How to Make Creamy Butter Chicken

Why You’ll Like This

• Taste: This dish for creamy butter chicken is excellent! The sauce made with tomatoes is thick and creamy. Also, you can find all of the ingredients in most U.S. grocery stores.
• Nutrition: 33 grams of protein and 440 calories per serving
• Time: 10 minutes to prepare, 30 minutes to marinate, and 30 minutes to cook.
• Vegetarian, gluten-free, and keto-friendly diet
• Method: On the stove, but can be changed for an Instant Pot or pressure cooker

Ingredients

• 2–3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, chopped into small pieces
• ½ cup of plain Greek yogurt
• 9 cloves of garlic, chopped up
• 2 tablespoons of minced ginger (or ginger paste)
• 1 tablespoon of garam masala
• 1 tsp of turmeric
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of cumin
• 2 teaspoons of chili powder
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of oil, such as avocado or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons of ghee or butter
• 14 ounces of tomato sauce (or a homemade tomato puree)
• ½ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• One cup of heavy cream or full-fat canned coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon of dried fenugreek
• fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of ground coriander

Preparation

Before you start, use the recipe card below to measure and prepare the spices and other ingredients. This is very helpful before you make the sauce after you brown the chicken. It doesn’t take long to add spices and other components to the sauce. If you have to stop and measure all the ingredients as you go, your garlic and ginger will burn.

You will need a big pot or pan. If you have one, I suggest a 12″ skillet.

1. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a big bowl or a ziploc bag. These are yogurt, 4 minced garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of crushed cumin, 1 teaspoon of red chili powder, and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Mix it up well. Put in the chicken pieces and toss them to coat.
2. For optimal results, cover and chill for 30 minutes to 24 hours. If you’re in a rush, you can go right to the cooking phase.
3. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is very heated, add the chicken pieces and throw away the leftover marinade. Cook till brown, then turn. Don’t put too many things in the pan. You may have to cook in two halves. Take the chicken out of the pan and put it in a separate bowl. Cover it and set it aside. The sauce will finish cooking the chicken later.

4. Turn the heat down to medium on the pan. Put 2 tablespoons of ghee in the pan and heat it up. Add 1 tablespoon of minced ginger and 5 cloves of minced garlic. Sauté for a minute, or until it smells good. Put 1 teaspoon of coriander, 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional) in the heated pan. For about 30 seconds, stir.
5. Put in the salt and tomato sauce. To blend the spices into the tomato sauce, use a silicone spatula or a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat down and let the flavors mix together for about 5 minutes. Every now and then, stir. Turn down the heat. As you pour in the heavy cream (heavy whipping cream), whisk it in slowly to mix it in. Put in the dried fenugreek. Mix.
6. Put the chicken and liquids back in the pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the chicken is done to 165°F and the sauce is thick and boiling.
7. If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon of ghee or butter. Mix together by stirring.
8. Take off the heat. Add some chopped cilantro to the tender chicken and creamy sauce. Serve with rice and naan.

How to Make It Gluten-Free

This butter chicken recipe for the stovetop is gluten-free by nature. As always, check to see whether your spices and other items have gluten in them.

How to Make It Without Dairy

If you want to prepare this recipe without dairy, use canned full-fat coconut milk instead of heavy cream. We adore this dish with coconut milk, and we always have some on hand, even when we don’t have heavy cream. Use oil instead of ghee. Instead of Greek yogurt, use a dairy-free yogurt or sour cream. If you can’t find any, use 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil instead.

Butter Chicken in a Slow Cooker

You need to perform steps 1–5 to turn your quick butter chicken into a crockpot meal. Add the browned chicken and the sauce from the pan to the slow cooker. Cook on low until you’re ready to eat. Make sure the chicken’s internal temperature is at least 165°F.

Butter Chicken in an Instant Pot

You can easily change this dish into an Instant Pot butter chicken recipe. Do what steps 1 and 2 say to do. Next, turn your Instant Pot to the saute option. On the saute setting, keep doing steps 3 and 4. For steps 5 and 6, turn off the Instant Pot. Don’t add the heavy cream yet! After that, put the lid on the pressure cooker and lock it. Check that the vent is closed and set the timer for 6 minutes on manual. Carefully detach the manual and take off the lid. Combine the heavy cream and fenugreek by stirring them together. Give it out.

Tips and Tricks for Making Butter Chicken

• Cut the chicken into slices that are about 1/2 inch to 1 inch thick so they don’t take too long to cook. They will all cook at the same rate in the skillet if they are all approximately the same size. chunks that are small enough to eat also cook faster than whole chunks of chicken, which cuts down on the time it takes to cook them.
• Before you start creating your sauce, measure out the spices you need. Get them ready before you heat up your ghee.
• If you have the time, let the chicken sit in the marinade all day. The extra time in the marinade makes the tastes stronger.
• While the sauce is simmering, taste it! If you want, you can add additional spice.
• If you’re using coconut milk, use the full-fat version and largely the solid cream that floats on top of the can.

What to Eat with Butter Chicken

People usually eat butter chicken with rice (like basmati or jasmine rice) or bread, such naan or roti. The creamy tomato sauce goes well with the plain flavor of rice, which is why butter chicken is often served with it.

People also like to eat naan bread with butter chicken. Naan is a soft, fluffy Indian flatbread that you can use to sweep up the sauce from the dish. Roti is another kind of Indian flatbread. It is thinner and crispier than naan, and you may also eat it with butter chicken.

Butter chicken can also be served with a number of vegetable dishes or side salads, in addition to rice and bread. A simple salad of cucumbers and tomatoes with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of salt, for instance, can be a nice change from the rich and creamy flavors of the entrée.

In general, the most important thing is to choose sides that go well with the butter chicken’s flavors without dominating them. A simple side dish with rice or bread is a classic combination that goes well with the dish.

What is the Origin of Butter Chicken?

Butter chicken is an Indian dish that has become popular all over the world. Murgh makhani is another name for the meal. It is a creamy tomato-based curry that is usually eaten with rice or naan bread. There is some disagreement about where butter chicken came from, but it is thought to have been made in Delhi, India, in the 1950s.

According to reports, a chef named Kundan Lal Gujral came up with the meal. He owned a restaurant called Moti Mahal Delux. Gujral had worked in a restaurant in Peshawar, Pakistan, before. There, he learned how to make tandoori chicken in a creamy tomato sauce. After India and Pakistan split in 1947, he moved to Delhi, where he improved the recipe and started serving it at Moti Mahal Delux.

People in Delhi instantly fell in love with butter chicken, and it soon spread to the rest of India. In the last several years, it has become a popular dish in places including the US, the UK, and Canada. The meal has changed a bit, though, to fit the tastes of the people who live there.

Butter chicken is usually made in India with bone-in chicken that has been marinated in yogurt and spices and then grilled in a tandoor oven. After that, the chicken is cooked slowly in a sauce comprised of tomatoes, butter, cream, and a mix of spices, such as ginger, garlic, and garam masala. The sauce is normally thick and creamy, and it tastes a little sweet. In some parts of India, the dish is also called chicken makhani.

In certain places, butter chicken is made with chicken breasts or boneless chicken instead of chicken with bones. You could alternatively make the sauce with less cream and butter, which would make the meal lighter and less creamy. Some kinds of butter chicken have more than just chicken in it, like veggies or fruit.

The level of spice is another thing that makes butter chicken different in different nations. The meal can be very spicy in India, but in other countries, it might be less spicy to make it more appealing to a wider range of people. But no matter where you make it, the main ingredients and flavors stay the same.

Butter chicken is a well-known and tasty meal that is now a mainstay of Indian cooking and recipes. The core recipe for the dish stays the same, even though there may be some variances between versions in other nations. Chicken marinated in yogurt and spices is simmered in a creamy tomato sauce with a variety of spices.

Nutrition Facts

Calories: 440kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 202mg | Sodium: 1445mg | Potassium: 683mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 1184IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 3mg