Instant Pot Butter Chicken! Butter chicken, or murgh makhani is a dish, originating from Delhi, India, of chicken in a mildly spiced tomato sauce. It’s absolutely delicious!
Butter Chicken was reportedly developed in the early 20th century in Delhi as a way to use leftover tandoori chicken so that the dried out chicken pieces could be softened with tomatoes, butter, and cream. Butter Chicken is usually creamier, while chicken tikka masala, which was developed in the UK, tends to be spicier.
Authentic Butter Chicken is obviously not made in the instant pot and I hope I’m not offending anyone by showing this method. I do want more families to enjoy an absolutely delicious, amazing weeknight meal. . all made in your instant pot!
And my kids ate this! WINNING!!!
If you want to make a more authentic Butter Chicken, I enjoyed watching this video!
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thigh meat, cubed
- 2 tablespoons ginger paste
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste
- 2 tablespoons red chili powder
- pinch of salt
For the Butter Chicken:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic; minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced or paste
- 1 28 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 teaspoons garam masala*
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup heavy cream
- fresh parsley finely diced
Instructions
For the chicken:
- Mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl and let marinate for about 15 to 20 minutes.
For the Butter Chicken:
- Turn your Instant Pot to the sauté setting.
- Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic.
- Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir together. Add in the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt, stir together one more time and let cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add in the seasoned/marinated chicken thigh cubes, water and stir everything together. There should be enough liquid in the pot to cover the chicken, so add more water if needed.
- Close the lid and set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer for 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, you can wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes, or you can do a manual release. Carefully unlock and remove the lid and switch the Instant Pot to the sauté setting (with the lid OFF).
- Add in the heavy cream, mix together and let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit.
- Serve over rice and garnish with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
To make the rice using your instant pot: Clean your rice. 2 cups of Basmati or jasmine rice, add in 2 cups of water and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. Release the pressure manually, remove the lid and serve.
Butter Chicken Recipe adapted from here
