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Instant Pot Butter Chicken - the best Indian butter chicken recipe with rich, creamy and delicious tomato butter chicken sauce. This easy recipe takes only 10 minutes in an Instant Pot!
Butter Chicken Recipe
Butter Chicken is a creamy Indian chicken curry commonly found in Indian restaurants. It’s usually served with naan and basmati rice.
I love chicken in a creamy butter sauce; it’s one of the dishes I always order at Indian buffet. Butter chicken is similar to Chicken Tikka Masala but they are different.
What are the differences between the two? Butter chicken uses butter and less spice-laden while Chicken Tikka Masala is heavier on the spices.
Both recipes call for Garam Masala, which you can buy online or at the spice aisle of food stores.
This amazing spice mix gives you the iconic Indian curry flavor. Butter chicken ingredients include chicken, tomato paste, ketchup, chili powder, ginger, garlic. heavy whipping cream, water, lemon, salt and sugar.
How To Make Butter Chicken Instant Pot
With an Instant Pot, you can make this rich and mouthwatering chicken curry at home in a jiffy. First, you prepare the ingredients by marinating the chicken first.
Saute the chicken with butter, then add all the spices and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream after pressure cooking and you will have the best homemade Indian butter chicken that tastes just like Indian restaurants.
The taste and aroma develop overnight so save your leftover for lunch tomorrow. You will enjoy the flavors even more!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 421 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Butter Chicken
To serve instant pot butter chicken, you can try my homemade naan recipe or just serve with rice, preferably Basmati Rice. For a healthy meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lbs (1kg) skinless and boneless chicken thighs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pureed
- 1 piece ginger, finely minced or pureed (1 inch/ 2.5cm)
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon salt , or to taste
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Trim off the excess fat from the chicken thighs with a pair of kitchen scissors and cut them into chunks. Marinate the chicken with 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder and lemon juice. Set aside.
- Turn on the Instant Pot and set it to Saute Mode. When the pot is fully heated, add the butter and melt it. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir a few times. Add the chicken and sauté until the surface turns white.
- Add the remaining chili powder, tomato paste, ketchup, garam masala, salt, sugar, and water. Cover the pot, select Manual, and set it to High Pressure for 10 minutes.
- When it beeps, turn to Quick Release. Once the valve drops, carefully remove the cover, add the heavy whipping cream and chopped cilantro, and stir to mix well.
- Drizzle additional heavy cream on top of the Butter Chicken before serving, if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Has anyone doubled this recipe? I want to but I’m worried about the measurements being off.
I think it should be fine.
Hi Bee
Tried the recipe yesterday and it was delicious. We often try your delicious food like the chili con carne and it is always a great success!
Best wishes from a cold Amsterdam
Jane
Hi Jane, thanks for trying this Instant Pot Butter Chicken recipe. I am glad you liked it.
This recipe is so rad. Easy and turned out beautifully. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us. My family loved this and said this recipe is a keeper!
Hi Deborah, that’s great to know!! Thank you for trying my Instant Pot Butter Chicken recipe.
Please provide Nutritional Information for your recipes. I like your food and I’m trying to begin to try more Indian food. The info would be critical for our diet. Thanks
Hi Jack the nutrition is below the recipe. The label is there.
Go to Amazon. That’s where I found one for my son as they were out of IP.s everywhere.
Sounds delicious. What sort of pressure cooker do you recommend?
I use Instant Pot. You should get one!
Thanks, sadly it seems, at least for the moment, to not be available in Germany or the UK for that matter. All versions appear to be unavailable / out of stock :(
Thanks for letting me know how to make this butter chicken without an instant pot.
What’s Dozer up to?
Yes you can use stove top to make this butter chicken.
Which brand of instant pot would you recommend?
Instant Pot.
YUM! Loved this recipe so much! Just got an Instant Pot for Christmas and had never used Saute before, so fun! My husband liked it and he is hard to please! I am currently drinking the leftover sauce and am so happy! Great recipe, thanks!!!
Hey Denise, wow, you’re so fast I am so happy that you tried my Instant Pot Butter Chicken recipe. Save it for tomorrow, it will be even better. :)
You can try my homemade naan recipe next time: https://www.666630.xyz/naan-recipe/
DRINKING the leftover sauce? One doesn’t drink gravy either
Just wanted to double check the amount (or type) of chili…it seems like a lot! I’m just worried it’ll be really spicy. Is it the same kind of chili powder that you’d use for a Mexican dish?
Just regular chili powder, like McCormick Chili Powder. It’s not spicy at all, my 7 years old can eat without any problem.
I’m making this today as soon as my thighs thaw!! May give a naan a try too, yaye! I’ll be back to let you know how it was, it looks so fun and amazing!
That’s awesome, let me know how the butter chicken turn out.
Hey Rasa Malaysia,
You had mentioned parsley instead of cilantro during the finishing steps. Also, any reason for not putting yoghurt in the recipe?
Regards,
Alveen
Oops, it was a typo, it’s cilantro. You can use yoghurt too but I used heavy whipping cream.