Too hot or too cold to grill outside? Try this Instant Pot Tandoori Chicken recipe. Tender, cooked to perfection chicken with a finger-licking marinade. You can finish off the cooking by optionally broiling the chicken for 5 mins.
Tandoori Chicken is traditionally cooked in a clay oven known as Tandoor. Here in the US, many of us use outdoor grills, indoor ovens in lieu of the Tandoor. And now I am thrilled to have his modern version using an Instant Pot that results in luscious and spicy Tandoori Chicken with a hands-free recipe.
Hope you had a great Memorial day weekend! We had a FUN long weekend - we got to hang out with our cousins, played soccer tournament, and ran a 5K race. Although it rained all day in the Northeast and was a bit chilly for the memorial day BBQ, we did not give up on our plans.
We decided to bring our cookout indoors. We had chicken marinating for 8+ hours, that I cooked in my InstaPot. The result was succulent, fall off the bone, moist and flavorful tandoori chicken, that we enjoyed with some spicy mint chutney and corn pulao!
Tandoori Chicken, marinade uses plain yogurt, mild and bright red Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric, fresh ginger, garlic and garam masala.
Marinating the chicken for a longer time adds more flavor to the final dish. Although you can use chicken breasts or thighs to make Tandoori Chicken, my favorite way is to cook with the drumsticks.
When you are ready to cook, add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot and put the trivet inside the pot. Place the chicken pieces over the trivet, layering the pieces if needed. Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 15 minutes followed by a 10-minute natural pressure release.
Before serving, you can broil the tandoori chicken in a preheated oven for 5 minutes. We can hardly resist the succulent, aromatic tandoori chicken right out of the Instant Pot and always skip the broiling.
Tips
Tips for the perfect Tandoori Chicken Instant Pot recipe:
- Pat dry the chicken before marinating to avoid access liquids.
- Marinate the chicken for at least an hour.
- Use plain full fat yogurt for the marinade.
- Use fresh garam masala. Homemade garam masala works the best!
Here is a quick video for an easy Tandoori Chicken recipe in Instant Pot:
Looking for a quick and fun dinner idea for the kids? Serve Tandoori Chicken with easy pasta in creamy tomato sauce and dinner is a big hit! The spicy tandoori flavor goes well with the creaminess of the pasta.
Tandoori Chicken - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 LB 8 Chicken drumsticks, skinned
- ½ cup plain yogurt Make It Dairy Free by using Coconut yogurt
- ½ tablespoon ginger grated
- ½ tablespoon garlic minced
- 1-2 tablespoon Kashmiri red chili powder or any mild red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 teaspoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add yogurt, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric, garam masala, salt, lemon juice and oil. Mix well.
- Dry skinned drumsticks with a paper towel. Put 2-3 slits on each drumstick and apply marinade all over the chicken. Allow the chicken to marinate up to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking.
- Add 1 cup water to the Instant Pot insert. Lightly grease the trivet with cooking oil and place inside the pot. Arrange the marinated Chicken pieces on the trivet.
- Close Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing. Cook on Manual(Hi) for 15 mins followed by Natural Pressure Release. Open Instant Pot.
- Enjoy Tandoori chicken with lime wedges and chutney over steamed rice or Pulao.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Eartha says
You've inspired my lunch decision Archana. Looks delicious!
Archana says
That is great Eartha! Let me know how you like it!
Hans Susser says
Superb 🙂
Cheers !
Archana says
Thank you Hans!
Karina Pinella says
You made it sound easy. This is great!
Archana says
Thank you Karina!
Surabhi Gawande says
Were you able to fit all 8 pieces in one go? I need to prepare this for a party and I am wondering how to cook more pieces at a time? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Surabhi! Yes mine fit in one go. Feel free to also stack them up. Spread a little bit of oil between the layers and it will cook well!
Roopinder says
If you don’t use chicken on the bone and use eg boneless thighs instead will the cook time reduce?
Archana says
Hi! Yes, I would cook boneless thighs for 10 mins on the trivet followed by NPR
Meghan says
I made this tonight but it turned out soggy. Any idea why?
Archana says
Hi Meghan, was the marinade too watery? Also I assume you had the chicken on the trivet? You can also just put it in broiler for 5 mins.
Bharathi says
Thanks Archana for the receipe.I will try it some time this week..I have a question on trivet.where can we buy it?
Archana says
Hi Bharati! I bought it from amazon. Here is the link - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XQMWGQY/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B06XQMWGQY&linkCode=as2&tag=ministryofcur-20&linkId=49a92357f2d9fa99f9e257f33410618b
Sabrina says
Hi, Thanks for sharing . I have 12 pieces (leg and thigh) similar to size of the ones in the vid. After I stack them up and add oil in between layers, would I add more time to the cooking?
Archana says
Same time will work!
Elena says
Hi Archana! I’ve tried this recipe twice and liked the flavors, but thought it was just a bit too spicy for my family. I am using red Kashmiri chili powder. What is the minimum amount that I can use but still retain the tandoori flavor?
Archana says
Hi Elena, I am glad you enjoy the flavors of this dish. You can reduce the kashmiri red chili powder to 1 teaspoon. Also reduce ginger to 1 teaspoon. That should make the dish less spicy without compromising on the tandoori flavors.
Supriya Chandra says
Hi Archana, Thanks a lot for your wonderful recipes. Can you please suggest what would be the oven temperature to broil, since mine turned a bit soggy.
Archana says
Broil at high or 400 degrees for 5 mins
Daisy says
Hi Archana. I made this for dinner tonight and couldnt believe how well it turned out. I had only 2 thighs and 3 drumsticks, and it cooked very well. Thanks for the recipe.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback Daisy!
Rachel S. says
This was absolutely delicious! I already made some red lentil dal and only had bone-in chicken thighs and breasts so I couldn't make my normal tandoori recipe. I figured I'd save some time if I could find an IP recipe for tandoori chicken. This will now be my go to recipe. The flavor combination was excellent! I didn't have time to marinate it in the fridge so I just marinated for 10 minutes before I put it in the pot. I didn't have Kashimiri chili powder so I just used deggi mirch and I put in about half so my toddler would eat it too. We stuck it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes and it was so much better than expected. My husband loved it! Thanks so much for sharing!!!
Archana says
Thank you for your feedback Rachel. I am glad you enjoyed it. And it was a good idea to reduce the chili. Please rate the recipe when you get a chance.
mehak says
hey archana, thanks this looks great! if i want to cook a whole chicken this way, do i need to adjust the time? thanks!
Archana says
I am working on a whole tandoori chicken recipe and will have it published within next week. But basically you pressure cook 6 minutes per pound of chicken. So if its 4 pounds chickne you cook for 24 mins.
Vaishali says
Always enjoy making g your recipes Archana. Tried your tandoori in insta pot... but not sure what went wrong. Maybe u can help. My Masala mostly dripped down ( only top side was coated a bit after done). It did not look like tandoori..could it have happened because I had 4 legs and put 1 cup water? Or does the marination has to be really dry .. but with yoghurt it is tough. Thanks!!!
Archana says
Next time pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Make sure the marinade is not too watery. But it’s also normal for some marinade from the bottom to drip
shankar das says
looking good easy to make this make this recipe yesterday i tried at home . thank you for sharing recipe its yummy . keep sharing this type recipe .
Archana says
Thank you for your feedback.
Dolly says
You mention in your opening paragraph that you marinated the chicken for 8 hours but the directions say “up to 24 hours”. Do you get better flavor with a longer marinade time? Will the chicken become mushy? I’m looking forward to trying this recipe this weekend.
Archana says
8 hours works great. 24 hours is if you decide to cook some of it later.
Poorna says
I love all of your recipes and can't wait to try this one. I'd like to shred the chicken after to put on a pizza (kid friendly!) I plan to use boneless breast to help. Any other suggestions on adjusting the cooking time? TY in advance!
Kali says
How much time would I use for chicken breasts? Probably boneless/skinless as that’s what I have in the house most of the time.
Archana says
For chicken breasts 5 minutes with natural pressure release. Here is a recipe I have using chicken breasts that you may like - https://ministryofcurry.com/tandoori-chicken-lettuce-wraps-instant-pot/
Jia says
Hi there! I made the chicken according to the directions above except i forgot to pat the drumsticks dry before marinating.. it came out very tender but the flavor seemed to lack a bit. After taking chicken out, there is more water in the IP than what i had initially put in. Is it due to the extra moisture during marination? Mine also was not as red as your picture, and I had used two tbsp of Kashmiri red chili powder. Thoughts and suggestions to improve are appreciated!
Archana says
Def make sure to dry the chicken as it will water down the marinade and hence less flavorful. I wonder if lots of marinade fell in the water and hence not as bright red?
Siran says
Want to use this recipe for Christmas. Could I do this with 25 pieces as long as it does not pass the max line?
Archana says
yes! That will work
Shashi says
Came out good, thanks for the recipe, after removing from instant pot I sauté it with amul butter on a hot pan for about 3 min for that bbq burnt flavor
Archana says
Yum! Thank you for the feedback