Easy Butter Chicken Recipe (Better Than Takeout)

This Easy Butter Chicken Recipe (Better Than Takeout) is a flavorful, delicious weeknight dinner that will rival even the butter chicken from your favorite Indian restaurant. This Indian butter chicken is perfectly spiced and coated in a thick, creamy sauce for an irresistible Indian dish.

Butter chicken is probably one of the most popular Indian entrees – and with good reason! This tasty chicken is aromatic, flavorful, tender, and delicious! This recipe for butter chicken is very simple and can be made in under 30 minutes, making it the perfect option for a weeknight dinner. This homemade butter chicken is so tasty that you won’t even miss your favorite Indian restaurant! It combines cubed chicken breast with the flavorful spice combination of masala, cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper, and a sauce with a base of tomato sauce, lemon juice, creamy greek yogurt, and half and half. The sauce is creamy, zesty, and delicious, and it really soaks into the chicken. 

One of the best parts of this easy butter chicken recipe (besides how delicious it is) is how simple and quick it is to make! You will start by sauteing onions with butter in a skillet, then add your cubed chicken breast. When the chicken starts to brown, you will stir in the mixed garlic, followed by the spice mixture. Make sure that your chicken gets coated really well with the spice mixture – this gives it a ton of flavor! After this, you can start adding in the ingredients for the sauce. Add in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, lemon juice, Greek yogurt, and half and half. Let everything simmer until your sauce is nice and thick. Once this is done, your homemade butter chicken is ready to serve! 

Why You’ll Love This Quick and Easy Butter Chicken Recipe

• This butter chicken is flavorful, tender, and delicious.
• It will rival even the best Indian butter chicken!
• This butter chicken recipe can be made in under half an hour!
• You only use one skillet to cook this dinner, making cleanup a breeze.
• This recipe for butter chicken makes the perfect tasty weeknight family dinner!

Ingredients For Your Easy Butter Chicken Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 1/2 lbs, boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 Tbsp. garam masala
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp, black pepper
• 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt plain yogurt can also be used
• 1 cup half and half
• basmati rice or naan bread for serving or your favorite rice

How to Make Homemade Butter Chicken

Directions 

Step 1: In a large skillet add butter and diced onion and sauté over medium heat until the onions begin to soften and caramelize, about 4 minutes.

Step 2: Add cubed chicken and cook until lightly browned (chicken will continue cooking in sauce)

Step 3: Stir in garlic and cook for an additional minute, stirring frequently to prevent burning.

Step 4: Add garam masala, cumin, turmeric, salt, and pepper and stir to coat chicken well.

Step 5: Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, lemon juice, yogurt, and half and half. Allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.

Step 6: Serve immediately over your favorite rice or naan bread. Enjoy!

What to Serve/Pair with Your Indian Butter Chicken

This homemade butter chicken pairs perfectly with rice or naan bread. I love to get instant basmati or jasmine rice from the grocery store. You can pop it in the microwave for 60 seconds, and it’s ready to serve! You will love how the sauce from the butter chicken soaks down into the rice or naan bread.

If you are anything like me, you try to pair a veggie with just about every meal. With this butter chicken recipe, I like to serve this tasty grilled asparagus or this grilled zucchini. 

Popular Substitutions & Additions

There aren’t many changes that you will want to make to this recipe – the flavor is very specific and may taste a little off if you change it up. The only change that I will note for this butter chicken recipe is the yogurt. You can use plain Greek yogurt, plain yogurt, or sour cream for your sauce.

Storage & Leftovers

This Indian butter chicken makes super yummy leftovers! The spices and the sauce really soak into the chicken. If you have any left, store it in the fridge for up to 3 days in a sealed container. You can reheat it on the stovetop or in the microwave until warm.

FAQs

Is this butter chicken recipe spicy?

I wouldn’t say that this butter chicken recipe is spicy, but it does have a little kick from the garam masala and the black pepper. The half and half and yogurt in the sauce really knock down some of the spice.

What is garam masala?

Garam masala is a spice blend that is in many Indian dishes. It adds some spice and a very specific flavor that can’t be found in other spices.

Where can I find garam masala?

Most grocery stores have garam masala on the spice aisle. If for some reason you can’t find it, you can order some on Amazon or from an online grocery store, such as Thrive Market.

Other Chicken Recipes You’ll Love

• Classic Chicken Salad
• Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Cream Cheese
• Honey Mustard Grilled Chicken

Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Easy Butter Chicken Recipe Turned Out!

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