The Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever (Better Than Restaurant!)
Updated Mar 28, 2025
This best-ever Butter Chicken recipe is impossibly delicious, with cubes of juicy chicken in the tastiest spiced sauce. My Indian husband says it will change your life!
This Butter Chicken recipe is a family treasure we’ve perfected over 20 years. It is so easy and has been made by HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of readers. Try it, and you’ll know why!
Butter Chicken Ingredients
What is Indian Butter Chicken Sauce Made of? I’ve broken it all down into ingredients and variations.
For Sauce
- Vegetable oil, or ghee for richer flavor.
- Onion: Adds sweetness and body. It looks like a lot but once cooked down, it becomes an imperceptible part of the sauce. Some recipes call for sugar, but an authentic butter chicken recipe uses the proper cooking of onions (to golden and almost caramelized) to add the sweetness.
- Paprika, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon: for warm Indian flavor.
- Tomatoes: I usually use canned, but fresh work, too! If using fresh, you may need a splash of water.
- Heavy cream: Also called whipping cream, double cream, thickened cream or 35% m.f. cream depending where you live.
- Butter: Finishes the sauce with a rich, silky texture, adding body and gloss.
- Cilantro: optional, but beautiful in appearance and freshness.
For Chicken Marinade
- Chicken breast
- Lemon juice
- Garlic and ginger
- Garam masala: A flavourful spice blend consisting of up to 10 different Indian spices (including cumin, ground ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, cardamom, etc.)
How to Make This Easy Butter Chicken Recipe: Step-By-Step
- Marinate Chicken:
Mix chicken, lemon juice, garlic, garam masala, and salt. Marinate 30 mins (or overnight in fridge). - Cook Onions:
Sauté onions in oil over medium until golden (about 20 mins). Add garlic, cook 1 min. - Add Spices & Tomatoes:
Stir in garam masala, paprika, cinnamon, and salt. Cook 1 min. Add tomatoes, cook 2 mins. - Blend Sauce:
Add cream. Blend until smooth. Simmer gently. - Add Chicken:
Stir in marinated chicken. Cook covered 12 mins, until done. - Finish:
Stir in butter. Adjust salt. Garnish with cilantro if you want. Serve with warm, fluffy garlic naan, cheese naan or rice and enjoy!
💡Jenn’s Recipe Note
Most butter chicken recipes require cooking the chicken separately first, and then later simmering it in the sauce.
I don’t think this extra cooking step is necessary (especially for an easy weeknight dinner!).
The marinade is needed because chicken breasts don’t take long to cook. This means that they won’t absorb much of the flavour from the sauce itself.
Featured Reader Rating
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This really is the best butter chicken. I found it years ago and is always my go to butter chicken recipe. I’ve had friends over and made curries and it’s always this one they ask for the recipe.”
– KATRINA
Make Ahead and Storage
Here are some tips to help you prepare this Butter Chicken in advance and store it for later enjoyment.
- Marinate overnight: For deeper flavor, marinate the chicken the night before you plan to cook. This saves time and enhances taste.
- Prep sauce in advance: You can make the sauce a day ahead and simply reheat it when you’re ready to add the chicken.
- Refrigerator storage: Keep leftover Butter Chicken in a sealed container in the fridge. It should last for up to 3 days.
- Freezing tips: This dish freezes well. Store it in airtight containers and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheating: Warm the Butter Chicken over low heat on the stove, adding a little water if the sauce has thickened too much. Stir frequently to avoid burning.
Tips for Marinating the Chicken
Even a quick marinade in some super flavourful ingredients really makes a difference.
- If you are a planner, marinate the chicken overnight for maximum benefit.
- If you are making this spontaneously, even giving the chicken half-hour to mingle with the marinade while you prep the sauce will make a difference.
- If you are a planner AND a perfectionist, feel free to add an extra step and char the marinated chicken cubes a bit on a grill/grill pan, or under a broiler for a few minutes before tossing them in the sauce.
How to Make Butter Chicken in the Pressure Cooker
A few simple changes if you prefer to make this recipe in an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker:
- Prep the sauce as directed but don’t add the cream.
- Pressure cook on high for 3 minutes with a quick pressure release.
- Remove chicken and set aside.
- Stir cream into the sauce and blend with an immersion blender.
- Return chicken to sauce and serve.
How to Make Butter Chicken in the Slow Cooker:
If you’d like to make this recipe in a CrockPot instead, the most noteable difference is to leave the chicken breasts whole. This avoids drying them out, and they have plenty of time to absorb flavour from the sauce.
- Marinate the chicken breasts whole instead of in pieces.
- Prep the sauce as directed then top with marinated chicken breasts (left whole instead of chopped) without adding the cream.
- Slow Cook on high for 3 hours then remove the chicken and cut into chunks.
- Stir cream into sauce and blend with an immersion blender for a lovely creamy texture.
- Return chicken to sauce and serve.
What to Serve With Butter Chicken
- Indian Flatbreads: Use my buttery naan, paratha bread, roti, or one of my favorite chapathi recipes to mop the creamy sauce off the plate.
- Basmati Rice: When I shared mother-in-law’s easy basmati rice recipe on instagram, it went 12-million-views viral!
Fun Fact: In traditional Indian meals, bread or rice is served, but usually not both. It’s common to use your hands (no utensils) to scoop the chicken and sauce off your plate inside bites of of warm bread. It’s heaven.
Beverages
- Chai: Start the meal with steaming authentic Indian Chai or Karak Tea
- Mango Lassi
- Iced Tea: Stick to the theme with an Iced Chai Latte
- Lemonade: I love this rose lemonade
- Beer: A crisp lager can cool down the spices of Butter Chicken
- Riesling: An off-dry Riesling complements the dish’s creaminess and spice
Appetizers
- Samosas: You must try my Potato Samosas or these incredible Chicken Samosas).
- Stuffed Naan: This Keema Naan or Aloo Naan are also delicious appies to share.
Vegetable Side Dishes
- Raita: I love to serve every curry with my father-in-law’s Cucumber-Yogurt Salad.
- Salad: A simple tomato, cucumber and red onion salad dressed with lemon juice and olive oil + sprinkled with salt is also nice.
- Beans Poriyal (Indian Green Beans with Coconut)
- Aloo Gobi (Cauliflower with Potato Curry) is a delicious vegetable curry to add to the meal for a bigger crowd.
MORE of my Indian Husband’s Favorite Recipes
If you love Butter Chicken, I’m sure you’ll love some of these other flavor-packed, fan-favorite Indian dinner dishes!
- Vindaloo Lamb or Pork curry
- Adarsh’s Chicken 65
- Paneer and Greens Curry (aka Saag Paneer) or Palak Paneer
- Shrimp Korma
- Amma’s Masoor Dal Recipe, Chana Curry or Creamy Madras Lentils
- Butter Paneer
- The Chicken Korma recipe that Adarsh says will change your life. See also: Chicken Korma vs. Butter Chicken.
- Malai Kofta
- Coconut Curry Chicken
Next Reading: My Best Family-Favorite Indian Curry Recipes
FAQs About Butter Chicken
Just skimming through? Here are some quick answers to the commonly-asked questions.
Butter chicken has a perfect balance of spicy and sweet, but is definitely mild on the spice spectrum of Indian curries.
Butter chicken tastes richly creamy with a mild heat from the Indian spices, contrasted by sweet undertones from the butter and cream.
Chicken tikka consists of spice-marinated pieces of chicken cooked in a tandoor. Butter chicken has chicken pieces in a creamy curry sauce. You can use leftover tandoori chicken in the sauce for even more flavor.
The sauce for butter chicken includes tomatoes, cream, butter and various spices for a rich flavor.
It’s named for its creamy sauce that includes butter, giving the dish a rich and smooth texture.
Chicken tikka generally contains fewer calories as it lacks the creamy sauce found in butter chicken.
Butter chicken has a creamier and less tomato-intense sauce than tikka masala, which is spicier and more tomato-based.
It is also commonly known as Murgh Makhani.
Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever (Better Than a Restaurant!)
Video
Ingredients
For chicken and marinade:
- 2 ¼ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast cut in 1" – 2" cubes
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
For sauce:
- ¼ cup vegetable oil or ghee
- 2 ½ cups chopped onion about 2 medium-large
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp minced ginger
- 1-3 tbsp garam masala SEE NOTES
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- 2 tsp kosher salt or to taste
- 1 ¼ cups diced tomatoes no-salt-added, if canned
- ¾ cup heavy cream (also called whipping cream, double cream, thickened cream or 35% m.f. cream depending where you live)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
For marinade:
- Combine all ingredients in a zip-top bag or shallow baking dish, massaging the marinade into the chicken. Let stand at room temperature while you prepare the sauce, or marinate in the fridge overnight.
For sauce:
- Heat oil (or ghee) over medium heat in a large saucepan or dutch oven. Add onions and slowly cook until golden, about 20 minutes, reducing heat if they are getting crispy or browning quickly.
- Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 1 tbsp of the garam masala (see notes), plus the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne and salt; cook 1 minute more to let the spices toast.Add tomatoes; cook 2 minutes, then add cream.Carefully puree using an immersion blender or regular blender.The sauce base will look quite thick at this point (see notes below). Taste, and if you prefer a lighter taste or color, blend in an additional 1 cup tomatoes.
To assemble the curry
- Add the chicken to the sauce, along with the marinade. Cover, and simmer over medium-low heat until chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes (remove a couple of pieces to make sure they are no longer pink inside). A gentle simmer is required to gently cook the breasts so they don't become tough, and you don't want to overcook them.
- Stir in butter, taste and add more garam masala (up to 2 tbsp more) and additional salt if needed. Serve sprinkled with cilantro, if desired.
Notes
Important Tips:
Garam Masala: My true recipe calls for 3 tbsp, but sometimes I will get a message that the flavor of the garam masala is too strong. This is because brands can vary WILDLY by their composition. The ones I’ve bought from Whole Foods were awful. I buy the Suraj brand. If you use something else, start with 1 TBSP instead of 3, and add more later to taste. It can be added any time, but can’t be taken away. Liquid The chicken will release quite a bit of water, so hold off on adding additional liquid to the sauce unless the chicken is burning to the bottom of the pot. Flavor/Color I use a high-speed Vitamix and that whips in more are to make the color lighter than a standard blender. If you prefer a milder flavor a lighter color, feel free to blend in 1 cup additional tomatoes.Variations and Substitutions
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- Chicken thighs: More flavorful and moist than breast meat.
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- Lemon Juice Substitute: You can use lime juice or yogurt for marinating the chicken if you’re out of lemon juice.
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- Dairy free: If you’d like to make this dairy free, feel free to use coconut oil in place of the butter and full-fat coconut milk in place of the heavy cream.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe!!! What can I substitute for garam masala. It is at times really strong
You can generally swap for North American/British style curry powder. I find the US/Canada brands of Garam Masala stronger with cloves or cardamom than the actual Indian brands in the international aisle.
4 tablespoons total of garam masala??? That seems extremely excessive. Not sure if I want to give this a shot.
You don’t have to take my word for it – the reviews don’t lie. It is really good!
For the slow cooker modification do I have to use a pan to do the sauce and stuff frist or do I put all of it in the slow cooker other then the cream
You have to saute the onions and garlic and spices in a pan or it will not taste nearly as good.
I don’t have lemons. Will limes work?
Yes!
Very good recipe, would recommend it.
I did used fresh diced tomatoes, and once everything had cooled down there was a lot of water separated from the sauce. How could I avoid this in the future?
Glad you liked it! The separation upon cooling is normal to most curries! It’ll come together again when you reheat it 🙂
Excellent recipe. Highly recommend. No notes, other than do take the suggestion to blend the ingredients. That was the game changer.
Make this, you won’t be sorry! The flavor of this is so good and so balanced. This is going in my regular rotation for sure.
Delicious!!! The only thing I might try to do different next time is to marinate in joghurt instead of lemon juice. I had to use double the juice to get it everywhere and it turned out a tiny bit sour.
Hi Julia, the marinade is definitely enough for the listed amount of chicken but it won’t be a very wet marinade (like when you’re grilling). It’s basically just like seasoning the chicken with spices, but with a touch of lemon, too. I definitely wouldn’t recommend doubling the lemon juice (as you learned) but if you try the recipe as written, I’m confident you’ll love it!
In the video, baking soda is added with the onions. It’s not in the recipe. What does it do for the dish?
Hi Dd, a little pinch of baking soda just speeds up the browning and caramelizing of the onions. I share more of this info on Instagram!
How would you add more heat to this dish? Can’t wait to make it!
Hi Patti,
Heat lover, eh? Love it.
You could add 1-2 minced green chillies with the ginger at the beginning and then add more cayenne to taste with the spices!
This recipe was very easy to make and incredibly delicious this will be a staple in my home for sure. I cut the recipe in half because I was cooking for one and it was perfect for two nights of dinners.