Easy Instant Pot Butter Chicken

Really easy Instant Pot butter chicken recipe with thighs that is moist and full of flavor. It only takes 5 minutes to cook and the perfect family dinner. If you’re never tried making this in your Ninja Foodi pressure cooker with homemade naan, this is an easy one. Add your own spices to make it just right for you!

Ninja Foodi Butter Chicken

If you need easy Ninja Foodi recipes, you can use that pot or a Crockpot Express instead. Any electric pressure cooker with the saute and high pressure function will work just fine y’all.

I went out to eat Indian food with a few friends when I went to a conference in Utah. I hadn’t had it in years and wasn’t sure what to order so my friend suggested butter chicken since it was a milder dish and she said “everyone loves it”.

Ninja Foodi Indian Chicken

First you have to pick up the main protein, chicken! I do typically veer toward thighs because they’re so cheap and come out more tender than breasts. That is totally your choice, decide which boneless skinless you want.

How do you make butter chicken in Instant Pot?

We will show you how right here. It was way easier than I thought and was pretty dead close to the one I tried at that restaurant. I love this method because you can adjust the heat and serve with any side dishes that are to your liking. A bit of sauteeing at first, mix up the sauce and cook under high pressure to get it nice and tender. Done!

It. Was. Amazing! Now that I am all about my pressure cooker I was sure I could make a simple version (my take on it). Served with a side of rice and/or naan this easy butter chicken recipe is definitely a winner at our house when I make it!

Best Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe

If you don’t have one of these life changing kitchen appliances, or are scared to use it, let me convince you why it’s amazing.

• I’m a busy mom with three kids and we both work full time. One thing we love is eating one meal together. This is one of our most popular Instant Pot recipes we can all enjoy together.
• The more I worked the more our dinners together dropped off, until I got my Instant Pot. Now easy chicken Instant Pot recipes only take  30 minutes or less to make. 

Why do cooks love the Instant Pot?

With a super short cooking time, you can make this dish in under 30 minutes. Throw it all in, set to high pressure with a quick release and it’s done. Pressure cooking rocks!

I am sure there are a lot of variations of recipes for this type of chicken. Of course with any sort of recipe you should adjust the spice level to your liking. I will say this one is on the milder side of things. So if you like more spice or a more pungent flavor, then just add more:

Instant Pot Butter Chicken Thighs

• chili powder
• garam masala
• cumin
• or use all 3

Of course there are many ways to make this dish so this may not be totally authentic. It is my take on it and tastes very similar to the one I loved.

Is butter chicken bad?

Meaning is it unhealthy?? Well there are several versions, if you’d like to make a healthy butter chicken with more tomato sauce you can try this one. It’s very much a throw it in and go kinda’ meal and if I am in a real rush I throw on some Minute rice on the stovetop and they are done in less than 10 minutes flat…now that’s a quick dinner!

I haven’t made naan myself yet and haven’t found a store in town that carries it on a regular basis so I use rice but making it myself is on my list of things to do. Until then I found this super easy homemade naan bread recipe (linked above) you can use and pair with my easy Instant Pot butter chicken, seeing a trend here…EASY. 😉

Indian Butter Chicken Instant Pot Ingredients

Like I said, if you have specific spices you use, and amounts, then go with that if it is to your liking but use my timing so you can make it in your pressure cooker.

1. Pressure cooker
   1. I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot too, it almost eliminates the burn notice from coming on for all recipes.
2. Chicken thighs or chicken breasts work
3. Garam Masala
4. Cumin
5. Chopped Ginger
6. Chili Powder (optional but good even if you only add a bit, my version is not spicy)
7. Heavy cream
   1. If you need it to be dairy free you could try coconut milk. It just won’t be as thick.
8. Rice – this is how you make fluffy Instant Pot white rice 

If you want to thin it out at the end you can use chicken broth.

Which is better chicken tikka masala or butter chicken?

Depends on who you ask but I prefer this recipe over chicken marsala. They both take about 20 minutes though which is great. There are a few different versions of this as well. Some are more tomato based and others are heavier with cream. Here are a few questions you might have before you get started here. I hope these help:

Now let’s get going shall we?

Don’t have this brand of electric pressure cooker? NO problem!

• You can make this into Ninja Foodi butter chicken just by using the pressure cooker lid and the instructions below.
• Works well for the Crockpot Express too. Just use brown button instead of this one saying saute. Those are the same functions.
• Mealthy pots will use the same instructions below too.

Butter Chicken with Chicken Breasts

Sure you can do this! I personally like thighs because they’re a lot more tender but I do swap the two types depending on what I have on hand. If I find a really good sale too I will use that. Why not right??!!

What type of rice is used in Indian food?

A long grain variety of ninja foodi rice is commonly used in Indian recipes. Basmati rice is commonly available at most grocery stores and is available in both white and pressure cooker brown rice varieties. I like this and Jasmine rice personally. 

• Either one can be used with our Instant Pot white rice instructions. We serve this dish over the top and it’s a complete meal everyone loves.

Can you reheat butter chicken?

I will start by saying we rarely if ever have any leftovers but if you do, yes you can. Although it’s a less popular option, chicken and other meats can certainly be reheated on the stovetop. Do so in a small saucepan over low to heat vs. medium high heat to avoid drying it out. Top with chopped cilantro and enjoy again.

If you don’t have a microwave or are short on time, this is a good method. Add some oil or butter to the pan to thin out sauce. Reheating leftovers in a microwave are a bit easier. Do so in a microwave safe dish in 30 second intervals stirring in between times.

How to Make Chicken Thigh Butter Chicken

That is what is so great about cooking homemade meals right? There is nothing worse than getting a delicious dish that was made so hot that you can’t taste anything else. I mean, you know it’s good but your mouth is on fire and you’re just disappointed. Just add a bit when cooking and more later at the end if you desire after tasting it.

1. Turn your pressure cooker to saute, and add your butter. When butter is melted add cubed chicken and onions. Cook just enough for chicken pieces to cook just a touch on the outside and are no longer pink.
2. Use wooden spatula to deglaze pot to remove stuck on meat. This will help you avoid the burn notification. Turn pot off.
3. Add all other ingredients into your pressure cooker and mix together well.
4. Put lid on and close steam valve. Set to low pressure for 5 minutes. (4 minutes on high) When done allow to naturally release for 1 minute (to avoid splatters), then do a quick release.
5. Carefully lift lid. Serve immediately over rice with lots of butter chicken sauce over the top of everything.

If you want the sauce thicker, remove chicken and set to saute low for just a few minutes. Put some of the hot liquid in a small bowl with 1 tbsp of cornstarch and whisk together, add back into the pot and stir. May do this again with another tbsp. depending on how thick you want the sauce to be. Sauce will thicken more as it sits. Turn off, add chicken back in, and serve with rice and/or naan.

If you do have leftovers they save quite well. Just don’t throw away that sauce because that will help keep it moist and provide a ton of flavor. Seal in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat within 3 days and enjoy.

Other Instant Pot Chicken Recipes

Looking for more Instant Pot chicken recipes? We make a lot of these because it is my girls’ favorite meat and a healthy choice for dinnertime. Of course those with a thicker sauce like this one isn’t quite as good for you as let’s say our Instant Pot butter beef. You can see that one above, fun to mix up the proteins. 😉

This is our tasty pressure cooker sesame chicken recipe. Served over rice it will get raving reviews from everyone in your family for sure.

• Sweet Instant Pot orange chicken recipe is healthier with no breading but tons of flavor.
• Spicy honey Instant Pot chicken is our own creation that has gone crazy with everyone who tries it.
• Kid fave Pressure cooker cheesy chicken spaghetti is loaded with cheese and tons of flavor.

Instant Pot spicy teriyaki chicken thighs are amazing with a simple homemade teriyaki sauce recipe. This one has an Asian twist to it so if you like to try foods from other countries, or try to make them at home, this one is great too. You can certainly adjust the heat level on both of these.