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Instant Pot Butter Chicken

This butter chicken has the best flavor and is so easy to make in your pressure cooker! A family favorite!

Course Main Course
Servings 6
Author Adell

INGREDIENTS

Rice

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1 3/4 cup water (or chicken broth can be used for extra flavor)

Butter Chicken

  • 1/4 cup butter (salted)
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced (white or yellow)
  • 1 small bell pepper, diced small (red or green, optional)
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste (or freshly grated)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • salt & ground pepper to taste
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes (use crushed if you want a smoother texture)
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth (or 1/2 cup water + 1 teaspoon better than bullion)
  • 1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken breasts cut into small 1" cubes
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • fresh cilantro, chopped
  • naan bread

INSTRUCTIONS

Rice

  1. You can cook the rice while the chicken is in the instant pot or before and keep warm. Rinse the rice well (can also soak for 30 minutes if time allows). Put 1 3/4 cup water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil and add the rice. When it returns to a boil, turn to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes until cooked. 

Butter Chicken

  1. In a small bowl, measure the garam masala, turmeric, cumin, smoked paprika, & cayenne pepper and set aside. 

  2. In a 6 quart pressure cooker (such as an Instant Pot), turn on the sauté setting. Add the butter, onion and bell pepper. Cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the minced garlic & ginger paste. Stir for 30 seconds then add the bowl of spices you pre-measured and stir for 30 more seconds.

  3. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Lastly add the diced chicken. Set the cooker to manual setting for 10 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, measure the cream & add the flour. Whisk together and set aside. When it is finished cooking, do a quick-release. Turn it to sauté again and add the cream mixture, stirring frequently until thickened (about 2 minutes). 

  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with chopped cilantro and  serve with rice & warm naan bread if desired.

Recipe Notes

A few notes:

I love to use ginger paste. It's 1:1 ratio when it calls for fresh ginger and is so much easier! I also used minced garlic, cause I have a huge container from Costco and the work is done, but if you want to use fresh, feel free!

You can use crushed tomatoes or diced tomatoes. I used fire roasted diced because thats what I had. I liked them but also, they will hold their shape even when cooked. My kids don't love the small chunks, so I'd suggest petite or crushed if you're not into that :). 

I used a green pepper (again, because I had one on hand) but a red would be wonderful in this dish too. Also, you can leave the pepper out if preferred.