Name: Easy Butter Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 white onion, diced; 3 cloves of garlic, minced; 2 tablespoons of ginger, grated; 2 tablespoons of tomato paste; 1 can of coconut milk; 1 cup of vegetable broth; 2 chicken breasts, diced; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 tablespoon garam masala; 2 teaspoons turmeric; 2 teaspoons paprika; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon cornstarch; Cooked jasmine rice for serving; Chopped parsley for garnishing

Is there anything better than mouth-watering Butter Chicken? This Indian dish is the perfect comfort food and so easy to make at home.

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A Little Background…

When I was younger, I wasn’t a huge fan of Indian food, probably because my tolerance for spice is child-like. As I’ve gotten older, I started trying more Indian dishes that were easier on my spice intolerant tongue. Indian Butter Chicken was one of the first recipes I tried and on the first bite I fell in love. This dish is also known as murgh makhani, and is a traditional Indian curry dish. The chicken is cooked in a combination of tomato sauce, spices, cream, and butter- hence the name. The result is a flavorful marinated chicken that melts on your tongue and is absolutely delicious.

This saucy dish served over jasmine rice is delicious with garlic naan!

Time to Make Butter Chicken

It’s time to dive into this butter chicken recipe. Begin by adding olive oil and half a diced white onion to a large pan. Be sure to cook the onion over medium heat until it’s translucent before adding the garlic, fresh ginger, and tomato paste. Allow this cook for a few minutes, then add the coconut milk and cook over medium-high heat until it begins to bubble. Slowly, add in your vegetable broth and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Next, it’s time for the chicken! While you can use chicken thighs, I decided to go with chicken breasts for this recipe. Start by dicing two chicken breasts, and add the chicken pieces to a medium bowl. Remember to coat the chicken in lemon juice before adding your spices. Let’s start with the star of the spices, garam masala. This spice is a blend of ground spices originating from Indian. Next, add turmeric, paprika, black pepper, salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. I know cinnamon probably seems like an odd spice to add into that mixture, but you need a touch of sweetness to offset all those strong spices.

Toss your chicken to coat all the pieces in the spices evenly, then add them to the hot pan. Stir to combine the chicken in the sauce, then cook over medium heat for about 20 mins. Finish it off by adding a touch of cornstarch to thicken it up. Make sure to stir that cornstarch thoroughly to avoid it clumping together, then turn off the heat.

This dish is the perfect recipe to serve up on a cold day!

What to Serve This Dish With

Of course you have to serve this butter chicken with fluffy rice. While basmati rice is traditionally served with this recipe, but I like to use jasmine rice made with coconut milk for creamier rice. Simply wash one and a half cups of jasmine rice until the water runs clear, then add the rice to a pot with one 15 oz. can of coconut milk. The coconut milk with get the rice a richer flavor and yield an extra fluffy rice.

I like to garnish the dish with fresh micro greens or chopped parsley. They add a pop of color to the dish and a bit of freshness. While the dish isn’t overly spicy or heavy, there are a lot of flavors melded together. A little bit of herbs goes a long way here!

Finally, serving garlic naan with this recipe is a MUST! My gluten-free garlic naan recipe is about as easy as it gets when it comes to making homemade naan. It’s delicious, fluffy and the perfect side dish for this Butter Chicken!