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Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is one of my favorite Indian dishes! It’s smooth, silky and has the perfect amount of Indian spices running throughout it. It’s delicious Indian comfort food and lucky for us it’s easy to make at home!

This butter chicken goes great over basmati rice with a side of naan bread! So yummy! Butter chicken is similar to Chicken tikka masala which I tend to think of as the chunkier English inspired “Indian” dish. I have a great recipe for that too RECIPE HERE.

What you need to make butter chicken:

Serves 6

  • 1 small yellow or white onion – diced
  • 2 cloves garlic – minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Dash of chili powder – more or less for desired heat
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 14 ounce chicken stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup cream
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 chicken breast – seasoned with salt and a sprinkle of garam masala

Instructions

  1. In a large pot, add onion, garlic and olive oil and saute over medium heat until onion starts to soften.
  2. Add curry powder, garam masala, ginger and desired amount of chili powder then stir into onions so the spices get a little toast on them.
  3. Add tomato sauce and chicken stock and let mixture simmer on low for about 6 minutes.
  4. Add salt, sugar, cream and butter to mixture and bring to a boil again for 1 minute then reduce to a medium simmer.
  5. In another non-stick skillet, add chicken that is sliced into bite sized chunks and season with a sprinkle of salt and garam masala. Cook through then add to simmering mixture. I like to cook the chicken separate because I find the chicken gets more tender when I do it this way. You can also add the raw chicken to the sauce mixture and cook it in the sauce if desired but chicken will get a little firmer.
  6. Once chicken is added you can serve over rice or reduce sauce to desired thickness by simmering for a few more minutes.
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Butter Chicken

Delicious Indian comfort food!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine: Dinner, Indian, main course
Keyword: Chicken, Curry, Dinner, indian, main course, Weekend Dinner, Weeknight Dinner
Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

  • 1 small yellow or white onion – diced
  • 2 cloves garlic – minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • Dash of chili powder – more or less for desired heat
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 14 ounce chicken stock
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 cup cream
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 chicken breast – seasoned with salt and a sprinkle of garam masala

Instructions

  • In a large pot, add onion, garlic and olive oil and saute over medium heat until onion starts to soften.
  • Add curry powder, garam masala, ginger and desired amount of chili powder then stir into onions so the spices get a little toast on them.
  • Add tomato sauce and chicken stock and let mixture simmer on low for about 6 minutes.
  • Add salt, sugar, cream and butter to mixture and bring to a boil again for 1 minute then reduce to a medium simmer.
  • In another non-stick skillet, add chicken that is sliced into bite sized chunks and season with a sprinkle of salt and garam masala. Cook through then add to simmering mixture. I like to cook the chicken separate because I find the chicken gets more tender when I do it this way. You can also add the raw chicken to the sauce mixture and cook it in the sauce if desired but chicken will get a little firmer.
  • Once chicken is added you can serve over rice or reduce sauce to desired thickness by simmering for a few more minutes.