Butter Chicken! Is it possible to enjoy "healthy" Butter Chicken without compromising on the authentic flavors? Yes!! Read on for an EASY authentic-tasting butter chicken recipe in your Instant Pot that is ready in 30 minutes with an option to cook rice at the same time. Serve with rice and naan for a perfect home-cooked meal!
Punjabi Murg Makhani is also known as butter chicken and is one of the most popular Indian dishes across the globe. Smoky flavorful chicken, grilled in the tandoor with the heavenly aroma of the garam masala and fenugreek, dunked in a creamy sauce with an orangish hue from the red chili powder and turmeric - is how I reminisce this dish!
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Difference between Butter Chicken and Chicken Tikka Masala
Butter Chicken is a Classic Indian restaurant/roadside Dhaba dish that is cooked in a buttery tomato-based sauce until the chicken is tender, fall-off-the-bone. Indian Butter Chicken is also a sweet and mild curry compared to Chicken Tikka Masala.
Chicken Tikka Masala, on the other hand, is more British than an Indian dish. A national dish of England, chicken tikka masala is made by marinating chicken in warm spices mixed with yogurt and then grilling it in the tandoor-clay oven. The cooked chicken is then simmered in an onion and tomato-based creamy tangy sauce. Here is my popular slow cooker chicken tikka masala recipe.
I recently purchased my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and have been loving the one-pot cooking experience! Not much cleanup, no babysitting for the food and so many healthy dishes that can be cooked in no time. My go-to Indian chicken curries include Achari Chicken, Butter Chicken, and Shahi Chicken Korma! I also love cooking our favorite Ethiopian Doro Wat recipe as well as Thai curries like Chicken Massaman Curry, Red Curry Chicken, and Panang Curry Chicken in the Instant Pot.
This Butter Chicken recipe uses unsweetened coconut milk and ghee to get the same authentic creamy taste without having to use cream and butter. Best of all the butter chicken is ready in 30 minutes and there is no need to marinate the chicken. Try this paleo-friendly recipe and I promise it will become your new GO-TO recipe for easy weeknight dinners as well as hosting.
How to Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Here are step-by-step instructions with photos to show you each step. All of the steps and the ingredients are in the printable recipe card just a little further down in this post.
Step 1: sauté onions & spices
Set the Instant Pot on Sauté mode and heat the ghee. Add onions and salt. Cook until onions are soft and translucent for 2-3 mins (with a glass lid on to speed this process). Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, and red chili powder. Mix well and cook until fragrant for 2 mins (photos 1 - 2)
Step 2: Add chicken and tomato puree
Separate the coconut cream and water. Keep the coconut cream aside. Add only the watery portion of coconut milk and pureed tomatoes mixing with spices and deglazing the pot if needed so nothing is sticking at the bottom. Add chicken and mix well (photos 3 – 4).
Step 3: Optional Pot-in-Pot Rice
This is an optional step to make pot-in-pot rice with butter chicken: To make rice, place a tall trivet over the chicken in the instant pot. Place a stainless steel pot with white rice, water, and salt over the trivet.
Step 4: Pressure Cook
Close the Instant Pot lid with the steam release handle to the sealing position. Pressure cook for 8 minutes followed by a quick release. (Note: If using chicken breasts, pressure cook for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes of Natural Pressure Release)
Step 5: Finishing ingredients & Garnish
Open the Instant Pot, and stir in coconut cream, tomato paste, garam masala, fenugreek leaves, sugar, and half of the cilantro. Add more salt if needed. Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Cook without the lid to allow the curry to thicken for 5 minutes. If the sauce starts to splutter, adjust to Saute(Less). Garnish with remaining cilantro (photos 5 – 8).
Serving
Serve the butter chicken with Homemade Parathas or naan, Basmati Rice or Jeera Rice, and a cooling beet cucumber raita.
Storing
Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. You can also freeze the curry for up to 2 months.
More Indian Chicken Curries
Did you enjoy Butter Chicken? Here are some popular Indian chicken recipes to try:
Butter chicken is always a big hit and I often make this one-pot meal when friends come over. It's quick, easy, and delicious. A gathering is not complete without dessert, so finish off the meal with a batch of Almond flour brownies. Your friends will love you for it!
Recipe
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 2-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 3 plum tomatoes pureed
- 1 can unsweetened full fat coconut milk allow these to separate - DO NOT shake. Best if left in fridge overnight
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 teaspoons sugar skip for paleo
- 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup cilantro chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Set Instant Pot to Saute mode and heat ghee. Add onions and salt. Cook until onions are soft and translucent for 2-3 minutes (with a glass lid on to speed this process)
- Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, and red chili powder. Mix well and cook until fragrant for 2 minutes.
- Separate the coconut cream and water. Keep the coconut cream aside. Add half a cup of the watery portion of coconut milk and pureed tomatoes mixing with spices. Add chicken and stir well.
- Close the Instant Pot lid with steam release handle to sealing. Pressure cook for 8 minutes followed by quick release. (Note: If using chicken breasts, pressure cook for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes of natural pressure release)
- Open the Instant Pot, stir in coconut cream, tomato paste, garam masala, fenugreek leaves, sugar, and half of the cilantro. Add more salt if needed.
- Turn the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Cook without the lid to allow the curry to thicken for 5 minutes. If the sauce starts to splutter, adjust to Saute(Less).
- Garnish with remaining cilantro. Serve the butter chicken with Homemade Parathas and Basmati Rice or Cumin Rice and Cucumber Raita. For a low-carb meal serve with Cauliflower Cumin Rice.
Video
Notes
- Instead of coconut milk, you can use ½ cup of water to pressure cook the chicken and then add heavy cream in the end to garnish
- ¾ cup of store-bought puree can be used instead of homemade tomato puree
- Skip tomato paste if you do not have it, tomato paste adds vibrant red color and thickness to the butter chicken
- Check out my Paneer Makhani recipe that uses the same sauce for a delicious vegetarian option
Nutrition
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Loretta says
Delicious! I've never heard of the Instant pot pressure cooker. It sure looks like it cut down on the time.
Archana says
Thank you Loretta! Instant pot Instant Pot does the job of a slow cooker, electric pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, sauté/browning pan, and warming pot. I bough it recently and loving it so far!
Indu says
Hi Archana your instant pot cooker looks good. My friend has also been raving about it now I need to buy this! The curry looks delicious btw 🙂
Archana says
Thank you Indu! I bought it in November and love it so far.
Hans Susser says
(Sometimes) simple is Best 🙂
Archana says
Agreed 🙂
Hans Susser says
Dear Archana,
Butter Chicken 🙂 - one of my greatest food-memories and one of my favorite chicken dishes.
Your version and presentation look wonderful.
Thank you.
Hans
.
http://www.ChefsOpinion.org
Archana says
Thank you Hans! It is my favorite chicken dish too and I am so glad to have found this healthy and simple version.
Hans Susser says
Btw, Archana,
Here is my own version:
.
https://chefsopinion.org/2015/03/05/pakistani-butter-chicken/
Archana says
Wow, looks amazing. Will have to make it soon. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hans Susser says
🙂
Sandhya says
Archana,
I am about to buy the instant pot too. It looks like you can cut down on cooking time.The butter chicken looks awesome!
Archana says
Sandhya, I have not touched my pressure cooker for last 3 months plus its super easy cleanup!
annika says
I am drooling... and that says a lot from a mostly vegetarian like me. Gorgeous photos and love the new twist on the recipe!
Archana says
Thank you Annika! I am obsessed with the instant pot and all the amazing recipes you can make in one pot.
Swati says
This was absolutely delicious. I will definitely make it again.
Archana says
Thank you Swati! So glad you enjoyed it.
Jimaie says
To clarify, you don't use the cream from the coconut milk? Just the liquid?
Archana says
I add the liquid while I cook the chicken. And add the cream in the end with the tomato paste, garam masala etc - in step 6! Let me know how you like it!
Cathy says
My husband hates coconut, what is the alternative? How much do I use? Thanks!
Archana says
If you do not like coconut you can use full cream. Or cashew cream - soak cashews in warm water for 20 mins, blend to smooth paste.
Archana says
Cathy, So in step 4 instead of coconut milk, you add 1/2 cup of water. And then in step 6 add 1/2 cup of cashew cream or heavy cream.
Margi says
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe and video for the instant pot! While traveling around India, butter chicken was one of my favorite dishes. I'm not much of a cook, so Indian food has seemed a bit daunting to undertake. Your recipe makes it feel very approachable and I'm hoping for some delicious results this evening. One question, I haven't been able to find Kashmiri red chili powder. What can work as a comparable substitute? Will it impact the flavor much? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Margi! So fun that you got to travel India and taste the amazing foods there. You can substitute kashmiri chili with any other mild red chili powder or paprika. It will not impact the flavor. Kashmiri chili powder is very mild but gives a beautiful orangish color to the curry.
marylinlawson says
Probably my favourite Indian recipe, which I think it's actually not really indian and just a westernised thing haha do you know if it's true?
Archana says
Butter Chicken is an Indian dish, although made mostly in restaurants.
Sundari says
I made this tonight - so delicious! I followed the recipe to the letter, except I didn't have tomato paste on hand so I left that out, but I didn't miss it at all. The only problem was that instead of taking 35 minutes, it took over an hour and a half! I don't know what I'm doing differently or wrong that it took an hour longer than specified. The time for my Instant Pot to come up to pressure and to slow release was a really long time, so long that I eventually just did a quick release after about 20 or 30 minutes because we were so hungry. I didn't watch the video so perhaps there are time saving tricks in there. But the chicken was fall apart tender and everything was delicious, even my toddler loved it. Great recipe!
Archana says
Hi Sundari, So glad to hear that you enjoyed this delicious butter chicken. Do you have a 6QT IP or a 8 QT IP? I have a 6 QT one. Also as the recipe specifies you can do quick release after 5 mins of NPR. That would reduce the time.
Thank you for your detailed feedback it always helps me to know if I need more detailed instructions, etc. Also If you enjoyed this sauce you might also like the Malai Kofta that uses the same sauce.
Donna says
I've never used coconut milk before as I don't really like the taste of coconut on its own, but I'd like to try this as written before I start substituting if necessary. Silly question, but can you tell me how to separate the milk from the cream once it's been in the fridge? Leave it in the can or put it in a bowl? Then just scrape (?) the cream top off? Thanks for any guidance.
Archana says
Hi Donna! So happy that you want to try this recipe. So you leave the whole can in the fridge. When you open it just scrape the top layer of cream off, which is almost 1/3 of the can. You keep this cream aside to put in the curry in the end. Use the remaining watery portion to cook the chicken. Also remember to use full fat coconut milk.
Donna says
Thank you, I'm looking forward to giving it a go later in the week. Full fat coconut milk is purchased and ready to go in the fridge. I'm sure this will be delicious. Your aloo gobhi is a staple for me and I appreciate you sharing your recipes. Thanks!!
Archana says
Please let me know! I am so happy you enjoy the aloo gobhi, it's simple yet delicious ?
Nina says
Hi I do not have fenurek leaves and plum tomatoes, I have regular tomatoes can I use that? Is there a substitute for fenurek leaves or can it be omitted?
Archana says
Hi Nina, you can use any regular ripe tomatoes. And yes fenugreek leaves can be omitted. Let me know how you like it!
Nidhi says
Looks delicious! Would you change the cook time if using boneless skinless chicken breast instead of thighs?
Archana says
Hi Nishi! Check the detailed recipe. Basically with chicken breasts you want to do 5 min cook with 5 min NPR. Let me know if you have any questions!
Kalbap says
Easy recipe but very tasty. Saved it. Will definitely make it many more times. As you have suggested earlier maybe substitute cashews for coconut milk. (You see coconut sometimes causes heartburn!!!).
BTW Archana I did not find this listed under the Instant Pot recipes tab instead I had to search for it. I think all your posted Instant pot recipes are not populating under that tab or am I mistaken???
Kalbap says
Actually sorry about that-it is listed under the Instant pot recipes.
Archana says
Happy that you found it. I do have to keep updating the Instant Pot recipes pages, so you are right that sometimes the newer recipes might take some time.
Archana says
Hi Kalyani! So glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. It is so much healthier than the traditional version yet tastes so authentic.
Carol says
Just had to tell you how much we enjoyed this recipe! I have made many versions of butter chicken and this is by far my favourite! I made your chciken biryani last week and that was a huge hit too!
I would add more chciken next time as I have lots of sauce left over but it will be put to good use!
Archana says
Hi Carol! I am SO glad you enjoyed this recipe. I LOVE this sauce and I also use it to make malai kofta curry - http://ministryofcurry.com/malai-kofta-instant-pot/
Kate Caswell says
I stumbled upon your site locking for an biryani recipe and ended up making the butter chicken and homemade ghee instead! The family was incredibly happy and this will be a regular. So happy to have found you!
Archana says
Hi Kate! Thank you for this lovely comment. It made my day!! Ghee and Butter chicken are on a repeat for us too. I love the authentic taste of butter chicken without any cream or butter. And you must try Chicken Biryani, it is my other popular recipe and is DELISH!
Mary Beth says
How much coconut cream are you adding near the end... I don't see that in your list of ingredients. Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Mary Beth, So Basically the recipe calls for 1 can of full fat coconut milk. In step 4 of the recipe you Separate the coconut cream and water. Keep the coconut cream aside. Then in step 7 towards the end, add the coconut cream. Hope this is clear. Let me know if you have any questions
Nina says
Hi Archana - I made this last weekend and it turned out excellent! Thank you so much for the recipe. I'd like to prepare it for a dinner party and thinking of making 6 lbs of chicken. Have you ever tried to cook that much at one time? Think it's safe to just triple the ingredients and follow the recipe?
Archana says
Hi Nina, I have doubled the recipe so far but not tried 3 times. What you can do is not add the third can of coconut milk/liquids. Just add 2 and see if you can fit the chicken so it is not more than 3/4th full. I think it should work. All the timings will still remain the same. Let me know how you make out with this.
Radha Bage says
thank you for sharing this recipe, Archana. My kids loved it ..they said it came out 'restaurant style ' 🙂
Archana says
Thank you for your feedback Radha! Makes me so when when kids enjoy these healthy home cooked meals.