Butter Chicken

4.86 from 56 votes

This butter chicken is hands down one of the best chicken recipes! Marinated and spiced chicken simmers in the creamiest, most velvety curry sauce. It may just be one of the best dinner recipes you'll ever have. Watch the video below to see how I make it in my kitchen!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Marinating Time1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Butter Chicken, Butter chicken recipe

Servings: servings

Author: Lisa Bryan

Ingredients

For the Chicken

1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced ginger
3 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil

For the Butter Sauce

1 medium yellow onion diced
2 teaspoons minced ginger
3 garlic cloves minced
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ cup raw cashews
1 tablespoon coconut sugar or other sweetener
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 cup water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee
½ cup heavy cream or coconut cream

For Serving

basmatic rice
freshly chopped cilantro

US - Metric

Instructions

Dice the chicken. Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces and place it in a bowl.
Marinate the chicken. Add the yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, garam masala, turmeric, and salt to the bowl. Stir it all together, then cover and refrigerate for an hour (or up to overnight).
Cook the chicken. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large saute pan. Place the marinated chicken in the fry pan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the chicken is opaque. Transfer the chicken to a separate bowl.
Make the sauce. Add the onions to the pan and saute for 3 to 4 minutes, until softened and translucent.
Add the ginger, garlic, red chili powder, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and stir for another minute. Then add the cashews, crushed tomatoes, sugar, and water. Stir it all together, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.
Transfer the sauce to a high-powered blender and blend for a minute, until smooth and creamy.
Combine it all together. Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel (if you'd like to remove any lumps from the final sauce), then stir together the creamy butter sauce, butter, and heavy cream.
Add the chicken back to the pan over medium heat and stir with the sauce for 3 to 5 minutes, until the chicken is warmed through.
To serve. Enjoy the butter chicken on it's own, or serve it over basmati rice topped with fresh cilantro.

Video

Notes

You can typically find Kashmiri red chili powder at your local Indian market. But you can also purchase it online! Alternatively, you can use a combination of paprika and cayenne pepper for a similar taste and heat level. And if you'd like to "up" the heat level, just use regular red chili powder instead of Kashmiri red chili powder.
If you'd like to save time making this recipe, don't mince the ginger and garlic at home. Just buy a jar of ginger garlic paste. You can substitute 1 tablespoon in the marinade and 1 tablespoon in the sauce for both the garlic and ginger listed in the recipe above.
You can substitute the cashews with blanched almonds, sunflower seeds, or pine nuts, or simply leave them off (the sauce will just be a little thinner).

Nutrition