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This easy tandoori chicken recipe delivers all the bold, smoky flavor of the classic with everyday spices and a simple yogurt marinade.
Tandoori chicken isn’t just delicious—it’s a total stunner, too, thanks to all those bold spices and its vibrant color. This version, adapted from Food & Wine, gets its deep, warm flavor from a mix of toasted spices, yogurt, and citrus. The chicken turns out tender and juicy with crisp skin and just the right amount of char—and you don’t need a tandoor oven to make it.
Instead of making a traditional green chutney, I like to serve tandoori chicken with store-bought mango chutney. It adds a touch of gingery sweetness that pairs beautifully with the warm spices, and it’s one less thing to make from scratch!
“This is the best tandoori chicken recipe you will find. It is definitely restaurant quality, or better.”
What You’ll Need To Make Tandoori Chicken
- Paprika, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne pepper: This blend gives the chicken its warm, bold flavor and vibrant color. Traditional tandoori chicken uses ground Kashmiri chili, but paprika makes a great and easy-to-find substitute.
- Fresh ginger and garlic: Give the marinade its aromatic, savory flavor.
- Greek yogurt: The base of the marinade—the acidity in it tenderizes the chicken and helps the spices cling to the meat.
- Lime zest and juice: Adds fresh citrusy brightness to balance the bold spices.
- Chicken drumsticks: Juicy, flavorful, and great for high-heat cooking. You can also use bone-in thighs; breasts tend to dry out too easily with this cooking method.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How to Make Tandoori Chicken
Toast the spices: Combine the spices in a small skillet and toast over medium-low heat for a few minutes, just until fragrant.
Make the marinade: In a mini food processor or blender, combine the toasted spices with the ginger, garlic, yogurt, lime juice and zest, oil, and salt. Blend until smooth.
Prep the chicken: Use a sharp knife to slash the drumsticks—this helps the marinade soak deeper into the meat. (Cut deep enough to get through the skin and into the meat, but not so deep that the drumsticks fall apart while cooking.)
Marinate the chicken: Toss the drumsticks with the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. (In a rush? You can cook them right away and they’ll still be tasty.)
Arrange on a rack: Line a baking sheet with foil and top with a greased oven-safe rack. Place the chicken on the rack, leaving space between pieces. The rack lets the hot air circulate and helps the skin crisp up instead of steaming in its own juices.
Roast then broil: Bake at 450°F for 45 minutes, flipping once, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp. Turn on the broiler and broil the chicken for about 5 minutes, until the skin is super crisp and lightly charred. (Keep an eye on the broiler—things move fast. You’re looking for darkened edges and blistered skin.) Serve the chicken with mango chutney and lime wedges and enjoy!
Make-Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
Make ahead: You can marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance. Keep it covered in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
Storage: Leftover cooked chicken will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on a baking sheet in a 325°F oven, loosely covered with foil, until heated through.
Freezing: You can freeze the cooked chicken for up to 3 months. Let it cool, then wrap it tightly or transfer it to a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. You can also freeze the raw chicken directly in the marinade for up to 3 months. Combine the chicken and marinade in a freezer-safe resealable bag, press out the air, and freeze immediately. Thaw completely in the refrigerator, then cook as directed.
Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (okay to substitute curry powder)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (use ¼ teaspoon for less heat)
- 3 tablespoons peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger
- 7 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- ¼ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- Zest and juice from one lime
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2½ teaspoons salt
- 12 chicken drumsticks (about 4 lb/1.8 kg)
- 1 (9-oz) jar mango chutney, for serving (optional)
- A few sprigs cilantro, for garnishing the platter (optional)
- Lime wedges, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- In a small pan over medium-low heat, combine the paprika, garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes, until spices are fragrant.
- Add the spices to a blender or mini food processor, along with the ginger, garlic, Greek yogurt, lime zest and juice, oil and salt; process until smooth.
- Using a very sharp knife, make 2 or 3 slashes in each drumstick (be careful; they are slippery). Place the drumsticks in a large bowl and toss with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (235°C). Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil (for easy clean-up) and set an oven-proof rack over top. Spray the rack with nonstick cooking spray or grease with vegetable oil.
- Arrange the chicken on the rack, leaving a bit of space between the pieces. Spoon any marinade left in the bowl evenly over the drumsticks. Roast for 45 minutes, turning once midway through, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through (be sure to turn on your exhaust fan as the oven will get a little smoky).
- Turn on the broiler and broil the chicken about 6 in (15 cm) from the heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until lightly charred and crisp all over.
- Transfer the chicken to a platter and garnish with cilantro sprigs and lime wedges, and serve with mango chutney on the side.
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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What to Serve with Tandoori Chicken
Tandoori chicken makes a great family dinner, especially with a few simple sides that everyone can mix and match. I love serving it with warm homemade naan, golden basmati rice pilaf (or simple basmati rice), and a refreshing cucumber salad.
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I have made this so many times and it is such a tasty dish. The marinade is so flavorful. Would it work for wings and thighs and if so, what would be the cooking time and would I use 4 lbs of the other chicken pieces?
Hi Renee, So glad you like this! Wings and thighs should work here as well. The wings will take slightly less time– I’d check them at about 35 minutes. Assuming the thighs are bone-in, I’d stick with the cooking time in the recipe for them. (And I’d still buy 4 pounds of chicken, total.)
I’ve made this scrumptious dish so many times, I know the spice blend by heart. This is the family favorite as far as drumsticks go. There’s never any leftover chicken in our house, but I bet it would make a great chicken salad with curry mayo, golden raisins and red onion.
This was fantastic. I added a bit of Kashmiri Chili and fenugreek leaves to the marinade, otherwise I followed it exactly. And I only had 8 drumsticks, so there was extra marinade and it was sooooooo good. My partner and I wanted to keep eating it but we had to save some for lunches!! Thanks for the great recipe 🙂 🍗
Hello Jenn,
Happy Thanksgiving from your neighbor to the north!
Silly, silly question, but, I have to ask it…I’m going to use thighs for this recipe and I wanted to know if you would make cuts to the thighs as you suggest for the drumsticks?
Thank you and Happy Holidays!
Hi Diana, Not a silly question! I would still make the cuts, as it allows the marinade penetrate the meat. Enjoy!
Can you substitute sour cream for the Greek yogurt?
Sure!
Made exactly per the recipe but cooked on the grill as I don’t have a great kitchen exhaust fan and didn’t want a house full of smoke. It was okay. If I made it another time I would use boneless chicken thighs but unlikely that I will make it again as I have another recipe with a similar marinade that I like better.
Made it for a family party dinner and everybody loved it! This Tandoori Chicken had just the right amount of spice and heat to make the dish very flavorful. I also made your recommended pairings: Cucumber Salad with Mint and Basmati Rice Pilaf with Dried Fruit and Almonds, and both dishes complimented the chicken nicely. I will definitely make this trio again! Thank you, Jenn.
Easy and delicious! Made it exactly as written and baked somewhere in the 40-43 min range. Broiled on high for two minutes each side. Family enjoyed it!!! Thank you 🙂
This was delicious!! I have never cooked with these spices, the house was smelling so good! I marinated the chicken overnight. Instead of cooking it on 450, I placed the chicken in a roasting pan and cooked it on 300 because my exhaust fan doesn’t work. When it was done I took the top off and placed it under the broiler for about 5 min. it browned so beautifully! I promise your recipes make me so happy! They are something that I can prepare and I can’t cook, but with your recipes, I feel like an amateur chef! I cooked white rice and poured the juice off the chicken over the rice! I also made the cucumber mint salad that you suggested with it and it was a very wholesome delicious meal! I am so appreciative of you! Can you freeze the marinade in batches? It’s a must-have and would be so easy to thaw and marinate the chicken in!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it and that you’ve had success with the recipes! Typically, I’d discourage you from freezing a marinade that has yogurt in it, but some readers have successfully frozen marinades in other recipes that contain yogurt, so I think it’s worth a try (but I’d probably start with one batch of it to make sure you like the way it thaws).
Thanks!!
Made this whole meal with Tandori chicken, basmati & dried fruit- apricots- & almonds, cucumber mint salad and naan.
Excellent directions, advice and photos. A huge thumbs up from me and all my guests.
We’ll done💫👍