Instant Pot Butter Chicken delivers restaurant quality butter chicken in the comfort of your own home. Ready in only 30 minutes, this Butter Chicken is extraordinary with a rich and creamy sauce and a fantastic blend of spices.
As promised, here’s my super easy butter chicken recipe that’s done in 30 minutes start to finish in an Instant Pot. If you’re wondering if your Instant Pot can develop flavors as rich and complex as other traditional methods, this Butter Chicken recipe is the perfect dish to deliver the answer. And the answer is yes. This butter chicken is super creamy and full of beautiful spices. It delivers all the flavor of an incredibly popular restaurant dish, all in the comfort of your own home.
What Is Butter Chicken?
This is a modern Indian curry dish. It’s made up of chicken cooked till tender in a mildly spiced tomato based sauce. This dish traditionally takes some time to make, definitely over an hour especially when prepared at home because so much flavor has to develop. But as I’ve always said, homemade is better and I wanted to deliver to you guys a way to make this fantastic dish with as much ease as possible!
Ingredients In Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Spices – Coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, turmeric, and garam masala. For information on garam masala scroll down and read my section that describes this Indian spice blend.
- Chicken – Chicken thighs are used in this recipe today because we want juicy and tender chicken. Chicken breast can also be substituted for thighs.
- Aromatics – Fresh ginger and garlic.
- Liquids – Water and whipping cream are needed for the rich curry portion of this dish and also for liquid in our Instant Pot. The cream can be substituted for heavy cream or coconut cream. We’re looking for something with a high fat content.
- Tomato – Tomato paste and passata, or tomato puree, are both needed for the sauce base of this dish.
- Butter – Unsalted because we want to control our sodium intake.
- Seasoning – Salt to taste but adjust as needed.
- Parsley – Garnish to be sprinkled liberally on top.
What Is Garam Masala?
Garam masala is a staple spice which when translated means “warm spice”. This is because it includes cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander, nutmeg and peppercorns. You can make your own garam masala spice blend if you’d like. Follow this guide for instructions how.
How To Make Butter Chicken In The Instant Pot
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Prepare the Instant Pot: Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer’s guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot). Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic.
- Combine the curry: Add the tomato puree and tomato paste to the Instant Pot and stir. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt to the Instant Pot, stir and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken thighs, 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 timer for 5 minutes on the poultry setting. Allow to cook.
- Finish the Butter Chicken: Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Remove the lid. Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Add the whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit. You don’t want it to reduce too much.
- Garnish the dish: Garnish with chopped parsley and serve hot over rice or with warm naan.
Some Tips
- Always follow your Instant Pot manufacturer instructions for best and safest use of your Instant Pot.
- If you’re looking to cut calories from fat in this dish feel free to substitute half and half or evaporated milk.
- Spoon this dish over fluffy jasmine rice, serve alongside warm naan, serve it over fries, substitute it for pizza sauce, drizzle it over pasta. This sauce goes on anything!
Why This Butter Chicken Recipe Works
- This dish is so fast and easy to make.
- You’re going to be able to develop tons of flavor in your magic little Instant Pot.
- There’s no need to marinade your chicken as the intense pressure and heat will allow all that flavor to be absorbed by the chicken as it cooks.
- No need to brown your chicken first, as lots of butter chicken recipes call for. It will cook and become so tender just in the sauce itself.
Storing Leftovers
This recipe will store for up to 7 days stored in a shallow airtight container. It also freezes well. Store again in an airtight shallow container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge and reheat on the stove when ready to eat!
More Great Instant Pot Recipes To Try:
- Chicken Shawarma
- Tikka Masala
- BBQ Pork Ribs
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Teriyaki Chicken
- Beef Stroganoff
- General Tso’s Chicken
- Mac and Cheese
Looking for more recipes? Follow on… My Newsletter Pinterest Facebook Instagram
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon butter unsalted
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon fresh ginger minced (or paste)
- 1 cup tomato puree or passata
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon coriander ground
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 pounds chicken thighs boneless and skinless, cut into pieces
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon parsley chopped
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer’s guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the butter and cook until the butter has melted. Add the garlic and ginger and saute for another minute or until the garlic becomes aromatic. Do not cook too long because you don’t want to burn it.
- Add the tomato puree and tomato paste to the Instant Pot and stir. Add the garam masala, coriander, cumin, paprika, turmeric and salt to the Instant Pot, stir and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the chicken thighs, 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 (follow the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer to 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer’s guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Switch the Instant Pot to the saute setting (do not put the lid on). Add the whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit. You don’t want it to reduce too much.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve warm over rice and with naan.
Video
Recipe Notes
- I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer’s guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe.
- Chicken breasts can also be used.
- This recipe will store for up to 7 days stored in a shallow airtight container. It also freezes well. Store again in an airtight shallow container and place in the freezer for up to 3 months. Allow to thaw in the fridge and reheat on the stove when ready to eat!
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
What do I do if my instant pot doesn’t have a poultry setting?
Just use the manual mode, same time.
The flavors were nice, a little Smokey for my tastes. I was surprised no curry was in the recipe! I had to use fire roasted tomatoes, so that may have been part of the smoke! I loved the ease of the recipe, I’ll try again for sure…just modify the smoke a little!
As a relatively new Instant Pot user and first time making any sort of Indian dish, my family really enjoyed this recipe! Served over Jasmin Rice with fresh buttered Naan to scoop it up with – yum! Thanks Jo!!!
My notes:
– I used Ghee instead of butter and though I almost doubled the chicken thigh quantity, the sauce was plentiful enough using all ingredient amounts exactly as listed.
– It was a mild sauce… (Maybe was result of my adding the extra meat). Still flavorful, not necessarily bland.. But just not enough spicy kick for a couple of us. Others certainly enjoyed it as is. Some dashes of hot sauce on the side did the trick for my son and me. Thinking I may add some cayenne next attempt.
This recipe was good, warm and satisfying. I love how quickly it came together. Our usual butter chicken recipe takes at least 4 hours with the prep, marinade, and cooking. I didn’t cut the chicken. I put the thighs in straight from the pack, because I was lazy and I cooked it for 12 minutes instead of 5. I guessed. The chicken was fall apart yummy. At the end I added lime juice and some cayenne pepper because to our taste it needed more of a kick. Will definitely make again but I’ll add the cayenne with the other spices next time.
This was a great recipe. I really didn’t alter it at all. The only thing I did different is that since I made it to eat later in the week, I waited until I reheated it to add the cream.
Next time I’ll double the recipe, this one was really tasty and easy
I loved the butter chicken meatballs recipe so thought I’d try this but the sauce was just okay. Strange because I know the spices are similar/the same.
The sauce for the meatballs was orange, creamy and amazing. This was thinner, red, and just okay.
I am going to use the sauce from meatball recipe next time and do it on the stove.
Our family loves this recipe. If we wanted to double it, do we double all the measurements? I seem to recall there’s something about the liquids that differs with the Instant Pot. Thanks,
I think you can double it, just make sure your instant pot is big enough.
Very easy to follow, but super delicious! Not too spicy, but has amazing flavor! Will be adding this to my regular rotation!
This is a fantastic recipe which my kids love. Have made dozens of time, literally. Even used for parties with lots of amazing comments. Some subtle alterations which really work well – whole milk instead of heavy cream, adding some riced cauliflower at the end (after all has cooked) to hide the veggies inside which kids will not even perceive but eat, and using a mix of 1 lb of chicken breast and 1 lb of skinless boneless chicken thighs if you want a lower fat option. I also suggest a re-saute at the end to concentrate the final blend into something a little thicker than what comes out right after the current times for the pressure cook and release. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
This is stupid delicious. My family loved it. Even my picky 5-year old helped herself to more! Unheard of in our house.
I used bone-in thighs and shredded the meat after the natural release. It was incredible!
Thanks for the recipe!
My pleasure, so glad you guys enjoyed it!
Looks great, any milk alternative for the cream?
Coconut milk would be great!