Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) is one of the most popular curries in the world and yet happens to be one of the easiest! No hunting down hard to find ingredients, this chef recipe that makes the most incredible curry sauce.
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Butter Chicken – a chef recipe!
As someone who loves food with big, BIG flavours, it’s no surprise that Indian is one of my favourite foods. A good curry and binge watching Netflix is pretty much my idea of a perfect Friday night. #NanaAlert! 😂
As much as I love making Indian food at home, sometimes I find the list of ingredients daunting. It’s easy enough to make once I gather all the ingredients, but that’s where I usually fall short because it requires a trip to an Indian grocery store – and my closest one is a fair drive away.
Butter Chicken is one of the few exceptions. I was elated when I discovered a Chef recipe for Butter Chicken and realised how easy it is. But more importantly, you can get all the ingredients from any supermarket. Yes!
Is Butter Chicken really Indian??
YES it is! It’s called Murgh Makhani and it hails from Northern India. It’s quite a mild curry compared to many Indian curries, and outside of India, it’s become just about everybody’s favourite curry!
How to make Butter Chicken – in 3 Simple Steps
Make Butter Chicken Marinade and marinate chicken for 3+ hours (overnight is best)
Cook chicken
Make sauce in the same skillet
The secret to the tender, flavour infused chicken is a spice infused yogurt marinade made with fresh ginger, garlic, lemon juice and spices. The spices in Butter Chicken are turmeric, garam masala, chilli powder and cumin.
Did you know….You don’t need copious amounts of butter for a great Butter Chicken!
The beautiful Butter Chicken Sauce mostly gets its richness from cream. While some restaurants take it over the top by stirring in a (very!) generous amount of butter into the sauce at the end, I find that it’s rich enough as it is. The Butter Chicken flavour and experience – but less oily than restaurant versions!
The sauce will initially be a pale orange colour but as it simmers and thickens, the colour will deepen to a rich orange colour.
What to serve with Butter Chicken
To make a proper Indian feast, sides and starters are essentials! Because every curry needs papadums for dunking and naan to scoop up the sauce with, right?
No-fry quick papadums – just microwave them! Place the papadums around the edge of the microwave turntable and cook on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute or until they are puffed up. They’ll be soft while warm but as soon as they cool down, they crisp up. They don’t expand as much as when deep fried, but neither will your thighs. 😂
Samosas! The ultimate Indian appetiser. Leftovers make great snacks or even lunch!
Proper naan – A recipe in the works for 5 years, I’m thrilled to finally share my proper naan recipe that can be easily made at home (no tandoor needed!)
Shortcut “naan” – For a simpler, no-yeast flatbread that’s just as good, my Easy No Yeast Flatbread looks and tastes very similar to real naan (except it’s much faster and easier!). Try telling me this doesn’t look like it belongs in this feast!
And it’s MADE for dunking in that creamy Butter Chicken Sauce!!
Sides for Butter Chicken
Readers have also asked for Vegetable Side options – to add some greens to a meal. Indian food doesn’t really have fresh side salads like in Western cuisine. Partly because so much Indian food is vegetarian, so you get plenty of veggies in your diet!
But here are some Vegetable Side Options you can add on the side of Butter Chicken:
Indian Tomato Salad – with a refreshing minted yogurt dressing;
Cucumber salad with lemon yogurt dressing – another great refreshing salad that goes perfectly with curries;
Just some sliced cucumber and wedges of tomato – not dressed. Nice cool, refreshing side
South Indian Thoran-style Cabbage and Carrot Salad with Coconut is fresh, crunchy and shot through with gentle spices and coconut!
For a simpler cabbage salad, try my Everyday Cabbage Salad
I hope this has inspired you to try your hand at making an Indian feast at home! You will honestly be amazed how much depth of flavour there is in the Butter Chicken despite how few ingredients are in it. – Nagi x
PS Don’t miss the new streamlined oven version: One-Pan Baked Butter Chicken. Readers are loving it!
Watch How To Make It
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
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Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/2 cup plain yoghurt , full fat
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp tumeric powder
- 2 tsp garam masala (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder or cayenne pepper powder (Note 2)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ginger, freshly grated
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1.5 lb / 750 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite size pieces
Curry
- 2 tbsp (30 g) ghee or butter, OR 1 tbsp vegetable oil (Note 3)
- 1 cup tomato passata (aka tomato puree) (Note 4)
- 1 cup heavy / thickened cream (Note 5)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
To serve – choose
- Basmati rice
- White rice
- Coriander/cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- Optional blitz: for an extra smooth sauce, combine the Marinade ingredients (except the chicken) in a food processor and blend until smooth. (I do not do this)
- Marinade: Combine the Marinade ingredients with the chicken in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or up to 24 hours (minimum 3 hrs).
- Cook chicken: Heat the ghee (butter or oil) over high heat in a large fry pan. Take the chicken out of the Marinade but do not wipe or shake off the marinade from the chicken (but don’t pour the Marinade left in the bowl into the fry pan).
- Place chicken in the fry pan and cook for around 3 minutes, or until the chicken is white all over (it doesn’t really brown because of the Marinade).
- Sauce: Add the tomato passata, cream, sugar and salt. Also add any remaining marinade left in the bowl. Turn down to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Do a taste test to see if it needs more salt.
- Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves if using. Serve with basmati rice.
- The Butter Chicken is pictured with my very easy No Yeast Flatbread and no-fry papadums (Note 5).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2015. Updated for housekeeping matters and a new video added January 2019. But most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
For Indian Curry Lovers
- Chicken Tikka Masala – kind of like Butter Chicken on steroids!
- Palak Paneer – Indian cottage cheese and spinach curry
- Rogan Josh – fall apart lamb in a rich creamy sauce!
- Dal – the highest and best use of lentils, ever. Period.
- Biryani – the world’s best Chicken & Rice. Full stop!
- Qeema: Curried Ground Beef (Mince) – the fastest way ever to get a real Indian curry fix
- Curry lovers, head here -> Curry Collection
Life of Dozer
Flashback: Dozer’s first time in water. Look at those wild eyes!!! 😂 Fear? Excitement??
I never leave reviews but I have to for this one! I followed the recipe exactly except I used garlic powder rather than minced. It was absolutely DIVINE, will be adding this to the rotation.
Hello, Thank you for your amazing recipes! it makes my cooking easier! I cannot watch the videos anymore. Has anything changed? Thanks
Pretty good, except that there is way too much liquid
I made this for my family!! Dad and older brother, They all said 10/10 !! I said I can’t take all the credit I followed this recipe, thank you so much , I’m going to try your butter chicken next week!
Vindaloo 10/10
This has to be the best Butter chicken recipe I have ever made, thanks Nagi, we love your books and you, ya legend.
One of the best meals I have ever made! Sauce tastes incredible. Best of all – it’s quick and easy! Thank you!
Last night I realized I was out of fresh ginger, so I subbed ground, about 1/2 a teaspoon. Then I thought I would be lazy and use garlic powder also. The result was not as good as fresh of course, but no one seemed to notice besides me and it was still very very delicious! Honestly, I’d do it again.
Hi Nagi
Love this recipe. Can this recipe be cooked in a slow cooker?
Thanks heaps.
Regards Dianne
Fantastic recipe!! Made this for Christmas Eve and it was a huge hit. Warm, delicious, and comforting.
Can you use greek yogurt & chicken breast?
Better than a restaurant! Made this 5 times and was a hit every time, 11/10!!
My family loves curry dishes but has a problem with cayenne red pepper. Can I replace cayenne with Vindaloo curry powder?
Used this recipe at our latest school camp, bulking it up to feed the hungry students. Used 16 kg of chicken. It was a treat and the leftovers were shared and I took home a full ice cream tub’s worth and ate half and froze half (freezes very well). I added more cayenne pepper for heat and frozen spinach for veg. I also served it with roti. It was delish.
I have used this recipe so many times over the last few years that I forgot it was yours, Nagi! I made up my own Garam Masala (from whole spices) to give away to family members, along with your recipe. I made only a couple of changes: I have to use lactose-free yoghurt, and I cut the amount of heavy cream with yoghurt in the curry. Otherwise, it is pure Yagi and purely delicious!
I have been making this recipe for years and follow it to the tee. It is awesome! My kids love it. However, I had to modify it because my youngest has a dairy allergy. I subbed the yogurt with COCOJUNE plain coconut yogurt and used Thai Kitchen coconut cream and it tastes very similar. It was great, my kids with no allergy still liked it!
Hello!
Can I make this without the lemon juice?
Amazing recipe, one of Nagis best , 😍😍..might be a dumb question but has anyone ever tried to make it dairy free i.e. dairy free cream etc? Would love to make for a friend but they are dairy free!
The way you’ve described the flavors makes me feel like I’m right there tasting it. I love how you balance detailed cooking steps with personal touches—it makes the recipe feel both easy and exciting to try!”https://hotyums.com/butter-chicken-curry/
Super easy to follow and tasted great!
I have cooked this dish so often that the recipe has become very hard to read. Because of dietary issues on the part of a family member, I have notes all over it. It has become such a mainstay that I didn’t even remember that it is from RecipeTinEats until I decided to print a fresh copy! I’m not sure if I have any other recipe that I cook as often as your Butter Chicken, Nagi. Thank you so much for this classic dish. I treasure it.