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 
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 
This looks so cozy and comforting!! Love the IP!
I love the sound of this. Those flavors!!
So packed with flavor Alice! And such a cozy winter meal!
Butter Chicken is one of our favorites! Love that you can short cut it in the instant pot!
Fave. Dish. EVER. We order far too much Indian delivery 😉
Yes please, this is the perfect dinner idea!
This looks so lush. Got to have this
Wow this looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
Thanks for the tip!
Have a great day.
Priyanka
Alice, I’ve tried so many different make at home butter chicken recipes, and nothing has ever measured up to the authentic dishes I’ve had at Indian restaurants. I made this one last night, and oh my goodness! We all had seconds, and my kids raved about how good it was! We actually had so much of the sauce left over I’m going to do the rub again and attempt to cook it in the leftover sauce tonight since they want it again! If I wasn’t feeding it to my kids I’d add in a little bit more chili powder or some heat, but even my picky daughter ate it and loved it!
Hi Nina!!! This makes me so happy!!! Hooray!!!!
Its so easy and quick. Really liked this recipe. Will surly try at home.