Quick & Easy Homemade Butter Chicken
Quick & Easy Homemade Butter Chicken. A simplified version of the Indian take-out classic Butter Chicken. Deeply flavourful, rich and spicy without an overwhelming amount of heat.
So many people search for a really great homemade butter chicken recipe and I think this is a great one. If you are looking for the definitive recipe for butter chicken, keep looking and good luck.
There are many different recipe versions out there, geared to many different tastes.
While most start with the essential ingredients of tomato, garlic, onions and of course butter, the spices and dairy ingredients can vary considerably.
Some recipes use milk or cream, others yogurt and still others, combinations of all three. I like to use mostly yogurt and balance it with a finish of honey and cream.
There are also many, many different spice blends under the umbrella name of "garam masala". I use one from my local South Asian grocery which I like very much but also to which I add more of the spices I like best.
Butter Chicken to suit your own taste.
My own recipe for homemade butter chicken is one that is suited to my own taste. It is really a dish that has been created from cherry-picking the best of several recipes that I have tried or read.
Some recipes for example do not include cardamom which has become an essential spice in my version.
The bottom line is that, like many dishes I cook, I use a good recipe as only a starting point from which I add to or subtract from to suit my own taste. I encourage anyone to do the same. and lots more recipes for chicken in our
Need Naan?
The best Homemade Butter Chicken recipe needs the best Homemade Naan recipe too or try Coconut Cashew Raisin Naan
NEW SUGGESTION! Try our very quick and easy Yogurt Flatbread recipe, which is also great served with any curry dish you like.
PRO TIP
One of my other Indian favourites is of curse, Tandoori Chicken Curry! When I have time I follow the grilling and marinade instructions in that recipe. When cooked, chop the thighs into bite sized pieces and simmer for an hour in the prepared butter chicken sauce at the end. DELICIOUS!!
Butter Chicken Update! A vegetarian option!
My daughter Olivia is home from university in Toronto for the summer, so with a vegetarian now in the house, we are making more of these types of recipes but in a meatless version.
The photo above shows the exact same sauce recipe but, instead of using chicken, right at the end in the last few minutes of cooking time, I added 2 cups each of cooked chickpeas and green lentils.
Olivia and her vegetarian friends loved it!
I had some the next day over steamed rice for lunch and it was quite delicious. This is one we will be adding to our meatless Monday regularly, I predict.
For another utterly delicious version of chickpea curry please check out this recipe for Coconut Chickpea Korma.
Looking for more chicken dinner ideas. Be sure to check out this collection of our Most Popular Chicken Recipes of the last decade.
Like this Homemade Butter Chicken recipe?
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Quick & Easy Homemade Butter Chicken
A simplified version of the Indian take-out classic Butter Chicken; rich and spicy with not an overwhelming amount of heat.
Ingredients
- 8 large boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoon peanut oil
- 3 teaspoon + 4 tablespoon garam masala
- Salt and pepper to season
- 6 + 1 cloves minced garlic
- 1 large white onion diced
- 6 large ripe tomatoes, diced (about 4 cups or use 3 cups canned tomatoes)
- 4 seeded green chilies chopped, if green chilies are not available, substitute crushed red chili paste or cayenne pepper to taste
- ½ cup plain, unsweetened yogurt
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoon honey, more or less to taste
- ½ cup cream
Instructions
- I use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe, which I cut into bite-sized pieces because it’s faster than using whole chicken pieces and because I like to simmer the chicken in the sauce for a while before serving. You can use chicken breast pieces if you like, but simmering chicken breast for any length of time will dry it out considerably, so you may just want to add it back to the sauce for only a minute or two to reheat it before serving.
- The chicken for this recipe can simply be sautéed as in the recipe but when I have access to the backyard grill, I like to gill it for extra smoky flavor.
- To a large covered Dutch oven over medium heat add the 3 tablespoon butter and peanut oil. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper as well as the 3 teaspoon garam masala. Add to the pot and brown the pieces for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add 6 cloves of minced garlic and the diced white onion.
- Sauté the onions and garlic in the butter and oil until softened. Increase the heat to medium high and add the diced tomatoes.
- Sauté the tomatoes until they break down and form a chunky sauce. Add the sautéed tomatoes and onions to a large blender or food processor along with the chopped green chilies, yogurt, 4 tablespoon garam masala, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, chili powder, lemon juice, ginger, 1 clove minced garlic, and ¼ cup melted butter.
- Puree all ingredients together and return to the pot along with the chicken stock. Simmer together until the sauce is reduced in volume by about ¼.
- Add the chicken back to the pot and simmer slowly for 10 to 15 minutes. Finish the dish by adding the honey (more or less to taste) and cream.
- Simmer for an additional minute or two before serving over rice or with naan.
PRO TIP
One of my other Indian favourites is of curse, Tandoori Chicken Curry! When I have time I follow the grilling and marinade instructions in that recipe. When cooked, chop the thighs into bite sized pieces and simmer for an hour in the prepared butter chicken sauce at the end. DELICIOUS!!
Notes
2017 UPDATE: For my vegetarian version of this recipe, just make the sauce as normal, without the chicken pieces and add 2 cups of cooked chickpeas and 2 cups of cooked lentils to the sauce in the last few minutes of simmering time.
In either the chicken or vegetarian version, adjust any of the spice amounts you like to suit your own taste. "Make it the way you like it" is my motto. Never make apologies for making what tastes good to you.
TIP: When purchasing chicken thighs, I find it best to buy them already deboned with the skin removed. In my tests, I found that over half of the overall package weight was comprised of skin and bones. This means that even at double the price, the boneless skinless thighs are probably still a better value and you save yourself all the extra work too.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1 servingAmount Per Serving Calories 562Saturated Fat 16gCholesterol 207mgSodium 469mgCarbohydrates 28gFiber 4gSugar 11gProtein 33g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Oh butter chicken, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. So many different recipes available with so my different ingredients. But I like a nice easy and simple recipe when making. And thanks for yours to try.
nice recipe. thanks for sharing.
Too funny. I love this post. I am heading to look up your bread recipe now.
And I have now built a whole blog around the idea that I can't follow a recipe exactly either!
This recipe looks yummy and I plan to try it soon. Your pictures make the entire recipe very enticing!! Thank you for posting it!
I tried this recipe last night for company and it was a hit! It turned out great (though I didn't use as many chiles, I didn't want it to be TOO hot)! It's definitely one I'll try again!
I tried this recipe out last night for company, and it was a hit! Definitely one that I'll try again 🙂
I have been craving Indian food, this recipe looks great!!
Gah! I have been craving Indian food, this recipe looks great!!
Just made this, love it! I added a bit of salt at the end and - perfect! Thanks!
This recipe looks great and I'd love to try it. One question though - rather than having to cook down a whole lot of tomatoes, can I just used canned tomatoes instead? If yes, how many tins? And do I use the juice? If it's not possible, then when I cook down the tomatoes do I have to remove their skins first (which is a major mission)? Thanks. Kim
You can use canned tomatoes with the juice included. Use about 3 cups or 24 fl ounces of tomatoes
We have enjoyed many of your wonderful recipes but this one has placed you in a place of honor in my family. Unfortunately I did not have cream and had to substitute coconut milk instead but even so, it was such an incredible meal that it was eaten in absolute silence.....except for the awwww......ohhhh......awwww.
I'll bet the coconut milk was delicious. I use it sometimes in curries anyway.
Am I going crazy or do I see 3 tsp garam marsala up by the chicken and onion and then 4 tsp for the sauce? In the directions I can't see where you use the 3 tsp. Is there a total of 7 tsp in the recipe? (If I were home I'd cross reference my cookbook).
My apologies, I recently reformatted this recipe to make it more print friendly and copied the draft version of the Word file for this recipe instead of the final edited version as it appears in my cookbook. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Yes there is that much garam masala but some id used to season the chicken and some for the sauce.
If Jen is crazy, so am I 😉 I see garam marsala twice.
See my explanation to Jen above. Recipe has been updated.
This is delicious, I am about to make it for the second time!