Easy Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken in white bowl with rice , poppadoms, and coriander

5 from 9 votes

Easy Butter Chicken recipe with a sauce that is lip smacking good! A chicken dinner recipe with step by step instructions and a simple ingredients list.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Australian, Indian, International

Keyword: butter chicken

Servings:

Calories: 482kcal

Author: Adrianne

Equipment

Fry Pan or French Casserole Pan

Ingredients

Easy Butter Chicken

600 grams chicken breasts Note 1
410 grams tomato puree Note 2
50 grams butter
3 tablespoon tandoori paste Note 3
1 cup greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon ginger, crushed Note 4
1 tbsp garlic, crushed Note 5
1 teaspoon garam masala Note 6
1 teaspoon paprika Note 7
¼ cup dried onion Note 9
½ cup cream Note 8
salt and pepper to season
rice to serve, Note 11
poppadoms to serve, Note 12

Instructions

Easy Butter Chicken

Start by making your marinade for the chicken. Combine salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, tandoori paste, dried onion, yoghurt, ginger, garlic, garam masala and paprika and whisk to combine. Set aside
Use a knife to cut your chicken breasts into thick chicken pieces (approx 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm)
Place your chicken pieces into a deep dish, cover with your chicken marinade and use a pastry brush to fully coat all individual pieces thoroughly. Set aside
Add a little olive oil to a fry pan, followed by the butter and tomato puree, heat (on medium) and stir to combine.
When the chicken is cooked, turn the heat off and pour the cream into the dish.l Use a wooden spoon to stir slowly until it is mixed together.
Serve with basmati rice, fresh coriander leaves and poppadoms. Note 11

Video

Notes

Note 1 This is 2 chicken breasts. You can use chicken thighs, but I prefer chicken breast in a curry like this as it results in nice big chunks of tender juicy chicken, whereas chicken thighs have a thinner texture and I refer that for dishes with other textures in the sauce eg additional vegetables)
Note 2 This is actually called tomato puree (not paste or crushed, diced tomatoes or passata). At the end of the day if you cannot find it (my Aldi doesn't have it for example, use tomato passata instead) again not paste or crushed/diced tomatoes.
Note 3 This will be in the 'Indian or International' section of the shops. It will be in a jar and is a very thick, rich and aromatic paste.
Note 4 This is the wet crushed ginger that is in the cooking aisle of the supermarket. It is perfect as has great texture and body.
Note 5 This is the same as above in the sense that it is in the spices section in a jar, the wet minced or crushed garlic. Again, it has texture and body. (I use garlic powder a lot but don't recommend it in this recipe, we need the crushed stuff).
Note 6 This is a spice which will be near the garlic and ginger. It is quite commonly used in Indian recipes.
Note 7 As above, this is a red coloured spice, mild paprika is fine (there is a hot variety also)
Not 8 The cream gets added right at the very end. We pretty much turn the heat off, stir it through and it is done!
Note 9 This is one of my favourite ingredients to cook with. You will find it in the spices section of the shop like the above ingredients. I like it as it saves time and tears BUT it re-hydrates very well in liquid so you can absolutely taste the flavour and feel the texture of real onion in the dish.
Note 10 If you have a lid for your fry pan put it on now, as it will speed up the cook time as it concentrates the heat in the dish.
Note 11 I use my rice cooker to do the rice in the microwave. It is SO easy and takes 12-14 minutes. Cook the rice according to the rice cooker or packet instructions. I use 2 cups or uncooked rice and 3 cups of water for this recipe.
Note 12 There are big and small varieties. I like the ones that you cook yourself in the microwave. You can get precooked ones, but I think the ones you make yourself are better. Plus there is no oil necessary. 1 minute in the microwave and they are done!

Nutrition