Creamy Chicken Tikka Masala
Looking for a fantastic Indian dish? This chicken tikka masala will not disappoint! The creamy, flavor-packed spicy sauce is phenomenal.
Another fabulous recipe recommendation from family – this time from my brother, Nate, and his wife, Kylie.
I really love Indian food and have been looking for a great Indian Chicken Tikka recipe and this did not disappoint!
It was so delicious. The creamy, flavor-packed spicy sauce was fantastic – I was literally licking my plate, it was so good, and I couldn’t wait to horde the leftovers for myself the next day.
When Kylie made it for my brother, he loved it so much, he requested it again two days later.
I’ve edited the recipe to cut down on the heat factor – since I want my children to love me and eat what I make for dinner. As written below, the dish is flavorful with a tiny, tiny little hint of heat but not spicy-spicy. Add more cayenne pepper to the marinade if you like to kick things up a notch (or twelve).
What To Serve With This:
Baked Brown Rice
Steamed peas or broccoli, or this Curried Cauliflower Popcorn
Fresh fruit
Creamy Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
MARINADE:
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips or chunks
FOR THE MASALA:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup cream
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- For the marinade, combine all ingredients except chicken. Pour sauce over chicken and refrigerate for one hour or up to 8 hours. Grill or cook chicken in frying pan. Discard marinade.
- For the masala, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for one minute. Season with cumin, paprika and salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream.
- Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh cilantro. Serve over hot rice.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Nate and Kylie
123 Comments on “Creamy Chicken Tikka Masala”
First of all, I LOVE you and all your recipes! I’m a long time user and recommend you to everyone.
I’m getting ready to send my oldest off to college in a few weeks and we are looking for good instant pot meals to test out before she goes. Do you think this could be made in an instant pot similar to your Indian butter chicken recipe? Or would the yogurt do something funny?
Thanks!!
I’m worried this sauce might be too thick (not enough thin liquid like broth) for the instant pot?
More indian food Recipes please!!! Habenaro mango!!! You need some Habanero sauce recipes.
This recipe is yummy!!! It’s become one of our family favorites.❤️
Hi! I was wondering if you think I could sub sour cream for the yogurt in the marinade? I don’t have yogurt but have plenty of sour cream. Thanks!
Yes, I think so!
Just wanted to review this recipe, we’ve used it for years and love it!!
Cooking on the grill is delicious but so much more time consuming with the Skewers! Since rediscovering the sautéing in pan method, we’ve made this 300% more often! A great way to make pantry ingredients come together for something delicious.
Authentic, schmauthentic. Who cares when it’s this dang delicious
Wow, this stuff is amazing, Mel! I’ve never had Chicken Tikka Masala before, but I’ve seen jarred sauces for it over the years and always wanted to try it. I finally raked myself into it, and I’m so glad I did! Everyone scraped their plates clean, even the 3 year old,
I doubled everything, but kept the jalapeno and cayenne as written since I didn’t want it to be too much heat for the kids. I also gave a few of them a little dollop of yogurt on top as other commenters suggested, and that worked out perfectly. This is absolutely a keeper recipe! Thanks so much for sharing these goodies with us, Mel. 🙂
*raked=talked
Auto correct hates me sometimes, and I didnt catch that in time. Grrr. :/
This is one of my favorite recipes of your, Mel. I never thought I would be able to make delicious Indian food myself but with this recipe I can’t fail! Thank you! Even my 18 month old twins like the sauce on rice:)
The whole family cheers when we make this one, Mel! It makes regular appearances on a monthly menu that doesn’t have much redundancy. Making it for a family shindig tomorrow and can’t wait for them to try it. Thanks for yet another goodie!
Thanks, Brenley – so glad this one is a hit!
Mel, I would love to be able to add this recipe to my PrePear app!
Every time that I try, it gives me an error! Is there something that you have to do on your end to make it work?
Hmmm, I’m getting an error, too…let me ask tech support and I’ll get back to you!
Ok, Steph – this should be accessible in Prepear!
Should I put cling film over the chicken when it’s marinating in the fridge?
Yes, I would
Do you think I could substitute cream for coconut milk? If not, are there any other substitutions for cream?
I think so!
Love it! I’ve already made this three times in the past month and I can’t get enough of this masala. Absolutely delicious!
I’ve also added potatoes each time because I love potatoes in Indian food 🙂
I’m confused this is the recipe I usually use, but it’s different. Looks like aunt marilyn’s And Nate’s recipes got mixed up. Nate’s is under both posts…I use the recipe with almonds in it and love it dearly!
Hey Brandi – sorry about that. I’m having issues with that other post (a long, technical story). Here’s the recipe with almonds in the meantime while I get that post up and running again:
! MASALA MARINADE:
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
Salt and freshly ground pepper
! CHICKEN:
2 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs, fat trimmed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup blanched whole almonds
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons pure chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
One 35-ounce can crushed tomatoes, undrained
1 can tomato sauce
Pinch of sugar
1 cup heavy cream
MAKE THE MASALA MARINADE: In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cayenne and turmeric. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut chicken in 1 inch cubes. Add the chicken to the marinade, turn to coat and refrigerate overnight.
In a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil. Add the almonds and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a plate and let cool completely. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely ground.
In a large pot or deep skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garam masala, chile powder and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with their juices and the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the tomato mixture. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Add the cream and ground almonds and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 10 minutes longer. Garnish with cilantro.
I have made this several times now and continue to crave it. Sooo delicious!
I’ve made so many of your recipes from sweet to savory that I’ve lost count and every single one has come out perfect! But this is hands down my favorite thing in the world to make and eat! It is perfection . Thank you so much for sharing!
Thanks, Samantha!
Hi can I ask what is used for the tomato sauce, do you mean tomato ketchup like Heinz?
No, the tomato sauce I use is a very smooth tomato puree.
Delicious! I am dairy free right now so I used coconut milk for the yogurt and cream. Served it over brown rice with your lemon and garlic green beans from the ebook. It was like we were in a restaurant. 😉
I didn’t use a jalapeño, which would have made it better for the grown ups, but my 8 month old loved it this way.
I would love to try and make this in my slow cooker. Any suggestions of how to adapt it for it?
I haven’t tried it in the slow cooker so I’m not sure. You could try marinating the chicken and then tossing the chicken in the slow cooker with the sauce ingredients and cook on low for 6 hours or so? I’d add the cream at the end.
Dang. I thought I have all of the indredients, but I have sour cream not whipping cream. Is there a way to substitute?
I’m sure you could try it – just make sure the mixture doesn’t boil vigorously after adding the sour cream as sometimes it can curdle.
Is there a way to make this freezeable? Would you make it all and then freeze it? Or is there an Ingrid isn’t here that would make it a no go? I’m organizing a cooking coop and thought this would be a great dish to include.
Yes, I’d definitely make it all, let it cool and then freeze.
I made this for dinner tonight. I was dreaming about it all day while my chicken marinated. It was amazing. My husband isn’t a huge Indian food fan, but even he had to admit it was really good and polished off a large bowl!
Mel- have you ever made this recipe in the instant pot?
Not this one specifically but I’ve made other curries in the Instant Pot – I think it would work pretty well!
This was amazing! Strange combination of ingredients for Indian food but it worked wonderfully and my Indian food loving husband devoured it! Thank you!
Made this last night for dinner a little skeptical that it wouldn’t go over too well with picky eaters…it was a huge success! My youngest (9) thought it was a little spicy but other than that everyone was licking their plates!! I did use the green pepper and half and half. Thanks for another amazing dish!
Mel, I want to try this vegetarian style and was wondering what vegetables you thought would go well in the marinade. Any suggestions?
Potatoes and cauliflower come to mind…
I made this last night, and we really loved it! My 2-year-old even ate a whole bowl full! I doubled the tomato sauce and cream but left the spice quantities the same to “ease” my kids into the flavor (and because we really love sauce). I will definitely use green peppers instead of jalapenos next time as one reader suggested, just because I love the flavor of pepper but didn’t want to overdo it in the heat factor for the kids. Served over basmati rice. Thanks for the recipe!
This was a great recipe Mel! Thanks for sharing a recipe that didn’t require a lot of exotic ingredients and tasted fantastic! We made it with trader joes naan, palak paneer, and basmati rice. So good!
it is okay if i let the chicken marinate for more than 8 hours? or would it cause problems?
I would suggest not letting it marinate longer than 12 hours…sometimes the texture of the chicken can start to break down if left too long.
Hi Mel – in your other Chicken Tikka Masala recipe, it states to add the marinated (raw) chicken to the sauce and let it cook for 10 – 15 minutes till it’s cooked through. Can I do the same with this recipe, or do you not advise it?
Sally – I think as long as the chicken has time to cook through, it should be fine!
Hey Mel – I have two questions. Can I use vinegar instead of the lemon juice as I’m currently all out of lemons? And can I use paprika instead of cayenne? Cayenne is hard to find where I live so do you know something I can use instead of it?
Heather – Both of those variations are certainly worth a try although I’d go easy on the vinegar and add more to taste if needed. Good luck!
Hi Mel – I currently don’t have tomato sauce. Can I use a combination of tomato paste and water and use that instead?
Mary – Certainly worth a try – just keep an eye on how concentrated your homemade tomato sauce is and taste as you go.
Unfortunately I only had 1% milk and nonfat greek yogurt on hand, and they curdled! I tried thickening with some cornstarch but that didn’t work either. I tasted it but the curdles ruined the meal and the sauce was watery. Sadly I wasted some chicken and other ingredients on this. The spices smelled good though, so next time I will actually use cream or maybe coconut milk to prevent curdling.
I made this last night with naan and broccoli and it was such a hit! The jalapeno adds such an amazing flavor and spice to it. Everyone loved it. I was distracted by kiddos while making it though and didn’t realize I did it wrong- I poured all the chicken with the marinade into the saucepan, started cooking it, then added the jalapeno and garlic, then when it was almost cooked I added the cream and tomato sauce and simmered it for 20 mins like you said. So just so you know, you could omit a step and it still turns out amazing!!!! Thank you for all of your recipes, you are my #1 go-to cooking site!
Very good! It had just a little too much cumin for my liking but that’s definitely an easy fix for next time. I even made your naan recipe (my first time working with yeast!) and that was amazing! Thanks for the great recipes
For anyone interested in trying this in the slow cooker, just need to make a couple modifications. I’ve done it a few times both ways (as written and in the crockpot) and usually skip the marinating phase when I use the crockpot. But I like to integrate those flavors too, so I throw in about half as much of each of the marinade ingredients (except the yogurt) into the crockpot, along with all of the other non-dairy ingredients of the masala section. Sometimes I dice the chicken, sometimes I throw in whole frozen chicken breasts and then pull it out midway through to chop it up. Then in the last 30-60 minutes, I add in the half and half, allow it to heat up and serve. Total cooking time is about 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low. Also, if it’s too spicy for the kids, I stir a little yogurt into their servings. Easy easy and oh so good! Thanks Mel!
Made this tonight and I seriously am tempted to sneak back into the kitchen and eat another bowlful! Totally delicious- my husband loved it, too! Another great recipe I can thank you for! Thank you!
I’ve made this a couple times and really LOVE it!! I made this tonight for my parents who love Tikka Masala. And they absolutely loved it also!! I gave my dad the recipe and he’ll be making it again this week. 🙂
This was so yummy! My husband loves Indian food and absolutely loved this dish! He was so happy and said it was one of his favorite dinners I have made in a while. Thanks for sharing!!
I thought this might be too spicy, but my family gobbled this up. In fact, my husband was disappointed that there were no leftovers for lunch the next day. I did make an adjustment to the recipe – I added 1 tsp. sugar. It takes the acidic edge off the sauce. Thanks for another great recipe.
Made this the other night and was a definite hit! My husband went back for seconds and then later in the evening, I found him sneaking a bite of the leftovers straight out of the fridge! LOL Thanks again for another recipe that will become a regular at my house.
Hi, this is my first time commenting. Several of my friends love your recipes so I thought I would join the ride. This was so good! I ran our of regular paprika and had to substitute smoked paprika and it was so good! I have loved everything I’ve tried!! Thanks for being so good!
I licked the bowl. As a grown woman, I think that’s an accomplishment. Delicious, Mel–thanks!
This is our new favorite!! It is so yummy. Since we like the sauce, I do 2 cups of half-n-half, which saves on the calories and makes it a bit more saucy. Love it!!
Loved it! For Bennett’s 6th birthday he requested Indian food so I made this and your coconut curry dish along with naan. It was all divine! Of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday without a double chocolate mousse torte, right!? A very memorable and delicious meal!
Mel,
My son loves Indian food, little did I know, this is his favorite dish to order. He loved it! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. Love your site, I can always can find something different for dinner. Thank you again.