This easy, homemade Butter Chicken is full of flavour and ready in 30 minutes! Freeze half of the curry and portions of rice for an easy second meal!
My recipe for Easy Butter Chicken is a great way to introduce your family to Indian food. Both kids and adults alike can enjoy this meal which is not too spicy! If you have a little extra time, why not make some Homemade Flatbreads to mop up the tasty sauce?
As delicious as the takeaway version is, it usually has a lot of sugar and cream in it. My homemade version of easy butter chicken is super tasty and pretty healthy too!
If served with rice and without the naan/roti, then this meal is also gluten free.
I like to make a big batch of this yummy curry so that I can freeze some for later. I store it in an airtight container in the freezer for up to three months. Defrost, then reheat until piping hot before serving.
How to make Easy Butter Chicken:
To begin, dice the chicken into 2cm pieces and place in a large dish. Add the garam masasla, ground coriander and cumin, paprika, salt and cinnamon. Stir to coat chicken.
Heat oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken. Reduce the heat then add the garlic and ginger, cooking for two minutes. Add the water, tomato paste and sugar then bring to a simmer.
Stir in the coconut cream and butter. Cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Serve with cooked rice, roti and some fresh coriander on top.
Recipe FAQs:
If you left out the butter at the end (ironic I know!) it would be dairy free.
Yes. If served with rice and without naan/roti this meal is gluten free. Always check the label on processed foods first.
Storage:
Store any leftover butter chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove top until piping hot. This butter chicken and rice can also be frozen. Store in airtight containers or freezer bags int he freezer for up to three months. Thaw in the fridge overnight then reheat until piping hot.
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Easy Butter Chicken
An easy, homemade butter chicken full of flavour.
Ingredients
- 1kg chicken breast (or thighs)
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 1 Tbsp ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp olive oil or butter
- 2 Tbsp crushed garlic
- 2 Tbsp crushed ginger
- 1⁄4 cup tomato paste
- 1-3 tsp sugar (depends how sweet you like your curry)
- 3⁄4 cup water
- 1 can coconut cream, 400ml
- 1 Tbsp butter
To Serve:
- Hot rice
- Coriander
- Crispy roti or naan
Instructions
- Dice the chicken into 2cm pieces and add to large dish. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, salt and cinnamon then stir to coat the chicken evenly.
- Heat the oil or butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes until browned.
- Reduce the heat then add the garlic and ginger and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste, sugar and water and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in the coconut cream and butter and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the curry has thickened and the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve with cooked rice, roti and some fresh coriander on top.
Notes
- Leave out the butter at the end if you want this recipe to be dairy free.
- If you want to add some vegetables: cauliflower, spinach, carrots or peas would taste great.
- Add chilli powder with the spices if you like your curries hotter.
- This is a large batch of curry so perfect to freeze any leftovers for later. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 787Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 152mgSodium: 674mgCarbohydrates: 71gFiber: 3gSugar: 48gProtein: 57g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya
Sonia says
Hi Vanya, I love the look of this recipe. Do you make your own naan bread?
VJ cooks says
No, but that is a great idea for the future! Thank you
Hayley Coleman says
Can you put all ingredients into the crockpot?
VJ cooks says
After you brown the chicken and cook off the garlic and tomato paste (which is important for flavour development), there's only 10 minutes of cooking on the stove top. I wouldn't bother with a slow cooker for that.
Chloe Dean says
This is the most delicious butter chicken ever. It’s so easy to make from scratch, we have it every week and the kids love it! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe. I would love to make more curries like a korma, do you have any other curry recipes? Xx
VJ cooks says
Thank you so much! I do have a Korma in the pipeline, it will be hitting the website in the next couple of months. Thank you for your support 🙂
Kate says
I don't have fresh ginger can I use ground ginger instead
VJ cooks says
You could leave it out, or add a teaspoon of ground ginger.
Marie Roberts says
I use crushed ginger just like in the jars of crushed garlic
Carolyn says
I love the bonus value in this recipe - I heat cooked kumara and lentils in the leftover sauce for lunch the next day, adding yoghurt if needed for volume.
Lily says
Delicious butter chicken. Fed a flat of 3 girls with no leftovers.. I'm not sure if it would yield 6 portions but we may have been extra hungry lol.
Cheyne Adams says
Absolutely blimmen delicious!!!! I've made this twice now- such a winner and so much easier then I thought!
VJ cooks says
Thank you for the lovely feedback! I love making these meals from scratch - but make it easy!
Amber Soffe says
Made this tonight and my 9 year old granddaughter loved it, didnt have to be pushed to eat her tea, she had a big plateful of it and wants it made again.
VJ cooks says
Oh that's awesome! My aim is to create meals the whole family can enjoy. Thank you for the feedback, Amber.
Nicole says
Hi Vj, can I use Tomato Passata instead paste? I don't have any paste in my pantry.
VJ cooks says
Yes, it just wont be as intense 🙂
Gina says
Hi VJ Can i swap out coconut cream for thickened cream? Its all Ive got in my fridge right now hehe
Thanks 🙂
VJ cooks says
Yes that would work 🙂
Sandi says
Do you think this could be made in the slow cooker
VJ cooks says
Hi Sandi, this meal is ready in less than 30 minutes so I've never bothered making it in the slow cooker. The chicken gets browned in the pan first so I find it easier to just finish it off in the one pan.
Sarah says
Hi Vanya. Can this be made in a slow cooker? Does the liquid need to be adjusted? Thanks
VJ cooks says
Hi Sarah, as this is such a quick meal to make I've not tried making this in the slow cooker sorry. The chicken gets browned in the pan first so I find it easier to just finish it off in the one pan as you're halfway there by that point.
Leah says
Hi VJ, made your butter chicken tonight. Mine was watery and not the colour a butter chicken should be. I used the Kara coconut cream.
Any thoughts on why it turned out like this please? I may have use too much water
VJ cooks says
Hi Leah, it's hard for me to say without being in your kitchen. But if you used too much water that probably would make it watery.
Kirsty says
This was banging! I'll admit I was a bit dubious at first about the amount of spice and aromatics (a lot!) but I stuck to the recipe and BOOM! SO MUCH FLAVOUR!!! Added a little cornflour in water to thicken the sauce at the end. Super easy and delish! Thanks VJ
VJ cooks says
So great to hear! Thanks as always for your feedback, Kirsty!
Holly says
Hi VJ, your recipes are on high rotation in our household, just a general question regarding the nutritional values. Do they include the ‘to serve’ foods like the rice and naan or just the butter chicken for example. Thanks so much.
VJ cooks says
Hi Holly, the nutritional value includes any ingredient with a weight or quantity. Therefore in this recipe, it doesn't include the rice, coriander and naan sorry.
Cookie says
hey vj I made this for the first time tonight and it's delicious, kids devoured it. us adult like bit of spice so would it be chilli powder to add if we want a bit more of a spicy kick? and if so would it be when I coat the chicken or add it to the sauce when I add the garlic, ginger tom etc?
VJ cooks says
Yes I would add it to the pan at the same time as the garlic and ginger.