Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
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10000x better (and faster) than take-out! And the chicken is perfectly tender with the creamiest, most flavor-packed sauce ever!
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WHAT IS CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA?
Tikka masala is a very popular Indian dish (that may have actually originated from Great Britain) that consists of boneless chicken in a spiced curry sauce of tomatoes, cream, and traditional Indian spices such as garam masala and turmeric.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
- Cook the rice. Let’s get the rice going first so it can cook while we prep everything else. Now we love this over basmati rice but Jasmine rice can be substituted.
- Brown the chicken. Cook the chicken until nice and golden brown – we want a good sear to lock in all the flavors and juices inside the meat.
- Add your spices. Stir in all your spices and aromatics until fragrant – tomato paste, garlic, ginger, garam masala, chili powder and turmeric.
- Make the sauce. Simmer simmer simmer to let all the flavors blend together, about 10 minutes.
- Serve. Stir in heavy cream and sprinkle with cilantro, serving over rice and naan.
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR SUCCESS
- Use chicken thighs. Chicken breasts are great as a leaner protein source, but chicken thighs will be more tender and juicier due to its higher fat content.
- Add the cream slowly. Always add the heavy cream at the very end, pouring very slowly to prevent curdling.
- Serve with naan. Serve with all the naan for dipping, sopping and dunking!
- Make it dairy-free. For a dairy-free version, swap the heavy cream for coconut milk.
what to serve with chicken tikka masala
Easy Chicken Tikka Masala: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) has one of the highest fat contents with about 36-40% fat. Half and half or whole milk are suitable substitutes, but will yield a lighter result.
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers without the heavy cream in individual freezer bags, thaw overnight, and reheat on the stovetop, adding heavy cream when serving.
Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Season chicken with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Heat vegetable oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chicken and onion to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in tomato paste, garlic, ginger, garam masala, chili powder and turmeric until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in tomato sauce and chicken stock; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in heavy cream until heated through, about 1 minute.
- Serve immediately with rice, garnished with cilantro, if desired.
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I am brand new to Indian cuisine. I want to make some recipes to go with Basmati rice. This one sounds interesting.
Can you substitute the Canola oil with another oil, e.g. grape seed oil or olive oil? Also, is the heavy cream really necessary? Can you substitute something else for the heavy cream?
I have never cooked with ginger before. How do you prepare fresh ginger? Do you have to peel and grate it? Would ground ginger in a jar work just as well? Is there a specific type of chilli powder or flakes you recommend?
I’m not a pro but I do often use olive oil. Have never tried with anything but heavy cream but maybe coconut milk would do. It’s a very small amount of heavy cream but it help the tomato mellow out some in my opinion. Also what gives the beautiful orange color.
I would say the fresh ginger will make a difference. Just scrape off the peel and grate it finely.
Just plain ground chili powder is what I use form McCormick.
We love adding fresh cilantro and warm naan bread. Hope you enjoy!
Hi misty, I didn’t have heavy cream, so I used a cup of greek yogurt and half a cup of milk.
I felt like something in my curry was off, but couldn’t put my finger on it. It might have been this. But I didn’t feel like it wasn’t creamy enough. I bet this recipe would have been a 5 star at my table if I had followed the directions.
My husband and I love this recipe and we make it about every other week! There is absolutely no need for us to go to an Indian restaurant ever again. The only tweak I make is to add one tablespoon of sriracha sauce, just for more spice. I also like it with tortillas instead of naan because I always have tortillas on hand. But again, LOVE this recipe!
This was simply perfect! I can never get enough Indian takeout this however might fix that!
We do Christmas around the world every year. This year was Indian Food. My daughter loves Chicken Tikka Masala so I followed this recipe. It turned out delicious and my family wants this dish as part of our Christmas dinner every year! Thank you for sharing this easy recipe.
This is literally my husband’s favorite dinner and it’s a regular in our dinner rotation. It’s been a hit for meal trains and potlucks. We love making a double recipe and freezing half (just leaving out the cream). Thank you for this!!
Do you think I could make the sauce as directed and then add cubed rotisserie chicken? I know it would not be quite the same but hopefully acceptable
Not too bad, I didn’t have garam masala so I had to improvise . I think I used too much ginger the spices were a bit too heavy.
I loved this (and so many of your recipes!)!!! Thanks for another hit 🙂
We loved this recipe, easy and full of flavour. My husband has been raving about it for days
This is absolutely delicious! My husband says it is better than take out from a restaurant!!
Soo good! Ready to follow instructions and simple ingredients… most of which I already had on hand.
Thanks for sharing your recipe. Is the chili powder you mention chili powder like the southern western mix including cumin and chile powder or is it pure chile powder like Kashmiri chile powder?
Made it last night and it was wonderful. I have a Pinterest board of my husband’s favorite meals and he said to please add this recipe to his board. Easy to make and packed with flavor. Thank you.
Hello I’m from Australia what is a can of tomato sauce please?
I believe Australians call Ketchup tomato sauce. Is that right? Tomato sauce is crushed tomatoes with seasoning in a can. I couldn’t find what it is called for you though.
Tinned tomato sauce is made from fresh tomatoes that have been pureed into a sauce sans the seeds. Name brands here in the U.S. include Hunts for example. You can also buy tinned crushed tomatoes. I have not made this recipe, although I plan to do, but I would add some crushed tomatoes to it to give it more texture. Any time you see “canned tomatoes” or “canned beans” or “canned carrots,” etc., it just means they come in tins, but in the U.S., they call them cans instead of tins. Hope this helps.
In Australia, you would call this passata, I believe. Definitely not not not what you call tomato sauce! Totally different things.
I’ve made this a few times and it is sooooo tasty, and easy/fast. I only add half a tsp chili powder since I have toddlers, and it still has a kick!
So simple but has rich flavors. My son and I love it!
Huge fan of your blog for a while now. Many of your recipes are a staple in my house.
This one joined the rotation. Simply amazing and BETTER then take-out.
Thank you! 🙂
Delicious, quick with straightforward recipe. Instantly applauded by family. Thank you
Made this exactly as instructed and it came out fantastic!
Yes, this recipe rocked! Easy, quick, really tasty.
We did marinade the chicken in yogurt, lemon, & spices, not sure if it made a big difference. Perhaps the lemon was noticeable; there was a little tang in the background.
We also added a little mint at the end with the cilantro; that was really nice.
Will definitely use this recipe again!
It tastes like I got it at a restaurant! I only used 1tsp of garam masala, as I don’t prefer those “sweet” spices & added an additional 1/2 teaspoon of the chili. Used freshly grated ginger, I was worried the ginger would be too strong but it was fine. I have a lactose intolerant eater so initially I left off the cream. It was great (& even better when I added the cream to my own bowl)! My try coconut milk next time for the lactose issue.