Butter Chicken in the Instant Pot

Use the instant pot for a quick and easy version of the Indian dish Butter Chicken. You can have delicious dinner on the table in one hour.

I’ve never been one to eat much traditional Indian food. Usually, it’s spicy and spicy foods don’t agree with me. But, when I heard about butter chicken, I wanted to give it a try. I love cream sauce. And butter chicken is covered in a tomato and cream sauce.

Oh, and of course, there’s butter. Lots of butter. I’m a Southern girl, I like a lot of butter!

Traditionally, the chicken is marinated for hours in the spices. It’s also usually cooked in a clay oven. But I don’t have one of those.

But I do have an instant pot pressure cooker! And I’ve been learning to use it more and more lately. I like that it’s versatile, so I can melt the butter and prepare the sauce on a saute setting. Then set it to pressure cook to finish the meal quickly.

The only reason I had to use a second kitchen gadget was to cook the rice. It’s not necessary, but the sauce was delicious with the rice, so I highly recommend it! I used my rice steamer to cook the rice while the instant pot cooked the chicken.

Butter Chicken Step by Step

Ingredients

• 9 tbsp salted butter
• 2 lb chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 cups white rice
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preparation

Gather the ingredients for your butter chicken.

Set the instant pot to the saute setting and melt 6tbsp of butter. Add the chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side. The chicken will start to brown but won’t be cooked in the middle.

Add the ginger, curry powder, garlic, cumin, salt, turmeric, cayenne, tomatoes, and onion to the instant pot.

Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, start the rice if you are using a rice steamer.

Let the instant pot stand for 15 minutes after cooking to slowly release the pressure. After 15 minutes, manually release any remaining pressure. Open the lid and stir in the cream and remaining 3 tbsp of butter.

Remove the chicken from the pan and set the instant pot to saute to bring the sauce to a boil. Stir occasionally while boiling for 5-7 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Serve the butter chicken over the cooked rice smothered with the tomato cream sauce.

Leftovers

I kept the cooked rice and chicken separate from the sauce in a divided container. This way the sauce didn’t saturate the rice when it was in the refrigerator. To reheat, I placed everything in the microwave until it was warm. This took about a minute. You could also mix it all in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring often.

Recipe

Butter Chicken in the Instant Pot

Use the instant pot for a quick and easy version of the Indian dish Butter Chicken. You can have delicious dinner on the table in one hour.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Pressure Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Course:

Main Dish

Cuisine:

American

|

Indian

Keyword:

chicken

|

heavy cream

|

instant pot

|

tomato

Dietary Needs:

Egg-Free

|

Nut-Free

Meat:

Chicken/Turkey

Cooking Method:

Instant Pot

Servings: 6

5 from 1 vote

Ingredients

• 9 tbsp salted butter
• 2 lb chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 14.5 oz diced tomatoes (undrained)
• 1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 cups white rice
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Recommended Equipment

• Instant Pot
• Rice Steamer

Instructions

• Set the instant pot to the saute setting and melt 6tbsp of butter
• Add the chicken and cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side
• Add the ginger, curry powder, garlic, cumin, salt, turmeric, cayenne, tomatoes, and onion to the instant pot
• Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, start the rice if you are using a rice steamer
• Let the instant pot stand for 15 minutes after cooking to slowly release the pressure
• After 15 minutes, manually release any remaining pressure
• Open the lid and stir in the cream and the remaining 3 tbsp of butter
• Remove the chicken from the pan and set the instant pot to saute to bring the sauce to a boil
• Stir occasionally while boiling for 5-7 minutes to thicken the sauce
• Serve the butter chicken over the cooked rice smothered with the tomato cream sauce

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Nutrition Facts

Butter Chicken in the Instant Pot

Amount Per Serving (1 g)

Calories 642 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Fat 29g45%

Saturated Fat 16g80%

Cholesterol 169mg56%

Sodium 345mg14%

Potassium 826mg24%

Carbohydrates 55g18%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 38g76%

Vitamin A 986IU20%

Vitamin C 9mg11%

Calcium 77mg8%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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