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!
Sorry to ask so many questions Nagi, but do have a delicious recipe for Dallas Makhani or any similar Dal recipe and a recipe for a nice and spicy chili chicken? I’m a huge connessiour of Indian cusine.
Hi Jeremy! Funny you ask, I am just tweaking my Chicken Curry recipe to share soon! I don’t have a “go to” Dal recipe and to be honest, the reason is because to make a truly delicious one, it does require many spices that are hard to source. I may share it anyway if you really would like!
Please. I would love an authentic dal Makhani recipe, chilli chicken recipe, and chicken tikka masala recipe if you’re willing to share. I have an Indian grocery store near me, so finding those rare ingredients could be fairly easy.
Hi Jeremy, happy to send across the recipes I use! When you say “Chilli Chicken”, can you help me out a bit? You don’t mean Chili like Texas Chili, I assume you mean an Indian one but I am not entirely sure exactly what you mean. 🙂
Yes, I mean the Indian chili chicken. I remember eating it when I was in Northern India and I’ve been in love ever since.
I will look into it Jeremy! Indian Chili Chicken is quite a generic term, I will see if I can find out what the authentic version is that is actually made in Northern India. If you come across a photo that looks similar, please do send it across!
Is the rack absolutely necessary? I don’t have any trays with racks. If I use a metal baking dish and let it sit in the yogurt marinade, will it still come out the same?
Hi Jeremy, it will work ok, it is just that the under side that has contact with the tray won’t end up quite as crusty golden 🙂 Still just as delicious though!
Thank you.
I made this for a curry night and it was a very popular dish. Made with a mixture of thighs and breasts but the thighs were the tastiest. This is a keeper. Did not change a thing. Goes beautifully with a simple cucumber raita. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for coming back to let me know! N x
Hi. I really want to make this, except I don’t have a lot of the ingredients. I don’t have ginger, coriander powder, cayenne pepper and paprika. Can I make it without, or are they essential?
Hi An! I’m sorry to say they are quite essential the flavour of this recipe! 🙂 N x
Yum yum yum!!! This looks so good!!! I’m thinking about making This next week for a dinner party! I was planning on making 6 Cornish game hens. Will the baking time and heat be the same??
Hi Susan! It will require a longer bake time because whole cornish hens are larger than legs 🙂 How big are your hens? this would be SO GOOD with Cornish Game Hens!!
I know!!! I’m excited to try it. I just don’t want to burn them. Each hen is a pound and 1/4!
This was so so good. Thank you for posting this!!!
Thanks for trying my recipe Chelsea! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
I love pure Indian tandoori chicken. Appreciated on your’s tandoori chicken, such a wonderful effort. Thanks for sharing.
No worries Sunita! 🙂
This recipe is a keeper! Im so glad I came across your page. Thanks Nagi. ☺️
Thank you Mrs Lake! I’m so glad you found me too <3 N x
Hi Nagi! Looks like another wonderful recipe that I cannot wait to try! But, sadly, I don’t own a rack. Is there any way I can just bake the chicken tandooris on a normal pan? Thanks!!!
Hi Layan! All those years I made this as a teenager, we never had a rack either. So totally fine! ?
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made it last weekend, and everyone LOVED it. It was perfect.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Zanne!! 🙂
I mad this today and it was amazing! I made the marinade last night so by 2:00 this afternoon it would be good. This is definitely a new regular meal in my house!
WOO HOO!! I’m so happy to hear you say that Lindsay, thanks! 🙂
Wow! I made this tonight for dinner and this was the most flavorful chicken ever! I cannot wait for leftovers tomorrow. Thank you for all your awesome recipes. I’ve pinned so many!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Amanda! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and let me know!
I love your photos Nagi!. I am hoping to give this a go for sure as soon as I get some yoghurt back in the fridge. It looks so very goo.
Ooooh, I do love Tandoori chicken! I hope approve Tania! 🙂 N x
Simply delicious!!! Grilled mine and can’t wait for leftovers tonight:) Thanks
YAY! I’m SO GLAD!! N x
Love the crispy skin with marinates Nagi. They totally win my heart.
Thank you so much Elaine!! I love thick crusts 🙂 Loaded with flavour!
Ooooooh child. What have you done?!? The way the marinade is on that chicken is glorious!! You were in Nepal one year before I was there! I was in Kathmandu, though. I took a bus all the way from Jaipur and it was an experience, to say the least. Would love to see more of your photos!
NO WAY!! I spent time in Kathmandu too 🙂 Loved it. I am thinking of going back soon. It will be sad to see the ruins but I kinda feel like I’ll be supporting them by going, you know?
I want to lick the screen, but that would not be very lady like. I too have had so many versions of tandoori chicken but none so tender looking as yours. Some of the “resorts” we have stayed have some of the best cooked home meals ever…maybe time to head back again soon.
Hey Nagi,
I’ve been following you for quite a while and must say your posts always make me lick my lips. Awesome work, brilliant blog and fab photos.
I must add that for tandoori chicken to be authentic and traditional, it has to be cooked in a tandoor, from where the dish gets it’s name. BBQ Grilled over coals also produces a fantastic dish but differs from one cooked in a tandoor. The key being the insanely high temperature that a tandoor gets to, up to 480 C/900 F. The extremely high temperature radiates off the clay walls, totally envelops the food cooking it much quicker than on a grill and thus keeping it juicier.
Your recipe is awesome, authentic.
Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I’m so glad you approve! 🙂 Yup, I do know the real authentic one is made in a tandoor, I did talk about it in the post 🙂 The one over charcoal was how they made it in Nepal – I guess they didn’t have a tandoor big enough to cook for everyone! 🙂 I wish I had a tandoor…
So glad you approve of this recipe though!! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this thoughtful message! N x
With pleasure Nagi. Love your site!
I’m also a massive foodie and love cooking but I know how much effort it takes to perfect recipes, the ingredients, the quantities, etc… and to make them public.
You are an inspiration.
<3 N x
This looks so good! I’m going to make it tonight. I have a question, though. If I am using bone in chicken breast, how long should I bake it? Also, can I put the chicken in the grill mode for the last 5 minutes? Brilliant job, Nagi! ☺
Hi Faria! I’m so sorry for the delay responding. Bone in breast – depending on how large – will take around 45 minutes too. but please be careful not to overcook it so it dries out!! And yes you can grill for the last 5 minutes!
That looks awesome Nagi and is exactly how we make at home, except that I cheat some times by adding store bought tandoori mix. Have a great weekend.
Thank you for your wonderful message!! No judgement on the cheating – I would cheat more often if I had an Indian grocery store nearby!!!