Butter Chicken is an easy recipe that’s full of savory flavor with warm spices. This mild curry has tender chunks of chicken simmered in a creamy spiced curry sauce. It’s quick to make with chicken, tomato sauce, cream, and handful of pantry spices.
Serve over rice with a side of naan bread for sopping up the delicious sauce!
Butter Chicken
In Indian cuisine makhani is a butter chicken sauce. It’s basically a gravy the chicken is cooked in with plenty of warm spices, a hint of tomato and some cream.
Like curry-style chicken or curried chickpeas, it’s both rich and light and best served with rice and topped with cilantro.
Marinating the chicken in yogurt makes it incredibly tender, this can be done the night before if time allows.
How To Make Butter Chicken
It’s super easy to make this rich and tasty dish!
- Marinate chicken at least 30 minutes, but preferably overnight.
- Saute onions in butter and spices until soft and fragrant (per recipe below).
- Add all other ingredients to the onions and cook until sauce thickens.
- Add cream and continue cooking.
Serve over rice topped with cilantro. Yummy!
What to Serve with It
Butter chicken goes with everything because it has such a savory and mild flavor! Here are some favorite sides, salads, and bread to inspire you!
- This garlic butter kale rice is a perfect side dish for butter chicken!
- How about a Caprese salad to perfectly complement butter chicken?
- Try this delicious homemade garlic bread or cheesy garlic breadsticks.
Can You Freeze Butter Chicken?
Butter chicken can be frozen. Make sure it is chilled before freezing. Just place it in a zippered bag or and airtight container and label with the date on it. Butter chicken should keep about two months.
Favorite Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Curry – rich & aromatic
- Chicken Cacciatore – serve over pasta!
- Oven Baked Chicken Breasts
- Easy Chicken Marsala – 30 min meal!
- Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms
- Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion diced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 14 ounces crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Marinade
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 cup plain yogurt
Instructions
- Marinate chicken in the marinade, 30 min or overnight.
- Remove chicken from marinade allowing excess to drip off. Brown chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil until browned on both sides, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Melt butter over medium heat, cook onions until tender. Add the ginger, garlic, and spices and cook 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Add chicken broth, browned chicken, crushed tomatoes and sugar. Simmer 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Add cream and cook an additional 5-10 minutes. Discard cinnamon stick.
- Top with cilantro and serve over rice.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Main Course
Cuisine Indian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
OMG…Butter Chicken to die for and so easy to make
love love love it so did the family
Absolutely unbelievable
Next time I will double chicken quantities
My 10yo granddaughter rates
My cooking
She gave me 10 ⭐️
On our rotation
can you use ACV instead of lemon juice my husband is allergic to lemon juice
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Terrell. It should work but will slightly change the flavor. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Are we supposed to cube the chicken before we cook it? Thanks!
I do not cube the chicken before cooking it. Enjoy Ashley!
My new favorite recipe! I’ll save some money by not going to my favorite Indian restaurant. The flavors are spot on.
Delicious!! No changes to this wonderful recipe! Thank you
I’ve made butter chicken 50+ times and although I have a tendency to not measure specifically, just by the combination of these ingredients and face measurements, This is one of the best recipes.
Made this for my family! Was a major hit. My husband loves butter chicken with a little more heat. What can I add to recipe to give it a little extra kick?
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe Kellie! You could add a little bit of cayenne pepper, some minced jalapeno when cooking the onions or some powdered chili peppers.
We used chili paste (Sambal olek) to add heat to ours. Just put in on the table and everyone can add to their taste for heat. Absolutely delicious.
I’ve made this several times for my wife and kids – it never disappoints. Fabulous dinner, have never changed a thing and comes out so tasty.
Amazing flavour, everyone loved it
I’ve made this twice so far, and it’s come out fine (based on my cooking skills, not on the recipe… lol!) I’ve discovered that I love the sauce more than the chicken!
I know it’s strange to ask, but has anyone ever made a vegetarian version of this? What did you use to replace the chicken?
I have only tried the recipe as written Jennifer, but I think you could try tofu, chickpeas, or even cauliflower! Maybe another reader has tried it and has a suggestion.
Tofu, chickpeas, potatoes, cauliflower, even water chestnuts all have mild flavor and a good texture for this. I like to add cashews and golden raisins to give a little textural variety.
I love how this recipe simplifies the process but keeps the flavor! I added a fresh jalapeño (seeded and chopped) to the pan with the onion and butter for a tiny kick.
I was expecting the marinade be written out as I have never made this dish.
The full ingredients for the marinade are listed in the recipe and just need to be stirred together. It includes yogurt, lemon, cumin, and garam masala. If you’ve missed it, you can click the “JUMP TO RECIPE” button at the top of any page. Hope that helps!
Can I freeze the chicken in marinade raw? I sometimes prep meals for my hubby to cook while he’s away at work.
Yes, freezing in the marinade should work just fine!
Great recipe. Family favourite, everyone should try this!
Made this tonight for my family who LOVES Butter Chicken from a local authentic Indian restaurant. Everyone said this was as good or better! I did use half and half instead of heavy cream and it was fine. Also, homemade chicken stock made a big difference in depth of flavor. Will add to my recipe book as a favorite! Thank you!
The fam really loved it. Even the picky eaters.
Made this a few nights ago and it was a big hit. Super delicious sauce! We are a house divided, I love chicken thighs and my husband likes chicken breasts. Next time I will cube up some breasts and try it that way. I could literally just make a double batch of the sauce and serve it as soup and he would be happy. Thanks for sharing
I love that, Betsy! I am a huge fan of butter chicken too so I understand, I could drink the sauce too!
This looks and sounds incredible . Can this be made in a slow cooker ?
Hi Ann Marie, we have an easy slow cooker version here!
what is garam marsala?
Hi Joyce, Garam Marsala is a spice blend that you can usually find at the grocery store. Hope that helps!