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??
I made this for a dinner group of eight & used 4 1/2 lbs of thighs (adjusted to 9 servings according to recipe) followed instructions & even marinaded for 24 hrs. It was absolutely delicious &. Despite the fact there was so much of the amazing sauce I was only left with about a cup after everyone had their fill! Guests were enjoying it after all the ckn was gone just by putting it on the rice. I was made to promise I would make it again. Absolutely delicious & Indian restaurant quality dish. Thumbs way up Nagi!
I made this last night (followed the recipe to a T) and it was a huge hit with all my family. My son is quite a picky eater and I’ve been trying for ages (in vain) to find a chicken curry he’d like. Nagi, you nailed it!! xxxx
Quick question: have you/ anyone else tried cooking it with the addition of veg to the sauce, e.g. spinach, mushrooms or anything else? Any tips very welcome 😀
Hi Rea, I found your comment yesterday as I was looking through the comments, wondering the same thing. I made this recipe for the first time tonight (yum!) and added broccoli, green beans and carrot. I steamed them in the microwave first and added them cooked to the sauce at the end. They were a really nice addition I thought. They actually took on the flavour of the sauce but added some lovely fresh pops throughout. So I would recommend giving that a go.
Aaawww, Dozer looks dead little on that picture 🙂 anyway, made this last night, marinated it the night before so it was very quick and easy all in all, I do prefer a bit of a kick in my curries but wanted to test this as a friend of mine can´t handle no heat what so ever and I always struggle to cook for her when we have our 2-4 man cocktail party´s (sad I know for calling it a party) I thought I had ruined it because mine did look quite runny but it was perfect for dipping the naan bread in and when mixed in with rice, thanks once more 🙂 x
Could this be made in a slow cooker or Aga?
Thank you
Not as written sorry Aga, you need to fry the chicken to get that flavour and simmer the sauce to thicken. N x
Thank you Nagi!! This now has become a regular in our house. So delicious and easy!! Trying the flat bread recipe tonight with it!!
So delicious! I really like the lighter options you provided. My hubby and I loved the depth and flavour of this recipe. Yummy! I am glad I ground my cumin – could totally smell all lovely spices.
Absolutely delicious. I made it twice and it tastes so good. Everyone was fond of the curry.
Thank you so much for this recipe
Just made this recipe and it’s was utterly delicious. Served with the naan bread and next level
Easy & flavourfull.
Love your recipes
Scrumptious! Both my husband and I loved this recipe. So much so that I am going to make it again, and I just made it for the first time a few days ago! Thank you for this fantastic recipe.
This butter chicken is the best I have ever had. This recipe is so easy and was absolutely delicious. I served it with your cucumber salad, which was equally delicious. Thank you!
This used to be my favourite dish whilst at Uni. This was my first attempt at making it myself and it was amazing. Thank you so much.
I cooked this for my 3 very fussy girls tonight, with the naan as well – they absolutely hoovered it down! Love your down to earth approach and found it so easy to follow, And we ALL love Dozer!
Can I use cream or coconut milk instead of the yoghurt? Would love to make this but I can’t marinade it in yoghurt…
Fantastic! Cooked it this evening for supper and its definitely a keeper. Next time i will make your flatbreads too. Thank you Nagi 🙂
I can’t even begin to tell you how much we enjoyed this recipe, thank you so so much! Served with garlic basmati rice and cucumber and garlic yoghurt, can’t wait to make it again! Very happy household tonight, already looking at what recipe to try next! Thank you thank you 👏🙏
Best butter chicken recipe I have ever made. It has become my go-to and my sons favourite.
Made this last night, using coconut milk and chicken breasts and my two “hate curry” eaters went back for seconds!
My husband said, “Did you make this exactly like the recipe? Bookmark it!! It’s fabulous!!”
The flatbread recipe was a hit as well…made a double batch of it and only 2 pieces left over. Thank you so much, Nagi. I felt great about supper last night!!!
Delicious and so, so easy to make. Your website is my absolute favourite for recipes. There literally hasn’t been a dud recipe yet and I’ve made quite a wide selection. Thank you Nagi!
Hey Nagi! Just want to say my FIL and I love your blog, we always enjoy catching up together on the latest emails!
This is one of our fave recipes because it is SO EASY and of course delicious!
I recently found an even easier way to do it – I prepare 3-4 batches and freeze the raw chicken with the marinade. Then when we want butter chicken, just take a portion out of the freezer the night before and voila! It’s ready twenty mins after walking in the door!
Cheers!
Just wondering in the video u separated the chicken do u have to?