Butter Chicken
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If you love Indian food, this easy butter chicken recipe is a great one to have in your back pocket for weeknight dinners.
Photo by Johnny Miller (Clarkson Potter, 2021)
You’ll find butter chicken, or Murgh Makhani, on countless Indian restaurant menus, and for good reason: the combination of tender chicken and a rich, creamy, warmly spiced tomato sauce is hard to resist. Traditionally, the chicken is marinated and cooked in a tandoor, or clay oven. For this easy butter chicken recipe, I simplify things by skipping the marinating and sautéing the seasoned chicken in a skillet before finishing it in the sauce. The chicken turns out incredibly tender—in fact, one reader said it must be called “butter chicken” because the chicken is so tender, it’s like “buttah!”
Similar to chicken tikka masala, butter chicken is a great introduction to Indian food for kids because it’s relatively mild. Serve it with basmati rice or naan, and consider a little mango chutney on the side; its gingery sweetness is a nice counterpoint to the savory sauce.
“If I could give you ten stars for this recipe, I would…As good as any take-out Indian food I have ever eaten. A definite winner!”
What You’ll Need To Make Butter Chicken
- Chicken Tenderloins: Naturally tender and quick-cooking, they’re ideal for this recipe. Trim off the tough white tendon with kitchen shears before cooking. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts will also work too, but they’re easier to overcook and dry out.
- All-Purpose Flour: A light coating helps the chicken brown nicely and also thickens the sauce a bit.
- Unsalted Butter & Vegetable Oil: Used together to brown the chicken. The butter brings the taste you want in butter chicken, while the oil helps keep it from burning over the higher heat—a handy stand-in for traditional ghee.
- Onion: Cooks down until soft and gives the sauce a savory, lightly sweet base.
- Fresh Ginger: Brings a warm, peppery bite that’s especially good with the tomatoes and spices.
- Garam Masala, Coriander, Cumin & Cayenne Pepper: Garam masala is a fragrant Indian spice blend, typically made with warming spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. Along with coriander and cumin, it gives the sauce its warm, aromatic flavor; the cayenne adds the heat, so you can adjust it depending on how spicy you like it.
- Canned Tomato Sauce: Forms the tomato base of the sauce and brings just enough acidity to balance the butter and cream.
- Heavy Cream: Makes the sauce smooth and creamy and mellows the tomatoes and spices. Full-fat coconut milk works as a dairy-free alternative.
- Cilantro: A fresh finishing touch that cuts through the creamy sauce and adds a little color.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make Butter Chicken
Season and brown the chicken: Toss the chicken with the seasonings and flour, then brown it in a single layer in the hot skillet. Be sure not to crowd the pan, or the chicken will steam instead of brown. Flip the chicken and cook just until cooked through, then transfer it to a plate. Keep the skillet as is—the browned bits left behind will become part of the sauce.
Cook the aromatics and spices: In the same skillet, cook the onion and ginger until the onion is soft and translucent, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken as you go. You’re not looking for color on the onion; once it has softened and lost its raw bite, stir in the spices and cook briefly to bloom their flavor.
Make the sauce: Add the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a gentle boil, then simmer uncovered until slightly thickened. It doesn’t need to get very thick at this point; it will continue to come together once the chicken goes back in.
Finish the butter chicken: Return the chicken and any juices to the sauce and give everything a few minutes to come together over gentle heat. Taste before serving and adjust the seasoning if needed, then scatter cilantro over the top, if you like. Leftovers keep well for 3 to 4 days; just reheat them gently, adding a splash of water if the sauce needs loosening.
Butter Chicken Video Tutorial
More Easy Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Easy Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 1½ lb chicken tenderloins, tendons trimmed, or boneless skinless breasts, cut into 1½-inch (4-cm) pieces (see note)
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger, from a 2-inch (5-cm) knob
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1¾ teaspoons ground cumin
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
For Serving (optional)
- Basmati rice
- Mango chutney, such as Major Grey's
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. In a medium bowl, sprinkle the chicken pieces evenly with ¾ teaspoon of the salt and 1 teaspoon of the garam masala; toss to coat evenly. Add the flour and toss again, making sure the chicken is well coated.
- In a large (12-inch/30-cm) nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter and the oil over medium-high heat. When the fat is hot and shimmering, add the chicken in a single layer and cook, without stirring, until the chicken is lightly golden on the underside, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, turn the chicken pieces over and cook until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside while you make the sauce (you’ll use the skillet in the next step—there’s no need to wash it).
- Melt the remaining tablespoon butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. If the onion starts to brown, reduce the heat. Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne (if using), and remaining teaspoon of garam masala; stir and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomato sauce, cream, sugar, pepper, water, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken, along with any accumulated juices, to the sauce and simmer just a few minutes until the chicken is warmed through. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Sprinkle with the cilantro, if using, and serve with basmati rice and mango chutney. (Note that the sauce will thicken as it sits; thin with a bit of water if necessary.)
Notes
- Chicken tenderloins are ideal for this dish as they are ultra-tender and cook quick quickly. Boneless, skinless breasts work well too, but they are less forgiving and can become dry if overcooked. The tenderloins typically have a white tendon attached to them. They can be a little tough to chew, so I like to remove them with kitchen shears before cooking. Just pinch the tip of the tendon with your finger and snip where the tendon meets the chicken.
- This dish is traditionally cooked with ghee, a type of clarified and fermented Indian butter that has a higher smoke point than plain butter. Since I don’t have ghee on hand in my kitchen and butter burns over high heat, I use a combination of butter and oil to get a similar effect (oil raises the smoke point of the fat and prevents the milk solids in the butter from burning).
- Check out easy guidance for how to peel, grate, and chop fresh ginger.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: Prepare the dish as instructed, allow it to cool, and then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stove over low heat, adding a little water if the sauce has thickened too much during storage.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This Butter Chicken dish is so good, easy to make and delicious. Pretty comparable to what I have had in an Indian Restaurant, I am thrilled with how it turned out and it pairs up so nice with your Naan Bread recipe!
Doubled the recipe with great success.
Deeeeeeeelicious.
The flour and spices for browning, were so tasty and also eye appealing, I intend to do the same for specialty chicken salads. It will be lovely. The chicken was so tender with your timing too.
Thank you for such a wonderful Family meal.
Wow, this was delicious. I will definitely add to our rotation. So much flavor, family loved it. Another home run from my favorite chef to follow, your recipes never disappoint.
I made this tonight. Wow, very tasty – loved it. Definitely a repeater. I will add more cayenne next time but thanks so much for a tasty recipe.
Hi Jenn! I just made this tonight…SO good. It may not be a traditional Indian recipe, but I appreciate that your recipes are so approachable to the home cook looking for something a little different and that brings Indian spices into our worlds, especially in a time when going out to dinner is tough right now. I will definitely be making this again as it was not too time consuming and delicious. I also LOVE your tikka masala recipe and I’ve passed that along to my sister and it’s become a staple in her rotation. I use A LOT of your recipes and they never disappoint. I give you total credit for all of them. I have your cookbooks and have gifted them as well. I thank you for your time and helping us home cooks make delicious meals…and I’m GF (not by choice) so going out to dinner was tough before the pandemic! All of your recipes are GF adaptable thanks to so many GF products and you even have GF recipes (thank you for the consideration)! I look forward to continuing my food journey with you. Be well.
💕
I’ve made this delicious recipe a couple of times & it’s always great. Do you think you can freeze the leftovers?
Hi Fran, glad you’ve enjoyed it! I’m not sure how well this would freeze and reheat because of the cream. That said, if you have leftovers that you don’t want to go to waste, it’s worth a try. Please LMK how it is once you reheat it if you try it!
Just made the butter chicken and so yummy!!!! I used coconut milk and regular chicken breasts as I’m trying to use up items in my pantry/fridge. It turned out really well and the chicken wasn’t dry of which I thought might happen since I didn’t use tenders. I so appreciate your recipes as do my family and friends. Thanks Jenn!
This was fantastic! Next time now when I make it I will add more heat because we like spicy. The only mistake I made is I thought I bought skinless boneless chicken thighs only to find out they were only skinless lol. That will teach me to look closer at the packaging next time. I also made the mistake of adding the full amount of the Garam Marsala when I was tossing the chicken. Only to notice that I had to use some of it in the sauce. So I just added an extra half tablespoon to the sauce and it still turned out. I’m curious what your thoughts are if I were to substitute coconut milk for cream next time? Do you think that would change the flavour profile too much?
So glad you enjoyed it even with the (unintentional) tweaks! 🙂
I do think this would work with full-fat coconut milk. It may add a hit of coconut flavor to the sauce, but it would be subtle.
I made this yesterday and it was awesome, really great recipe. I paired it with basmati rice and naan bread and we really enjoyed the meal. Thank you for providing this recipe.
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious!! The chicken was very tender, and the sauce creamy and flavorful! The recipe was very easy to follow. I might try with half and half next time just to make it a little healthier.
Jenn, can I make this in the morning and warm before serving? If so, oven time and temp or microwave?
Hi Carol, I think this is best if served right after it’s prepared but it reheats nicely. I’d gently reheat it on the stove. Hope you enjoy!
if it thickens upon sitting, will I have to add liquid to it when reheating
Yes, you will likely need to thin it out a bit.
WOW…for someone who is not a lover of Indian food, this was delicious. Served with chutney, naan, jasmine rice (that’s what I had in the house) and a dry riesling. So good. Did a mise en place in the morning and quickly put it together while my guests did wine and roasted, charred broccolini. The only problem was getting those white strips off the tenderloins. My kitchen scissors are wimpy. Will replace shortly. Jenn what brand do you have? Thanks again for a marvelous meal.
So glad it came out well, Carol! I have Henckels kitchen shears. Hope that helps. 🙂