Why You’ll Love This this Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala
This creamy, aromatic curry brings all the snug comfort of your favorite Indian restaurant right to your own kitchen, and honestly, it might just taste better than takeout.
The rich tomato-cream sauce gets its deep, complex flavor from a perfect blend of garam masala and curry powder, while tender chunks of seasoned chicken practically melt in your mouth.
Plus, you can make this whole thing in about 30 minutes, which means you’ll have more time to enjoy every single bite over fluffy jasmine rice.
Ingredients List
You’ll need just a handful of simple ingredients to create this restaurant-quality curry that’ll have your kitchen smelling absolutely divine.
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 yellow onion, fine dice
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped fine
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
For the Chicken:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 6 chicken tenders or 3 boneless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
For Serving:
– 3 cups cooked jasmine rice
A Few Things to Keep in Mind:
- This recipe does pack quite a bit of richness with the butter and heavy cream, so it’s definitely more of a comfort food indulgence than a light weeknight meal
- You could swap in half-and-half or coconut milk if you want to lighten things up a bit, though the sauce won’t be quite as luxuriously thick
- The sodium content is pretty reasonable since we’re controlling the salt ourselves, unlike some restaurant versions that can be pretty heavy-handed
- All that garlic and those warming spices actually bring some nice anti-inflammatory benefits to the table
Step by Step Directions
This homemade chicken tikka masala comes together in three simple stages – making the sauce, cooking the chicken, and combining everything for a rich, flavorful curry. Whether you’re cooking at home or scaling up for restaurant service, having the right commercial kitchen equipment ensures consistent results every time.
Make the Sauce:
- In a sauce pan, add butter and diced onion, sweat over medium heat until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add garam masala and curry powder, mix well with onions and cook over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add tomato sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add heavy cream and cook over medium to medium-low heat until thickened, about 12-17 minutes.
Prepare the Chicken:
- Mix curry powder and salt together, then evenly coat chicken pieces.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add oil and chicken pieces.
- Cook chicken until cooked through with no pink inside.
Combine and Serve:
- Add the cooked chicken to the thickened sauce and mix well.
- Season to taste.
- Serve over cooked jasmine rice.
Substitutions and Variations
• Add vegetables like bell peppers, peas, or chunks of potato during the sauce-simmering stage.
It stretches the meal further and sneaks in some nutrients.
• Make it spicier by adding a diced jalapeño with the onions, or throw in some cayenne pepper with your spice mix.
Start small though, because you can always add heat but you can’t take it away.
• Greek yogurt mixed in at the very end instead of all cream creates a tangier, lighter sauce.
Just make sure to temper it first so it doesn’t curdle on you.
• Garam masala from scratch tastes incredible if you have whole spices lying around, but honestly, the store-bought stuff works just fine for most of us mere mortals.
Additional Things to Serve With This Dish
This creamy, spiced chicken deserves some equally delicious sidekicks to make it a proper feast.
- Naan bread or warm pita – because you absolutely need something to scoop up every last drop of that gorgeous sauce, and a fork just doesn’t cut it sometimes.
- Basmati rice pilaf with a few whole spices thrown in while it cooks, like a cinnamon stick or some cardamom pods, elevates plain rice into something special.
- Simple cucumber raita made with yogurt, diced cucumber, and a pinch of salt cools down your mouth between bites and adds a fresh crunch.
- Roasted vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, or Brussels sprouts work beautifully, especially if you toss them with a little curry powder before roasting.
- A basic green salad with lemon vinaigrette cuts through all that rich cream and gives your palate a little break.
- Pickled red onions – just thin slices soaked in vinegar with a touch of sugar – add a bright, tangy pop that pairs perfectly with the warm spices.
- Garlic bread mightn’t be traditional, but who’s keeping score when it tastes this good with curry sauce.
Cooking Tips & Tricks (Chef’s Notes)
A few little secrets can turn your chicken tikka masala from good to absolutely crave-worthy.
- Don’t rush the sauce base – let those onions get properly soft and sweet, because nobody wants crunchy bits interrupting their creamy curry dreams.
- Toast your spices for about 30 seconds before adding liquid, which wakes up all those sleepy flavors hiding in the powder.
- Cut your chicken into uniform pieces so everything cooks at the same rate, unless you enjoy playing Russian roulette with raw and overcooked bits.
- Let the sauce actually thicken before adding the chicken back in – it should coat the back of a spoon, not run off like water.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning at the very end, because curry powder can be moody and some brands pack more punch than others.
- Use room temperature cream when possible, since cold cream straight from the fridge can sometimes curdle when it hits that hot tomato base.
- Don’t overcook the chicken in the final step – it’s already cooked through, so just warm it gently in the sauce for a few minutes.
- Make it a day ahead if you can manage the self-control, because curry always tastes better the next day when all those spices have had time to mingle and become friends.
Nutritional Facts
Each serving of this chicken tikka masala (based on 4 servings) delivers a satisfying balance of protein, carbs, and rich flavors that’ll fuel your day.
- Calories: Approximately 650-700 per serving with rice
- Protein: 35-40g from the chicken tenders, making this a solid muscle-building meal
- Carbohydrates: 45-50g, mostly from the jasmine rice and tomato sauce
- Fat: 35-40g, primarily from the heavy cream and butter (the good stuff that makes it taste amazing)
- Fiber: 2-3g from the onions, tomatoes, and spices
- Sodium: 800-900mg, so go easy on extra salt if you’re watching your intake
- Sugar: 8-10g, naturally occurring from the tomatoes and onions
- Calcium: 150-200mg from the cream, giving your bones a little love
- Iron: 3-4mg from the chicken and spices, helping keep your energy levels up
- Vitamin A: Decent amount from the tomatoes and cream
- Vitamin C: Some from the tomatoes and onions, though cooking reduces it a bit
Fun “Did You Know?”
Despite being considered Britain’s national dish, chicken tikka masala likely wasn’t invented in India at all—most food historians credit a Bangladeshi chef in Glasgow, Scotland, who allegedly created it in the 1960s when a customer complained his chicken tikka was too dry.
The resourceful chef quickly added a creamy tomato-based sauce, and chicken tikka masala was born.
Today, it’s so popular in Britain that it outsells fish and chips.
I find it fascinating how this “Indian” dish actually represents the beautiful fusion of cultures that happens when people adapt recipes to new tastes and ingredients.
