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??
Can’t wait to eat this. Do I discard the leftover marinade?
Best Butter chicken I have ever made. Thank you so much for your recipes, so far they have all been awesome.
Wahoo! What great feedback, thanks so much Karyn!
I wonder if a dollop of sriracha would give it a bit of an ‘edge’.
(Sriracha to me – I’m an addict to the rooster bottle!)
Sure could Andy, or just up the chilli powder a little 🙂
This was beautiful.
I added:
2x star anise
5x cloves
5x cardamom pods (bruised)
Sounds great Rebekah!! N x
Made this for my Indian husband’s family birthday party last night. I think it’s the best Indian dish I’ve ever made. Yum. Yum. Thank goodness I tripled it! Also, cut down the cayenne to 1/2 tsp for the triple batch and came to the heat I (non-Indian) wanted. Thanks for making it so easy to feed my extended family!!!
Skin on or off the chicken thighs?
Hi LD – skin off 🙂 N x
Thanks so much! Can’t wait to make it tonight 😊
Love to know how it goes – keep me updated! N x
I had to come and review this recipe for everyone. This was such a hit at my house that I made three times in one week. It was super easy per the instructions and tasted a million times better than takeout. Thank you for the time that you took to post this and the amazing blog. There isn’t a recipe that I have tried that was not a huge hit; and that’s with a picky toddler that has a fancy taste palate lol.
Now THAT is commitment! I’m so happy you love it Nael
loved this, my children demolish it. All your recipes have been fool-proof and so easy. You’re so talented Nagi, blessed with amazing tastebuds!
Thank you so much Jess! ❤️
Butter chicken is one of my favs. I put in less cayenne than recommended but was still a little spicy for the kids, will prob leave it out altogether next time. So simple and easy, Can’t wait to make it again 😊
Hi Bex, it’s fine to leave it out – it still tastes amazing! N x
I don’t have chilli powder or cayenne pepper powder what can I do instead or can I just miss this out for this time?
Hi Teneille, you can just leave it out – you just wont get the heat in the butter chicken 🙂
Hi Nagi,cooked your Butter Chicken “Yummy “never had such
beautiful curry,all of your recipes are sooo perfect.!!!!!Now I think about tomorrow, chicken breast or pork chops???
Thanks Nagi cooking is fun now 🥰
That’s great to hear Trudi, thanks so much for letting me know!! N x
LOVE this recipe. It is so easy to make and tastes just as good, if not better, than what you find at Indian restaurants. I’ve made this recipe a couple of times for my family and this weekend I am making a giant batch (10 pounds of chicken thighs worth) for a family party. I know everyone is gonna love it!
Woah!!! Love to know how it goes! N x
Can you use greek yoghurt instead of plain yoghurt? For some reason, the groceries around my area are only selling greek yoghurt
Hi Miko, yes I use greek yogurt – N x
Could I use coconut cream instead of thicken cream as I’m lactose?
Absolutely Emily! N x
This was phenomenal. Even though I rushed the simmer stage to get it on the table sooner, the chicken was still so tender! I added some thinly-sliced red bell peppers and it worked great. Nagi, I always love your recipes – I think we have kindred pallets 😂 Cheers to you and Dozer!
Your recipes look delicious. I am wondering about the size of the Tablespoon you use. Is it the Australian size (4 tsps) OR UK/USA size ( 3 tsps)? The extra tsp in Aussie size is a big difference. Only Oz seems to use this size.
Also, I have a 1.25kg leg of lamb and wonder how to adjust the cooking times for the roast lamb recipes. I have never cooked one this small.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Tunie – That’s a really good question. The short answer is – I use 15 ml but in the vast majority of my recipes, it does not matter if you use 20ml or 15 ml. BUT if it does matter, I either specify as such or I say 4 tsp (which is 20 ml) or 3 tsp (which is 15 ml) instead (because teaspoons are more standard across the world). 99% of the time it’s baking recipes where it matters. Or where I use a very strong sauce like dark soy sauce. And in those cases, I always cater for the difference.
Hi Nagi, Thanks for your prompt and helpful reply.
I like your clever method of getting around any confusion regarding the 2 sizes of TB by using a number of teaspoons. I wish other Aussie recipe writers used that system!
Now to browse and enjoy choosing some of your delicious meals.
I made this last night with the no yeast flatbreads and it was superb! I’m already looking forward to leftovers today.
Yes!!! That’s the best for dipping 🙂
Better than any other butter chicken recipe hands down!
Wahoo, I’m so glad you enjoyed it Elaine!
I made this last night, followed the recipe exact but also added some cauliflower, green beans and a can of chick peas. It turned out great.
Yum! That sauce makes ANYTHING taste great 😂
This recipe was so perfect, a quote from my daughter referring to how good it was, “How can this be real” : D She is a bit dramatic
Can I make this in the Slow cooker?
Woah what a great compliment, I’m thrilled that she loved it so much!! N x