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”!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
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 is such a cracking recipe! Have made it many times from your cookbook. One question- do you think you could marinate and freeeze as the overnight marinating is a gamechanger so to be able to freeze it ready to thaw and cook would be awesome.
Hey Emily! Did you try freezing it? I was wondering the same thing
I use Greek-style yoghurt – the Farmers Union brand (Victoria, Australia).
I think you could also use natural yoghurt or regular yoghurt. Essentially, I think one without sugar or added flavours would be fine.
According to bakeclub.com.au (no affiliation – I just Googled to find out the difference!):
“Greek-style yoghurt is just natural yoghurt that has been strained one extra time – natural yoghurt is usually strained twice while Greek yoghurt is traditionally strained three times. This extra straining means that Greek yoghurt is more concentrated and is not only higher in fat (Greek Yoghurt is usually around 10% while natural yoghurt is only about 4% fat) but also thicker in consistency (due to extra moisture being removed).”
Sorry, I was trying to post this in reply to Rose below, not to the above post! 🙄👇
This butter chicken is everything! I made it as written and would not change a thing. This is what I make when I want to impress my guests. And it is so easy, too!
If I were to not add any sugar in this, will it taste different?
Naomi is right. I’ve made with and without. It really depends on the sweetness of the tomatoes and it’s not a lot of sugar. Mutti brand tomatoes are naturally sweet. I also sauté/caramelize onions and cook down the sauce before adding back the chicken. I’ve even made a giant batch of sauce and freeze before adding the cream. I always adjust the seasoning after tasting. Seasoning/spices can age as well so tasting and adjusting is important.
Yes, if you made it first with sugar and then without, you would likely notice a difference. But if you really don’t want to put sugar into it, it will still have plenty of flavour.
I am making this tonight and going to replace the white sugar for a little honey or coconut sugar! Hoping it still tastes yummy! I’ll let you know how it turns out ☺️
Butter Chicken. I made this recipe and it was quick, easy and delicious. My friends loved it as well. You were right, it did not need additional butter as it was definitely rich enough. I initially thought there was too much sauce but the four of us polished it all off. 😊 Every one of your recipes I’ve cooked has turned out perfectly and I appreciate the extra tips that elevate the dish. Thank for sharing Nagli.
Hi Nagi, I just wanted to leave another review, coincidentally two Roses left reviews on JUNE 24, 2024 but only the rating part of my review came through at 6:00 PM. This Butter Chicken is just awesome, so simple to make, it comes together quickly, and it’s the best. This is the only Butter Chicken I will ever make.
Thank you for taking the time to test and sharing your wonderful Recipes 🤗💯
Of course this is delicious, because Nagi made it. I love the recipes you post and they are always a hit with my family.
I made this tonight, served with basmati rice and (store bought) roasted garlic naan. I always leave out the red pepper/chili because I’m scared to make it spicy for the kids.. other than that, the only thing I change is to double the sauce because we can’t get enough!
We love the sauce too!!! I always add an entire can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato paste, then……ALOT of full fat cream and butter. More than what is in this recipe. We only have this occasionally, so we’re allowed to double down LOL
I’ve made this recipe for the 3rd week in a row. Absolutely delicious. Tonight I’ve cut down on some of the chicken and added pumpkin and broccolini to up the veg content, which was delish. Otherwise, it’s excellent just the way the recipe suggests. Thanks Nagi!
Easy and tasty
Absolutely delicious! Cooked this with the curried rice and so so good!
Amazing
I made this tonight and it was good, but when I made the marinade, the second I added the lemon juice to the yogurt it curdled. Didn’t really affect the flavour but not a very pleasant visual appeal. Also, wayyyy too much salt in this recipe. Question: I used 0% mf plain yogurt (we can’t get full fat anything in Canada – it’s bad for you therefore it’s illegal) – would that have made a difference? I can’t get “heavy cream” either. I think the most they go up to is 30% for coffee creamer. Otherwise it’s a good recipe, the spice blend is just right – but next time I’ll skip the salt!
Not sure where you live in Canada, but you sure CAN get full fat everything. I make this with whipping cream (33%fat). You can also get full fat yogurt and full fat sour cream in Alberta. Where is it that you live and where do you shop where you think you can’t get this stuff? BC? LOL!!!!
Not sure where you live in Canada but Liberté makes a 10% plain yogurt that is great. Heavy cream is the same as what we call cooking cream or whipping cream which is 35%.
To make this recipe slightly less spicy what do you suggest I change?
We found it spicy too. I’ll be using less than half the cayenne pepper next time. Otherwise it’s a beautiful recipe!!
I’ve made this lots of times, and I usually use half of the cayenne pepper. You could then build up from there if you wanted to. You could also just leave out the cayenne if you want it to have lots of “spice” flavour but not be “spicy”.
I also use about half the cayenne in Nagi’s Shakshuka recipe. These two recipes are two of my favourite of all time, but I have begun to suspect that my tolerance for cayenne/chilli is about half that of Nagi’s! 😆
What do you claissfy as plain yoghurt? Would be great if you could provide the brand/type you use for this recipe?
I use Greek-style yoghurt – the Farmers Union brand (Victoria, Australia).
I think you could also use natural yoghurt or regular yoghurt. Essentially, I think one without sugar or added flavours would be fine.
According to bakeclub.com.au (no affiliation – I just Googled to find out the difference!):
“Greek-style yoghurt is just natural yoghurt that has been strained one extra time – natural yoghurt is usually strained twice while Greek yoghurt is traditionally strained three times. This extra straining means that Greek yoghurt is more concentrated and is not only higher in fat (Greek Yoghurt is usually around 10% while natural yoghurt is only about 4% fat) but also thicker in consistency (due to extra moisture being removed).”
Absolutely delicious, only change I’d make is to add sat to the marinade.
ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS RECIPE!!! Then again you are my go to for all recipes!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi Nagi, is this recipie fodmap friendly?
Nah, it’s got heaps of lactose as well as garlic if you have it as-is. You could swap to lactose-free yoghurt and cream, and remove the garlic, and then it would be.
Loved this! I made it with paneer instead of chicken because I’m vegetarian. So easy and delicious! Also added some spinach, may try adding some peas next time.
Great flavour, easy and simple. I didn’t have tomatoe Passata but peeked frozen tomatoes from my garden that I used. Very yummy. We usually eat butter chicken at a local Indian restaurant but this definitely rivals theirs.
Thanks
❤❤❤❤❤❤
In the past making this its worked out excelent with the taste however recently i’ve been dieting and looked at the calories. when i input all the ingredients on my tracker app the total calories comes in way over the calories listed on the recipe per serving (787 per serving vs 402 per serving). any thoughts on why? thats not including any sides or rice
This is now my go to butter chicken recipe! However as others suggested I’ve added finely diced onion to the marinade and I may have doubled the amount of ginger, garlic and spices too. If you want to add some vegetables to make it a bit healthier, I recommend adding mushroom and eggplant. And to add some authentic tandoor flavour the dhungar technique is truly amazing.
❤❤❤❤❤❤