Butter Chicken! Is it possible to enjoy a lighter version of 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!
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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 dishes that can be cooked in no time. My go-to Indian chicken curries include Achari 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
Recipe Video
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 kasoori methi (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.
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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Archana says
Hi, does it make a huge difference in flavor if I leave out fenugreek leaves?
Archana says
Hi Archana! You can leave out the fenugreek leaves. It will not make a huge difference.
Masooma says
I made this recently and my family LOVED it. My husband and kids described it as "ridiculously good". This is a popular takeout dish for us so I am extremely grateful that you shared a recipe for it. We can now skip the takeout and have a homemade meal when we are craving this. I can't wait to try it with veggie meatballs (hoping to make a trip to Ikea today to get the frozen ones you recommended in your malai kofta recipe)
Archana says
Hi Masooma! You made my day!! Thank you for your feedback. So happy to hear that your family is enjoying this healthy version of butter chicken. Can't wait to hear how you like the malai kofta.
Shilpa Kadam says
Hi Archana, love all your receipes. Saw the video of butter chicken. I’m planning to make it in IP but the only thing I do like is the QPR technique. Is there another option for it. If I do NPR after 8 mins of cooking I guess the chicken will get over cooke, by the end of cooking it for additional 10mins after adding tomato paste. I don’t want chicken to be chewy when it’s done.
Archana says
Hi Shilpa pressure cook for 5 mins and then 5 min NPR works perfect!
Shilpa Kadam says
Hi Archana, made it as a pot luck dish for my co workers. They all loved it in fact beyond that. Thank you very much for your awesome recipes. Quick question can I use the same recipe to make butter panned dish.
Archana says
Hi Shilpa! Thank you for your lovely feedback! Yes same recipe for butter paneer. Add paneer after the pressure cooking cycle and sauté for few mins or pressure cook for1 more min
stacy says
This was delicious! My three boys gobbled it up, even when I
put kale in it! Thanks, Archana, for another delicious and quick (and healthy!) recipe for my family.
Archana says
Thank you for your lovely feedback Stacy! I am so glad your family enjoyed this healthy and authentic tasting butter chicken.
Masooma says
Hi Archana! This has become a favorite for my family and I am making it for a crowd this weekend 🙂 For 4 lbs chicken, do i keep the cook time the same? and do i simply double all the other ingredients? TIA. Happy Holidays!
Archana says
Hi Masooma! I am so glad you are enjoying this recipe. You can double all ingredients, increase saute time but same pressure cook time.
Vibha says
Great recipe!!!!! Thank you for sharing. Made it today but didn't have any tomato paste handy and still turned out great. Which tomato paste do you use?
Archana says
Hi Vibha! So glad you enjoyed this recipe. I use hunts or trader joe's tomato paste.
Sheela says
Hi! Can this sauce be used to make paneer makhani? I made this recipe as is for butter chicken and it was amazing. Would love to try a vegetarian version. I am thinking though, no need to do in the instant pot? I was not sure how paneer would cook in the IP. Thank you.
Sheela says
Hello! Neve rmind! I saw the answer on your Malai kofta recipe page! Substitute paneer for veggie balls! 🙂
Archana says
Yes! With Paneer you can pressure cook just for 2 minutes!
Archana says
Yes you can. Here is my paneer makhani recipe - https://ministryofcurry.com/paneer-butter-masala/
Sapna Yadav says
It came perfect..I tried with whole milk n heavy whipping cream. Next time I will try with coconut milk n cream. Thanks for the recipe
Archana says
Hi Sapna, So glad you enjoyed it. And yes the recipe is pretty versatile, you can def use milk and cream.
Linda says
This was delicious!! This was my first time making this dish and the recipe is a keeper. We didn't have fenugreek so we used regular curry powder I had on hand. I had my husband only put in one tablespoon because I didn't want it to be overwhelming for him and he liked it. We added salt while we were eating it and other than that, the flavor was perfect. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Archana says
Thank you for your lovely feedback. So Curry powder and fenugreek leaves have different flavors. You can also skip fenugreek leaves and it is more of a garnish.
Sapna says
My 12 year old says this recipe is excellent and ate the butter chicken for 5 days in a row. I'm vegetarian but have made this multiple times and in fact was the first non-veg recipe and first IP recipe I made. Very easy. Thank you!
Archana says
Thank you Sapna! Best compliment I could get, so happy that your son enjoys this.
Tammy says
Made this tonight! Loved!
Next time I’m doubling the recipe.
Made it with plain Basmati rice.
With Naan.
Thanks for the recipe❤️
Now,I need to search for a recipe for an Indian vegetable dish that has potatoes in it 🙂
Archana says
Hi Tammy! Thank you for your lovely feedback. If you are looking for a potato dish, you must try my dum aloo!! It is to die for.
Hans Susser says
Hi Archana,
one of my favorites is Aloo Palek 🙂
Cheers !
.
http://www.ChefsOpinion.org
Archana says
Thank you!
Sherrita says
Hi Archana, My son loves butter chicken so planning to try this recipe this weekend. If i was making 8lbs of chicken- would I still only pressure it for 8 minutes or do I now need to pressure it for 32 minutes since I am quadrupling the recipe and cooking 8lbs of chicken instead of 2lbs?
Archana says
Hi Sherrita, Pressure cook time remains the same. It will take longer time to come to pressure. Make sure you deglaze the pot really well after sautéing the onions with the water from coconut milk. Also do you have a 8-qt Instant Pot?
Sherrita says
Yes I bought the 8 quart. Thanks!
Archana says
That’s great!!
Rupa says
Hi Archana.. I'm planning to make this for this weekend. Could you please let me know how to make the tomato paste?
Archana says
Hi Rupa, tomato paste used in this recipe is store bought and used to give the curry the bright red color. It is sold in small cans in grocery stores. You can also skip the tomato paste if you do not find it.
Louise Samson says
Tomato paste is made by reducing tomato sauce over medium, then low heat as it thickens whilst stirring almost constantly. It is a slow and lengthy process when done on stovetop (in the industry, it is done in autoclaves). It takes a fantastic amount of tomatoes to end up with a relatively small quantity of paste. It is much faster (and cheaper) to buy a small can of paste at the grocery store. Some brands do not add salt nor sugar and are definitely worth it.
Archana says
Agree! Thank you for the details. I agree that small cans are cheaper and faster.
Dhanya says
Hi Archana,
I usually use a dried coconut milk powder and mix it on my own to either thick or thin consistency, depending on the recipe. So can I pressure cook the chicken in some plain water mixed with the tomato purée first and then add thick coconut milk later?
How much water would you recommend I use? And how much thick coconut milk?
Thank you for your help!
Dhanya
Archana says
Hi Dhanya, You can use 1/2 cup of plain water to cook the chicken. Add tomato paste and the 1/2 cup of thick coconut milk after the pressure cooking cycle completes. You can add another 1/4 cup of thick coconut milk if needed. Note - I have not cooked using dried coconut milk powder.
Archana says
Sorry hit send too soon. Do let me know how it comes out. Very interested to know how coconut milk powder works.
Padmashree says
Hi Archana - I just made this and its amazing! We devoured till the last bit! Never made butter chicken this good, it's better than restaurant ones. I just followed your recipe. Thank you so much!
Smita says
Hi Archana,
Can I double the recipe if I have the larger IP (8 quart) and do I change any of the timings?
Can I use heavy cream instead of coconut milk and if so how much?
Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Smita, yes you can double the recipe. Same cook time and yes absolutely use heavy cream. It will be delicious
Archana says
You can replace heavy cream with same amount or more as that of the coconut cream. Creamy butter chicken is the best!
Tanya says
Hi archana!
Love this recipe! Wanted to make it tonight but only have thighs and drumsticks with bones. Do you think I can still make it? If so, Would I need to adjust the cooking time?
Archana says
Hi Tanya! Yes, absolutely. Pressure cook for 8 minutes, followed by 5 min NPR. It will work perfect.
Indrani Sen says
Hello Archana,
Thank you so much. We loved this recipe.
I slightly modified this recipe. Before frying the onions, I added whole garam masala,cumin and coriander. Also, after onions turned golden brown, I lightly fried the chicken pieces. Then added the tomato , coconut water mixture. Because the breast pieces were already fried, I kept the manual timer to 3 min and then 3 minutes of QPR.
Thank you for the tips on adding the creamy coconut and tomato paste later.
Thank you again. Have a great festive season ahead.
Archana says
Thank you for your detailed feedback. I am so glaad you enjoyed this recipe. And it was a good idea to reduce the pressure cook time to 3 mins.
Louise Samson says
Hello Archana,
Me again.
Please tell me if I can substitute fenugreek leaves with whole fenugreek or even curry leaves, and if so, how much?
Thank you,
ls
Archana says
Hi Louise! So there is. I good substitute for fenugreek leaves. And since it’s a garnish I would say leave it out. Whole fenugreek and curry leaves will not make a good substitute. But the dish will still taste good! So go ahead without the fenugreek leaves
vi says
Just tried this recipe for the first time and my family loved it! New to instant pot - I often have frozen chicken breasts or thighs - how long should I cook or is thawed best to use?
Archana says
Same cooktime if you cut the chicken into smaller pieces