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??
This turned out amazing!
If I wanted to make this recipe for more people do I just double the ingredients?
Thank you
Hi Joi, yes you can click the number of servings to scale up and all the ingredients will adjust for you. N x
Hi Nagi,Im enjoying your recipes more and more each time I try one. Well explained ,easy and very tasty
Butter Chicken With Rice!Yummy Yummy. This has become my son’s favorite recipe.
This was the best chicken curry recipe that I ever cooked!
I was pleasantly very surprised with this recipe. The flavour is excellent. The only thing I would recommend is that if you like a bit of spice, doubling the turmeric, garam masala, chili and cumin can really kick it up a notch in my opinion!
Can I blend tomatoes instead of using paasata?
Sure can Fizza! N x
So so good. Served with basmati rice (which turned out perfectly per your recipe) and store bought naan and my husband said it’s a 10/10. Next time I’ll make homemade naan. Thank you for another awesome recipe that makes me look like an accomplished cook 😂
What do you do with the leftover marinade? Since it contains all the, it seems like you need it!
No left-over marinade if you use the recipe quantities.
I was wondering the same
can i sub regular yogurt for dairy free yogurt? or is there a better sub that’s dairy free
Can’t wait to try this recipe. My son and I are always trying to find new recipes for chicken. We both love spicy and new flavors.
I made this tonight-Butter Chicken. I added Hing, which is necessary for me when I cook Indian Food. It was absolutely delicious!
I love hearing that Nina, thanks so much for the feedback! N x
Nagi, you have done it again, that was so very tasty. Will definitely be cooking it again. Thankyou for all your amazing recipes. So easy and so incredibly flavoursome.
You’re so welcome Leanne!! N x
Coming from someone who has often tried and failed to make Indian curries from scratch, this recipe is fantastic! Flavour is wonderful, my family prefers it to store bought butter chicken.
Hi Nagi,
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, you’ve changed the way I eat.
Made this and substituted cauliflower for the chicken. Dropped the yoghurt in the marinade and substituted a good dash of olive oil to coat the cauliflower then added spices, gave it a really good mix then oven roasted cauliflower for 10 to 12 mins at 230C to get a some good caramelisation on the veggies. (Still firm enough to stand up for the second cooking in the sauce.)
Spicy flavours came through a treat it is sensational. Paired it with Quinoa to get a protein hit. Might try with some chickpeas next time.
Thanks again
M
Wahoo, that’s amazing to hear Michael, what a great meat free alternative! N x
Nagi – this is always a hit for our family and friends. I’m making it as part of our schools meal program for families and we need to provide instructions for reheating if frozen. Would this freeze well and then would you just defrost and microwave?
Hi Tash, yes if you’ve pre-cooked it, I would just thaw then reheat gently in the microwave. N x
Amazing! Thank you! I had to throw in some veggies so just added cooked green beans and carrots. Do you think they will reheat well with the veggies or should I omit? I didn’t want it to be watery so i cooked the veggies first and will combine once cooled. Hope it works!
I did this recipe and it was a hit. Simply amazing. My husband is in love and keeps asking me to make it again. I wonder if i can use chickpeas instead of chicken? I wanted to try something different 🙃
Anything I can do to stop the yogurt splitting?
Hi Jessie, are you referring to the cream at the end? It shouldn’t split as long as you gently simmer and don’t boil it 🙂 N x
Absolutely delicious!! Marinated for 36 hrs and followed recipe but after simmering for 20 mins in pan I then popped it in the slow cooker for 2hrs…..was an absolute hit with teenagers and grown ups! Thanks Nagi
WOOT! That’s fabulous to hear – thanks so much for letting me know Arwyn!! N x
Made this tonight using oatly plain yogurt and coconut cream instead of heavy cream to make it dairy free-it was amazing! I added less salt and still found it a tiny bit salty for my taste. Definitely will be making this again 🙂
Hi Nagi!
It’s the second time i m doing this recipe and it’s just too good each single time!! I ate 2 portions 🤰but it’s so worth it!!!
Hi Nagi, can I substitute either the yoghurt for the marinade or full cream for the curry? I have leftover buttermilk that I would like to use.