Okay, I don’t really know what this recipe is but I do know that it was inspired by a recipe for butter chicken (which may not have been all that authentic to begin with), and then I changed it up to fit my preferences and ingredients that I had on hand. The result? Absolutely, freaking delicious. This “Not” Butter Chicken is spicy, tangy, and super aromatic. This is one of those dishes that makes me look forward to eating my lunch every day… even though I’ve eaten the same thing for the past three days. Plus, the leftovers are every bit as delicious as day one!
What is Garam Masala?
Garam masala is a warm blend of spices used in Indian cuisine. It’s a major flavor component for this recipe and can’t be skipped. In regular grocery stores it can be pricy, so search out ethnic grocery stores where you’ll get twice as much for a fraction of the price. Or, if you want to try making your own blend of fresh spices at home, make sure to check out this recipe for Garam Masala from Swasthi’s Recipes, where you’ll also find out a lot more cool info about this awesome blend of spices and how it’s used.
Tips for Buying Chicken on a Budget
Boneless, skinless breasts can cost you an arm and a leg if you don’t buy them right. First, shop sales. Second, ALWAYS buy value packs. I buy my chicken breasts in a 5 lb. pack and it costs at least $1 less per pound that way. As soon as I get home from the store, I divide the pack up into bags of two breasts each (that’s usually what I use per recipe) and freeze. It only takes about 5-10 minutes and I save at least $5. I actually intended to use chicken thighs for this recipe but buying the breasts in the value pack was less expensive per pound than chicken thighs. Imagine that.
Can I Use Chicken Thighs?
Yes, you can absolutely use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. Chicken thighs are not only less expensive, but because they’re dark meat they tend to stay nice and tender.
Try These Authentic Butter Chicken Recipes
Since the recipe below is only inspired by Butter Chicken, here are a few authentic butter chicken recipes for you to try. It’s also fun to learn about the culture and history behind this flavorful dish from these creators:
- Butter Chicken from Swasthi’s Recipes
- The Best Butter Chicken from Vijaya Selvaraju (Youtube)
- How to Make Butter Chicken at Home from The Bombay Chef (Youtube)
- Murgh Makhani | Authentic Butter Chicken from Love Laugh Mirch
- The Best Butter Chicken Recipe from Shinta Simon
(Not) Butter Chicken
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs. 2 lg chicken breasts ($2.48)
- 3 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 3 cloves garlic ($0.21)
- 1 med onion ($0.38)
- 1 inch fresh ginger ($0.14)
- 1 Tbsp garam masala ($0.20)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.05)
- 1 15 oz. can tomato sauce ($0.75)
- 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes ($0.88)
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt ($0.25)
- 1 1/2 cups jasmine or basmati rice ($0.66)
- 2 1/4 cups water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Trim the fat from the chicken breasts and cut them into small chunks. Set chicken aside. Dice the onion and mince the garlic and ginger.
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium/high heat. When the butter is nice and hot (careful not to burn it) add the chicken chunks and brown them on all sides. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside. It’s okay if it isn’t cooked through because it will simmer in the sauce later.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute the mix for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add the garam masala and cayenne pepper. Continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
- Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Stir until everything is evenly combined. Add the chicken back in, place a lid on top and reduce the heat to medium-low. Allow the mixture to simmer for one hour or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
- While the pot is simmering, begin to cook the rice. Combine 1.5 cups of rice and 2.25 cups of water in a medium pot. Place a lid on top and heat over a high flame until boiling. Once it comes to a full boil, immediately reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and keep the lid in place until ready to serve.
- After the chicken and tomato mixture has simmered, break the chicken into smaller pieces if desired (the chicken should be soft and easily broken apart). Stir in the plain yogurt. Serve the chicken mixture over a bed of rice. Garnish with cilantro if desired.
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Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make (Not) Butter Chicken – Step By Step Photos
Cut your chicken into small pieces. You can use thigh meat or breasts… whatever you like or whatever is least expensive.
It’s a good idea to have your onion, garlic, and ginger chopped and minced before you begin. The recipe comes together quickly in the beginning (then simmers for a long time).
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium high heat.
When the butter is nice and hot, add the chicken and brown it on all sides. Remove it from the pot after browning. It’s okay if it’s not cooked through, it will simmer in the sauce later and cook completely.
After removing the chicken, add the onion, garlic and ginger to the butter in the pot. Cook them for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to soften. Then add the garam masala and cayenne pepper. Continue to stir and cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes more. The spices will become fragrant.
Next, add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes.
Add the chicken back into the pot.
Place a lid on top, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about an hour so that the chicken gets cooked through and becomes nice and tender.
Get the rice going while the stew is simmering. It is really vital to the dish to use some sort of aromatic rice. I used jasmine rice because I was able to buy this large, 5 lb. bag for a really good price. Check the ethnic aisle at your local grocery store, they often stock bulk sized bags of jasmine rice near the other Asian ingredients.
Combine the rice in a medium pot with 1.5 parts water (1.5 cups rice / 2.25 cups water). Bring it to a boil with a lid on then immediately reduce the heat to low. Let it simmer on low for 20 minutes then turn the heat off. Let it sit with the lid in place until you are ready to serve. Fluff with a fork just before serving.
Once the chicken/tomato mixture has simmered for quite a while, the chicken should be very tender. I broke mine up into smaller pieces. Finally, stir in the yogurt. My final product didn’t need any adjusting with spices, salt or pepper but taste yours for good measure.
Serve over rice or with some naan to soak up the stew.
I hope this isn’t a silly question! Do you drain the liquid from the diced tomatoes before you add them? Whenever I use canned ingredients I usually drain the liquid because of the extra sodium in it.
Great recipe! I am new to making my own Indian food at home since it’s so much cheaper than getting takeout. Seek out your locan Indian or Afghan markets. Even Hispanic or Asian markets will have many of the spices required. Don’t pay $6-$7 each at the grocery store. I pay no more than $.99 for any spice I’ve needed so far at ethnic markets!
Anon- greek yogurt should work fine. It’s the same as regular yogurt except with some of the moisture strained out. So, you may need to add a touch of water if your sauce gets too thick.
Hi Beth, I only have greek yogurt in the fridge, do you think that would work for this recipe?
Thanks in advance!
I’m not an expert on Indian food or anything, but to me this was a lot closer to chicken tikka masala than butter chicken. Don’t get me wrong, it was very tasty, but butter chicken tastes more, well, *buttery* and creamy whereas tikka masala has this “punch you in the face with a tomato” flavor. ;)
This is awesome, some of the best Indian food I have ever made. I followed it to the letter. Great job.
I have to also throw my two cents in about Penzeys. I’m fortunate enough to live near one of their stores, and curry and garam masala are two spices I will ONLY buy there. The reason is because I’ve had bad luck with store/generic brands, and brands like McCormick are more expensive than getting a big bag at Penzeys. Milder seasonings like parsley and oregano I’ve been fine cheaping out on, so I generally only get really pungent seasonings at Penzeys.
Hi Beth,
Stumbled upon this site last week and decided to try this first. I have tried a few butter chicken recipes and my husband hasn’t cared much for any of them – until this one. He (& I) loved it. I have been informed that I need to make it more often. I also made the homemade naan and he couldn’t believe it wasn’t from a store. Thanks, I’ll definitely be trying more of your recipes. :)
This turned out wonderfully. I served mine over basmati rice, because that is what I had on hand. If you actually want it to be hot spicy, I’d recommend upping the cayenne to 1/2 tsp or more. As written, the recipe is a pretty family-friendly amount of spicy (in my opinion). I also added some ground coriander, which is common in indian cuisine and complemented the dish nicely. The cilantro is not to be omitted! It adds a great depth of flavor at the end.
I’m sure my boyfriend is going to flip out when he tries this. He LOOOOVES indian food. :)
I found this recipe in the Penzey’s spice catalog and made it this week. I had some garam masala that I had made a while pack. Tossed some grape tomatoes into the mini-cuisinart to make a quick tomato slurry. We thought the flavors were really good. The dish would be company-worthy, if your company likes spicey food. Tonight I served the leftovers with a salad of red lettuce, orange segments and avocado and it went so well with the chicken.
Great recipe! It’s similar to what I throw together for quick indian chicken curries.
I didn’t see this mentioned yet, but the following company (or two companies, run by two guys that know each other, on opposite ends of the US) has the best quality + price for spices they have in stock: http://www.sfherb.com (SF Herb Company) or http://www.atlanticspice.com (Atlantic Spice Co). One’s in CA and one’s in the Northeast, so pick whichever is closest to you, as they have very similar products and prices (which are cheap – 2-5x cheaper than Penzey’s – Penzey’s us good if you’re used to supermarket spice prices and staleness but not if you want bulk prices on fresh stuff). Great bulk cocoa too ($5-6/lb or so last I checked).
For the few spices the above places don’t carry (Hungarian paprika, malagueta peppercorns, etc), I use http://www.thespicehouse.com (Chicago). Anyway, hope this helps :)
For the Canadians: Bulk Barn is the best! The ones that I’ve been to have a large range of spices, and they are super-cheap. Under a dollar to fill a spice jar that you’d pay five dollars for at the grocery store!
Are there bulk stores in America? They’re a great place to get dry goods in general :)
If there is a Meijer around you, I paid a little over $3 for 200g of garam masala! I am making this in my Crockpot tonight for tomorrow’s lunch– I left out the yogurt and premelted the butter in a pan.. then tossed everything into my Crockpot. I’m going to cook it on low for around 8 hours and then stir in the yogurt in the morning! Thanks for the great recipe, (And the referral, @NTKOG!)!
I made this last night!! I mistakenly put in too much garam masala, and I THOUGHT I had yogurt but had fat free sour cream instead, but it was still delish! Heated it up for dinner tonight too!
OMG I made Not Butter Chicken today and it was super tasty. I looooove your blog, I know I have said that before but your blog is so helpful and the instructions are so clear. The pictures are great too. I made the Dal Nirvana and it was great as well. Good job and I’ve been making all my dinners based on your recipes. :) It’s so great for a college student like me who is cooking for her bf and herself. :)