Easy Butter Chicken in 20 Minutes
Tender chicken in a creamy, spiced tomato sauce — the kind that tastes like it simmered for hours but didn't. One skillet, twenty minutes, no marinating. This is the butter chicken that actually gets made on a Wednesday.
Tasted & written by Rachel
Prep
5 min
Cook
15 min
Total
20 min
Serves
4
The Key
The tomato paste is doing everything here. Four tablespoons of paste replaces a whole can of tomatoes and twenty minutes of reducing. Stir it into the chicken and spices before the cream goes in — the direct heat caramelizes the paste slightly, building a depth that tricks people into thinking this simmered all afternoon.
Better than the restaurant version? No. Better than takeout on a Wednesday when Noah's screaming and David's still on his run? Yes. By a lot.
This butter chicken has no business being this good for twenty minutes of work. No marinating, no blending, no list of spices that requires a trip to three stores. You brown the chicken, build a quick sauce in the same pan, stir in cream, and you're done. The secret is tomato paste — four tablespoons of the stuff replaces a whole can of tomatoes and all the reducing time that comes with it.
Priya made it last week and texted me a photo at 9pm with "why didn't you tell me sooner." I did tell her. She just didn't believe twenty minutes.
The onions go golden in butter and oil. Garlic and ginger hit for thirty seconds — just enough to wake them up. Then everything goes in at once: chicken, tomato paste, all the spices. This is the part where the kitchen starts smelling like the best Indian restaurant you've ever walked into.
Five or six minutes and the chicken is cooked through, coated in this thick, deeply spiced paste. Then the cream goes in. The sauce turns from rust to that signature creamy orange — the color you see through the window of every Indian takeout spot. Eight minutes of simmering and it thickens into something that clings to the back of a spoon.
I've made this once a week for the past month. Mia helps measure the spices — she's very serious about leveling off the teaspoon. Noah eats the rice and ignores the chicken, which is fine because David eats Noah's portion anyway.
Mise en place
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 medium Yellow Oniondiced
- 1 tsp Ginger (fresh)finely grated
- 3 clove Garlicminced
- about 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch chunkscut into 3/4-inch chunks
- 4 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 1 tbsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp chili powder (or paprika for less heat)
- 1 tsp Cumin (ground)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 0.25 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi, optional but recommended)Optional
- 1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half for lighter)
For Serving
- 2 tbsp Cilantro (fresh)choppedOptional
- 2 cup Basmati Ricecooked
- 4 piece Naan BreadOptional
The Method
Instructions
- 01
Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook until lightly golden, about 3-4 minutes.
Done when:Onion edges are turning golden and translucent, and the kitchen smells sweet — not raw.
- 02
Add the ginger and garlic, stir for about 30 seconds until fragrant.
Done when:You can smell the garlic and ginger clearly — sharp and warm, not yet browning.
- 03
Add the chicken chunks, tomato paste, garam masala, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and fenugreek if using. Stir everything together and cook for 5-6 minutes.
Done when:Chicken is opaque on all sides and no longer pink. The tomato paste has darkened slightly and coats everything in a thick rust-colored layer.
- 04
Pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens.
Done when:Sauce clings to the back of a spoon and has turned a rich, creamy orange-coral color. A trail stays behind when you drag a spoon through it.
- 05
Taste and adjust salt. Serve over basmati rice or with warm naan, topped with fresh cilantro.
Done when:Sauce is glossy, thick, and tastes balanced — the cream should round out the spice heat, not mute it.
Where it goes wrong
Common mistakes
- ✕Using canned tomatoes instead of tomato paste — you'll spend 20 extra minutes reducing liquid that paste already solved for you
- ✕Cranking the heat after adding cream — the sauce will break and turn grainy. Keep it at a gentle simmer.
- ✕Overcrowding the pan with too-large chicken pieces — they'll steam instead of sear and you'll lose all the browning
- ✕Adding fenugreek leaves without crushing them between your palms first — the flavor stays locked in whole leaves
Context
Compared to the usual
Real-deal butter chicken — murgh makhani — starts with tandoori chicken, charred in a clay oven, then simmered in a sauce built from slow-roasted tomatoes, cashew cream, and whole spices. That version is magnificent and takes most of a day. This is the weeknight shortcut that gets you eighty percent of the way there in twenty minutes. The trade-off is depth — you lose the smokiness of the tandoor and the complexity of long-simmered sauce. What you keep is the creamy, spiced, tomatoey comfort that made butter chicken the most-ordered Indian dish in the world.
Glossary
Techniques used
- Garam masala
- A warm Indian spice blend of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, and coriander. Every brand is a little different — that's fine. It's the backbone of this sauce.
- Kasuri methi
- Dried fenugreek leaves. Slightly bitter, maple-adjacent, and unmistakably 'Indian restaurant.' Crush between your palms before adding to release the oils.
- Bloom (spices)
- Cooking spices briefly in hot fat to activate their essential oils. Here it happens automatically when you stir the spices into the chicken and tomato paste.
Riffs
Variations
Smoky version
Add 1 tsp smoked paprika and a splash of liquid smoke with the cream. Gets you closer to the tandoor flavor without the tandoor.
Butter chicken pasta
Toss with penne instead of serving over rice. The sauce clings to tube pasta like it was designed for it. David's running club prefers this version.
Lighter butter chicken
Replace heavy cream with plain Greek yogurt stirred with a tablespoon of hot sauce from the pan to temper it. Tangier, lighter, still creamy.
Q & A
Frequently asked
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breasts?
Absolutely. Thighs are more forgiving and won't dry out. Cut them the same size and add a minute or two to the cooking time in step 3.
Is this actually spicy?
Warm, not hot. The cream tames the chili powder. For truly mild, swap chili powder for paprika. For more heat, add a pinch of cayenne or a chopped green chili with the garlic.
Can I make this dairy-free?
Use coconut oil instead of butter and full-fat coconut milk instead of cream. The flavor shifts slightly — more Thai than Indian — but it's still really good.
How do I store leftovers?
Fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The sauce actually improves overnight as the spices meld. Reheat gently on the stove.
Storage
Airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Genuinely better the next day — the spices keep developing.
Reheating
Low heat on the stove, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of cream or water if the sauce has over-thickened. Avoid the microwave — it turns the chicken rubbery and breaks the sauce.
Freezing
Freeze sauce with chicken for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, reheat on the stove. Make fresh rice.
Make ahead
Make the full recipe up to 2 days ahead. The sauce deepens overnight. Reheat gently on the stove with a splash of cream if it's thickened too much in the fridge.
Serve with
Fluffy basmati rice is non-negotiable. Warm naan for scooping. A simple cucumber raita on the side if you want to cut the richness. A squeeze of lemon at the table brightens everything.