This butter chicken is a lovely rich curry – without the spicy heat of some curries. It comes with plenty of sauce to soak into the rice!
A little bit of up front prep is all you need, then you can cook this dish in less than 30 minutes.
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I have a crockpot butter chicken recipe on the site that I use quite a lot, but I wanted to share with you this quicker version that (after a little bit of marinading time) can be on the table in 30 minutes.
Just as rich and creamy as the slow-cooker version, it’s one of those curries that the whole family absolutely loves.
📋 What do we need?
🔪 How to make Butter Chicken
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post***
- Marinate chicken chunks in a mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, garlic and spices (see full list in recipe card) for 1 hour.
- Blend onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor until smooth, then fry the mixture in butter and oil until starting to brown at the edges.
- Add in the marinated chicken and cook for a few minutes to seal, then add in garam masala, curry powder, paprika and cinnamon. Stir to coat the chicken and fry for a couple of minutes.
- Add in stock, passata, tomato puree, sugar and cardamom. Simmer for 15 minutes, then stir through cream. Heat through and serve.
👩🍳PRO TIP If you want more of a chicken tikka butter chicken, you can grill (broil) the marinated chicken before adding to the dish (I grilled the chicken for the photos, and cooked the chicken in the sauce for the video – both versions are fantastic!).
Plenty of sauce to mop up with some garlic naan breads!
🍽️ What to serve it with
This is a very rich dish, so I tend to serve with with simple boiled rice.
📺 Watch how to make it
🍲 More fantastic curry recipes using chicken
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Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade:
- 700 g (25 oz) chicken breast approx. 4 large chicken breasts, diced
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) natural yogurt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp mild chilli powder
For the Sauce:
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 120 ml (½ cup) chicken stock water plus a stock cube is fine
- 400 ml (14 oz) passata
- 2 tbsp tomato puree paste for US
- 2 tsp sugar
- 6 cardamom pods sew them together with a piece of string so you can easily fish them out later
- 175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
- handful of chopped coriander to serve
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, stir together and cover. Leave to marinate for 1 hour (up to overnight).700 g (25 oz) chicken breast, 80 ml (1/3 cup) natural yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp mild chilli powder
- Place the roughly chopped onion and the cloves into a food processor and blend until smooth (if you’re using fresh ginger – rather than ready-minced – you can add the ginger in too.1 large onion, 4 cloves garlic, 2 tsp minced ginger
- Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.3 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- Add the minced onion, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion starts to brown at the edges of the pan.
- Add the marinated chicken to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until sealed.
- Add the salt, garam masala, curry powder, paprika, and cinnamon. Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes, until the spices start to release their fragrance.1/4 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tbsp garam masala, 1 tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp cinnamon
- Add the stock, passata, tomato puree, sugar, and cardamom.120 ml (½ cup) chicken stock, 400 ml (14 oz) passata, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 2 tsp sugar, 6 cardamom pods
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cardamom then stir in the cream and allow to heat through.175 ml (¾ cup) double (heavy) cream
- Serve over rice, sprinkled with some freshly chopped coriander.handful of chopped coriander to serve
Video
Notes
- Swap out the chicken for quorn or tofu
- Add in some veggies – such as green beans, chunks of courgette (zucchini) or chopped bell peppers – add them after you’ve sealed the chicken.
- Swap out the mild chilli powder for medium or hot if you like it a little spicier.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Well, coriander refers usually to the seed, lemon-taste.
Cilantro is more appropriate for the leaves.
Hello,
Can I swap natural yoghurt for plain greek yoghurt?
This butter chicken recipe is a true winner! It has such a beautifully rich curry flavor, without being overly spicy, making it ideal for all palates. The generous amount of sauce is perfect for soaking up with rice or naan, making every bite incredibly satisfying. With just a bit of upfront prep, you can have this dish on the table in under 30 minutes—a lifesaver on busy nights when you still want something comforting and delicious. It’s definitely become a new favorite in my home!
This is absolutely delicious and my family loved it – thank you! I have a question – I want to make it for a group but one person is veggie. Would it still work to make just the sauce the day before, and then when reheating the next day, separate it and add chicken/veggies to the portions as needed? I was unsure if this would affect the recipe?
This was amazing! I made a generous batch hoping to freeze half for later but my husband and I could not wait that long to eat it again. We finished it all over two lip-smacking days! This recipe is going in my permanent “make this as often as possible” file!
My tips:
1)I had a mess free experience quickly pre-cooking the marinated (overnight) chicken on a parchment lined baking sheet using the broil setting of my oven.
2)Don’t hold back on any of the spices and fresh ingredients, I measured generously and found it was wonderfully flavorful without inordinate heat for those who like mild curry.
3) the only ingredient I compromised on was the cardomom. I didn’t have pods on handd, so substituted with ground cardomom.
Thank you for the delicious recipe, Nicky!