Make this incredibly easy and ridiculously delicious Instant Pot Butter Chicken. There's plenty of rich tomato and creamy sauce to mop up; I can't get enough of this dish!
Add rice to a bowl and top with butter chicken, crushed fenugreek leaves, and fresh cilantro. I love serving mine with fresh naan! This cozy and nourishing chicken curry is one of my favorite fall meals.
For more recipes like these, try my Indian Cauliflower Rice, this Campbell's Chicken Curry, and my Easy Beef Curry.
Ingredients
If you're used to making Indian recipes, you might already have a bunch of these ingredients in your cupboard.
Ghee is typically used in Indian recipes. It's essentially clarified butter.
For spices and aromatics, you'll need cumin seeds, serrano chili, fresh garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, and chili powder. You'll also need a whole cinnamon stick and curry leaves.
The tomato paste helps build the rich base for this recipe.
For the chicken, I used chicken breasts, but thighs work great, too.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Here's how I make my fall-apart tender and incredibly tasty Instant Pot Butter Chicken:
- Step 3: Add the chicken and cinnamon stick, stirring to combine. Place the lid on and set the vent to SEALING.
- Step 4: Choose Pressure Cook/Manual and set for 6 minutes on high pressure. Once done, carefully release the steam.
- Step 1: Heat the butter or ghee on sauté mode in your Instant Pot over medium heat. Add the onion, cumin seeds, and serrano chili and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.
- Step 2: Add all the spices and salt. Stir well and cook for 30 seconds. If the onions begin to stick, add a little water. Pour in the tomato puree and ¼ cup of water, then turn off sauté mode.
- Step 3: Remove the lid and switch back to Sauté mode. Stir in the cream and let the sauce reduce slightly for 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with extra salt if needed, and add a little more butter if you like.
Hint: Using an Instant Pot gives you incredibly tender, juicy Instant Pot Butter Chicken results.
Substitutions
Here are a few ingredients I've successfully substituted in this Instant Pot Butter Chicken recipe:
- Onion: Swap with shallots or leeks for a milder, sweeter flavor.
- Garlic: Replace with garlic paste for quicker prep.
- Ginger: Use ginger paste to save chopping time while keeping the flavor.
- Tomato puree: Blend fresh tomatoes, preferably roasted, for a fresher, richer base.
- Tomato puree: Replace with canned crushed tomatoes for a slightly chunkier texture.
Variations
You can play around with this recipe to make a few flavor variations of it:
- Dairy free: Use coconut milk for a dairy free version.
- Chicken: You can also use shrimp or fish.
- Vegetarian: Try tofu, paneer, peas, or potato instead of chicken. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Storage
Store the Instant Pot Butter Chicken leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days to keep it fresh.
Transfer portions to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw overnight in the fridge before use.
Warm gently on the stovetop or in the microwave until heated through, stirring occasionally to keep the sauce smooth.
What Makes Butter Chicken Different from Tikki Masala
People use these names interchangeably at the takeout counter, and they aren't the same dish. Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, comes from Delhi and uses tomato, butter, and cream, plus a mild, warm spice blend.
It's sweeter, smoother, and gentler. Tikka masala has a sharper, more assertive spice profile and usually more onion and pepper in the base.
Why the Instant Pot Works Well Here
Traditional butter chicken marinates the chicken for hours and then cooks it in a tandoor. Almost nobody has a tandoor. Instead, the Instant Pot gives you pressure, and pressure does two useful things for this dish.
- It forces the tomato paste and spices into the chicken in six minutes instead of an hour of simmering.
- It keeps every bit of moisture in the pot, so chicken breast comes out tender rather than dried out, which is the usual risk with a lean cut in a curry.
- It builds a deeper sauce without reduction time, because nothing evaporates under pressure.
- It's one pot, so the sauté and pressure-cook steps happen in the same vessel, and you wash one thing.
Top Tips
Getting the sauce right: The sauce is the point of this dish, so it's worth knowing the 2 or 3 things that control how it turns out.
Sautéing the spices: Sauté the spices briefly before adding liquids to release their full aroma and deepen the dish's flavor.
Add the cream at the end: Add the cream after pressure cooking, on sauté mode, then let it reduce for a minute or two. Cream under pressure can separate, and adding it at the end also means you can see exactly how thick the sauce is getting and stop when it looks right.
Taste before you serve: Salt and a little extra butter at the very end are what make restaurant butter chicken taste like restaurant butter chicken. Don't skip the tasting step.
What to Serve With It
- Basmati rice, which I make most nights and that soaks up the sauce best.
- Indian Cauliflower Rice for a lower-carb version.
- Naan for scooping. Gluten free naan has gotten genuinely good in the last few years if you need it.
- A quick cucumber and yogurt raita, which cools everything down and takes two minutes.
- Something pickled or sharp on the side, because the dish is rich and contrast helps.
Storing and Reheating
💡 How to Reheat a Cream Sauce
Butter chicken reheats better than most cream-based dishes, but there's a right way to do it.
- Reheat gently over low heat on the stove, stirring occasionally. High heat can make a cream sauce clump.
- If it looks thick out of the fridge, that's normal. Add a splash of water or cream as it warms, and it comes right back.
- In the microwave, use 50 percent power and stir every 30 seconds rather than blasting it.
- If you're planning to freeze it, freeze the sauce before the cream goes in and stir cream in when you reheat. Cream can go grainy after freezing.
Questions
The heat depends on the chili you use; serrano gives moderate spice, while jalapeños or chili flakes can adjust it to your taste.
Yes, you can make the tomato puree base ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days before cooking.
The dish itself is, since there's no flour or wheat in it. Check your garam masala and chili powder, because a few blends use wheat as an anti-caking agent. Serve it with rice rather than regular naan, and you're set.
Yes. Use oil instead of butter or ghee, and full-fat canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream. It's a slightly different dish but a very good one.
They both add a background warmth that's hard to name but easy to miss. If you can't find curry leaves, leave them out rather than substituting bay leaves, which taste completely different. Pull the cinnamon stick before serving.
A jalapeño for less heat, or half a teaspoon of chili flakes. See the note above for how much heat each option delivers.
Yes, and the cook time stays at 6 minutes, because pressure cooking doesn't scale with volume the way stovetop cooking does. Just don't fill the pot past the max line.
Use sauté mode after pressure cooking and let it bubble for a few extra minutes. Chicken releases water as it cooks, and reducing on saute is the intended fix.
You can, but add 2 to 3 minutes to the cook time and cut the pieces before freezing so they cook evenly. Fresh is better here.
People use these names interchangeably at the takeout counter, and they aren't the same dish. Butter chicken, or murgh makhani, comes from Delhi and uses tomato, butter, and cream, plus a mild, warm spice blend. It's sweeter, smoother, and gentler. Tikka masala has a sharper, more assertive spice profile and usually more onion and pepper in the base.
The recipe tells you to cook the spices for 30 seconds before adding the liquid, and that step is not optional. Ground spices are fat-soluble, which means their flavor only fully releases into butter or ghee, not into water. Thirty seconds in hot fat is the difference between a curry that tastes deep and one that tastes dusty.
No, you can't. Paste is concentrated, so you get the tomato backbone without watering down the sauce, which matters a lot when you aren't simmering long enough to reduce it.
Thighs are more forgiving, have a richer flavor, and stay tender even if you overshoot the timing. This is what I prefer.
Breasts are leaner and a little milder, and they let the sauce be the star. They do need you to respect the 6-minute cook time, because breast goes from tender to stringy fast.
Whichever you use, cut it into one-inch pieces like the card says. Bigger pieces don't cook through in six minutes, and smaller ones fall apart
More Cozy Chicken Dinners
- Campbell's Chicken Curry, the shortcut version for a weeknight.
- Instant Pot Chicken Stew if you like the one-pot approach.
- Creamy Thai Chicken Ramen Bowl for another rich, spiced bowl.
- Chicken Shawarma when you want the same warm spices done differently.
- 29 Crockpot Chicken Recipes for the whole collection.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter or ghee
- 1 medium onion 3 oz
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 green serrano chili diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 2 inch fresh ginger root, grated (about 1.5t bsp)
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon flakey salt
- ⅓ cup tomato paste
- 2 lb chicken thighs or breasts - skinless boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup heavy cream
To Serve
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro finely chopped
- Rice
- Naan
Instructions
- Select sauté mode on your instant pot. Heat butter or ghee on medium. Add onion, cumin seeds, serano chilli and sauté for 3 - 4 minutes until the onions are soft. Add garlic and ginger for 1 minute.
- Add all of the spices (garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, chili powder, curry leaves, and salt). Stir, and cook for 30 seconds. Deglaze with a touch of water if the onions start to stick.
- Add the tomato puree and a ¼ cup of water. Switch off sauté mode.
- Allow tomato base to cool slightly then blend until smooth either in a blender or with a stick blender.
- Add the chicken and cinnamon stick and mix together.
- Add the lid and set the vent to SEALING. Select the PRESSURE COOK/MANUAL setting and set the cooking time for 6 minutes at high pressure. When the cooking time is is up, release the steam.
- Remove the lid, and select SAUTE again. Stir in the cream, and allow the sauce to reduce a little - 1 - 2 minutes. Season with more salt if needed. Option to add a bit more butter if you like too.
- TO SERVE
- Add rice to a bowl and top with butter chicken and fresh coriander. Option to serve with naan.
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
All nutritional information provided is an estimate. For specific dietary needs or concerns, we recommend consulting a nutrition calculator or a qualified expert.
Karen Kelly
Karen Kelly is a nationally syndicated food and travel writer, founder of Seasonal Cravings, and co-founder of The Roam Report. She develops approachable seasonal recipes and covers travel and lifestyle trends. Her work has appeared in numerous media outlets, including Yahoo, Taste of Home, Apple News, NBC, FOX, and other national and regional publications.
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