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 tonight, and it was so delicious, we all had seconds!! This will definitely become a go to comfort food in our house! Even my picky little one said it was wonderful. I made the lighter version, and it was still plenty rich. Also, thank you for your recipes, I have loved everything I have tried of yours!
Thanks so much Laura!
Can this be done in a slow cooker?
Hi John, you could transfer after step 5 but it’s just so quick it’s almost not worth it!
So do you discard the leftover marinade at the end or does that get put into the sauce?
No, discard the excess marinade — Nx
So delicious!! And EASY! Tastes better than some restaurants I’ve had it from. Definitely a go to for my family (and I have two children under 5). First time I used Greek yogurt and when I blended it it was a little thick so I added a little water until I liked the consistency. Came out perfect! Next time I used reg yogurt and it came out the same. Perfect comfort food! So was your chicken stroganoff ! So glad I found your site. Looking forward to making more recipes!
I’m guessing this wouldn’t freeze wel?
Hi Kellie, I always make this and usually freeze it. Absolutely no probs with defrosting and reheating.
Hi Kellie, I have successfully frozen this before without issues ❤️
Hi Nagi,
I made your Butter Chicken, I have very fussy teenagers and husband, one word “winner”,
Winning Mel!!!
Hi Nagi
I just discovered you about a month ago. I first made your Greek chicken with lemon rice. Then the shawarma chicken. Very soon the butter
Chicken. Your recipes are wonderful and they turned out
great. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much for the great feedback Ron!
Hi Nagi! Would Greek yogurt be okay to use for marinade? Thank you!
Yes, perfect!
Hi nagi greating from UK
Please can we have the original butter chicken recipe back on the web the one u charcoal Chicken and blend the sauce.
Many thanks Fatima I did e mail you this morning
Hi Fatima, is it my Tikka Masala recipe you’re thinking about?
As a student, this was perfect to make. Very tasty and very easy to make!
Great Morgan, I’m so glad you loved it!
Sorry Nagi, Can you reply to me here regarding hot spice question. I forgot to subscribe to comment ;P Thanks! ♥
Hi Sam, I’d just omit the chilli powder altogether ☺️
What can I do to go low on the hot spice? I enjoy it but my family & friends are very sensitive to it. But I don’t want to sacrifice on taste. Thanks! ♥
Great recipe, Ty Nagi. I used the leftovers by making butter chicken curry puffs with puff pastry and an egg wash! I think they were even more popular. Love your recipes x
Woah what a great idea Michelle!
Do you think this recipe could be frozen? Or no because of the yogurt,?
Hi Alexis, I’ve successfully frozen this before ☺️
Great I’m going to make a big batch then 🙂
Would chicken breast be an ok substitute for thighs in this recipe? I have a big 5.5lb pack of breasts.
Wondering the same
I made this for a Valentine’s Day dinner for my partner Sharron. I had never made butter chicken before but the recipe was easy to follow (like all of Nagi’s recipes) and the result was fantastic. Sharron loved the dish. I also made the Easy Soft Flatbreads to accompany the dish. Again I had never made flat breads before but these were so easy to make and DELICIOUS!! Thanks Nagi both recipes are fantastic!
Thanks so much for the great feedback David ❤️
Such a great butter chicken recipe. Thank you.
Just wondering when you simmer the chicken and sauce mixture for 20 minutes should I keep the lid on the pan or remove it?
Hi Liz – It should be uncovered – N x
Absolutely loved this butter chicken recipe, Will be making it often, so flavoursome and not spicy, my kids devoured it. Love ur recipes.
Winning!!!
I made this tonight in my multi cooker. The only change was that I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream. AND I did not marinate it. Otherwise, I did the same thing in the multi cooker.
Excellent!
Hi Nagi,
Made this ahead and froze for a weekend away with family.
WOW, what a winner!!! Dish was empty in no time,
Had rave reviews 😋
Was going to make it with a potato topping, decided not to, but will do it like that when I make it again, SOON!!
Thank you again for sharing such delicious recipes.
I’m so glad it was a hit Kerry!
Best chicken curry dat I hav ever made😃
Thankuu soo much Nagii❤️
Wahoooo! Thanks so much ❤️