This Indian Butter Chicken, traditionally known as Murgh Makhani, is a comforting curry built with a depth of spices, and plenty of sauce to soak into fresh basmati rice.
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Why you will love this recipe!
Indian Butter Chicken makes great leftovers for quick reheating. Simple preparation is all you need to create this dish in under 30 minutes, serve on top of fresh basmati rice, along with some homemade naan.
Ingredients:
I like to share the exact brands used, details, tips, and substitutions for ingredients to help you replicate the results and flavor delivery intended for this recipe. See recipe card for a complete listing of all ingredients.

Ingredient details of the butter chicken marinade:
- Chicken Breast - 3 large chicken breasts, cubed into 1" pieces. If you are starting from frozen chicken, thaw half way, cutting into cubes becomes exceptionally easy.
- Plain Yogurt - Marinating chicken in yogurt tenderizes meat gently and effectively. Because yogurt slowly tenderizes chicken, the resulting meat that can nearly be pulled apart by hand.
- Lemon Juice - Lemon juice not only provides flavor and acidity, but also helps tenderize the chicken. This works especially well for leaner cuts like chicken breasts, the result is super flavorful, vibrant, juicy, and tender chicken.
- Garlic Clove - Fresh minced delivers more robust flavor.
- Spices - garam masala, ground coriander, paprika, and mild chili powder

Ingredient details of the butter chicken sauce:
- Large Onion - peeled and roughly chopped. I almost exclusively use sweet onions over white. White are more stingy, the ones that make your eyes cry.
- Garlic Cloves - fresh is always preferred, minced through a garlic press. (see equipment list for details).
- Ginger - fresh will deliver more flavor, grating can be made simple on a fine grater (see equipment list for details).
- Butter - I always endorse Meadow Gold and Dairy Gold as great everyday butters.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - extra virgin such as a Robusto olive oil. Cucina & Amore is always my favorite EVOO for flavor experience get 20% off your first order
- Salt - Redmond Real Salt or Kosher are best, or any iodine free salt.
- Spices: Quick fact about spices, they deliver polyphenols into your diet. (garam masala, curry powder, paprika, and cinnamon.)
- Chicken Stock - use your favorite brand. Mine is Kirkland Chicken Stock by Costco or Swanson brand.
- Passata Tomato Purée - like Cento tomato puree sauce. (see photo above) Passata is simply thick sauce made from strained tomatoes.
- Tomato Puree - such as Cento tomato paste, not to be confused with the saucy texture of the passata puree.
- sugar
- Green Cardamom - sew pods together for easy removal. You can also sub with ground black cardamom as well.
- Heavy Cream - 40% by Darigold is my preferred cream 100% of the time.
- Fresh Cilantro (UK:Coriander) for garnish chopped.
How to make ahead and freezing instructions:
- Can I make it ahead? Yes. Make the curry, cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat slowly on medium low in a pan until the chicken is warmed throughout. (add a splash of water to loosen it up)
- Can I freeze it? Yes. Make the curry, cool completely, and freeze it in an airtight container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, reheat slowly on medium low in a pan until the chicken is warmed throughout.
Ingredient swaps and additions:
- Want it spicier? Swap out the mild chili powder for medium to hot chili of your liking.
- Veg it up! Add in some veggetables, such as, carrot, zucchini, green beans, or bell peppers. Add the vegetable after you've seared the chicken, including firmer vegetables during the simmer like carrots and green beans, while leaving softer veggies near the end, like zucchini and bell pepper.
- Swap your protein for large white beans. White beans are full of protein, they contain 17 grams of protein per 1-cup of cooked beans. That's a quality protein swap.
Equipment:
- Large 5qt pan
- Garlic Press for mincing
- Fine Grater for fresh ginger
- Wooden spoons or rubber spatula for stirring

History of Murgh Makhani (Butter Chicken)
Invented by Kundan Lal Gujral and Kundan Lal JaggiIndian, Butter Chicken is traditionally known as Murgh Makhani (pronounced [merg] [mækani]), an Indian dish originating from New Delhi. It is a type of curry made from chicken with a spiced tomato and butter (makhan) sauce. Butter chicken sauce is known for its rich texture, similar to chicken tikka masala, which also uses a tomato paste.
Is butter chicken is not intended to be spicy. Butter chicken tastes mildly sweet and has a rich creamy flavor. Chicken tikka masala, on the other hand, has a slightly spicier and earthy taste. Both dishes use chicken and tomato paste.
Indian Butter Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken and Marinade
- 24 oz chicken breast approx. 3 large chicken breasts, 1” cubed (700g)
- ⅓ c plain yogurt (80ml)
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon mild chilli powder
For The Sauce
- 1 large onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 teaspoon ginger minced
- 3 tbs butter
- 1 tbs olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tbs garam masala
- 1 tbs curry powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ c chicken stock (120ml)
- 14 oz passata tomato purée (400 ml) like cento tomato sauce
- 2 tbs tomato puree
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 6 green cardamom pods or ¼ teaspoon ground black cardamom
- ¾ c heavy cream 40% by Darigold (175ml)
- handful cilantro for garnish chopped; UK:Coriander
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, stir together and cover. Leave to marinate for 1-4 hours (up to overnight).
- Place the roughly chopped onion and the 4 garlic cloves into a food processor and blend until smooth (if you prefer fresh ginger, add the ginger here into the food processor).
- Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.
- 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.
- Add the stock, passata, tomato puree, sugar and cardamom. Tip: Sew the pods together with a piece of string so you can easily fish them out later.
- Bring to the soft boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Remove the cardamom then stir in the cream and allow to heat through.
- Serve over basmati rice, sprinkled with some freshly chopped coriander
Notes
- Can I make it ahead? Yes! Make the curry, cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat slowly on medium-low in a pan until the chicken is warmed throughout. (add a splash of water to loosen it up)
- Can I freeze it? Yes; prepare the curry, then cool completely, and freeze it in an airtight container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, and reheat slowly on medium-low in a pan until the chicken is warmed throughout.
- Want it spicier? Swap out the mild chili powder for medium to hot chili of your liking
- Veg it up! Add in some veggies - such as, carrot, zucchini, green beans, bell peppers - add them after you've seared the chicken, including firmer veggies during the simmer like carrot and green bean, and leaving softer veggies near the end, like zucchini and bell pepper.
- Swap your protein for tofu or large white beans.

Nutrition

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