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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Absolutely delicious
I lowered the garam marsala and added cumin and cayenne. I also switched to tomatoe puree to make thicker.
Had my doubts about this recipe. We live fairly close to a world-class Indian restaurant in DC but it has been closed because of COVID and we haven’t ventured into takeout yet. Wow! It turned out great. After reading some of the reviews, I made some minor adjustments. I used only about 10 oz of tomato sauce (15 seemed too much for our taste), used white meat chicken (my husband doesn’t eat dark meat), and added a few dashed of paprika and coriander seed. It was so incredibly easy and terrifically tasty. It will definitely be a permanent part of my dinner rotation.
Another one of your delicious recipes. I was sad to find that it is not in you cook book.
This was excellent! My package of chicken thighs was 2.4 lbs, so I doubled the sauce. My 8- and 10-year-old sons were already fighting over who lets leftovers for lunch! I used light cream, might try half-and-half next time.
So easy to follow and tastes just like what I order at the restaurant. Thank you!
This was AMAZING!! So much better than ordering takeout. Does this recipe freeze well? I would love to make a big batch and freeze some.
This was spot on!! I’ll be making this weekly now. I don’t understand the comments about it tasting like tomato sauce. Did they not add the spices, or let it simmer long enough? Thank you for sharing your amazing recipes!!!
Laurie
Turned out Delicious. Vegetaians: Smash up jackfruit for a good substitute. Possibly tofu or tempeh. Shrimp? I added peas and chopped asparagus near the end. It was yummy. I’m going to freeze some and eat later sine I made a double batch.
Loved the flavors, mine turned out very thick. Maybe I should have added more chicken stock. My husband does not like spicy so deleted the chili powder. I used half and half.
This was good, but I felt like something was still missing. The sauce tasted more like tomato sauce to me than Tikka Masala.
Made this bc cant find in any restaurants here, next time I make im going to tweek it a bit. By lowering the garam marsala by 1/2 tsp. And add 1 tsp cumin
Best chicken tikka recipes and literally I have tried many!
A good base recipe, but if you eat & cook Indian food regularly, you will want to double the spice in the recipe and add more spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne) for it to really taste like tikka masala. Otherwise as-is this recipe just tastes like tomato sauce. Delicious after doctoring it though!
Totally agree. But it’s a wonderful base like you said.
First time that I have done this dish and it does taste better than a takeaway it is the best I have had.
The taste is so delicious and the chicken is so tender, this is the one give the guest.
Made this recipe last night… holy smokes this is fantastic! Better than take out! Great blend of flavors, not too heavy and just delicious. Very quick and easy recipe for a week night. Definitely putting it in our regular dinner ideas.
I added a dash of cayenne pepper. The recipe was delicious; I love all your dishes, especially the garlic noodles!
Delicious; I love every one of your recipes.
So good. Followed the recipe exactly, but added extra heat with cayenne pepper in my own bowl.
Came out awesome i loved it thank you for the recipe.