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Oven Baked Tandoori Chicken

By:Nagi
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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 served with saffron rice and minted yogurt sauce

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!

Oven Baked Tandoori Chicken - made from scratch with everyday ingredients, the flavour of this is authentic!

Tandoori Chicken on saffron rice, fresh out of the oven ready to be served

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.

Ingredients in Tandoori chicken marinade

Chicken in Tandoori Chicken Marinade

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!

How to make Tandoori Chicken

What to serve with Tandoori chicken

Here’s what I serve with Tandoori Chicken:

  • Saffron Rice– love the colour contrast! Recipe below. Though plain basmati rice will do in a pinch (or other rice of choice).

  • Minted Yogurt– the freshness of the mint and cool yogurt pairs so well with all things Indian. Recipe below.

  • 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).

  • 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

Close up photo showing juicy inside of tandoor chicken with saffron and minted yogurt sauce

Watch how to make it

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Tandoori Chicken on saffron rice, fresh out of the oven ready to be served

Baked Tandoori Chicken

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 50 mins
Chicken
Indian, Nepalese
4.91 from 81 votes
Servings5
Tap or hover to scale
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Recipe video above. Tandoori chicken - baked in the oven! For everyone who doesn't have a tandoor sitting in the middle of their kitchen. 🙂 The flavour infusion and the lovely crust from the marinade is sensational. Easy sub for Kashmiri Chilli, the only ingredient that is not sold at supermarkets.

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

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:

1. Garam Masala is an Indian spice mix that you can purchase in dried herbs and spices section of supermarkets. It costs the same as other spices. The spices in it include: cardamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
SUB with curry powder (like Keens, Clives of India) + 1 tsp All Spice (or 1/8 tsp extra of all the other spices in recipe plus 1/8 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, ginger)
2. Kashimiri Chilli - found at Indian grocery stores, gives tandoori chicken the red colour and bit of spiciness. Tastes like spicy paprika. Easy sub with: 3 tsp paprika (smoked if possible, otherwise sweet or normal) + few drop of red food colouring (if you want slightly more red colour).
This is the one I use (Amazon USA link, but I got mine from a Sydney Indian store. Here is a better value one on Amazon USA. 
Use in place of paprika in Indian recipes such as Biryani and Chicken Tikka Masala for an earthy, authentic flavour. It's almost a direct sub with paprika - except it's a bit spicy.
3. Chilli Powder - This is pure ground chilli powder and it's spicy. This is not US/Canadian Chili Powder which is a spice mix with South Western/Tex Mex flavours. Sub: cayenne pepper, or leave it out if you want mild.
4. Chicken - best made with bone in thighs, drumsticks and wings as they require 50 min or so which gives you a nice tandoori crust. For boneless thighs, bake 25 minutes, for breast, bake 22 min - or better yet, BBQ on grills or cook on stove!
5. Marinating - for emergency marinade, make 2 or 3 slashes in the chicken and marinade 2 to 3 hours. Can also freeze the chicken with the marinade (raw). Then when you want to cook it, allow it to defrost then simply follow the recipe.
5. Saffron Rice (serves 5) - Soak 1/8 tsp saffron threads in 1/4 cup (65ml) boiled water for 5 min. Add saffron water to large saucepan with 2 cups (500ml) cold water and 1.5 cups basmati rice. Cover, bring to simmer over medium high, then reduce heat to medium low so it's simmering. Cook 12 minutes until water is absorbed (tilt pot to check), remove from stove and stand for 10 minutes covered.
To use imitation saffron powder (much better value) use 1/16th tsp and add to saucepan with 2 1/4 cups (565ml) water, cook per above (I did this for rice in photos, was out of saffron threads)
6. Recipe source - Inspired by Qmin Indian cookbook, a restaurant I used to frequent in my corporate days. Also by referencing the packets of tandoori spice mixes sold at Indian grocery stores (I'm told by Indian store owners that most Indians make Tandoori chicken using tandoori spice mixes!).
7. Tandoori Chicken nutrition per serving.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 250gCalories: 442cal (22%)Carbohydrates: 8g (3%)Protein: 28g (56%)Fat: 32g (49%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Cholesterol: 148mg (49%)Sodium: 643mg (28%)Potassium: 528mg (15%)Sugar: 5g (6%)Vitamin A: 265IU (5%)Vitamin C: 3.8mg (5%)Calcium: 180mg (18%)Iron: 1.9mg (11%)
Keywords: tandoori chicken, tandoori chicken marinade
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

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!

Dozer golden retriever dog photo bombing photo shoot of dog cake

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Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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305 Comments

  1. Russell says

    This sounds delicious, but concerned about the very high sodium content. What is driving it? You only use 1-1/2 P of salt. Is it the yoghurt?

    Reply

    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      Hi Russell! Thanks for the question, I was a bit heavy handed with the salt in this which is unusual for me. 🙂 It is only the salt that is driving the sodium. I have cut it back from 1 1/2 tsp to 3/4 to 1 1/4 tsp. The flavour of the spices is so strong that even if you err on the less salty side, it’s still got tons of flavour.

      Reply

  2. Marlene says

    I love Tandoori Chicken, Nagi, and have made many versions. Two have been very good (and don’t use bought Tandoori spice mix; the others, okay. I’ve had good results with the bought spice mixes, though. I brought back a lot of spice mixes from India as well; they are very potent even after several years so I use them sparingly and have lots left. Can’t wait to try yours–maybe tomorrow so I can marinate overnight.
    PS–do you find garam masala blends vary a lot? Here they do.

    Reply

    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      Yes!! I’ve noticed that too! i.e. garam masala blends varying 🙂 I do find though that they have a similar undertone and because of all the other favourings in this, I would not be concerned. 🙂

      Reply

      • Marlene says

        4 stars
        I wasn’t concerned, though I find that some garam masalas are much hotter than others, so I always taste first. The spiciest I’ve had came form th chef at Umaid Bhavan Palace Hotel in Jodhpur, who gifted me his blend when he gave me a recipe I requested. I was sorry when it ran out….I made this the other night and it was good. One question: Other recipes I’ve made call for removing the chicken skin so the marinade can penetrate and also cutting slits in the meat. I can’t tell fro the photos if you removed the skin. (I worked marinade under the skin as best I could.)

        Reply

        • Nagi | RecipeTin says

          Hi Marlene! I recommend slitting the chicken if you are only marinading for a few hours (it’s in the notes 🙂 ) but if you marinade overnight, I find the flavour definately penetrates into the flesh!

          Reply

  3. Shashi at RunninSrilankan says

    I adore tandoori chicken – every Indian restaurant buffet I have had the pleasure of gorging at, tandoori chicken is the first thing that hits my plate! And they have all been so different – your version looks spectacular Nagi!

    Reply

  5. Kevin | Keviniscooking says

    5 stars
    This has me salivating, especially since we are going to India next March, so excited. I have been working on a tandori recipe as of late so will give this a go as well… you know I LOVE these flavors. Beautiful photos too. Pinned.

    Reply

    • Nagi | RecipeTin says

      Ooh, really? Wow!!! I look forward to hearing where you are going – and even more so the FOOD you will share after you get back!! 🙂

      Reply

  6. mila furman says

    Nagi Nagi Nagi!!! This is so beautiful! These pics are for sure some of my favorites!!! And another Nagi travel story! YAY!!! That is MY FAVORITE way to travel too by the way…we like to eat with the locals 🙂 No better way to get to know a country or a culture than with their food right 🙂

    Reply

  7. CakePants says

    This looks phenomenal! I love tandoori chicken but was turned off of making it at home after my initial attempt, which yielded okay-tasting chicken but it was one of the ugliest dishes I’d ever made (somehow the spice and yogurt mixture ended up lumpy and more gray than red). I’m glad that this recipe doesn’t require any specialty ingredients OR fancy equipment!

    Reply

  8. Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts says

    5 stars
    Your pictures of Nepal are excellent. So wonderful to travel and taste foods ‘first hand’. (No idea what I mean by first hand….who eats food second hand – YUCK!) Hopefully you know what I mean 😉

    And this chicken….Chicken that cooks in the oven and is packed with flavour. This is my sort of dish!!!

    Can’t wait to try this. I’m thinking plenty of chicken thighs so there is some left over to put onto of a pizza. Tandoori chicken pizza. Is it wrong to eat tandoori two days running?

    Pinning

    Reply
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