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??
Sarah says
Love your recipes. Can you tell me if the butter chicken is ok to freeze. Thank you
El says
Was wondering if this is spicy for kids?
Nagi says
Yes definitely Sarah!
Yvette says
The flavors are incredible, and what a nutritional powerhouse. Garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili/cayenne, yogurt, I feel no guilt eating this dish! I did try substituting whole milk for the cream and it’s not as rich but still Delicious. Your recipe is rapidly becoming one of my favorite meals, thanks for sharing!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you love it Yvette!
Vicky says
I have already made this 4 times with my boyfriend and one time I made this for my family, they all loved it so much, gonna make it again tomorrow, all your recipes are amazing!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Vicky!
Coralie says
II am so tempted to try this as i love butter chicken but i am very nervous about using cream in my cooking. I’ve never successfully added cream without it splitting and now avoid recipes that call for cream. Any advice on how to avoid a split sauce would be greatly appreciated!
Nagi says
Hi Coralie, fear not, you’ve got this!!! Just don’t let the sauce boil – a gentle simmer is all it needs!
Lisa says
But is that enough to render it safe, since it has touched raw chicken. What’s the amount of time the sauce should cook?
Matt M says
I read the recipe that you’ve cooked the chicken fully before adding cream in final stages of finalising they sauce, so think it should be fine!
Veronica says
That looks delicious. We love curry – definitely going to give this a try soon!
Nagi says
Love to know what you think once you try it!!
David Cole says
Hello,
I have drained my chicken after sauteing to get all the extra moisture out at that point and it has helped make my sauce thicker.
Another thing you can do is add corn starch slurry to tighten up the sauce.
Naomi Sexton says
Thank you David and Nagi . Will try both.
Nagi says
Sure can David 🙂
Naomi Sexton says
Hi Nagi. I have just cooked this recipe. It was just great. However can you tell me why
my sauce was very runny and what can I do to make it not so runny. I adjusted the recipe for 6 servings. However it definately was very tastey!! Thank you so much.
Nagi says
Hi Naomi, sounds like you may need to simmer the sauce a little more to thicken it up – N x
Melissa says
This recipe is just AWESOME!!! Came out perfect 👌!
Nagi says
WOOT!!! Thanks so much Melissa – N x
Myla Galacio says
Thank you Nagi❤️ Your recipes have been so helpful, my kids love this buttered chicken so much👌
Nagi says
That’s awesome to hear Myla!
Johara says
Hi Nagi,
Just made your better chicken recipe and it’s fabulous. I used De Cecco pasata so the color ended up more of a salmon pink color rather than the yellowish in your video. A little odd looking but the flavors are there.
Can I substitute tomato paste for pasata to get a deeper richer color? If so, how much. Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Johara, no tomato paste is too concentrate, you need pasta for this recipe 🙂
Kristina says
This recipe is amazing!!! My family love this dish and this is the first time I’ve attempted it from scratch , thumbs up from everyone
Nagi says
Sounds like you nailed it Kristina!
Michelle Duncan says
I make this at least once a month. It is SO good. My son loves it he says what’s for tea? I say butter chicken and he says yum my favourite.
Nagi says
Oh that’s lovely Michelle!
April says
So amazing!! This is my favourite recipe for butter chicken!
Ryan says
Hey I am just wondering I might be blind but how much chicken can you put with the sauce if this recipe (do you recommend thigh or breast). I cannot see the measurement for chicken above. Thanks for the great looking recipe!
Nagi says
Hi Ryan, it’s the last ingredient under the marinade heading – N x
Sarah says
Hello! Thanks for all the recipes – I’m wondering if I can cook this in the slow cooker? If so what time would you recommend on slow or high? Thanks 😍
Nagi says
Hi Sarah, this recipe as written wont work in a slow cooker unfortunately – N x
Jess says
Tried this today! A little bit watery not as creamy or thick as i expected! Im from Asia and im so used to having diff cuisine curries. So maybe its just my tastebuds. But overall the recipe is easy and its okay 6/10!
Maebeee says
Hello, can you use a slow cooker for this recipe?
Nagi says
Hi Maebee, not for this recipe sorry!
Kaiza Solza says
I have started to make Butter Chicken in large amounts. Leftover gets made into Pies, vacuum packed and stored in freezer for lazy days. Yum. I freeze them before vacuum packing to prevent the pies getting squashed
Nagi says
Great idea Kaiza!
Jess says
This was AMAZING! Both my kids (8 & 5) gobbled it up and the youngest is super fussy!
I used sour cream instead of natural yoghurt as we didn’t have any yoghurt in the fridge. We also added some peas. It tasted so good!
Nagi says
Sounds great Jess! I’m so glad it was a hit with the kids too!
Anita says
This is my follow up!
OMG! What a wonderful, tasty recipe! Amazing EXACTLY as written. I bought too much chicken and decided to put all of it in the marinade. There was more than enough to marinade almost. 4lbs of chicken thighs, so I was able to make it twice.
Thank you so much your recipes. You are a genius.