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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!
How To Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs using kitchen scissors, then cut them into chunks. Toss the chicken with 1/2 tablespoon of chili powder and lemon juice. Set aside to marinate.
Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode. Once hot, melt the butter, then add the garlic and ginger. Stir briefly, then add the marinated chicken and cook until the surface turns white, about 2–3 minutes.
Add the remaining chili powder, tomato paste, ketchup, garam masala, salt, sugar, and water to the pot. Stir to combine. Seal the lid, select Manual, and cook on High Pressure for 10 minutes.
Once the timer beeps, carefully do a Quick Release. When the valve drops, remove the lid. Stir in the heavy whipping cream and chopped cilantro until well combined.
If you like, drizzle a little extra heavy cream on top of the Butter Chicken before serving for a rich, creamy finish.
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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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.
Butter chicken or Murgh Makhani has the distinctive taste of kasuri methi – dried fenugreek leaves. While I’m sure this recipe makes for a tasty chicken with cream, ginger, garlic and garam masala, it’s not murgh makhani – butter chicken. It’s in the style of murgh makhani.
I would like to try this for meal prep. Do you think this will freeze well?
Yes.
This recipe is delicious! This is the first recipe in my Instant Pot and I am very satisfied on how the butter chicken turned out.
Thank you
Thanks for your support!
I never had butter chicken with ketchup in. Can I replace it with tomato paste?
You can!
Hi Hannah.
The amount of tomato paste you used is 6 oz(170g) or lesser?
Thank you. :)
If you live in Australia/New Zealand, I suggest replacing the chili powder with a taco or burrito seasoning mix. As pointed out in the comments, using 2.5 tablespoons of chili powder (the kind we use downunder) will blow the roof of your mouth off!
If your country’s chili powder is very spicy, use less to taste. The chili powder in the USA has NO HEAT.
Helen. Use paprika. That’s the closest we have to American chili powder. So 2.5 tbsp sweet paprika plus 1/2 teaspoon chili powder.
This recipe was delicious! I just received a 6-qt InstaPot Duo as a gift and wanted to try it out. I followed your recipe exactly and it turned out great. I’m assuming it’s safe to double without risk of overflow? (A single batch was pretty shallow in the insert.). And, if so, how long should I set “Pressure Cook” on high pressure for? I don’t have “Manual” as a setting.
Sure yes, you can double! Please try more IP recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/instant-pot-recipes