This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
If you’re in the mood for a comforting and delightful meal, our single serve Butter Chicken recipe is a perfect choice. It’s especially suited for those evenings when you desire a delicious and satisfying dish, but without the hassle of cooking a large quantity. This recipe simplifies the process of making traditional Butter Chicken, ensuring you enjoy the rich flavors without compromising on taste.
If you enjoy our simple Butter Chicken recipe, be sure to try our Chicken Tikka Masala and Saag Paneer recipes as well – you’ll love them!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Effortlessly Quick: This recipe turns the idea of takeout on its head. With just 30 minutes of cooking time, you can whip up a Butter Chicken dish that’s even better than what you’d pick up on your way home. Perfect for when you’re craving a speedy, yet home-cooked meal.
- Richly Flavorful: Experience the deep, vibrant flavors of our simple Butter Chicken. The secret lies in gently sautéing onions and garlic in butter, followed by a blend of fragrant spices like cumin, ginger, and cinnamon. The chicken, marinated in a mix of sour cream or yogurt with garam masala, cumin, turmeric, and lemon juice, is tenderized and infused with flavor. Simmered in tomato sauce and finished with a splash of cream, this dish boasts a luxuriously creamy texture.
- Simple Ingredients, Big Flavor: Don’t worry about authenticity; focus on the incredible taste. This easy Butter Chicken recipe offers a fantastic, spice-filled meal without needing a long list of hard-to-find ingredients. It’s all about making a delightful dinner with readily available ingredients.
- Easily Scalable: Cooking for two? Simply double the ingredients of this single serving recipe. It’s perfectly adaptable for a dinner date or a small gathering, ensuring no one misses out on this incredibly delicious dish.
What Is Butter Chicken?
Butter Chicken, also known as Murgh Makhani, is a classic Indian dish. It’s known for its creamy tomato sauce, infused with aromatic spices and tender pieces of chicken. Originating in the kitchens of Delhi, India, this dish has become a global favorite, cherished for its rich, satisfying flavors and the warm, comforting experience it offers at every meal.
RELATED: Comfort Food Recipes For One
Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small batch Butter Chicken recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
Marinade Ingredients For Butter Chicken
- Chicken: Choose a 4 to 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast, though thighs are great too. Leftover grilled or baked chicken can be used as well. If you’ve got extra chicken available, consider making Chicken Shawarma, Jerk Chicken, or Chicken Parmesan.
- Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt: Either works well for the marinade. Leftover sour cream can be used in Broccoli Casserole or Chicken Tetrazzini.
- Lemon Juice: Freshly squeezed is preferred for zest, but bottled is fine.
- Spices: Essential spices include turmeric, ground cumin, and Garam masala, which is available in most supermarkets’ spice aisles.
Butter Chicken Sauce Ingredients
- Butter: Salted butter is ideal for both sautéing onions, garlic, and cooking the marinated chicken.
- Vegetables: Finely chopped onions and garlic.
- Spices and Seasonings: The dish’s depth comes from ground cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
- Tomato Sauce: Choose a favorite jarred or homemade tomato sauce.
- Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream: This adds a luxurious richness to the sauce. We use heavy cream in many of our small batch and single serving recipes. Consider using any extra cream in a Mushroom Casserole, Creamy Vegetable Soup, or Strawberry Scones.
Serve this Butter Chicken with cooked rice for a complete meal.
Recipe Variations
- Vegetarian Masala: Swap chicken with cubed tofu, garbanzo beans, chickpeas, or kidney beans for a delightful vegetarian twist.
- Dairy-Free Chicken Masala: For a dairy-free version, replace heavy cream with canned coconut milk and use a vegan butter substitute in place of regular butter.
- Low Carb Butter Chicken: Serve the delicious chicken and sauce over cauliflower rice to enjoy a low-carb alternative.
How To Make Butter Chicken
These step-by-step photos and instructions help you visualize how to make a small batch of Butter Chicken. See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Prepare the Marinade: In a medium-sized bowl, combine sour cream, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, and cumin. Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes and add them to the bowl, ensuring each piece is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Cover and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
- Cook the Onions for Sauce: Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add Spices: Introduce garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and salt to the onions. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes.
- Simmer the Sauce: Mix in the tomato sauce and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce simmer gently.
- Cook the Chicken: In a separate skillet, melt the remaining butter over medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side, until it’s nicely browned.
- Combine Chicken and Sauce: Transfer the cooked chicken to the sauce skillet. Allow it to simmer together for an additional 5-10 minutes. Then, stir in the cream and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
- Ready to Serve: Dish up the Butter Chicken with cooked rice and enjoy.
Expert Tips
- Before you start cooking, make sure to read the entire recipe, including the Ingredient Notes section, and examine the process photos. This detailed guide will help you understand how the recipe unfolds, ensuring your Butter Chicken turns out perfect every time. All the information you need is found within the body of this recipe post, so don’t miss a thing!
- DIY Garam Masala: If garam masala isn’t available, don’t worry! While this spice blend is typically found in grocery store spice aisles, you can easily make it at home. Follow our homemade garam masala recipe to create your own aromatic blend for this Butter Chicken recipe.
- Cream Alternatives: Prefer a different option to cream? Full-fat coconut milk or half & half are excellent substitutes, adding their unique flavors and textures to the dish.
- Prepare Sauce in Advance: For convenience, you can make the Butter Chicken sauce beforehand. Simply let it cool down after cooking, store it in an airtight container or glass jar, and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. This not only saves time but also allows the flavors to deepen and blend beautifully, ready for the addition of chicken when you’re set to cook.
Serving Suggestions
- White or Brown Rice: A classic pairing, white rice or brown rice acts as a fluffy bed, absorbing the rich sauce beautifully.
- Cucumber Salad: A fresh cucumber salad adds a crisp, refreshing contrast to the creamy Butter Chicken.
- Bread: Serve with warm French bread or naan to soak up the delicious sauce, adding a delightful textural contrast.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Butter Chicken recipe is not inherently spicy. However, for those who enjoy a bit of heat, adding a pinch of cayenne pepper or some finely chopped jalapeños can easily elevate the spice level.
To keep your Butter Chicken fresh, store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. They will stay good for up to 4 days. For reheating, you can use either the microwave or stovetop.
While both Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masala feature tender chicken in a creamy tomato sauce, they have distinct origins and flavor profiles. Butter Chicken, also known as murgh makhani, was created in the late 1940s in Northern India. It’s known for its rich, dairy-based sauce and a more pronounced spice blend, often featuring a buttery taste. In contrast, Chicken Tikka Masala, which originated from a Bangladeshi chef in Scotland in the 1970s, is a staple in Great Britain and tends to be less spiced compared to Butter Chicken.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
RELATED: 15 Easy Single Serving Dessert Recipes
If you’ve tried this single serve 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.
If you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Butter Chicken For One
Watch How To Make This
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 -for serving
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine sour cream, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, and cumin. Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes and add them to the bowl, ensuring each piece is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Cover and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Make the butter chicken
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Introduce garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and salt to the onions. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes.
- Mix in the tomato sauce and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce simmer gently.
- In a separate skillet, melt the remaining butter over medium-high heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side, until it's nicely browned.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to the sauce skillet. Allow it to simmer together for an additional 5-10 minutes. Then, stir in the cream and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
- Serve the Butter Chicken with cooked rice and enjoy.
Notes
- Before you start cooking, make sure to read the entire recipe, including the Ingredient Notes section, and examine the process photos. This detailed guide will help you understand how the recipe unfolds, ensuring your Butter Chicken turns out perfect every time. All the information you need is found within the body of this recipe post, so don’t miss a thing!
- DIY Garam Masala: If garam masala isn’t available, don’t worry! While this spice blend is typically found in grocery store spice aisles, you can easily make it at home. Follow our homemade garam masala recipe to create your own aromatic blend for this Butter Chicken recipe.
- Cream Alternatives: Prefer a different option to cream? Full-fat coconut milk or half & half are excellent substitutes, adding their unique flavors and textures to the dish.
- Prepare Sauce in Advance: For convenience, you can make the Butter Chicken sauce beforehand. Simply let it cool down after cooking, store it in an airtight container or glass jar, and refrigerate it for up to 2 days. This not only saves time but also allows the flavors to deepen and blend beautifully, ready for the addition of chicken when you’re set to cook.
Nutrition
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.
I’ve tried this recipe twice and both were fails … don’t know … it feels like too much marinade for the breast size called for … was very acidic and sour. I’ll count this as me not having a refined palette … however, so many other recipes on this website I love and make over and over! I am so grateful to have this resource!
Hi Sharon, thanks so much for your honest feedback and for being a loyal follower of our website. I’m really sorry to hear that the Butter Chicken recipe didn’t quite work out for you. Your experience is super important to me, and I want to help you troubleshoot the issue.
If you found the marinade too acidic and sour, it’s possible that the type of yogurt or lemon juice you’re using could be the culprit. Different brands can vary in acidity, so you may want to consider using a milder yogurt or even diluting the lemon juice a bit. Also, feel free to adjust the marinade to suit your chicken breast size.
The best part about cooking is that it’s both an art and a science—you can always adjust to your taste. Don’t hesitate to play around with the ingredients until it suits your palate. And don’t worry about not having a “refined palette”—taste is subjective, and what matters most is that you enjoy what you’re eating.
I made this tonight and it was another hit!! Every single recipe that I have tried from One Dish Kitchen has been at the very minimum, good, but almost always better than ever expected. You are my Go To site for new recipe ideas, especially as I’m building up my repertoire. Keep up the good work and keep those recipes coming!
Ohmigosh, this was delicious. I’ve tried many times to make butter chicken and it was never very good. So I was excited to see this recipe. It’s quite a bit different than the others I tried. I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I didn’t cook the chicken that long because I was afraid it would get tough. And all of my spices were very fresh as I just replaced any old ones, that might have made it especially good. Just amazing. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the Butter Chicken. Thank you so much for your feedback.
Chicken was beautifully tender but would have preferred more spice and less of the tomato flavour so when making again would up the spice and make it with 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce and I am sure there would still be plenty of sauce to cover the chicken. Thank you.
I am so happy I found you. September 1st I’m going to buy the recommended pans and casserole dishes and start cooking once or twice a week. I made this promise to myself. Many thanks. Xxxx
Great recipe.
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!
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.
Great recipe.
If I use the Garam Masala recipe from your site, which contains cumin, do I then use the additional cumin in this recipe?
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.
I am so happy I found this recipe. I love Indian food, and finding a way to make this dish so easily is wonderful.
Mostly one chicken breast in your country is how many grams… As im from the philippines… Our chicken here is smaller in size… Thanks
170 grams.