Butter Chicken, or Murgh Makhani, is one of the most beloved Indian curries worldwide, and for good reason! Tender chicken pieces simmered in a rich, creamy tomato-based sauce with the perfect balance of spices… It’s comfort food at its finest. Making it in the Instant Pot not only saves time but also locks in all those incredible flavors, all in a simple one-pot method.
I have shared my one-pot Paneer Butter Masala recipe before, which is the exact same sauce made with onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, and lots of aromatic spices. I just replaced the paneer and added chicken while cooking the sauce.
Many recipes for butter chicken skip onions. However, I find that to be too tangy for my taste. Give this a try, and I am sure you will love this butter chicken. My daughter is a very picky eater but loves this sauce with chicken or paneer, so I can attest that it is kid-friendly.
This recipe has been tested numerous times to achieve the perfect balance of creamy, buttery goodness, while remaining easy enough for weeknight cooking. Follow along and you’ll have restaurant-quality Butter Chicken ready in under 30 minutes!
There is another popular Indian Chicken Curry – Chicken Tikka Masala. The difference is that for tikka masala, you marinate the chicken and grill the marinated chicken (called chicken tikka) before adding it to the gravy. Here is my Salmon Tikka Masala recipe for the Instant Pot.
Table of Contents
Watch How to Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Before You Start
Butter Chicken is simple, but a few minor details make all the difference. Keep these tips in mind before you begin to ensure success every single time:
- Use chicken thighs: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs stay tender and juicy, even under pressure. Chicken breast works too, but thighs give better texture.
- Make the Sauce Thicker: You can add some cashews, about 12-15, along with the other ingredients, before pressure cooking. Once blended, they will make a thicker gravy for the final dish.
- Blend the sauce: After pressure cooking, blending the tomato-onion mixture makes the sauce silky smooth.
- Add cream at the end: Don’t add cream while pressure cooking. Stir it in at the very end for the perfect rich, velvety finish.
- Don’t skimp on butter: It’s called Butter Chicken for a reason! A little butter and honey at the end balances the acidity of tomatoes beautifully.
- Spice balance: Kashmiri red chili powder gives a gorgeous color without overwhelming heat. Adjust the amount of red chili powder to your spice preference. You can use paprika if you don’t have Kashmiri red chili powder.
- Make it Dairy-free: Use coconut milk or cashew cream instead of heavy cream. Replace butter with vegan butter or neutral oil.
- Vegetarian variations with this gravy: You can make paneer butter masala, butter tofu, matar paneer, or add roasted cauliflower to this sauce.
- Meal prep: If you like to meal prep, make a big batch of this sauce and freeze it for later.
A different preparation
The preparation for this Butter Chicken is very different than the usual onion-tomato gravy. Usually, to make gravy, we first sauté onions and then sauté tomatoes. However, this one is done in a completely different way.
Add all the ingredients, except cream, honey, garam masala, and kasuri methi to the Instant Pot. Place the chicken on top of the ingredients and pressure cook for 8 minutes. You don’t need to finely chop the onions and tomatoes as we are going to blend them later.
This is also the reason I suggest adding whole spices in a pouch made from thin cheesecloth or a spice bag. This helps to get the flavor, but you can also remove it before blending.
Once the pressure cooking is done, remove the cooked chicken and cut it into pieces. Blend the sauce using an immersion blender or a regular blender. I used my immersion blender, which I could use directly in the pot.
If using a regular blender, you will need to pour the contents into the blender and may need to let them cool before blending. Then pour them back into the Instant Pot after blending. The sauce is now ready. Stir in the cream, honey, garam masala, kasuri methi, and chicken pieces. Garnish with fresh cilantro, and enjoy it!
Serving Suggestions
Isn’t it a lovely color? And the easiest dish to prepare? This is my go-to dish when I have not done much preparation…and oh, perfect to serve if you have guests coming over. Here you can find 20 easy sides to serve with butter chicken.
Serve this butter chicken with roti or naan; perfect for scooping up the creamy sauce. My family enjoys it with jeera rice and a side of Indian onion salad.
Love this gravy? Serve it as a dip with naan and enjoy as an appetizer. This used to be a complimentary appetizer served at an Indian restaurant I frequently visited in Chicago.
If you have leftovers, this butter chicken will stay good in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
Fun Fact: I originally published this recipe in 2018. See the original picture below.
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Mom’s Chicken Curry – Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
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Instant Pot Coconut Chicken Curry
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound Chicken, thighs
- 2 tablespoon Butter, (replace with oil for dairy free)
- 1 cup Onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Ginger, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon Garlic, finely diced
- 1 can Diced Tomato, or 4 tomatoes cut in large pieces
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Honey, add more to taste
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 1/4 cup Cream, heavy whipping or coconut cream
- 2 tablespoon Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
- Cilantro, to garnish
Spices
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Whole Spices (optional)
- 2″ inch Cinnamon (Dalchini), stick
- 5 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
- 2 Black Cardamom (Moti Elaichi)
- 1/2 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 12 Cloves (Laung)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
Instructions
- (optional) Make a spice pouch by adding the whole spices to a cheesecloth. Tie it such that the spices cannot come out of it.
- Except for chicken, cream, honey, garam masala, dried fenugreek leaves, and cilantro, add all ingredients and spice pouch to the Instant Pot, including the spices.
- Place chicken thighs on top of the ingredients. Close the lid with the vent in the sealing position.
- Set the Instant Pot to manual or pressure cook mode for 8 minutes. After the instant pot beeps, do a 10-minute natural pressure release. This means let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then manually release the pressure.
- If using, remove the spice pouch and discard it. Remove the chicken carefully using tongs into a plate. Blend the contents in the instant pot with an immersion blender or regular blender to a smooth paste. If using a regular blender, you may need to cool the ingredients before blending. Get the contents back into the Instant Pot.
- Add the honey, garam masala, and cream. Crush the dried fenugreek leaves between your palms and then add them in. Stir into the sauce.
- Cut the chicken into smaller pieces using two forks.
- Add the chicken pieces back to the sauce and stir them in.
- Garnish with cilantro. Butter Chicken is ready to be served.
Excellent recipie
Simple and easy instructions
Love all your recepies
Hi, could you please clarify what size tin of diced tomatoes goes into this recipe
Thank you
How to make this on stove-top. Please include instructions for stove-top recipe
Hi! Here at home we all love this recipe (and many others from your website), but I noticed you took the cashews off the recipe, is there a reason for it?
Thank you very much for the wonderful content.
w/ love
Hi Maria – I’m so glad to hear your family loves the recipe—thank you for the kind words! I did remove the cashews as they are not added to the typical recipe for butter chicken, but please don’t hesitate to add them in along with the other ingredients before pressure cooking.
Recipe looks amazing. Please add stovetop recipe for all of your butter masala recipes.
Honey seems like a very interesting take on butter chicken. If you add stovetop instructions I will be able to give reviews on this
Hi Nabeel – Thank you. If you have a stovetop pressure cooker, you can cook these recipes in it. Three minutes of pressure cooking in the Instant Pot typically translates to 1 whistle on the stovetop pressure cooker. I hope that helps!
I just have a nonstick pan and pot
This recipe is amazing and easy to prepare once you have the ingredients. I make a big batch and freeze the leftovers for easy mid-week meals. I’m allergic to dairy so use the coconut cream option. I’ve served it to friends and they loved it too. Can’t thank you enough.
Hi Elaine – That sounds wonderful! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Meeta, you never let me down!! For reference, I’m a decently experienced home cook, have traveled in India, and adore Indian food. I send so many people your way when I find they love Indian food. I made this tonight and my standard-American-diet 9-year-old ate 5 servings.
The way you write recipes is so clear and helpful. I’ve not once made a recipe of yours I didn’t love. Thanks for all you do!
For adjustments-
-I only had one tomato, so additionally used 1/2 can of tomato paste and some extra water. Omitted the honey, since tomato paste is so sweet.
-used a can of coconut milk in place of cream since I’m avoiding dairy
Hi Emily – I am so happy that you are enjoying the recipes. Thanks so much for sharing back your experience and the adjustments you made. I very much appreciate you sharing about the blog with Indian food lovers.
Love this recipe! I doubled the recipe the second time because my husband ate it all and we had no leftovers! However, it seemed spicier than the first try. Should I reduce the cloves and peppercorns? I also think my instantpot contributed to the time cooked because it never pressurized and I had to restart it because the chicken wasn’t done.
Hi Jessica – You can surely reduce the whole spices when you double the recipe. The pressure cooking time should remain the same even if you double the recipe. I am guessing there was some issue with the instant pot coming to pressure due to which the chicken did not cook. Glad you liked the recipe and are keen to make it again 🙂
Hi,
Can this be frozen.
Thanks in advance.
Mark
Hi Mark – Yes, this butter chicken should freeze well. I would let it cool down and then store in freezer safe containers for up to 2 months.