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4.97 from 30 votes

Easy Butter Chicken Recipe

Super easy and creamy butter chicken, that tastes better than any Indian take out!
Author Diana
Servings 6 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons (28 g) butter divided
  • 2 pounds (900 g) chicken breasts skinless, boneless, diced into bite-size pieces
  • 5 cloves garlic about 5 teaspoons, minced
  • 2 inch (5 cm) fresh ginger grated
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder optional
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 15 ounce can (400 ml) tomato sauce or passata
  • ½ cup (120 ml) heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, mint, or cilantro for garnish

For serving

  • Cooked rice
  • Naan bread

Instructions

  • In a frying pan, heat vegetable oil and melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Brown the diced chicken breast until golden. Move the chicken to one side, and melt the rest of the butter.
  • Add the garlic and ginger, and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add all of the spices, and the salt, stir and cook for a minute then add the passata.
  • Give everything a mix, cover with a lid and simmer on medium heat for 5-10 minutes for the chicken to cook and the flavors to settle.
  • Carefully open the lid, and stir in the cream, and allow the sauce to reduce a little. Serve warm over rice with chopped parsley, mint, or cilantro.

Video

Notes

  1. Deglaze the pan or pot after browning the chicken if needed with ¼ cup of water or stock.
  2. Skinless boneless chicken thighs also work great in this recipe.
  3. The Passata sauce can be substituted with tomato sauce, or a can of plain tomatoes that are blended and sieved.
  4. This dish is medium spicy, so if you're feeding children then I recommend that you leave the chili powder out.
  5. Traditionally, a little bit of sugar is added to the sauce to make it sweeter. I personally don't add any sugar to my butter chicken, and it tastes great. But feel free to add 1 teaspoon of granulated or brown sugar to the sauce.
  6. To make it creamier, and mask the tomato sauce taste more, feel free to add more heavy cream but make sure that you taste as you add so you don't end up with too much cream.
  7. If the butter chicken is for some reason a bit bland, adjust the seasoning by adding a little bit of salt. Trust me, it makes a difference.
  8. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving. The recommended herbs for garnish are fresh cilantro, mint leaves, and parsley.
  9. Serve with basmati or brown rice, and/or fresh naan.
  10. If you store the leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken up. Reheat in the microwave with adding a splash of water and mix. You can store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
  11. Freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
  12. I haven't personally tried it, but many readers have reported having success with half & half as they substituted the cream with it.

Nutrition

Calories: 406kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 161mg | Sodium: 605mg | Potassium: 983mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1368IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 55mg | Iron: 2mg
Find it online: https://littlesunnykitchen.com/butter-chicken/