This Instant Pot Indian Butter Chicken is super easy to make and so flavorful! With just the right amount of spice and a thick creamy tomato sauce, It’s perfect over cauliflower rice to keep it Paleo, Whole30, and keto friendly.
Today is an exciting day! Because not only do I have a new Instant Pot Indian Butter Chicken recipe, but I teamed up with a group of my favorite real-food bloggers to bring you a total of 6 (!!) brand new Whole30 recipes.
We all chose a specific type of pot/pan to create a delicious Whole30 recipe around. Sheet pan, crock pot, skillet, casserole, dutch oven, and instant pot! I can’t wait for you to try out every single one of them.
But first, let’s chat about this instant pot butter chicken. It’s simple, quick, and requires no marinating since the instant pot is great at blending all the flavors together. It’s saucy, a little spicy, packed with flavor, and great over cauliflower rice to keep it Whole30 compliant.
What You Need to Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken
With lots of savory Indian spices and a creamy dairy-free sauce, this butter chicken is delicious and also healthy. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs
- Sea salt
- Ghee
- Fresh garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Garam masala – you can find this Indian spice blend at most grocery stores, or purchase here.
- Coriander
- Cumin
- Smoked Paprika
- Crushed tomatoes
- Coconut cream, or full fat milk
- Fresh cilantro
How to Make Indian Butter Chicken in the Instant Pot
First, cut the chicken thighs into 2″ pieces and season all over with 1 tsp sea salt. I prefer using chicken thighs over breasts for Instant Pot and slow cooker recipes since they stay perfectly juicy and flavorful.
Next, sauté the garlic and ginger in the butter. Use the Instant Pot “saute” setting for this. Add in the remaining salt and spices and stir. Once toasted, press “cancel”.
Now it’s time to add in the crushed tomatoes. Stir well to deglaze the bottom of the pot – all those spices are down there!
Add the chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Then pressure cook (high pressure) for 5 minutes. Quick release the pressure, remove the lid, and use tongs to remove the chicken to a plate. This ensures it won’t overcook while you cook the sauce.
Return to sauté mode and cook the sauce until it thickens. Add in the coconut milk and stir, then return the chicken to the pot and stir to coat. All done! I love this with cauliflower rice to keep it Whole30 and low carb.
Can I Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken in a Regular Pot?
Yes, you can! You can do this in a dutch oven or large stock pot following the same instructions.
When it comes time to pressure cook, simply cook, covered, on the stovetop over medium heat until the chicken is cooked through. Then just continue on with the recipe as written. The chicken will need longer to cook on the stovetop than in the Instant Pot.
And now for more real-food, delicious and healthy Whole30 recipes from my good friends! Click on each title to go to the recipes 🙂
Buffalo Chicken Casserole with Cauliflower Rice via Wholesomelicious
Crockpot Lasagna Soup via Real Simple Good
Sweet Potato Sausage Hash via Real Food with Jessica
Sunday Afternoon Roasted Chicken Soup via The Wooden Skillet
Sheet Pan Beef and Broccoli via Mary’s Whole Life
I hope you’re ready to start with this Instant Pot Butter Chicken! Grab your instant pot and let’s cook!
Instant Pot Butter Chicken {Paleo, Whole30}
Instant Pot Butter Chicken {Paleo, Whole30}
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless cut into 2” pieces
- 2 tsp fine seal salt divided
- 1/4 cup ghee
- 4-6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger minced or grated
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup coconut cream or full fat milk
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish
Instructions
-
Season the chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon sea salt, set aside.
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Set Instant Pot to the saute setting on medium. Melt the ghee in the pot, add the garlic and ginger and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, about 2 minutes, switching to the low sauté setting if it begins to brown.
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Add the remaining 1 tsp salt, the paprika, garam masala, and curry powder. Cook, stirring, until the spices are toasted, about 1 minute, then press cancel.
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Add the crushed tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to deglaze and mix the spices in with the tomatoes. Add the chicken and stir to combine. Place the lid on the Instant Pot and seal to close. Set the machine to pressure cook on high and cook for 5 minutes.
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Quick release the pressure, open instant pot and with tongs, carefully remove just the chicken to a plate.
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Set the pot to sauté and cook the sauce until it reduces and thickens, abut 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add the coconut cream or milk to the sauce and stir to combine. Return the chicken to the pot and stir to coat completely with sauce.
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Garnish with cilantro, and serve chicken with lightly sautéed cauliflower rice and garnish with cilantro.
Recipe Notes
*I used a 6 QT instant pot for this recipe. If you have a larger pot, use an additional 1/2 cup of broth or water along with the crushed tomatoes to ensure enough liquid is in the pot.
Nutrition
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Want More Whole30 One-Pot Recipes? Try one of These!
Stuffed Pepper Soup in the Instant Pot
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Chicken
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with Sweet Potatoes
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The whole family (even the kids!) loved this recipe.
Your ingredient list calls for:
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric
You directions state:
Add the remaining 1 tsp salt, the paprika, garam masala, and curry powder. Cook, stirring, until the spices are toasted, about 1 minute, then press cancel.
Are you considering the ingredients in the list to be the “curry powder”?
I was making this tonight and just noticed that myself. Did you get any clarification? I wasn’t sure what to do.
Also looking for clarification. Thanks!
I’m not 100% sure, but I think when you combine the other spices, that gives you curry powder. I could be wrong…
Hi! This looks so delicious and warm on a cool night. Unfortunately I’m one of those odd people that don’t have one. Don’t suppose you could tell me how to convert it to a slow cooker or the stove top? I know you can’t please everyone and you obviously meant this as an instant pot recipe, but if you have the time-I’d really appreciate it.
HI This looks delish! I want to do it in a slow cooker – how long shall I leave it in for?
Thanks!
I did it 4 hours on low and it turned out perfect!
This dish is so DELISH ?!! The flavors are amazing! I was eating just the sauce with a spoon ?
Where’s the curry on the list of ingredients? Maybe a mistake on the cumin or coriander? Not listed when to add them….
Made this tonight. Flavors were delicious. It’s so nice to have tasty Indian food while I’m on my Whole 30.
The instructions say curry powder but it doesn’t list the amount? Looking forward to making this, I have loved all your recipes.
Best butter chicken recipe I have tried in my instant pot! So flavorful and yummy!
This was delicious! My husband is Indian and I have cooked with his mother for years. This was very close to hers. I added a tsp of brown sugar and a tsp of sriracha. My husband was blown away!
This may be a stupid question, but to double the recipe do I actually double the ingredients? I have done this in the past with some recipes and it didn’t workout well. Not sure why.
can you use chicken breast instead?
Any thoughts on either freezing all of the ingredients (uncooked – minus coconut milk) for crock pot meal prep or freezing prepared dish?
Did anyone ever give you insight to this? I would love to have it in the freezer for a go to meal. Should I cook it all first and then freeze?
Loved this! We order Indian food once per week and I’m loving trying out new Indian recipes. And Whole 30 to boot! My 9 year old daughter loved it as well. Perfect with the cauliflour rice!
I would bathe in this sauce… So, so, so yummy! It was easy too. I love to pack in extra veggies, so I would maybe add spinach or broccoli for extra veg, but it is so great!
Wow! What a great recipe, and so easy!! I have never had authentic butter chicken, but my husband has. And he said this recipe is the real deal!! He loved it, and so did I!! So fast and easy in the IP. You need to make it!!
I should have read the comments before I made this. Directions mention curry powder, no curry powder in ingredients list. Winging it here. This is what I get for trusting a recipe based on blogger and not reading thoroughly through the recipe first.
Anyone who gives this recipe 5 stars definitely did not make the recipe as written.
There is a discrepancy in the ingredient list vs the instructions that I wish I had read other comments before attempting this recipe. Instead, I trusted the rating and the fact that I have made other delicious Paleo Running Mama recipes before.
My second mistake was not reading through the instructions prior to making this recipe, as I would have quickly recognized that this would not work based on the ingredient list.
Third, unfortunately, making this recipe with the ingredients listed is definitely not anywhere near a Butter Chicken. As I have difficulty with dairy, I was really hoping this recipe would allow me to enjoy as close to a Butter Chicken as possible but I was sorely mistaken.
Those spices make up curry powder- that is why she says add curry (2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp turmeric)
Just finished making this. I don’t have an instant pot so I followed the instructions on my stove top. Unbelievably delicious!
really nice thanks for sharing. also we providing franchise offer for kumbakonam filter coffee in all over tamil nadu.
made it stove top, so good, 12 year old boys love it; likened it to the one from costco!
Another delicious PRM recipe! The spices are confusing for sure, plus, it took more than 20 mins for my sauce to thicken on high heat sauté. Overall, the outcome was tasty and a big hit served with rice and naan (for those in the house not on the Whole30, of course).
Can you freeze this recipe? If I’m making for a future whole30, do I cook and then freeze or freeze before cooking?
Made this once. Really enjoyed it. Added diced onions the next time and cooked them in the ghee while I cut up everything else so we could have a little more veggies when we used quinoa instead of riced cauliflower. So good! My preschooler loved seeing all the different spices going in (and smelling them).
This was so easy and delicious. The kids had double helpings.
really super thanks for sharing this…..
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The ingredients list doesn’t call for curry powder, but the directions do. Can you clarify?