Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)

Name: Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 155 min
Ingredients: ½ cup plain full-fat yogurt; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; 1 tablespoon crushed or finely minced garlic; 1 tablespoon grated or minced fresh ginger; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1 teaspoon garam masala; ½ teaspoon kosher salt; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; ½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder or cayenne pepper; 1 ½ pounds (680 grams) skinless, boneless chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs (cut into bite-size pieces); 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee; 1 tablespoon crushed or finely minced garlic; 1 tablespoon grated or minced fresh ginger; 1 teaspoon garam masala; ½ teaspoon ground coriander; ¼ to ½ teaspoon kashmiri chili powder or cayenne pepper (or to taste); 2 ¾ cups (One 24-ounce/690 gram bottle) tomato passata (tomato puree); ½ cup heavy cream; 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt ((preferably Diamond Crystal brand, or use ¾ teaspoon Morton’s brand)); 1 teaspoon sugar or honey ((or more if desired)); Chopped cilantro (for garnish (optional))

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An incredibly popular Indian curry dish, Murgh Makhani (aka Butter Chicken) features succulent bites of chicken marinated in yogurt and a myriad of warm spices. It's finished in a creamy, silky-smooth tomato sauce enriched with butter, ginger and garlic.

A serving of butter chicken with white basmati rice and garlic cilantro naan on the side.

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) is a traditional Indian curry originating in Delhi in Northern India. It was invented in the 1950s by Kundan Lal Jaggi and Kundan Lal Gujral who mixed leftover tandoori chicken with a rich and buttery tomato curry sauce. It has since become popular worldwide!

Makhan means butter and hence murgh makhani translates to “buttery chicken.” The chicken itself is marinated for hours in a mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, and spices and then traditionally cooked in a tandoor oven but can also be grilled, roasted or pan-fried. It’s finished with a creamy and buttery tomato-based sauce laden with ginger, garlic, and warm, fragrant spices.

Butter chicken is sometimes confused with chicken tikka masala, which is actually a British invention that also features a tomato-based curry sauce. The latter features tomato paste and is often spicier than the former.

If you're a fan of Indian cuisine, you've probably ordered butter chicken from your favorite Indian restaurant(s), but it's easier than you think to make it yourself!

Ingredient notes

Ingredients for Indian butter chicken on a light grey background.

Chicken: Whether you use white or dark meat is purely personal preference. Cut your boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs into bite-size pieces, about 1-to-1 ½-inch chunks.
Yogurt: Use plain, full-fat yogurt in the marinade. A thick Greek-style yogurt would work well, but any plain yogurt will do.
Butter: It isn’t butter chicken without the butter! You could use regular butter or ghee, which is clarified butter. You don’t need a lot. The cream does most of the work in adding richness to the sauce.
Cream: This recipe uses heavy cream (heavy whipping cream is fine too) to achieve the rich and creamy finish. You can add less or more cream to achieve your preferred creaminess. You could also lighten the recipe a bit by using light cream or half and half instead of the heavy cream.
Tomato Passata: Tomato passata is a tomato puree and works great in this murgh makhani recipe since it’s already velvety smooth.
- If you use something chunkier like crushed tomatoes, add them to a food processor or blender before using to yield the silkiest sauce. Your resulting sauce may still end up thicker than if you used tomato passata as the recipe recommends. You may need to thin it out a little.
- You could also make your own tomato puree with fresh tomatoes, however it will take a lot longer to cook it down to evaporate enough water and get the desired thickness. You'll also need to strain out the seeds. This is why I love the shortcut of store-bought tomato passata!
Garam Masala: Garam masala is actually a spice mixture which you can purchase or even prepare yourself. It typically contains cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, and cloves but can also include other spices like mace, nutmeg and fennel.

A bowl of butter chicken topped with chopped cilantro.

How to make it

First, marinate the chicken. Combine the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, salt, turmeric, and chili powder in a medium bowl.

Ingredients for butter chicken marinade in a metal mixing bowl before combining.

Marinade for butter chicken in a metal mixing bowl.

Then add the chicken, stirring to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight (12 to 24 hours).

Chunks of chicken breast added to a marinade in a metal mixing bowl.

Chunks of chicken breast combined with marinade in a metal mixing bowl.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to cook it (to take some of the chill off). Preheat the oven to 425°F. Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

Arrange the chicken pieces on the baking sheet, leaving some space in between the pieces. Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are cooked through (dark meat will take longer than white meat). They may not brown, but that's ok.

Pieces of marinated chicken breast arranged on a baking sheet before cooking.

Pieces of marinated chicken breast cooked on a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, in a pot over medium heat, melt butter and add garlic and ginger, cooking for about 1 minute. Add garam masala, ground coriander, and chili powder and cook for another 15 to 30 seconds until fragrant.

Garlic and ginger cooked in butter in a metal pot.

Spices added to a mixture of butter, garlic, and ginger in a metal pot.

Stir in tomato passata, cream, salt and sugar. Once it starts bubbling, lower the heat and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

Heavy cream added to tomato passata in a metal pot.

Creamy sauce for butter chicken in a metal pot.

Add the roasted chicken pieces and continue to simmer on low heat another few minutes until the sauce is thick and velvety and nicely coats the chicken. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Cooked pieces of marinated chicken breast added to butter chicken sauce in a metal pot.

Serve butter chicken topped with chopped cilantro, if desired, with basmati rice and/or naan.

Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.

A serving of murgh makhani with white basmati rice and garlic cilantro naan on the side.

Expert tips

Store leftover butter chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring regularly.

Some murgh makhani recipes include sautéed onions which are blended into the sauce. This additional sweetness helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes. That being said, it’s an optional step and not necessarily traditional. I skip it, but add a little sugar or honey instead.

I love how saucy my murgh makhani recipe is! There's a lot of delicious sauce for soaking into your basmati rice or scooping up with naan. Some butter chicken recipes have a lesser ratio of sauce to chicken, but we LOVE the sauce so we make it extra saucy.

That being said, you could definitely bump up the amount of chicken to 1 ¾ to 2 pounds and still have ample sauce. But you may need to slightly increase the amount of marinade if you do.

It's possible that some residual marinade that is on the chicken after it cooks will incorporate into your sauce and it might look like there's tiny bits of something mixed in. I don't usually stress this, but you can wipe the marinade off the chicken more thoroughly before baking if this concerns you.

Murgh Makhani garnished with cilantro and served in a wide white bowl.

Methods for cooking the chicken

There are a variety of ways you can cook the actual chicken pieces before adding to your sauce.

Traditionally, the chicken is cooked in a tandoori oven. You could certainly grill your chicken pieces on skewers if you wish, but this requires firing up your grill.

Cooking them in a skillet on the stove-top will work as well but there are some drawbacks to that method.

First, you'll need to cook them in batches and the process is more hands on (flipping over the pieces one by one) and can splatter and make a mess on your stovetop.

Also, cooking them in a regular not nonstick pan can cause the marinade on the chicken to stick/burn to the pan. Then, if you use that same pan afterwards to make the sauce, you'll end up with burned/browned marinade in the sauce which is NOT your desired result. Furthermore, cooking in a nonstick pan can work but will not brown the chicken pieces (and will still be more hands-on and require cooking in batches).

Generally, I find the easiest method is to bake or roast the chicken pieces on a sheet pan! It's the most hands-off option and I don't even bother flipping the pieces over. They cook evenly without it since they are so small. Also, it's fine if the chicken doesn't brown because it's going into the sauce anyway.

A bowl of Indian butter chicken with garlic cilantro naan served on the side.

FAQs

What’s the difference between butter chicken and chicken tikka masala?

Although both of these dishes feature chicken pieces coated in a tomato-based curry sauce, butter chicken is typically milder and sometimes sweeter than chicken tikka masala which usually has more intense flavors and spices.

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