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??
But I should mention that I added 1/4c cashews to the tomatoes while pureeing. Maybe that’s what gave it a richness.
Gosh YES Amy! That’s very authentic Indian way of thickening curries! 🙂
Delicious recipe. I can’t imagine how good it would have been if I remembered to add the cream:) Oh well it was very healthy and still full of flavour. I may have to make it that way again.
Oooh so glad you enjoyed this Amy, thanks for letting me know! N x
The yoghurt went motley when we put it on heat…? Any ideas? Still cooking
Hi Trisha! Mix away, it will blend right in! 🙂
Hi Nagi
We enjoyed the Butter Chicken for dinner tonight – it was sensational !
I made raita, steamed basmati rice and served with garlic naan, mango chutney and some pickle.
So much nicer than Indian takeaway, I was so proud !
Thank you, your recipes are a-mazing and NEVER disappoint.
You ROCk Vanessa! You’re the Kitchen Goddess – move over Nigella!
How in heavens did I miss this recipe? Somehow you must have snuck this in on me. I came over from you Curry cauliflower and chickpea. This sounds heavenly and I’m with you as far as movies go, I love a nice *sigh* at the end movie 🙂 Have you seen The Thomas Crowne affair with Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan? I could watch that weekly. If you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it for you — but I bet you sigh at the end. Have a wonderful day xoxo
YES I have seen it!!! I loved that movie!!! You watch that every week?? OK I think it’s time I watched it again! I ❤️ Pierce Brosnan…..
Oh, Nagi…I’m in heaven. Made your Butter Chicken tonight and it is amazing. Lovely buttery, creamy, spicy sauce with tender chunks of chicken. Believe me not one drop of that sauce/gravy will go to waste. I sopped up every drop with some naan. It was so yummy! Thanks for making this wonderful recipe available. It really came together quite quickly. I will surely be making this again very soon!
IT looks so yummy… 🙂
It tastes incredible! I hope you try it! N x
I only have fat free Greek yogurt ……would that change the outcome ? am dying to make this ! thank you ! ?
That’s fine Shirley, you won’t notice much difference! N x
I forgot to add the 5 stars.
🙂 N x
I just finished your recipe and it looks and tastes fantastic. I followed it exactly except I used chicken breast.
Thanks for the great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Jeff! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Can’t wait to make this. Can you use chicken tenderloins for this recipe? Also, do you use pure or thickened cream?
Hi Annita – yes to tenderloins for sure! I use thickened cream but really, any cream will work just fine in this!
Making this for dinner tonight looks awsome , was wondering if grilling the chicken slightly before adding it to sauce would give it a slightly smokey flavour
Hi Jason, it sure would! The butter chicken I’ve had doesn’t have a chargrill flavour but I think it will go great!
High Five!! For months I have been trying to find the perfect butter chicken recipe for my partner and I. Whenever we try a different recipe either he will like it and I wont, or I’ll like it and he wont. But thanks to you, tonight we have found a recipe that we both enjoy! hallelujah! thank you
Yesssssss!!!!! 🙂 N x
Based on the reviews I’m about to try this recipe! Looks delicious! Wondering though…what is the minimum time I can marinate the chicken for? I didn’t plan ahead so will a couple hours in the fridge be ok?
Hi Anna! So sorry for the late reply, I was having technical probs with comments this weekend. Yup, a couple of hours will do the trick! This is really all about the sauce 🙂
OMG this is another fantastic recipe. I made slight changes based on what I had. 2 T tomato paste + water because I ran out of passata, and about 1/2 C sour cream instead of cream/milk. And I added 1 tsp ground coriander because I really like it. I marinated the chicken overnight and this came together very quickly. Thank you!!
WOO HOO! So glad you enjoyed it Viva, thanks so much for coming back to tell me! N x
I absolutely love this dish, I followed the recipe exactly last time and it was perfect except I like the chicken to fall apart a little more. How would you suggest doing this in the crockpot?
Xx Sylvia
http://www.fixintothrill.com
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Sylvia! To make the chicken more fall apart, I would add water to the sauce and let it simmer for longer! 🙂
Hi nagi, I was so looking forward to trying this recipe but it didn’t turn out as I anticipated! I followed the recipe to a ‘t’ and used the combination of light cream and milk like you did. My end result was so watery it was not good. I simmered the dish for 20 mins too ?
Hi Jo! The sauce consistency comes from the passata which is thick so the sauce really should be thick and not watery! Did you definitely use passata? It should not be thin like water, it should be thick like a – well, a curry sauce consistency!
Yes I definitely used passata. I wonder whether the milk substitute over a full cup of cream was why it was so thin?
Hi Jo – I missed that point, you used milk instead of cream? Yes, that makes a big difference because cream thickens as it reduces whereas milk does not 🙁 N x
Fantastic recipe, it tasted incredible. I just saved the recipe. I will definitely be cooking this again.
Thanks for trying my recipe Duks! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for taking the time to let me know! N x
I made this last weekend for my Dad’s birthday meal and it was delicious – even the chicken marinating in the fridge smelt divine! Definitely a recipe to keep going back to, thank you so much Nagi!
YAY!!! So glad you enjoyed this Libby – and thank you SO MUCH for coming back to let me know!! N x
Not sure what went wrong but mine was watery and not thick
Woah! Nancy, that’s not good, I’ve definitely never had that problem. You definitely used tomato passata??
Is there supposed to be curry in the curry sauce?
Karl – nope 🙂 The garam masala is essentially the curry powder in this! 🙂
Hi
Can i use tomato paste in place of tomato puree
Hi Fazi, I’m sorry for this you need passata / puree 🙂