This is a really easy Instant Pot butter chicken recipe that is moist and full of flavor. It only takes 5 minutes to cook and the perfect family dinner with a side of naan. If you’re never tried making pressure cooker butter chicken this is an easy one to start with. Add your own spices to make it just right for you!
I went out to eat Indian food with a few friends when I went to a conference in Utah last month. 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”. 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). I came up with this easy Instant Pot butter chicken recipe that tastes pretty similar! One of our favorite Indian dishes listed on our Instant Pot recipes roundup. (originally published 7/17, affiliate links present)
- 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!
First of all 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. It allows us to talk about our days and truly unplug.
- The more I worked the more our dinners together dropped off, until I got my Instant Pot. Now dinners 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 butter 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:
- chili powder
- garam masala
- cumin
- or all 3
You can use chicken breasts cut up instead of chicken thighs to make our easy Instant Pot butter chicken. However, thighs are much moister and have a lot of flavor so I prefer them for this recipe.
- Of course there are many ways to make butter chicken 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 homemade 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 naan bread recipe you can use and pair with my easy Instant Pot butter chicken, seeing a trend here…EASY. 😉
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.
Here are a few things you may not have that you’ll need to make this easy Instant Pot butter chicken:
- Pressure cooker
- I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot too, it almost eliminates the burn notice from coming on for all recipes.
- Garam Masala
- Cumin
- Chopped Ginger
- Chili Powder (optional but good even if you only add a bit, my version is not spicy)
- Heavy cream
- If you need it to be dairy free you could try coconut milk. It just won’t be as thick.
- 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 the other.
- There are a few different versions of this as well. Some are more tomato based and others are heavier with cream.
Is there another name for butter chicken?
I’ve heard it called Indian chicken before. I guess that’s because you typically won’t find this on any other restaurant menu. BUT now you can make it right at home using my directions below so that’s fun!
Why do they call it butter chicken?
- Um…well for obvious reasons, there is butter in it.
- Beyond that it does definitely have a creamy butter flavor to it.
- Do NOT use butter substitutes, you have to go all out.
- Salted butter is best, we prefer organic.
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.
Looking for more Instant Pot chicken recipes?
Here’s the best ever butter chicken recipe you can make in your Instant Pot tonight.
Easy Instant Pot butter chicken
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs boneless, skinless, cut into bite size cubes
- 1 1/2 c heavy cream
- 1 1/2 c tomato sauce
- 1/2 onion
- 5 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 3 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp corn starch optional to thicken sauce at the end
Instructions
- 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.
- Add all other ingredients into your pressure cooker and mix together well.
- Put lid on and close steam valve.
- Set to low pressure for 5 minutes.
- When done allow to naturally release for 1 minute (to avoid splatters), then do a quick release.
- Carefully lift lid. Serve immediately or 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.
Nacho says
I’m not sure if i am confused by the time it takes to cook, you note 10 minutes prep and 5 minutes in the instant pot but every time i cook in my instant pot, a 5 minute pressure cook setting takes much longer due to the cooker warming up and pressurizing. Am i mistaken that this recipe will actually take longer than the 15 minutes total noted in the recipe?
Chris K says
The cooking time in pressure cooker recipes usually does not include the time for the cooker to come to pressure because all pressure cookers are different. It also does not include the time for the pressure to release. Even allowing for this, it’s still much faster than stovetop cooking. Hope this helps.
Jo says
I eat a lot of Indian food, and while I haven’t done a lot of side-by-side this is a REALLY tasty version! I made it last night, and though I was a bit disappointed by my Garam Masala mix (cinnamon heavy) the rest of the recipe was delish!
One note; the recipe didn’t specify how you recommended cutting up the onion, so if someone wasn’t used to the dish they might be a bit uncertain as far as dice/chop/slice (big little etc). fortunately it’s a really forgiving dish too, so even then it works.
My next plan: trying a mix of cream and low fat evaporated milk to cut out a bit of the fat- have you ever tried something like that? (since the corn starch does a great job at correcting the thickness at the end).
Karen says
I was interested in this recipe after looking up easy instant pot recipes, but after so much verbiage, just to get to the recipe, looks like I’ll pass.
Brad says
Typical Karen
Alyssa says
Hahaha 👏🏻👏🏻
Liz says
Ya know, you don’t actually have to read the words. You can just scroll until you see something in a box that looks like a recipe…..
Mine is in the pressure cooker now. Excited to give it a try!
The Typical Mom says
Thanks. 😉 Hope you loved it.
Russ Burt says
Iade this and all of our kids devoured it. Wanted to also add that I got coconut CREAM instead of coconut milk or heavy cream, as one of the kids is dairy free. Was definitely better and tasted just like our local Indian restaurant version
The Typical Mom says
Yeah great to know that was wonderful too
Danna says
Just to let everyone know.
I get my Naan bread at Aldi grocery store for about $3.00 for 4 large pieces. Our Publix stock Naan here, only three pieces all the time in the deli area near the sandwich wraps and Hawaiian rolls. Although Publix is high price. They are both good.
I cannot wait to try this recipe out this week. Purchased my Naan at Aldi today.
Bev Hitchcock says
Oh my! I hate indian type of spices. But i have to say this is amazing!! I didn’t have the garam masala but i read the ingredients and made my own. I also forgot the cream so I used milk and melted butter. Word to the wise do not substitute the cream. It was way to buttery. I wish I could post a photo so I coukd show my finished dish. But suffice it to say…..its going into my recipe box. Will def make it again. Thank you for sharing.
Jeff says
Turned out ok I used only 1/2tsp of chili powder so my kids would eat it. I also put the dry spices in and let them sit and cook on the chicken before adding the tomato sauce and cream. It turned out well but was lacking the bold curry flavor that you get in your typical butter chicken. I add some curry powder after the fact.
Kerry says
As soon as my IP came to pressure I got a burn notice. What can I do to avoid this?
Fran Weiss says
I get the burn notice a lot and have started to ignore it. For me I keep the thin liquid on the bottom, the chicken on the rack and everything else on top. I do not stir. I get the burn notice less this way. When it is done, I stir. I will say when I ignore the notice the food cooks up just fine but a little may stick to the bottom.
Rebecca says
This was my second instant pot dish and my first one with chicken. I used a pack of Costco boneless/skinless chicken breasts (the kind that comes in individual packs of 6) weighing in at 1lb 13oz in place of the chicken thighs, and this amount worked perfectly. The chicken was surprisingly moist! My dish turned out brown – mostly likely because I used chipotle chili powder instead of red chili powder? It looked more like chicken curry, but still tasted great. Next time, I might lose the chili powder altogether since I like things mild. I cooked up basmati rice but tried it first with flour tortillas (the kind you buy as ready-to-cook flattened dough and cook yourself – we use these in place of naan for Indian dishes); my husband and I both thought the flavor was better with the tortillas, but the rice was just fine, too! I’ll probably only make this every once in a while since over half of the sauce is cream and butter (eek!), but it definitely hit the spot and smells a-maz-ing.
The Typical Mom says
I’m so glad you loved it too!
Monica M says
Used 1/2 cup tomato paste paste instead of tomato sauce, and then used 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. The sauce turned out darker, But the taste and smell we’re just like Indian Restaurant chicken. Made it Pot-in-pot with white rice cooking on trivet in separate pot for same 10 minutes. Soooooo good!
Cara says
Holy WOW! This is my new favorite recipe for my instant pot. Especially since there are ZERO Indian restaurants where I live (very sad). This definitely gives me the quick fix for my Indian food cravings! Thank you soooo much!
Kim says
FYI The Walmart near us usually has Naan bread in their bakery dept.
Marina DeBona says
I am just about to open the IP to see how it turned out. The colour did not look like the picture.
wish me luck!
Alicia says
How can you rate it before you try it? Would like an update on the final dish!
Chana says
Yummy
Marjory says
I love how quick and easy this recipe is in an Instant Pot. The sauce is fantastic over rice.
The Typical Mom says
The best over rice!
April says
My favorite butter chicken recipe. So easy to make and so yummy!
Kimberly says
What is the flavor profile of this dish. Ive had butter chicken one time in my life and it had a very tomato soup like taste. I followed another recipe I found, but the flavors were to strong and was not like the recipe I tried from an authentic restaurant. Does this recipe have a tomatoes soup sort of taste?
The Typical Mom says
No this isn’t a tomato base flavor, creamier. That is another way of making it, I didn’t add tomato to this one.
Ushara says
There really is no “authentic” Indian flavour. Most families in India tends to make up their own garam masala, which is a blend of different spices. They are all a bit different. I have eaten at dozens of different Indian restaurants, and each time, the basic flavours are different. Doesn’t mean the taste isn’t great though!
The Typical Mom says
Very true. 😉
Laura says
Made this last night, my 2nd use of my new instant pot. Was delicious and so easy to make!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it
Angie says
I LOVE this recipe. I put in on my blog for a review, and gave you 4.5/5 on the Angie rating!!
http://angiecooksinportland.blogspot.com/2018/09/instant-pot-butter-chicken-review-and.html
This was the first time I ever used the instant pot, and I loved it so much. Thank you so much for sharing. Please let me know if you want me to change anything on my blog about what I’ve written. I think it is very clear that this recipe is yours, and I’m not claiming it as mine.
Angie
Renee says
Every time I add any cream products to IP while pressure cooking, it ends up spitting out pressure valve and making a huge mess. I see you add heavy cream and then turn on. Am I reading that right?
Nancy says
This was so good! I’ve made this twice. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. The second time I used boneless chicken breast instead of thighs. I also replaced the heavy cream with a can of full fat coconut milk. It wasn’t as thick when using the coconut milk so I did use the cornstarch which I don’t feel it needed when using the heavy cream. It was just as good the second time with the substitutions I made.
Sara Hooper says
OMg this recipe was amazing!! Definitely going into my Instant Pot favorites. Can’t imagine how anyone could think this was bland. Very saucy which we lapped up w/ garlic naan & basmati rice.
lori says
i keep getting a burn notice. i had to open it up and add water. we will see how this turns out.
Irsi says
That’s what I thought reading the recipe. Instead of tomato sauce and heavy cream, I add chicken broth, tomato paste and coconut milk and mix it well. (so thinner liquid)
SteveO says
This meal was AMAZING! I added a little cayenne pepper for some kick and it worked great. Thanks for posting this recipe!
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Ronnie says
I was disappointed in that it was rather bland. I’m not sure why. My husband was afraid it was going to be like curry chicken or too spicy but he was okay with it. Maybe the Fenugreek spice that was mentioned might make a difference?
Devi says
I am not a cook, so I made the mistake of putting the cornstarch in with all the otherr ingredients as it read to mix all ingredients in after chicken and onion cooked. Eeek! I hope I don’t mess up the whole dish because of this one mistake. Let’s see….
The Typical Mom says
It should probably be fine.
Tabitha says
My whole family LOVES this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing it!
The Typical Mom says
Yeah!! I’m so glad!
Jess says
Making this tonight. A favorite past time dish and so grateful you’ve adapted it to the Instant Pot! The nutrition info…is that just for the chicken or chicken and rice together?
The Typical Mom says
So glad. The info is generated by the recipe widget so I don’t know how accurate it is. It calculates using everything listed in ingredients.
Goodsoupsweetie says
Made it tonight; was good! However, the butter ended up separating so the final dish looked greasy, with a lot of the butter swirling around in puddles. It needed constant mixing to look good. I found a slow cooker butter chicken recipe that includes flour; I think putting a tablespoon or two in the pot toward the end of the sauté stage might help. And I agree with another comment about the taste not quite like butter chicken should be. Fenugreek might be the answer! I’ll try it next time.
Mike says
What size can of tomato sauce? Trying this out tonight but not sure how much ill need.
The Typical Mom says
Says 1 1/2 c. in recipe.
Goodsoupsweetie says
One 15 oz can of tomato sauce is perfect… exacatly 1.5 cups.
Mike says
Awesome! thanks. Ill try out your idea with the flour as well
Mike says
So I just made this tonight for the family and we have no leftovers…. so that’s a good thing and also a very bad one. I substituted the heavy cream for a can of coconut cream and it definitely made the dish better. I also incorporated 2 tea spoons of tapioca flour as an emulsifier and there was no separation of butter from the rest of the ingredients. so if you need a more gluten or dairy free way of doing it both of these methods seem to work, I also added 2 teaspoons of turmeric but this was more for color than for taste.
GC says
how would you add rice to this?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t done that as of yet in the same pot.
Suzanne says
Last night, I made a lemon chicken recipe and i added 1 1/2 C. Uncle Bens rice and
1 1/2 C chicken stock to the pot, then I put the chicken on top. Same pressure time. I think you could add rice and some extra water.. maybe not the whole cup and a half because the butter chicken recipe is pretty saucy. Maybe 1 cup.. anyway, the recipe i did came out perfect. Just try adding the rice. If it’s not quite the right consistency, so what. It’s going to taste fantastic. Ive decided to just go for it with this magic pot.
Suzanne says
Sorry, I should have said that the rice was not in the chicken recipe. I just wanted all that flavour in my rice too.
Staci says
Hi ! My name is Staci.
Can I cook The Butter Chicken Recipe in a Slow Cooker ?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t done that yet
Ellen says
Real Butter Chicken has the spice Fenugreek (methi in Indian Groceries). The taste isn’t quite right without it.
Bob M says
Would you add the Fenugreek in addition to the other ingredients? 1.5 tsp? Thanks. Really liked it but wouldn’t mind just a little more something
The Typical Mom says
Yes with the spices I would say.
Anna says
I’m new to cooking with my Instant Pot. I’ve learnt that there are 2 ways to release the pressure. one is to do a quick release and then other is natural release. Do i do a quick releases in this case?
The Typical Mom says
I just move slightly so steam comes out slowly as stated. You can do a quick release too, that would be fine.
NAOMI Hampton says
I did this and it was amazibg. i find it has a bit of bite to it but not to the point i cant eat it. My daughter however will not eat it. What can i take out or reduce to make it more milder.
The Typical Mom says
If you want it milder just cut the spices in half next time.
Cynthia says
Has anyone ever used regular, thawed chicken breasts instead of thighs? Any feedback would be appreciated.
Knisha says
Yes, I just tried it for the first time today with chicken breast cut in cubes and I added a whole onion, because I love to cook with a lot of onions. Turned out fantastic!
The Typical Mom says
So glad!!
Leslie says
How long on the chicken breasts
Laurie says
So excited to try. Says half an onion. Diced or just half an onion? Thanks.
Arnis says
Diced
Amy H. says
This was the 2nd recipe I tried in my new Instant Pot. It turned out fantastic!
I mixed a tablespoon of water with a tablespoon of organic cornstarch and added it at the end to thicken it up the sauce and served it over organic short grain brown rice. I didn’t add the chili powder this time. Maybe I’ll get brave and try it with the chili powder next time. It was delicious without it.
This recipe will definitely get added to my regular recipe list!
The Typical Mom says
So glad you loved it!!
Glenda rogers says
I still need a rice cooker to cook their e.
Tracie says
Could you substitute something for the heavy cream to make the recipe lower in fat?
The Typical Mom says
You can but it wouldn’t taste quite the same and be thinner.
Shwetha W says
I used sour cream instead of heavy cream and it worked out great.
The Typical Mom says
Awesome!!
Marie says
Try coconut cream
C says
I use fat free half and half
Captain M says
I made this last night and the family loved the flavors and the meal was just fantastic. However, I changed it a little from the original – we like spice and so I increased all the spices by a third. I also added a sweet yellow bell pepper for color and a mini eggplant along with the chicken.
I also added 1 can of Rotel’s diced tomatoes and green Chili peppers and left the rest. My wife who eats very little had second helpings of the dish – very good.
The Typical Mom says
Glad you loved it and could tweak it to make it the way you love it too!
Elaine says
Will try this as soon as we get back from this darn Hurricane. Just an fyi, many years ago I bought a microwave rice steamer. Makes amazing rice and have never cooked it any other way since 😊
The Typical Mom says
I remember those!! Stay safe.
Ted says
Hi… Received my IP today. Just finished the “water test”.
Looking forward to steel cut oats for breakfast and your butter chicken for dinner in which I will increases the seasoning (as per several comments below-thank u)
Thanks for great recipes for an IP beginner.
Susan says
Bland for my family. I set the pot to sauté and just kept adding Chile powder, cumin, Garam masala until we got real flavor. I prob tripled the spices. And it thickened nicely on sauté. Very good. All six family members liked it!
jenni says
Is this spicy and if so how would I cut it to mild spicy?
Marit says
No it’s not spicy! I used curry powder instead of cumin and I didn’t think it was spicy at all. And I am a wimp when it comes to spicy things!
The Typical Mom says
No it isn’t spicy, could make it spicier but I like it mild.
Linda says
This will be my first Instant Pot meal. If I double the amount of chicken, will there be enough sauce, or should I double the entire recipe? I have the 8 qt. pot.
Thanks!
The Typical Mom says
There is a decent amount of sauce so depending on how much you prefer it should be okay.
Helen says
How might you adjust cooking this using frozen chicken breasts?
The Typical Mom says
Haven’t used frozen yet and you wouldn’t be able to cut into chunks that way. If put in whole I’d increase time 2-3 minutes and check on it.
Shawn says
Could you substitute coconut milk for the cream?
The Typical Mom says
I haven’t but that may taste good!
Lisa Robbio says
/
Not sure my family will like indian tastes.. Is it super strong
2pots2cook2 says
We have a serious heat wave here and 30 minutes meal is what we need ! Indian flavours ? Oh yes ! Hooked! thank you so much !