butter chicken

this delicious butter chicken (or murgh makhani) combines tender, marinated chicken in a smooth, creamy tomato sauce, infused with a mix of warming spices. finish with an extra drizzle of cream and serve with pillowy garlic naan for the perfect meal for a cozy night in.

this butter chicken recipe features tender, succulent pieces of chicken simmering in a rich, velvety tomato cream sauce. best served with a fluffy bed of rice or a pillow of naan, each bite of this butter chicken promises to soothe your soul and warm you from within.

why you will love this butter chicken recipe:

• easy recipe: making butter chicken might seem complicated because of the steps involved and because of certain spices and ingredients that might sound foreign to you, but despite its luxurious taste and appearance, butter chicken is actually fairly simple to make! the ingredients used in this butter chicken are also pretty easy to find in most grocery stores, so once you have everything set up and prepared, you’ll learn that making butter chicken is a lot easier than it seems.

• customisable – you can easily customise this butter chicken to suit your preferences or dietary needs. for example, you can make this butter chicken dairy free by swapping the butter for a plant-based one and using coconut cream instead of heavy cream! you can also make adjustments based on your taste like adding more sugar if you prefer your butter chicken sweet or increasing the spices if you prefer it with a kick.

• satisfying and filling – the combination of the rich, creamy butter chicken with rice or with naan makes for the perfect comfort meal on a chilly evening or after a long day at work. the best part is that leftovers taste even better the next day so it’s a great option for meal prep during the week!

how to make butter chicken from scratch:

to make this butter chicken from scratch, we’re going to start off by marinating our chicken in yoghurt and spices. once it has marinated, we’ll cook the chicken in butter. then, we’ll make our creamy tomato sauce, blending it until smooth before adding the chicken back into the sauce and letting it simmer. finish off with extra cream, then serve with naan or rice and we’re done!

butter chicken ingredients:

• chicken – i like to use boneless chicken breast for this butter chicken recipe, simply because i prefer chicken breast over thigh. you can also use boneless chicken thighs if you prefer as they are usually richer in flavour and tend to be more juicy and tender.

• garlic and ginger paste – we’ll be adding this to the chicken marination as well as the sauce. you can use store bought paste from a jar, frozen garlic and ginger cubes or make fresh paste using fresh garlic and ginger (which i will tell you how to make in the recipe card).

• seasonings/spices – we’ll be using a mix of red chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric, ground cumin, salt and coriander powder. i also like to use a little bit of tandoori or tikka seasoning in the chicken marination for some extra flavour, but this is optional.

• plain yogurt – for the chicken marination, i use any kind of thick, creamy yogurt like greek yogurt. this will help keep the chicken tender and juicy.

• oil – any neutral oil will work. i use a mix of oil and butter to cook the chicken

• butter – the star of the show! butter will be used to cook the chicken, and then again for when we start making the butter chicken sauce. you can also add more butter in at the end for some extra richness.

• onion – we’re going to lightly cook onions in butter when we start making the sauce for our butter chicken sauce.

• tomatoes- for this butter chicken recipe, i’m using canned tomatoes just to make things easier, and because they help deepen the colour of the butter chicken sauce. you can also use fresh, ripe tomatoes if you prefer.

• cashews – i’m using cashews that are soaked in water and then ground up into a paste in this butter chicken recipe, just so that it blends in easier with the sauce.

• water – we’ll add some water to the sauce before adding the chicken back in to simmer in the sauce.

• cream – double cream/heavy cream adds extra richness to the sauce and helps thicken it up.

• dried fenugreek (kasuri methi) – adds a distinctive, slightly bitter, nutty, slightly sweet taste that complements the rich, creamy butter chicken sauce really well.

• sugar – i like to add a little bit of sugar just because i like some sweetness in my butter chicken. you can absolutely add more or less depending on whether you prefer your butter chicken to be sweet or spicy.

• lemon juice – a hint of lemon juice added at the end adds a bright freshness to the rich butter chicken sauce, and also helps cut through the heavy cream and butter.

tools:

• immersion blender – we will be using an immersion blender to blend the butter chicken sauce until smooth.

• hand blender – since i’m using fresh garlic and ginger in this recipe, i use a hand blender to blend the garlic and ginger into a paste. i also use this for blending the cashews into a paste.

step by step instructions

for full measurements, keep scrolling down to the recipe below.

step one: in a large bowl, add chicken breast, cut into cubes, and then add ginger and garlic paste. then we’ll add all of our spices, like red chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin, salt and some tandoori masala. add plain, thick yogurt, and mix everything into the chicken.

step two: once the chicken is coated, cover the bowl and leave the chicken to marinate in the fridge or at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

step three: once the chicken is ready to cook, heat oil and add butter to a pan. let the butter melt, then add the chicken and cook at high heat, stirring every once in a while. then, remove the chicken from the pan.

step four: in the same pan, add some more oil and butter. add chopped onion and cook over medium-high heat until the onions become a light-golden colour.

step five: add the ginger and garlic paste to the pan and cook this over medium-high heat for around minute.

step six: next, add your canned or fresh tomatoes, add the cashew paste and add the spices. mix all of this together, cover with a lid and cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.

step seven: then, let the mixture cool. once the mixture has cooled slightly, use an immersion blender to blend until relatively smooth.

step eight: once the butter chicken sauce is smooth, you can add it back to the pan – you can add it through a sieve if you want it to be extra smooth but i didn’t do this. then, add the chicken back to the pan as well as some water (add water to the bowl you marinated the chicken in to get any of the leftover marinade and add that to the pan). then, mix everything together and bring to a boil, stirring gently as you do this.

step nine: add the double cream/heavy cream and mix that into the sauce.

step ten: add about a tablespoon of dried fenugreek, then add some sugar and mix that into the butter chicken sauce. bring the sauce to a boil again, gently stirring as you do this.

step eleven: then, cover the pan with a lid, and leave the butter chicken to cook over low heat for 5-6 minutes (keep an eye on it as it cooks).

step twelve: once it’s done cooking, add a little bit of lemon juice and stir that through.

step thirteen: finish off with an extra drizzle of cream, then serve with naan or rice and let’s eat!

tips and notes

• marinate the chicken for as long as you can – marinating the chicken for hours is not always an option when you don’t have much time, so for this recipe i recommend marinating the chicken for at least 30 minutes. however, when you do have the time, marinating for a couple of hours or even overnight, makes a difference in terms of taste and texture of the chicken. the yogurt and the spices in the marinade help tenderise the chicken and infuse it with deep flavours.

• use high quality spices!! using fresh, high-quality spices makes a significant difference in the taste and depth of this butter chicken. i actually use a homemade garam masala which involves toasting whole spices and then grinding them, and i find that it makes a world of a difference in terms of taste. i do understand that it’s not easy or convenient for everyone to do this, but do buy fresh, high quality spices if you can.

• you can adjust the thickness of the sauce depending on whether you like it thicker or thinner. for a thinner sauce, just add a bit more water, and for a thicker sauce, let the butter chicken simmer for a longer period or add more cream.

• be sure to let your butter chicken simmer over low heat towards the end, as stated in the recipe. this will allow the flavours to meld better and helps ensure that the chicken stays tender and juicy.

• adjust spices and seasonings to your taste – i did do my best to cater this butter chicken recipe to those that can’t handle too much spice, despite having a high tolerance and love for spice myself! if you’RE WORRIED that this butter chicken recipe MIGHT BE TOO SPICY for you (or that you’D prefer it to be spicier), I WOULD REALLY RECOMMEND TASTING AS YOU COOK AND ADJUSTING THE SPICES AND SALT TO SUIT YOUR PERSONAL PREFERENCE.

• IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THIS BUTTER CHICKEN DAIRY FREE AND ARE LOOKING FOR A DAIRY-FREE ALTERNATIVE TO THE HEAVY CREAM, COCONUT CREAM OR ALMOND CREAM CAN ADD A SIMILAR RICHNESS TO THE BUTTER CHICKEN WHILE STILL COMPLEMENTING IT’S FLAVOURS.

• this butter chicken freezes well, so it’s great for batch cooking! you can freeze in individual, portion-sized containers for quick and easy meals. when reheating, let your frozen butter chicken thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat in a pan over low heat or use a microwave and heat in intervals, stirring in each break.

• if you want to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned, use ripe, juicy tomatoes for the best flavour. bear in mind that fresh tomatoes might require additional cooking time than canned tomatoes.

• if you’re looking to use the store-bought garlic paste or ginger paste that comes in a jar, bear in mind that they can vary in strength and might be stronger in taste. since this recipe uses fresh paste, if you’re using jarred, i recommend using a little less than the recipe calls for and then adjusting/adding more based on your taste. some pastes also include other extra ingredients, which can affect the taste of the dish, so keep that in mind.

• if you’d like your butter chicken to be a little more rich, or if you find that the dish is too spicy or acidic, you can add some extra butter in towards the end to balance things out and increase richness. adding a knob of butter to the butter chicken before serving can also give the sauce a luxurious, velvety finish, so feel free to do that! just make sure you add it in off the heat or at a very low simmer, then stir the butter in gently until it melts into the sauce.

frequently asked questions

1. can i use bone-in chicken instead of boneless in this butter chicken recipe?

   – yes, you can use the type of chicken that you prefer for this butter chicken. even though i use boneless chicken breast, you can use boneless thigh or bone-in chicken. just bear in mind that bone-in chicken may take longer to cook than boneless.

2. can i make this butter chicken spicier?

   – if you want to make this butter chicken a little spicier, you can increase the heat by adding more red chilli powder to the chicken marinade or sauce. you can also add some fresh green chillies to the sauce for extra spice.

3. what is dried fenugreek and where can i get it?

   – dried fenugreek (also known as kasuri methi) is made from the sun-dried leaves of the fenugreek plant. it has a unique, bittersweet flavour, which adds depth and complexity to recipes. you can generally find dried fenugreek leaves at most south asian grocery stores.

4. can i make this butter chicken without an immersion blender?

   – you can absolutely make this butter chicken without an immersion blender. when it comes to blending the butter chicken sauce, you can just use a normal blender instead – just make sure that the sauce has cooled slightly before you blend. you can also choose to skip the blending step completely if you don’t mind a butter chicken sauce with some lumps and texture.

5. do i have to use cashew paste for this butter chicken recipe?

   – grinding the cashews into a paste helps thicken the sauce and add richness to it. if you are unable to use cashew paste, you can soak the cashews in hot water to soften them, then just add them in whole.

6. do i have to add sugar to this butter chicken?

   – you can absolutely skip the sugar in this butter chicken recipe if you don’t like the sweetness. i only like to add a little bit to balance out all of the flavours and because i prefer a slight sweetness. you can adjust the sugar to your taste or leave it out entirely if you don’t like it.

7. how do i make my butter chicken sauce extra smooth?

   – if you want an extra smooth butter chicken sauce, pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve or strainer after blending it. this will remove and remaining bits and lumps and give you a silky smooth, velvety sauce.

8. what can i serve with this butter chicken?

   – this creamy, rich butter chicken is best served with basmati rice or fluffy naan. you can also serve this with something refreshing like a night, light cucumber and tomato salad.

9. how do i store leftover butter chicken?

   – store leftover butter chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. reheat on the stove or in the microwave. when you are storing any leftovers in the fridge, make sure the butter chicken cools down to room temperature before putting it in the fridge.

recipe