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??
Darren says
I’m about to start cooking, but I forgot to add the lemon juice, will this make a difference?
Nagi says
Hi Darren, it should be fine. I hope you enjoy it!
Lauren C. says
Another delicious recipe!! Absolutely loved it!
Nagi says
Great to hear Lauren – Thanks for letting me know – N x
Frank says
You’ve done it again! Another restaurant classic perfected at home. I can’t go out to eat anymore. The whole family loved it. I have made it twice, once using ghee and once using butter. The ghee definitely made it more restaurant like but both versions were delicious. Thanks so much for your amazing website and recipes.
Nagi says
That’s great Frank! Thanks for letting me know what you think!- N x
elissa says
loved this recipe! I just added a little hot sauce to my own bowl to up the flavor and heat
Nagi says
Thanks so much for letting me know Elissa, you could definitely add chilli if you prefer it spicy ☺️
Jasmine Healey says
How could you make this recipe dairy free?
Gypsy says
replace the cream with coconut milk. I do it all the time and its delicious!
Fiona says
This sauce is just delicious, I’d happily eat it with a spoon. It’s shockingly easy to make, too. Tried it once with chicken, and a second time with paneer instead. Both worked fabulously, thanks for the recipe!
Nagi says
I could drink it on tap – I love it that much 😂
Karen says
Second time making this. My family just loves it. Thank you for the delicious and easy recipe.
Nagi says
I’m so glad it’s a hit Karen!
Kate says
This is the best butter chicken recipe that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried quite a few). Thanks very much.
Nagi says
Woah, awesome Kate!
Alyssa says
I love this recipe! I hadn’t planened ahead the second time I made this and didn’t want to wait for the chicken to marinade, so I mixed all of the marinade and curry ingredients together to use as the sauce for the meal. It’s amazing!! I always do this now – just cook the chicken and throw everything together (I use tomato soup instead of the pureé because that’s what I have on hand) and then put over rice! SO GOOD
Nagi says
Sounds great Alyssa!
Lisa says
I have made this on two different occasions. This is a phenomenal recipe and is now my husband’s and my favorite Indian dish! I think it came out even better the second time I made it, if that’s possible, because I let it marinade for two days since I wasn’t able to cook it on the day that I had intended to. This dish is so full of flavor, and has a tremendous amount of delicious sauce for the rice and Naan to soak up. Because there is so much sauce, the next time I make it, I am going to add another half pound of chicken so we will have even more leftovers! Thank you Nagi for this wonderful recipe!
Nagi says
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved it, I always like extra sauce for mopping up because is there such a thing as too much sauce??? 😂
Lisa Killam says
So true! You can’t have enough sauce!
Gil says
Hi just curious been trying to read it multiple times because butter is part of the ingredients but in the directions i can’t seem to find where you’ve included them in the recipe( as in when do you add the butter in ? At the end? Thank you
Nagi says
Hi Gil, it’s in the directions point 3 – you can use Ghee or butter. (ghee is just clarified butter anyway) – N x
nikky says
delicious thank you! I used tomato paste. its all i had. and was fine. You covered all the bases too with bread and salads and different serving options!
Nagi says
Wahoo I’m so glad it worked for you!
Yulia says
I am going to make this second time today! Thanks a lot for recipe, Nagi! The dish is easy ( compare to other indian dishes I made before) and more delicious! I am not great at cooking rice so today I will serve this with mashed potatoes. Hope it will work too!
Nagi says
I’m so glad you love it Yulia! This would be great with mash too!
Stephanie says
Easy to make, entire family loved it! Will be making it again. Added some broccoli, and made basmati rice. So delicious!!
Nagi says
Perfect Stephanie, I’m so glad you loved it!
Julia says
I made the chicken and the naan—both TERRIFIC! Only change was 1/2 tea salt instead of recommended amount. Thanks!!!!!
Nagi says
Fabulous Julia, thanks for letting me know what you think!
Alyson says
Another fabulous recipe which was a total success (best curry ever declared hubby, again – he said this about your chicken tikka Masala recipe too!!) At this rate, takeaway will be a thing of the past. Can we have a dhansak recipe please??
Nagi says
Woah what a great compliment Alyson! I’ll have to add dhansak to my list!
Jill says
Super taste and super easy to make – a definite winner! Thanks Nagi, you have just got another fan!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Jill!
Cat says
Absolutely love this! Didn’t think I’d be able to make a decent curry but now I can! Thank you! Do you think adding veggies would work? If so, at what stage and which veggies?
Nagi says
Hi Cat, traditional butter chicken doesn’t contain veggies but you could definitely add them if you like!
Lexie says
Just curious about why we don’t use the excess marinade. It seems to be a waste of extra flavour. Also, can we add a few veges…onion at least?
Nagi says
Hi Lexie, you don’t want to add the marinade when cooking the chicken as the chicken will stew rather than get that golden colour, you could always add the remained of the marinade to the sauce when bringing it to a simmer. Traditionally butter chicken doesn’t contain any veggies but you could definitely add them if you like! – N x
Mary says
I am just curious about why we don’t add the excess marinade to the pan. Seems like we’re throwing out a lot of flavour. Also can we add veges?