Easy Butter Chicken Curry

by Anna Chwistek

30 minute easy butter chicken-style curry. A delicious mix of deep flavors and a variety of textures. It’s funky, quick and delicious, especially when topped with scallions and pistachios. Serve with basmati rice or buttered naan. This spicy creamy dish is great for any weeknight.

serving dumplings | Easy Butter Chicken Curry

The secret to any good curry is the sauce. We add a well-balanced combination of spices that nicely blend together. The sauce is untraditionally made extra creamy with coconut milk and enriched with butter.

Also, feel free to add extra chili at the end, if you want some extra heat. Serve with a fresh cucumber salad drizzled with a yogurt dressing.
Let me guide you through the recipe with this. step-by-step VIDEO.

serving dumplings | Easy Butter Chicken Curry

RECIPE NOTES

  • instead of chicken fillets, you can use skinless, boneless thighs
  • you can make this dish vegetarian by using cauliflower instead of chicken
  • add some extra veggies to the sauce, like spinach or broccoli
  • we add 1 tablespoon of butter at the end, but this is optional. Stirring butter into the sauce adds a top note of smoothness
  • if you want to make a more traditional recipe, use heavy or thickened cream. For a more healthy dish and  to save calories, use unsweetened full fat coconut milk

 

  • serving dumplings | Easy Butter Chicken Curry

More curry, please! 

 

serving dumplings | Easy Butter Chicken Curry

COOKING VIDEO

Easy Butter Chicken Curry

Yield: serves 4

Easy Butter Chicken Curry

butter chicken

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

chicken

  • 700 g/1.5 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into cubes
  • 4 tbsp natural whole-milk yogurt
  • 1 tsp each: salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, curry powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp white pepper

sauce

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp grated ginger
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp red curry paste
  • 500 ml/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
  • 140 g/5 oz tomato paste
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • salt + black pepper

for serving

  • chopped pistachios
  • chopped scallions
  • crushed chili flakes
  • cilantro, optional
  • basmati rice
  • naan

Instructions

    1. Add the chicken and the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl. Massage yogurt mixture into chicken until well coated. Set aside while you prepare the ingredients for the sauce. You can also prepare the chicken beforehand and marinate it up to 3 hours in the fridge.
    2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until browned all over, 5 minutes per batch. Transfer chicken to a plate.
    3. Reduce heat to medium-low. Melt 1 tbsp butter. Add garlic, onion and ginger. Cook until soft, 3 minutes. Add garam masala and chili powder. Stir in tomato paste and red curry paste. Cook for 2 minutes.
    4. Add coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Return chicken along with any juices to the skillet together with 1 tbsp butter and lime juice. Bring to a simmer and cook until chicken is just cooked through, 10 minutes. If the sauce thickens too much, add a splash of water.
    5. In the meantime, steam the rice and prepare naan.
    6. Serve the chicken with rice and naan. Top with scallions, chili flakes and pistachios. Enjoy!

Notes

Calories Per Serving: 589 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Did you make this recipe?

Let me know! Leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram and don’t forget to tag me with @anna_s_table or #servingdumplings I’d love to see what you’re making. Happy cooking!

© Anna
Category: One Pot

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13 comments

  • Red curry paste is Thai isnt it? And isn’t butter chicken Indian? I don’t think coconut milk is used in butter chicken either. Looks delicious though not authentic.

    Reply

    • Correct, it’s untraditionally made creamy with coconut milk. I always try to make recipes with a twist. Hope you love it!

      Reply

  • This is absolutely amazing! Best butter chicken ever, and now I want to try everyting on your site.

    Next up I’m trying the thai coconut curry meatballs. I love thai food, and I’ve never considered turning those flavors into meatballs, so exciting.

    Thank you so much!

    Reply

    • I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for making it! I hope you love the thai meatballs as well. Happy cooking!

      Reply

  • Recipe looks great and I’ll definitely make it once I get all the ingredients.

    Please note the noun is marinade, but the verb is marinate!

    Reply

  • Love your recipes! I want to make them all! My son doesn’t like coconut milk however, can I replace this with something else?

    Thank you!!!

    Reply

    • That’s so nice to hear! So happy you are enjoying the recipes.
      You can replace the coconut milk with cream 20% fat or half-and-half. Happy cooking!

      Reply

        • Definitely delicious. I used cream and cilantro (not coriander). Added some red chilis for heat and sprinkled sunflower seeds on top. One of your best❤️. Thank you.

  • This is SOOO Good!! This is definitely going into our rotation. Super economical as we had leftovers for a second meal and a lunch. I made extra sauce and served with rice, sautéed kale and steamed broccoli with tzatziki on the side. Everyone needs to try this recipe!

    Reply

    • Hi Diane, thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback! I love to hear that it was a winner!

      Reply

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