This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Delicious restaurant-style butter chicken made right at home with simple ingredients. This recipe is exactly how they make butter chicken in restaurants – and I’ve had people tell me it’s actually better! Trust me when I say it’s finger-lickin’ good!
Finger-Lickin’ butter chicken! That’s a little too much fun to say.
Sharing one of my all time favorite Indian food recipes today.
Last week I had this intense craving for creamy and spicy homemade butter chicken. I mean, it was so crazy that I could practically taste the butter chicken in my mouth as I thought about it. My heart started racing, my hands started shaking — okay, it wasn’t quite that dramatic; but you get the idea. I dug down deep into the LSJ files (this is actually one of the first recipes I ever posted on the blog!) It was time to retake some of the pictures and reintroduce you to my finger-lickin’ butter chicken recipe.
Not only am I replacing some of my old (read: not so great) photography. But I also reworked the recipe to make the ingredient list a little shorter without compromising any of the flavors. I also took the liberty of making the instructions easier to follow I am sharing my tried and true tips on how you can get this on the table even quicker on weeknights!
I can’t say I take all the credit for this recipe. This recipe comes from my mom, who got it from her sister, who once upon a time worked at a very popular Indian restaurant. So there. It’s authentic, restaurant-style butter chicken, for reals. <– I just took the liberty of tweaking a few things to make this recipe attainable for us everyday people. I promise you all tweaks are simple and don’t compromise the flavor!
Trust me when I say this, I took my job very seriously and strive to provide you with the best restaurant-style butter chicken you’ve ever had!
Made this for my boyfriend and he absolutely LOVED it! He thought it is only possible to eat such in an Indian restaurant….bravo, well done and thank you for sharing! 🙂
Recipe Video
So about that BUTTER chicken. Ironically enough my recipe doesn’t contain that much butter. Butter chicken is also called ‘Murgh Makani’ and when translated to English, it means Butter Chicken. And in fact, the butter in this recipe is actually clarified butter or ghee.
Nowadays, ghee is readily available in most mainstream grocery stores. You can definitely find it at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. And if you live in an area where your supermarket doesn’t stock it, you can always purchase it online here.
Ingredients for Homemade Butter Chicken:
- Chicken: Feel free to use boneless skinless chicken breasts or boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. I typically cut the chicken into 1½ inch pieces and then toss it in a marinade made with yogurt and spices.
- Seasonings: Butter chicken calls for an array of spices. To help curb the ingredient list, I use a sachet of tandoori masala. It’s usually available in powder/paste form in the international aisle. The one I use and LOVE can be found here. This helps cut down on the number of spices you’ll need. Don’t get me wrong, you’ll still need a little garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, and some red chili powder. You can also swap the red chili powder for cayenne but the flavor will be slightly different. I also find cayenne pepper to be hotter so I would suggest using slightly less than what’s called for. But you won’t need ground turmeric and a few others as the tandoori masala already contains these. Garam masala is South Asian spice mix that contains ingredients like cloves, black pepper, black cardamom, cinnamon, green cardamom, and several other spices.
- Fenugreek Leaves: In Urdu and Hindi fenugreek leaves are called kasuri methi. This is an ingredient you can easily find in almost any South Asian grocery store as it is used in many dishes. If your mainstream grocery store has an international aisle, they may carry it there as well.
- Fresh Ginger and Garlic: A lot of traditional Pakistani and Indian recipe call for freshly prepared ginger and garlic paste. Essentially, it’s just a combination of peeled knobs of ginger and a handful of cloves garlic broken down in a food processor with a little vinegar to help keep these ingredients fresh and some water. Some people also add a little oil for preservation, but this is optional. Nowadays, most South Asian grocery stores (as well as mainstream stores) sell prepared garlic and ginger paste. Feel free to make your own or purchase it for this recipe.
- Oil: You’ll need some oil to saute the onions and cook the butter chicken recipe. Feel free to use avocado oil, canola or even coconut oil for this.
- Yogurt: I like to use plain yogurt for this recipe. My mom has always taught me to beat the yogurt with the seasonings before adding the chicken pieces to ensure that the flavor disperses evenly throughout the chicken pieces.
- Ghee: We’ll use ghee (also called clarified butter) to prepare the butter chicken sauce for this recipe.
- Crushed Tomatoes: I use a can of crushed tomatoes for my butter chicken recipe. We’ll saute the onions season them with lots of spices and cook them with the tomatoes. The tomato puree will then be the base of the butter chicken sauce.
- Onions: You’ll need a large yellow onion that is sliced down the middle, peeled and then cut into thin slices. Like most south Asian recipes, this one too starts with sauteing the onions in a little ghee until they’re soft. A lot of recipes call for golden brown onions which add add sweetness to the dish when the onions are caramelized. My butter chicken recipe doesn’t take the onions that far. You want the onions to soften and turn translucent, but not brown.
- Heavy Cream: My family has always used heavy cream or heavy whipping cream for our homemade butter chicken recipe. If you are dairy-free full-fat coconut milk would make a good substitution as this is what many of my readers have mentioned using.
- Prepared Rice or Naan Bread: You’ll want to serve this up with my restaurant-style fluffy basmati rice or homemade naan. I’ve got a couple of different naan recipes that I’ve shared. You can make my high protein2-ingredient flatbread or my traditional naan recipe for this. I’ll even rub it down with a little garlic butter and garnish with chopped cilantro. Trust me, these naans are fantastic!
How to make the best butter chicken recipe
- Marinate the chicken for maximum flavor. Whisk the ginger garlic paste, yogurt, and seasoning together until the yogurt is smooth. Add the chicken piece and let this hang out. The longer you marinate the more flavorful the chicken. The yogurt, ginger, and garlic really help make the chicken more tender.
- Make the butter chicken curry. To a Dutch oven or any heavy bottom pan, add the ghee and saute the onions over medium high heat until they are soft and translucent. Add the ginger and garlic paste and give it a few seconds to bloom in the oil. Add the seasonings – chili powder, cumin, and coriander and let the spices cook in the oil. Stir often to keep them from sticking and burning. Blend the sauce in a traditional blender or use an immersion blender to make this quick and easy.
- Make ahead option. At this point, you can refrigerate the butter chicken sauce once it’s cooled down in an airtight container. You can also add it to a freezer-safe container or zippable bag and freeze it.
- Get it out. Remove the marinated chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking. This is so that the yogurt has a chance to come to room temperature. I find that if you add it cold from the fridge the temperature difference sometimes causes the yogurt to curdle. To another clean pot or if you used a traditional blender, to the same pot add the remaining oil and heat it over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken. You want to discard any additional marinade.
- Saute the chicken until it’s golden on all sides. Add the prepared butter chicken sauce to the pot and stir to combine. You want to let the chicken finish cooking before you and the heavy cream and 1/2 teaspoon garam masala. Once the sauce reaches a simmer, taste and adjust the salt as needed. Then crush the fenugreek leaves between the palms of your hands to release their flavor and add them to the butter chicken. Butter chicken over fluffy basmati rice, it’s what my dreams are made of. If you’re looking for an authentic murgh makhani recipe, I’ve got you!
FAQs about Murgh Makani:
Butter chicken sauce is made of sauteed onions, tomato puree, and lots of spices. It’s finished at the end with a smattering of heavy cream and some fenugreek leaves.
Butter chicken and Murgh Makani are the same thing. Literally translated ‘murgh’ means chicken, and ‘makhani’ means buttery (or butter.) It always makes me laugh when people argue that a recipe tasted more like murgh makhani than butter chicken.
Chicken tikka masala packs more of a punch when it comes to spices, and may or may not contain any butter. I reserve the ghee for my butter chicken and opt for oil when I’m making chicken tikka masala. Butter chicken also is a tad bit sweeter (because of the sauteed onions or the addition of sugar in many recipes) and milder when it comes to spices than chicken tikka masala.
You can make the of this recipe, blend it, and allow it to cool completely before popping it in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Like most Indian food, leftovers (or sauces prepared ahead) actually make the dish more flavorful. Many readers have also mentioned that they like to prepare the sauce and freeze it (without the heavy cream) to make butter chicken quicker on weeknights. This is something my family does as well!
Serving Suggestions
Rice & Pasta
How to Make Perfect Basmati Rice
Fish & Seafood
30-Minute Spicy Shrimp Masala
Vegetarian
Garlicky Palak Paneer
Fruit & Pies
Pakistani Fruit Chaat
Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 lb. boneless chicken breast cut into 1 ½ inch cubes (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons tandoori masala see notes
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 tablespoon oil
Butter Chicken Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons ghee clarified butter (see note)
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1½ teaspoon ginger paste
- 1½ garlic paste
- 1 14.5 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon chili powder see notes
- 1 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves crushed between fingers
Instructions
Chicken:
- In a medium bowl, combine the tandoori masala, ginger, garlic, and yogurt. Whisk until smooth, adjust seasonings to preference. Add the chicken and allow to marinate for at least 20 minutes and ideally for 12-24 hours, covered in the refrigerator.
Butter Chicken Sauce:
- Heat the ghee in a dutch oven or heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until they turn translucent and start to sweat, about 5-7 minutes, don’t allow the onions to brown. Add ginger and garlic paste and let cook for 30 seconds, stirring so it doesn’t burn. Add the can of crushed tomatoes along with the chili powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder and continue to cook for 5 minutes, if the mixture starts bubbling rapidly, add about ¼ cup of water and continue to cook.
- Remove from heat, add the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth, you may need to add a couple water to help it blend (up to ¼ cup). Depending on how powerful your blender is, you may want to blend the mixture in two batches. Remember to hold the lid of the blender down with a kitchen towel when blending, to avoid accidents.
- MAKE AHEAD OPTION: At this point you can cool and refrigerate the sauce for 24-48 hours (or freeze it for up to 3 months), it will help blend the flavors even more, just remember to bring the sauce back to room temperature (use the microwave) before proceeding with the recipe OR you can continue on with the recipe immediately.
Assembly:
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the dutch oven over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken (discard any excess marinade) and cook for about 5-6 minutes, stirring as required to brown all sides. Add the butter chicken sauce to the pot and heat everything through. Once it starts to bubble, add the cream and garam masala. When the sauce regains a simmer, add the crushed fenugreek leaves. Serve over basmati rice or with naan.
Notes
- Want to use boneless thighs? You can replace the cubed chicken breasts with cubed boneless, skinless chicken thighs for more added flavor.
- Ghee: If you can’t find it you replace it with 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon oil.
- Tandoori masala: is available in powder/ paste form. I prefer the powder but some of my readers recommended Patak’s brand tandoori paste. You’ll need about 2-4 tablespoons of the paste (to preference).
- Chili powder: optional! If you prefer milder food, you may want to leave it out as the tandoori masala already has heat. Traditionally, a spicy pepper similar to cayenne is used. If you can’t find Kashmiri chili powder (usually sold at Indian stores), replace it with cayenne. 1 teaspoon can be a lot so if you prefer a milder flavor, replace with ¼-½ teaspoon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Hi Marzia,
I tried Butter Chicken for the first time when living in India for a work project, and am now a life long addict. :p Can’t wait to try this recipe. What are the little green peppers you put on top of this?
Hi Kelsey! Glad to hear you’re gonna give it a try! It’s just sliced serrano peppers on top, for pictures 🙂
Hi Marzia!
Thanks for a wonderful, accurate and totally legitimate restaurant style murgh makhani. I am so glad to have found your blog. I made this last night following the measurements closely but with three substitutions – coconut yogurt and lime in the marinade and coconut cream instead of dairy cream (husband has dairy allergy). I also used thighs. I usually never follow spice measurements but I did this time just so I would have no excuse if it didn’t turn out ok. The results were perfect. Beautiful colour and amazing taste. I served it with a green pulao. My husband was thrilled to have butter chicken after more than a decade. We’ll be making this again. =) Thank you. Now I can’t wait to check out your other recipes 😉
xx
sunny
p.s you can see my picture of how it turned out here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BTEga4tFRXC/?taken-by=sunnyallovertheworld
Sunny! Your butter chicken looks perfect! I’m so happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed it 🙂
I would like to double this recipe. Is it as simple as just doubling all the ingredients?
Yes, I think you can simply double it without having to make any adjustments.
The butter chicken turned out amazing! Passed on your website to my relatives..
Thank you.
I was so excited to make this for me and my wife because every couple of weeks we get Butter Chicken delivered from our local Indian restaurant and I wanted to be able to make this at home. I followed the directions to a T (didn’t stray on ingredients, prep, cook time, or measurements), but I must say we were slightly disappointed. It was okay, but not addicting (like we’re used to).
This biggest problem we had was that the texture of the sauce was grainy (like cream of wheat) and not smooth. I used a Cuisinart blender, but perhaps I didn’t blend it long enough? (anyone else have this problem, and if so, how they solved it)? I did add the 1/4 cup of water during the cook-time because of the rapid bubbling, so the blender was definitely working and mixing/chopping/processing well. I used a large white onion, so maybe a yellow onion might be different in terms of both blending and taste? Or maybe I should used tomato sauce instead of crushed tomatoes? (I’ve made a different butter chicken recipe that called for tomato sauce and the texture was better, but didn’t seem as authentic as this recipe).
The other issue was that while it was flavorful, it seemed to lack the addictive creamy/buttery flavor we’ve come to expect from Butter Chicken. Wife thinks I should have added more than 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream, but I think perhaps at the very end adding some real butter along with the garam masala and cream. Anyone try this?
I really believe this recipe is the closest to authentic butter chicken as one can find online (thanks Marzia), so I’m thinking some minor tweaks or some input could help turn this into an “addictive” butter chicken recipe that meets or beats the one from our local Indian restaurant (btw, they finish with a couple of thinly sliced cooked almonds on top alongside the fenugreek leaves, which is an amazing little touch and crunch).
Hi Peter, thanks so much for your comment. I’m sorry to hear that the butter chicken wasn’t exactly what you were hoping for. There are so many different versions of butter chicken from different parts of India and that makes it difficult to be able to figure out how your local Indian place made it.
For the texture issue, I think it just needed to be blended a bit more. Depending on how powerful your blender is, it may be better to divide the mixture into two batches to blend. Thanks for your feedback on that, i’ll add a little note in the recipe about it. Also, I see that you added water during the cooking time but did you perhaps add a little more water during blending? Sometimes that’s all it need to blend a little easier.
You can certainly add more butter to the recipe as i’m sure that would make it that much more rich and delicious! You can try upping the ghee (or butter) to ¼ cup in the beginning or melt additional butter in a skillet and add it to the butter chicken while it’s still hot (like you said), this is a cooking technique called ‘tarka’ and is traditionally used in many Indian dishes. You can certainly add more cream as well but keep in mind when you up the cream, you’ll also need to up the spices (cumin, coriander, tandoori masala, etc.) as well as the ginger and garlic paste. The cream will mellow out the spices so unless you add enough from the beginning, it’ll leave the butter chicken less flavorful.
Love the idea of adding sliced almonds like your local restaurant does. Thanks again for the comment and I hope this helps!
Hi there. I did have the same issue with the texture. It was my first time making this so I thought I didn’t blend long enough and I also think I didn’t cook the onion long enough. I added more butter (from a previous comment) after tasting the first time and it did make a difference. I also added more fenugreek spice. I will be making this again for sure and also have passed along to co-workers who thought “Costco butter chicken” was the best!
Just a note that some store bought ghee is grainier than others. This has been my experience. You may have to try a few different brands or attempt to make it yourself.
Hi Thanks for the recipe it tasted great but unfortunately my gravy was toooo thick. what can i do to make it thin
please reply
It seems like you needed a little more water when blending the tomato gravy portion of the recipe. You can simply add a little water or additional cream to thin it out since it’s already cooked. Keep in mind that the cream will tone down the spices though.
Love this recipe! I’ve tried this with coconut milk as well and it is just as yummy as when I use heavy cream. I also downsize on the Cumin and up the chilli powder to be more to my taste.
Glad to hear it worked well with coconut milk too, Baily! Thanks for taking the time to comment! 🙂
I was really looking forward to this recipe. I had it saved for two weeks while I gathered the ingredients (had to order the tandoori masala you recommended, and also had to order garlic and ginger paste since none of my stores carried them). I followed all the directions, including letting the sauce and chicken marinate for 24 hours, and I can’t tell where I messed up. My sauce was not smooth, despite being blended for well over 4 minutes. The taste was bland and I just couldn’t get excited about it. After reading through the comments tonight to see what other people thought of it, I saw the one reply about discarding the marinade sauce, which I did not do. Besides adding a bit of flavor and some additional sauce, I can’t imagine that minimal amount would make so much of a difference. I’m sorry that my experience isn’t a great one, but it just wasn’t what I was hoping it would be.
Sorry to hear the recipe didn’t work out for you! From what i’m reading, it sounds like the excess marinade may indeed be the culprit. As it may have caused the recipe to thin out too much, thus diluting the flavor. Also, the sauce should definitely be smooth after blending for a whole 4 minutes! I just want to be sure, did you add a bit of water to help it along? These are the only things I can really think of, as I haven’t heard of this happening before.
I made this tonight and it is EXACTLY what I was craving! Simple, delicious, amazing! Thank you. I’m always trying new curry recipes and this is by far my favorite!
Delicious! My husband and I enjoyed this so much, I’m thinking I’ll add it to our regular rotation of meals. I’ll add more chili powder though because we felt like it was missing some heat. Any other suggestions to heat up the dish a little more?
Glad to hear it was enjoyed! You could also bump up the tandoori masala a bit, that’ll help spice it up a bit more!
Hi Marzia,
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have already prepared this recipe several times for my husband and he is totally in love with it. I have made slight changes for marinating chicken since we eat extra spicy curries, we love the flavors and how the recipe comes together 🙂
Hi Uzma,
Could you tell me what you added to make your recipe extra spicy? I love VERY spicy butter chicken in restaurants and am looking to recreate the heat at home.
To make it spicier, I suggest adding cayenne pepper. Start with 1 teaspoon and work your way up to your liking.
It looks divine. You should try it with a ground cashew sauce. Simply soak about two handfuls of raw cashew nuts in boiling water until they’re super soft, then drain and process them in a food processor or blender with just enough water to make a paste. Then you can omit the tomatoes. The colour will be totally different, as will the flavour. I rather prefer the cashew sauce.
This recipe was excellent! Simple to make and tasted just like a dish you would get at a restaurant! Highly recommended!
hey can i skip using dried fenugreek leaves? will it affect the taste of the dish?
Hi Nadia, yes you can omit the fenugreek leaves if you’d like but know that it will be missing that ‘restaurant style’ flavor – still delicious but just a little different 🙂
Wow! This is the best butter chicken we’ve ever had! My hubby loves it so much that he wants this in constant rotation for dinner. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
On another note, if you have a recipe for rogan josh Or if there’s one you can recommend, I’d be so grateful if you could share as well. It’s our second favorite next to butter chicken when we dine out at Indian restaurants.
My sister lives across the street and close with neighbors so we take turns cooking dinner weeknights since with the exception of my sisters family (husband and 2 teen boys) we are all single. Hard to cook for just one. She and her husband eat Butter Chicken at a local place and rave about it. In a money saving effort of not eating out as often, I am trying to cook stuff we eat out. This was excellent and easy. Followed exactly but did not have the leaves to garnish. I used 2# breasts and still had plenty of gravy. Thanks for the recipe.
Recently made butter chicken using this recipe..and it turned out awesome…got compliments from my friends too!!!…:-)
Thank you!!
Made this for my boyfriend and he absolutely LOVED it! He thought it is only possible to eat such in an Indian restaurant….bravo, well done and thank you for sharing! 🙂
This turned out amazing!! I was looking for a recipe to use the tandoori masala my old roommate left when she moved out, and I ended up bookmarking this recipe. I was snowed in today so I made some naan from scratch and whipped this together. I didn’t have any chili powder on hand and there was nearly a foot of snow outside, so I subbed half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. That made it a bit hotter than I was going for, but not unpleasantly so.
Wow!! I started this recipe yesterday morning…cooked it this morning at 0900…my husband walked in the house and next thing you know we are having a butter chicken snack for breakfast. It tastes just how I ‘needed’ it to…it’s an amazing recipe. I am especially glad you put this on the web because my favorite Indian restaurant shut down…the owner made the best butter chicken I’ve ever had…this is the closest to her recipe I’ve found…and I made it myself lol. Thanks so much.