This is an easy baked Tandoori Chicken recipe for everyone who happens not to have a tandoor sitting in the middle of your kitchen! Made with accessible ingredients from scratch, chicken is infused with flavour from a yogurt tandoori chicken marinade then baked until golden with little charred bits.
Finger lickin’ good!
Tandoori Chicken recipe
Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala or Tandoori Chicken?? Any outing to an Indian restaurant causes a crisis of indecision as we battle it out between these 3 wildly popular Indian chicken dishes!
There’s no denying that one of the reasons why we love Tandoori chicken is the signature smokey chargrilled flavour that can only be achieved in a clay tandoor built to withhold fierce charcoal heat.
But don’t worry, you won’t miss the chargrill flavour in this Tandoori Chicken recipe. My trick is to jack up the flavour of the marinade to compensate – we’re talking big, big flavours here!
Tandoori Chicken Marinade
Here’s what you need for the Tandoori Chicken Marinade.
Kashmiri Chilli is what gives Tandoori the signature red colour. Tastes like paprika with a bit of spiciness, you’ll need to hunt down an Indian grocery store for this. But don’t worry, paprika is a near perfect flavour sub! The chicken won’t be quite as red but will still have a red hue. You can easily increase the redness with a drop or two of red food colouring.
How to make it
The making part is very straight forward: mix marinate, add the chicken, then leave to marinate. 12 to 24 hours is best, or 48 hours. If you’re in a rush, then 2 to 3 hours will do the trick if you cut slashes into the chicken.
While this is a baked tandoori chicken recipe, it’s a ripper on the barbie too. And off the charts amazing if cooked over charcoal!
What to serve with Tandoori chicken
Here’s what I serve with Tandoori Chicken:
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Saffron Rice– love the colour contrast! Recipe below. Though plain basmati rice will do in a pinch (or other rice of choice).
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Minted Yogurt– the freshness of the mint and cool yogurt pairs so well with all things Indian. Recipe below.
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Side Salad*– try this Indian Tomato Salad or use the same dressing with slices of cucumber. Otherwise, check out this South Indian-style Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Coconut. A simpler alternative is Everyday Cabbage Salad (it’s in the recipe notes).
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Flatbreads – When naan is in hot demand, I reach for my Easy No Yeast Flatbreads. Because it’s not a saucy curry, I like to brush the flatbreads with garlic butter for extra flavour – SO GOOD!
* Fresh side salads are less common in Indian cuisine, vegetables tend to be cooked. So don’t get too caught up about an authentic fresh side salad – go with what you like! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Baked Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
Tandoori Marinade:
- 1 1/2 cups plain yoghurt (full fat best)
- 2 tbsp oil (any)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp ginger , grated
- 5 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tsp garam masala spice mix (Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder (Note 2 subs)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste (pure, not US chili Note 3)
- 1 tsp salt
Chicken:
- 1.2kg / 2.4lb drumsticks, bone-in skin on chicken thighs or Marylands (whole chicken legs) (Note 4)
- Oil spray
Mint Yoghurt (optional)
- 1 cup plain yoghurt
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, packed
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Serving
- Basmati rice OR Saffron rice (see note)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, cover and marinate 12 to 24 hours (Note 5)
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a tray with foil and place a rack on the tray.
- Remove chicken from the Marinade, shaking off excess (reserve Marinade), and place on the rack. Bake for 20 minutes, then slather Marinade generously on both sides.
- Bake for a further 10 minutes, brush/dab top with Marinade.
- Bake further 10 minutes, do a final baste with Marinade then spray with oil.
- Increase heat to 220C/450F. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until you get some nice charred spots. Serve with Minted Yogurt and Saffron Rice (below) or plain Basmati Rice.
Minted Yoghurt:
- Combine ingredients in a food processor and blitz until mint is very finely chopped.
BBQ Option:
- Preheat BBQ with closed lid to medium, brush grills lightly with oil. Place bone-in skin-on chicken skin side down on grills, cook 5 min until surface is just caramelised - no more.
- Baste, then flip. Baste, then close lid. Cook for 20 minutes or until internal temperature is 175F/80C (bone in thighs and drumsticks), basting once or twice more.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Completely rewritten April 2019, new photos, new video, tidied up video and most importantly, new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Final photo from Dozer’s birthday cake recipe from Monday – when I was trying to do a “nice” overhead photo of the cake and when he saw I was teetering on a ladder fiddling with my camera, he knew it was an opportune time to lunge in for ANOTHER slice!
Janel says
Hi Nagi! If I wanted to cook this in a traditional clay pot at what temperature and for how long would I cook this for? Thank you so much!
Nagi says
Hi Janel – I haven’t tried in a clay bot sorry so I can’t give you accurate timing here – would love to know if you try though!
Kathleen says
Awesome recipe. So easy to make. The flavors are excellent. I hoped to find a way to bake this without a tandoor oven, ever since I moved away from my favorite Indian restaurant. Happy birthday to Dozer; enjoyed the pic with him and the seagulls. So happy to see that you are able to enjoy a beautiful day at the beach.
Rajesh says
Had attempted this last week, it was very good, had been missing tandoori for a long time. My oven skills arent that good, but it came out very well and my family enjoyed it, so thank you very much.
Nagi says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Rajesh!! N x
Yj says
Are the oven temperatures for conventional or fan forced oven?
Nagi says
Hi Yj, the temp is for all ovens, where it matters in a recipe (like baking cakes etc) I’ll specify the different temps. N x
Yj says
Tried it tonight (minus the Chili powder) and it was delicious! I love the slightly charred texture!
Cheryl says
Have cooked this again and it so so good every time and so easy with so much flavour.
Another great recipe of yours.
Abeer says
Hi Nagi,
I stumbled on your website by accident.. a d ob happy day, i love it i spend hours browsing through it.. you method is simple, straightforward and explained in simple terms, pictures and even a video to demonstrate the ingredients and steps.. honestly, thank you for sharing your talent and ur expertise and making food a beautiful and simple.
Tanaaz says
My husband and I really enjoy all of your recipes that I’ve followed so far. This one is currently in the oven but already smells delicious. The marinade tasted really really good and being Indian, I always love seeing recipes with a huge amount of spices in the them.
Nagi says
Thanks so much Abeer for the great feedback, I really appreciate it!
Sukhpreet says
Me and my husband are a big fan of yours. All the recipes of yours have been a big hit. Thank you so much! So glad, you are from Australia too.
Neil says
I use middle eastern Labneh instead of Greek yogurt or Dahi. Labneh is thick, dense and has perfect texture and taste for a non drippy marinade that binds well to the chicken pieces.
Nagi says
Hi Neil – labneh is made from yogurt so yes that would also work fine here 🙂
Farida Banu says
Wow! Super pictures and Awesome chicken recipe
Nagi says
Thanks Farida!
Mike says
So I have made this recipe a few times now and it is delicious. I am making it tomorrow with a twist. I am going to make saffron rice, then after the chicken is cooked, I am going to chop it up and put the chicken and rice in egg rolls. Then I am going to fry them til golden brown and serve it with some dill toum and your mint yogurt.
Nagi says
Yum! Sounds delicious Mike!!
Ann says
This looks and sounds so yummy! Making it tonight for supper. Love your picture of the birthday dog….made me giggle his sly look likes he’s sneaking a piece, reminds me of my goofy 1yr. old puppy.
Nagi says
I hope you love it Ann! And yes, it was his birthday so I let him go wild 😆
Steve says
Hi. Can you use plain Greek yogurt for the marinade? It’s the type I always have on hand.
Nagi says
Hi Steve, yes – that’s what I use 🙂
simon andrew says
It nice blog plz share more like this
Nagi says
Thanks Simon!
Sara says
Hi Nagi. I don’t have an oven. Can I do this in the slower cooker? Thanks
Richard Jones says
Hi Nagi, made this recipe earlier in the week but without the saffron and mint dip and it was a hit with everyone. Making it again tonight with both. Huge fan of your recipes, we have the chicken shawarma at least once a week. Cheers, Richard
Nagi says
That’s awesome Richard 🙌 Enjoy!
S.taylorson@btinernet.com says
Hi- cooked the chicken for my family last night and everyone said it was delicious! I doubled up the quantities to have some clod today – however all devoured last night – many thanks for this Simon
Nagi says
Wahoo, I’m so glad it was enjoyed!
Margaret King says
Quick question- should I just reserve some of the marinade to baste with? I’m a bit nervous about basting with the marinade the raw chicken was sitting in- am I being too cautious? This looks wonderful!
Nagi says
Hi Margaret, it’s perfectly fine to use the marinade to baste as you’re cooking it after basting. – N x
Sapna says
Hi Nagi… lovely mouth watering recipe u hv given of tandoori legs. I hv made it in the pan first and
then in the oven ..It came out very well..Thanks dear 💖💖
Nagi says
Great to hear Sapna!
Mandy says
Really delicious. I butterflied and marinated a whole chicken and then cooked it on the weber. We had it with your everyday cabbage salad on wraps. Needless to say I’ll have to make 2 next time, my boys loved it😁
Nagi says
Yum!!! Great idea Mandy – N x
Glenna says
Nagi, thank you so much for this recipe! I made it for dinner tonight and my husband and I loved it. And thank you for making it so easy. I was very intimidated but once you have the spices the hard work is done. I blogged about it on my blog, A Fridge Full of Food, at http://www.afridgefulloffood.typepad.com Thank you! Lovely, lovely meal!