Easy Butter Chicken Recipe

This is the butter chicken to start with if you’ve never made it: one pan, everyday spices, and about 45 minutes on the stove once the chicken has marinated.

The chicken stays juicy, while the tomato sauce turns creamy, buttery, and full of flavor without feeling too rich.

Butter chicken (murgh makhani) can sound like a long, fussy project, but this version keeps it simple.

You just need juicy chicken thighs, well-cooked golden onions, and a tomato sauce simmered long enough for the butter to separate and shine. The rest is forgiving.

Why this butter chicken works

Four choices do most of the work.

Thighs, not breasts

The extra fat keeps them tender even if they sit in the sauce a few minutes too long. Breast meat turns dry and stringy.

Yogurt and lemon in the marinade

They add tang while helping the spices coat the chicken.

Tomatoes cooked down properly

Slow reduction gives the sauce its depth and a natural sweetness, which is why the recipe needs so little sugar.

A finish at the end

Butter, cream and dried fenugreek go in last, so their flavor stays fresh instead of cooking away.

Ingredients

Prep time: 15 minutes
Marinating: 30 minutes minimum (2 hours or more is better), up to 24 hours, refrigerated
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 to 5
Skill level: Easy

For the chicken marinade

• 700 g (1.5 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 4 cm (1.5 in) pieces
• 1/2 cup (120 g) full-fat plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil

The sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter, plus 2 tablespoons more to finish
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• 1 can (400 g / 14 oz) crushed tomatoes, or about 400 g ripe tomatoes pureed
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala, plus 1/2 teaspoon to finish
• 1 teaspoon salt, adjusted at the end
• 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar, to taste
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves), crushed between your palms
• A handful of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped, to serve

A note on the tomatoes: canned crushed tomatoes give a consistent result all year. Fresh tomatoes are lovely when they’re properly ripe, but pale, watery ones make a sharp sauce.

How to make easy butter chicken

Marinate the chicken

Get the marinade going in a big bowl. Stir together the yogurt and lemon juice, then add the ginger-garlic paste, oil, salt and the four spices: chili powder, cumin, garam masala and turmeric.

Toss the chicken in until it’s fully coated, then cover and chill it. Half an hour is the least you can get away with. A few hours does more, and overnight does the most for flavor.

One thing to watch: pick a thick, full-fat or Greek yogurt, because a thin one thins out the sauce at the end. 

Sear the chicken

Heat a large, deep skillet or wide pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil.

Shake the extra marinade off the chicken and cook it in two batches, about 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the outside is lightly browned and mostly opaque.

The middle will still be raw, and the yogurt keeps the outside from browning deeply, which is normal.

Crowding the pan makes the chicken steam and leak liquid, so don’t skip the batches. Move it to a plate and leave the browned bits in the pan.

Cook the onions

Lower the heat to medium. Add 2 tablespoons of butter and the chopped onion with a pinch of salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden.

If they start catching, splash in a spoonful of water and scrape up the brown bits.

Toast the spices

Once the onions are golden, push in the ginger-garlic paste and cook it for a minute, stirring, until it stops smelling raw.

Add the chili powder, coriander, cumin and 1 teaspoon of garam masala straight after and stir constantly for about half a minute. Burned spices get bitter so keep that spoon moving.

Simmer the tomatoes

Pour in the crushed tomatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a gentle bubble and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens, darkens a shade, and you see oil separating at the edges.

That oil is your signal that the tomatoes are properly cooked. If the sauce dries out before that happens, add a splash of water.

Blend until smooth

Use an immersion blender right in the pan for about 30 seconds. If using a regular blender, cool the sauce for a few minutes before blending it.

When the sauce is mixed, put it back in the pan. For an extra-smooth sauce, push the blended sauce through a sieve.

Blend the sauce while it is still free of cream, then add the cream afterward. This gives you a smoother finish.

Cook the chicken in the sauce

Add the water and the seared chicken, with any juices from the plate. Keep the pan over low heat with the lid slightly open and let the chicken cook for 8 to 12 minutes.

Check that the thickest piece has reached 74 °C (165 °F) before serving.

Finish with butter and cream

Turn the heat to low. Stir in the cream, the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the crushed kasuri methi and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala.

Keep it at a gentle simmer for 2 minutes and don’t let it boil hard. Taste, then adjust: more salt if it tastes flat, a pinch more sugar if it tastes sharp. Let it rest for 5 minutes off the heat.

Tips and mistakes

Problem	Why it happens	Fix
Sauce tastes sharp or sour	Tomatoes not cooked long enough, or they were underripe	Simmer 5 more minutes, then add sugar 1/2 teaspoon at a time
Sauce looks pale	Onions not browned, or too little chili powder	Brown the onions longer next time. Kashmiri chili powder gives color without much heat
Cream splits or looks grainy	Sauce was boiling hard when the cream went in	Take the pan off the heat for a minute, add the cream, then keep it at a gentle simmer
Sauce is watery	Thin yogurt, or not enough reduction	Use thick yogurt next time, and simmer uncovered for 5 to 8 minutes before adding the cream
Tastes flat	Not enough salt, or the finish was skipped	Add salt a pinch at a time, then stir in a little more kasuri methi

Two small habits are worth building in:

Salt in stages: Canned tomatoes and store-bought ginger-garlic paste are often already salty, so taste before the final adjustment.

A pinch of cardamom: About 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom powder with the other spices adds a gentle floral note. Cardamom is a common spice in butter chicken sauces.

Final thoughts

Once you’ve cooked it exactly as written, feel free to make it your own. Turn up the chili, stir in a bit more cream, or ease off the sugar; this base takes all three without any trouble.

Whatever you adjust, give the onions and tomatoes their full time in the pan, because that’s what the flavor rests on.