Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever (Better Than a Restaurant!)

Easy Butter Chicken - an authentic Indian recipe

4.87 from 69 votes

Best Butter Chicken Recipe Ever (Better Than a Restaurant!)

Truly the best Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) recipe. It's a creamy and perfectly spiced Indian curry recipe with tender chicken and lots of sauce to mop up with warm naan.

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Butter Chicken, Murgh Makhani

Servings:

Author: Jennifer Pallian BSc, RD

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)

US Customary - Metric

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.

Video

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

- Chicken thighs: More flavorful and moist than breast meat.

- Lemon Juice Substitute: You can use lime juice or yogurt for marinating the chicken if you’re out of lemon juice.

- 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