This is the easiest Butter Chicken recipe you'll find. Incredible flavors, quick and easy to make, this classic Indian dish will surely become a favorite.
Butter Chicken is one of my favorite meals. It is an Indian dish consisting of chicken marinated in yogurt and spices and cooked in a tomato-based sauce.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Quick and easy: After a long day at work, picking up takeout on the way home can seem like the perfect plan. But if you've got a little time and the desire to enjoy a home-cooked meal, you can enjoy this better-than-takeout Butter Chicken that cooks in just 30 minutes.
- Made with easy to find ingredients: This Butter Chicken recipe is not 100 percent authentic and I won't pretend it is, but it does deliver a quick, easy, and deliciously spiced chicken dinner without a long intimidating list of spices and ingredients needed.
RELATED: Comfort Food Recipes For One
Ingredient Notes
See below for ways to use leftover ingredients.
FOR THE MARINADE
- Chicken: I use 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast.
- Sour cream: You can use greek yogurt instead.
- Lemon juice: For best flavor, I like to use freshly squeezed lemon juice but you can use bottled instead.
- Spices: Turmeric, ground cumin, and Garam masala (homemade or store-bought). Garam Masala can be found in many supermarkets in the spice aisle.
FOR THE BUTTER CHICKEN SAUCE
- Butter: Use salted butter. This ingredient is used for cooking the chicken and also the onions and garlic.
- Vegetables: Chopped onions and garlic.
- Spices: Ground cumin, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and salt. Key spices found in Butter Chicken.
- Tomato sauce: Use your favorite jarred brand or use homemade.
- Heavy cream: This ingredient delivers a wonderful richness to the sauce.
Serve with cooked rice.
How To Make This Recipe
See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Make the marinade: Mix together the sour cream, lemon juice, turmeric, Garam masala and cumin together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chicken pieces and stir so that all of the chicken pieces are completely covered. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the butter chicken: Melt butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pan and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and salt and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Stir in tomato sauce, reduce heat to low and simmer.
- While the sauce is simmering, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in another medium-sized skillet set to medium-high heat. Add the pieces of chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes per side until browned.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add to the pan with the sauce. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Serve with rice.
Expert Tips
- This Butter Chicken recipe calls for using Garam Masala, a spice commonly found in the spice aisle in many grocery stores. You can also make your own by using our homemade garam masala recipe.
- You can use full-fat coconut milk or half & half instead of cream if you prefer.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, this version of Butter Chicken is not spicy. Feel free to add a pinch of cayenne pepper or finely chopped jalapeños to your version if you'd prefer more heat.
Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat in the microwave.
When making this single serving recipe, I use a 10-inch skillet. For best results, use a pan of a similar size.
For more information on the baking dishes I use in our “recipes for one”, please visit our FAQ page.
For examples of the dishes used at One Dish Kitchen, please visit our Store page.
What To Do With Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this single serving Butter Chicken recipe, you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes.
- Sour cream: Beef Stroganoff, Twice Baked Potato, Blue Cheese Dressing, Salisbury Steak
- Turmeric: Healing Turmeric Tea, Saag Paneer, Roasted Butternut Squash
- Cumin: Curried Carrot Soup, Baba Ganoush, Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowl
- Ground ginger: Soft Ginger Cookies, Pork Stir Fry, Green Curry
- Tomato sauce: Giant Italian Meatball, Eggplant Parmesan, Baked Ziti
- Cream: Vanilla Ice Cream, Icebox Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, Alfredo Sauce
- Chicken: Baked Chicken Caprese, Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup, Cashew Chicken, Lemon Chicken
Serving Suggestions
RELATED: 15 Easy Single Serving Dessert Recipes
If you’ve tried this easy Butter Chicken recipe or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
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Butter Chicken For One
See the post above for expert tips,
FAQs and ways to use leftover ingredients.
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
FOR THE MARINADE
- 1 (4 to 6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast , cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup sour cream , (or Greek yogurt)
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon turmeric
- ½ tablespoon Garam masala *see notes
- ½ tablespoon ground cumin
FOR THE BUTTER CHICKEN
- 2 tablespoons salted butter , divided
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup cooked rice
Instructions
TO MAKE THE MARINADE
- Mix together the sour cream, lemon juice, turmeric, Garam masala and cumin together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the chicken pieces and stir so that all of the chicken pieces are completely covered. Cover bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
TO MAKE THE BUTTER CHICKEN
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions to the pan and cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon and salt and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, reduce heat to low and simmer.
- While the sauce is simmering, melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in another medium-sized skillet set to medium-high heat.
- Add the pieces of chicken to the pan and cook for 5 minutes per side until browned.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and add to the sauce. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
- This Butter Chicken recipe calls for using Garam Masala, a spice commonly found in the spice aisle in many grocery stores. You can also make your own by using the recipe on our website.
- You can use full-fat coconut milk or half & half instead of cream if you prefer.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Ally says
I see that the recipe says to marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. Do you know if marinating it all day, or maybe even over night, would be too long and make the chicken texture wrong? I'd like to have it ready to cook for 30 minutes when I get home instead of having to wait for 30 minutes before starting to cook.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Joanie Zisk says
I wouldn't marinate the chicken for longer than 8 hours. The acid from the marinade ingredients can make the texture of the meat stringy and mushy.
Brenda A says
If I use the Garam Masala recipe from your site, which contains cumin, do I then use the additional cumin in this recipe?
Joanie Zisk says
The homemade garam masala recipe will yield about 1/4 cup and cumin is one of several ingredients in this spice blend. Yes, add the amount of cumin recommended in this recipe.
Mattie says
I am so happy I found this recipe. I love Indian food, and finding a way to make this dish so easily is wonderful.
BEBE MENDOZA says
Mostly one chicken breast in your country is how many grams... As im from the philippines... Our chicken here is smaller in size... Thanks
Joanie Zisk says
170 grams.