Diethood » Recipes » Method » Instant Pot » Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe

Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe

Tender, yogurt-marinated chicken thighs cooked in the most glorious tomato based sauce. This wonderful Butter Chicken recipe is rich, it’s creamy, super tasty, and incredibly quick to make in the Instant Pot! 

BUTTER CHICKEN: AN EASY INSTANT POT CHICKEN THIGHS RECIPE

Skip Indian take-out tonight and make this restaurant-style Instant Pot Butter Chicken right at home. Prepared with fragrant spices and food pantry ingredients, this Butter Chicken is quick, very easy to make, and packed with flavor.

There is a reason Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani) is one of the most popular Indian dishes around – it’s just SO GOOD! And glory be, it’s also LOW CARB and KETO-friendly! I meaaaan, is this a sign or IS THIS a sign? Word. 

Instant Pot Butter Chicken - Low Carb Keto

For those who like their curries fairly mild, this really is the ideal Indian dish. It is one of our favorites and I hope you’ll love it, too. 

HOW TO MAKE BUTTER CHICKEN IN THE INSTANT POT

This recipe involves marinating the chicken in a spiced yogurt marinade, first, and then making the buttery Makhani sauce. 

  • We are going to start with cutting up our chicken thighs into pieces and marinate it in a yogurt sauce for about 15 to 20 minutes. You can also leave it in the marinade for 2 hours or overnight, if you like.

Chicken in Yogurt Marinade

  • While the chicken is marinading, work on the Makhani sauce; press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot, heat a bit of olive oil, and stir in the onions. Cook for a couple minutes, then stir in some butter, garlic, minced ginger, a variety of spices, and the chicken. Cook for 2 more minutes, then, add in tomato paste, and a can of diced tomatoes. 

Makhani Sauce

  • Lock the Instant Pot lid in place and turn the pressure valve to seal it.
  • Set to 8 minutes on HIGH PRESSURE.
  • When the timer goes off, do a quick release.
  • Remove the chicken; stir in the heavy cream and, using a hand blender, blend the sauce for 30 seconds – just until creamy. 

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

COOK’S NOTES

  • In place of the heavy cream, you can use evaporated milk or half and half. I’ve also used coconut milk and cream. If you want a thicker sauce, add in more butter at the end, and stir the sauce until butter has melted. Then, serve. 
  • Please use a can of diced tomatoes and not tomato sauce. Also, do not drain it. You’ll need the liquid. 
  • If you are getting the burn notice on the Instant Pot, I advise to add more water or chicken broth. 

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER BUTTER CHICKEN THIGHS

  • Store completely cooled Butter Chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. 

HOW TO FREEZE BUTTER CHICKEN 

  • Store completely cooled Butter Chicken in an airtight container or freezer bags; freeze for up to 3 months. 

MORE INSTANT POT CHICKEN RECIPES

ENJOY!

Instant Pot Butter Chicken Low Carb and Keto

Instant Pot Butter Chicken

Katerina | Diethood
Instant Pot Butter Chicken - Tender, yogurt-marinated chicken cooked in the most glorious tomato based sauce.
4.87 from 15 votes
Servings : 6 servings
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 35 mins

Ingredients
  

FOR THE YOGURT MARINADE
  • 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into one-inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon finely minced ginger
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon (or to taste) chili powder
  • salt, to taste
FOR THE TOMATO GRAVY
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon (or to taste) sweet paprika
  • 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth or water
  • 1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream

Instructions
 

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine cut up chicken, yogurt, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, and salt; mix to combine and set aside for 15 minutes.
  • Set the Instant Pot to Sauté. Heat olive oil in the instant pot; add in the onions and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add in the butter; stir in garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, and sweet paprika; cook for 30 seconds.
  • Add in the chicken and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Pour in the chicken broth, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir; then, lock the Instant Pot lid in place; turn the pressure valve to seal it. Set to 8 minutes on HIGH PRESSURE. When the timer goes off, do a quick release.
  • Remove the chicken; stir in the heavy cream and, using a hand blender, blend the sauce for 30 seconds – just until creamy.
  • Stir the chicken back into the sauce and taste for salt and seasonings; adjust accordingly. Serve over basmati rice or cauliflower rice.

Notes

COOK’S NOTES
  • In place of the heavy cream, you can use evaporated milk or half and half. I’ve also used coconut milk and cream. If you want a thicker sauce, add in more butter at the end, and stir the sauce until butter has melted. Then, serve. 
  • Please use a can of diced tomatoes and not tomato sauce. Also, do not drain it. You’ll need the liquid. 
  • If you are getting the burn notice on the Instant Pot, I advise to add more water or chicken broth. 
 
WW FREESTYLE POINTS: 11 
To lower points down to 6, use Half & Half in place of Heavy Cream. 

Nutrition

Calories: 365 kcal | Carbohydrates: 10 g | Protein: 25 g | Fat: 24 g | Saturated Fat: 11 g | Cholesterol: 158 mg | Sodium: 312 mg | Potassium: 624 mg | Fiber: 2 g | Sugar: 4 g | Vitamin A: 1005 IU | Vitamin C: 10.3 mg | Calcium: 110 mg | Iron: 2.6 mg | Net Carbs: 8 g

Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.

Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: butter chicken, instant pot chicken thighs recipe, instant pot dinner ideas, keto chicken recipes, keto dinner idea
Did you make this recipe?Leave a Rating!

Categories:

Ask a Question or Rate this Recipe

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating:




25 comments on “Instant Pot Butter Chicken Recipe”

  1. Avatar photo
    tysmom13@gmail.com

    Huge hit it my house!!! My mother LOVES Indian food but I am such a punk when it comes to spicy so this was perfections. Will definitely make again!!!

    1. Katerina - Diethood
      Katerina Petrovska

      Hi! You can always just add more of the spices that you like. We prefer a little bit of spice, but nothing too overpowering – we like just enough to taste it. 😀

  2. I found this less flavorful than I expected. I made it with half and half and water rather than heavy cream and chicken broth, so I recommend the original recipe. I used relatively little salt, but I don’t think I would add much more. I would recommend a little more of each spice than the recipe prescribes. But this recipe is also a good bit of work. (I’m surprised that others categorize it as easy.) I anticipated how much chopping time I needed, but fishing the cooked chicken pieces out of the tomato base before blending it was laborious. Don’t cut tiny pieces or you’ll be there quite a while. I enjoyed the final product, but I doubt I will make this again.

    1. Katerina - Diethood
      Katerina Petrovska

      Hi! Yep, you can definitely use chicken breasts, and since chicken breasts need less time to cook, you will want to cook it for a minute or two less, depending on the thickness of the chicken bites. Hope you’ll enjoy it! 🙂

    2. I enjoyed making this and we love eating it even more!
      I found that the recipe made more sauce than we wanted for the chicken that I used (I suppose?)
      So I froze the extra sauce and used it for another pound of chicken later on. Fantastic!

  3. I found an excellent blog on the internet so far. Reason is that your provide proper details with nutrition chart. And i also find new ideas that i follow in my kitchen. My husband and kids love my cooking what i have done for them. The source of new ideas is only your blog.

  4. Why do people feel the need to post a comment when they haven’t even tried the recipe? It’s fine that you think it looks good and you plan on making it next week, but please hold off on rating the recipe until you have actually made it. This saves those of us looking for useful information about the recipe i.e., how easy it was, anything you might do different, maybe an ingredient was too much or not enough.
    Katerina, I’m sure all of these wonderful ‘looks good-can’t wait to make it’ replies are nice however, a lot of us would prefer to read a real Recipe Rating. Just a thought from someone who thinks 99% of your recipes look amazing but will hold off on my rating until I actually make the recipe. No hard feelings to you or your subscribers. And I am not a mean person, just honest. Wishing you continued success.

  5. Looks delicious, been printing out recipes to try out my new instant pot, will give this recipe a try, thanks for posting!

  6. Avatar photo
    Melanie Bauer

    Looks fantastic! I love all the flavors going on and it takes a little effort, need to make this soon!

  7. Avatar photo
    Chrissie Baker

    This is such a fantastic dish, it’s so flavourful! Thank you, for posting so many easy, tasty recipes!

Scroll to Top