big, big flavours here!
Tandoori Chicken Marinade
Here’s what you need for the Tandoori Chicken Marinade.
Kashmiri Chilli is what gives Tandoori the signature red colour. Tastes like paprika with a bit of spiciness, you’ll need to hunt down an Indian grocery store for this. But don’t worry, paprika is a near perfect flavour sub! The chicken won’t be quite as red but will still have a red hue. You can easily increase the redness with a drop or two of red food colouring.
How to make it
The making part is very straight forward: mix marinate, add the chicken, then leave to marinate. 12 to 24 hours is best, or 48 hours. If you’re in a rush, then 2 to 3 hours will do the trick if you cut slashes into the chicken.
While this is a baked tandoori chicken recipe, it’s a ripper on the barbie too. And off the charts amazing if cooked over charcoal!
What to serve with Tandoori chicken
Here’s what I serve with Tandoori Chicken:
Saffron Rice– love the colour contrast! Recipe below. Though plain basmati rice will do in a pinch (or other rice of choice).
Minted Yogurt– the freshness of the mint and cool yogurt pairs so well with all things Indian. Recipe below.
Side Salad*– try this Indian Tomato Salad or use the same dressing with slices of cucumber. Otherwise, check out this South Indian-style Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Coconut. A simpler alternative is Everyday Cabbage Salad (it’s in the recipe notes).
Flatbreads – When naan is in hot demand, I reach for my Easy No Yeast Flatbreads. Because it’s not a saucy curry, I like to brush the flatbreads with garlic butter for extra flavour – SO GOOD!
* Fresh side salads are less common in Indian cuisine, vegetables tend to be cooked. So don’t get too caught up about an authentic fresh side salad – go with what you like! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Baked Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
Tandoori Marinade:
- 1 1/2 cups plain yoghurt (full fat best)
- 2 tbsp oil (any)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp ginger , grated
- 5 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tsp garam masala spice mix (Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder (Note 2 subs)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste (pure, not US chili Note 3)
- 1 tsp salt
Chicken:
- 1.2kg / 2.4lb drumsticks, bone-in skin on chicken thighs or Marylands (whole chicken legs) (Note 4)
- Oil spray
Mint Yoghurt (optional)
- 1 cup plain yoghurt
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, packed
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Serving
- Basmati rice OR Saffron rice (see note)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, cover and marinate 12 to 24 hours (Note 5)
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a tray with foil and place a rack on the tray.
- Remove chicken from the Marinade, shaking off excess (reserve Marinade), and place on the rack. Bake for 20 minutes, then slather Marinade generously on both sides.
- Bake for a further 10 minutes, brush/dab top with Marinade.
- Bake further 10 minutes, do a final baste with Marinade then spray with oil.
- Increase heat to 220C/450F. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until you get some nice charred spots. Serve with Minted Yogurt and Saffron Rice (below) or plain Basmati Rice.
Minted Yoghurt:
- Combine ingredients in a food processor and blitz until mint is very finely chopped.
BBQ Option:
- Preheat BBQ with closed lid to medium, brush grills lightly with oil. Place bone-in skin-on chicken skin side down on grills, cook 5 min until surface is just caramelised – no more.
- Baste, then flip. Baste, then close lid. Cook for 20 minutes or until internal temperature is 175F/80C (bone in thighs and drumsticks), basting once or twice more.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Completely rewritten April 2019, new photos, new video, tidied up video and most importantly, new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Final photo from Dozer’s birthday cake recipe from Monday – when I was trying to do a “nice” overhead photo of the cake and when he saw I was teetering on a ladder fiddling with my camera, he knew it was an opportune time to lunge in for ANOTHER slice!
I am soooo new to the kitchen and really want to try this, however my husband really dislikes chicken on the bone! If I do it with chicken breast can I grill after cooking in the oven to crisp it up? If so for how long before ruining it?
Hi Leanne, I talk about cooking breasts and other cuts in the recipe notes 🙂 N x
Thank you! Will give it a bash with breast 🙂
This is an amazing marinade!
I used lamb and cooked it on the stove top after marinating overnight. Low boil for 30m to cook the marinade and tenderize the meat a bit, then high heat for about 10m, or until the meat is drying and the sauce is very, very reduced.
Hi Nagi, just wondering if this tandoori marinade would suit lamb chops?
Big fan of your recipes!
Yes definitely Gem!!! N x
Made this evening. Absolutely delicious. I will make it again.
That’s great to hear Donna! N x
Hi Nagi! If I wanted to cook this in a traditional clay pot at what temperature and for how long would I cook this for? Thank you so much!
Hi Janel – I haven’t tried in a clay bot sorry so I can’t give you accurate timing here – would love to know if you try though!
Awesome recipe. So easy to make. The flavors are excellent. I hoped to find a way to bake this without a tandoor oven, ever since I moved away from my favorite Indian restaurant. Happy birthday to Dozer; enjoyed the pic with him and the seagulls. So happy to see that you are able to enjoy a beautiful day at the beach.
Had attempted this last week, it was very good, had been missing tandoori for a long time. My oven skills arent that good, but it came out very well and my family enjoyed it, so thank you very much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Rajesh!! N x
Are the oven temperatures for conventional or fan forced oven?
Hi Yj, the temp is for all ovens, where it matters in a recipe (like baking cakes etc) I’ll specify the different temps. N x
Tried it tonight (minus the Chili powder) and it was delicious! I love the slightly charred texture!
Have cooked this again and it so so good every time and so easy with so much flavour.
Another great recipe of yours.
Hi Nagi,
I stumbled on your website by accident.. a d ob happy day, i love it i spend hours browsing through it.. you method is simple, straightforward and explained in simple terms, pictures and even a video to demonstrate the ingredients and steps.. honestly, thank you for sharing your talent and ur expertise and making food a beautiful and simple.
My husband and I really enjoy all of your recipes that I’ve followed so far. This one is currently in the oven but already smells delicious. The marinade tasted really really good and being Indian, I always love seeing recipes with a huge amount of spices in the them.
Thanks so much Abeer for the great feedback, I really appreciate it!
Me and my husband are a big fan of yours. All the recipes of yours have been a big hit. Thank you so much! So glad, you are from Australia too.
I use middle eastern Labneh instead of Greek yogurt or Dahi. Labneh is thick, dense and has perfect texture and taste for a non drippy marinade that binds well to the chicken pieces.
Hi Neil – labneh is made from yogurt so yes that would also work fine here 🙂
Wow! Super pictures and Awesome chicken recipe
Thanks Farida!
So I have made this recipe a few times now and it is delicious. I am making it tomorrow with a twist. I am going to make saffron rice, then after the chicken is cooked, I am going to chop it up and put the chicken and rice in egg rolls. Then I am going to fry them til golden brown and serve it with some dill toum and your mint yogurt.
Yum! Sounds delicious Mike!!
This looks and sounds so yummy! Making it tonight for supper. Love your picture of the birthday dog….made me giggle his sly look likes he’s sneaking a piece, reminds me of my goofy 1yr. old puppy.
I hope you love it Ann! And yes, it was his birthday so I let him go wild 😆
Hi. Can you use plain Greek yogurt for the marinade? It’s the type I always have on hand.
Hi Steve, yes – that’s what I use 🙂
It nice blog plz share more like this
Thanks Simon!
Hi Nagi. I don’t have an oven. Can I do this in the slower cooker? Thanks
Hi Nagi, made this recipe earlier in the week but without the saffron and mint dip and it was a hit with everyone. Making it again tonight with both. Huge fan of your recipes, we have the chicken shawarma at least once a week. Cheers, Richard
That’s awesome Richard 🙌 Enjoy!
Hi- cooked the chicken for my family last night and everyone said it was delicious! I doubled up the quantities to have some clod today – however all devoured last night – many thanks for this Simon
Wahoo, I’m so glad it was enjoyed!