Name: Easy Butter Chicken Curry
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 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; 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; chopped pistachios; chopped scallions; crushed chili flakes; cilantro, optional; basmati rice; naan

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.

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.

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

More curry, please!

Recipe Video

Easy Butter Chicken Curry

Yield: serves 4

Easy Butter Chicken Curry

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
In the meantime, steam the rice and prepare naan.
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.

DOWNLOAD PRINTABLE RECIPE PDF

9 comments

Prema
23.03.2021
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.
- Anna
  23.03.2021
  Correct, it’s untraditionally made creamy with coconut milk. I always try to make recipes with a twist. Hope you love it!
Ashley Adamant
15.04.2021
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!
- Anna
  15.04.2021
  I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks for making it! I hope you love the thai meatballs as well. Happy cooking!
Amy Plá
20.05.2021
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!
- Anna
  20.05.2021
  Thank you for noticing, it’s fixed. Hope you love the recipe!
Stephanie
14.06.2021
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!!!
- Anna
  14.06.2021
  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!
  - Stephanie
    14.06.2021
    Thank you! I will try it!

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