Butter Chicken Gordon Ramsay Recipe

Indian Butter Chicken, or Chicken Makhani, is a curry dish similar to Tikka Masala and is one of the most popular curries on any Indian restaurant menu.

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*Post updated January 2026

Aromatic and full of flavour, this is one of the best sweet curries and is a firm favourite in this house.

Murgh makhani, chicken makhani or Indian butter chicken, whichever you prefer to call it!

Makhani is the Indian term for butter chicken. According to Wikipedia, the word “Makhani” means “with butter” in Indian languages. This name became part of Indian cuisine during the Mughal era in India.

It is now used in the names of several dishes from Punjabi cuisine.

I've slightly altered the original recipe because I've discovered a couple of shortcuts, but fear not, it tastes just the same 😋 Hopefully, I've made it easier to follow.

The rich tomato butter sauce has been perfected by Gordon Ramsay - seriously, you just want to keep on eating it.

I have to say, Gordon Ramsay's recipe is absolutely amazing. I've been watching his 'Great Escape' program on TV, and it's fantastic!

You can still buy Great Escape Gordon Ramsay book on Amazon.

Okay, the list of ingredients is quite long, but they are mostly spices, and I will say it is so worth making.

This is one TASTY curry! 😋

However, when the book Great Escapes was published, I thought something was wrong with the butter chicken recipe.

Because in the TV programme, he was talking about the butter chicken he had there.

Gordon said: It doesn't taste tart like it's been laced with tomato puree; it uses fresh tomatoes.

This is quite strange, as the book calls for 275ml of tomato puree but doesn’t mention fresh tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, or even passata.

But with that said, I know in the USA, tomato puree is known as tomato paste.

So, perhaps it's just a misunderstanding by whoever wrote the recipe for the book.

Tomato paste in the UK is very different from tomato puree; confusing, or what?! 😐

So, there I was, everything ready to go, until I noticed the amount of tomato puree.

Not only would the dish have been very bitter, but there would also have been hardly any sauce at all. I used a good-quality tin of tomatoes.

With all that in mind, I set about looking up different recipes on the net, and the end result is my very much 'titivated' version of Gordon Ramsay's Indian Butter Chicken.

My top tip on tinned tomatoes

I prefer the brand Mutti; yes, they are a bit expensive, but look how amazing they are. 😍

They're available in Tesco, Sainsbury's or Waitrose and, in my opinion, you can't beat them.

Ingredients

• chicken fillets 

• garlic

• ginger 

•  TOTAL Greek 5% Natural Yoghurt

•  hot chilli powder

• ground cumin

• ground turmeric

• garam masala

• fine sea salt

• vegetable oil 

Sauce ingredients

• unsalted butter

•  garlic cloves 

• ginger 

• cardamom pod 

• whole cloves

• ground coriander

• ground turmeric

• garam masala

• hot chilli powder

• tomato purée (tomato paste if you're in the US)

• finely chopped tinned tomatoes

• runny honey 

• lemon juice

• green bird's eye chillies - left whole and pierced with a knife 

• double (heavy) cream 

You can find the full recipe details in the printable recipe card below. 😉

Marinate the chicken.

Make the sauce.

Part-cook the chicken in a griddle pan.

Add the chicken to the sauce.

Add the butter and cream.

Serve with naan bread and rice; we especially like Jeera Rice.

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

butter chicken Gordon Ramsay, Indian butter chicken, chicken makhani,

dinner, main, curry

Indian

Yield: 2-4

Author: Jan Bennett

Butter Chicken Gordon Ramsay

Butter chicken or chicken makhani recipe. Easy to make and totally delicious!

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 5 M

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 2 nice fat chicken fillets cut into biggish bite-sized pieces (3cm). Use 3 fillets if you want to serve 4 people
• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and very finely chopped
• 2 cm ginger - peeled and very finely chopped
• 4 heaped tablespoons (just enough to coat the chicken) I use Fage TOTAL Greek 5% Natural Yoghurt
• 1½ teaspoons hot chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• a pinch of fine sea salt
• a little vegetable oil for brushing

For the sauce

• 30g plus 40g of melted unsalted butter
• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and very finely chopped
• 2 cm ginger - peeled and very finely chopped
• 1 cardamom pod - seeds only and lightly crushed
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 2 teaspoons hot chilli powder - or to taste, remember you can add more towards the end if needed
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée (tomato paste if you're in the US)
• 400g (14 oz) can of finely chopped good-quality tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of runny honey - or to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 green bird's eye chillies - left whole - each one pierced 6 times using a knife
• 100ml double (heavy) cream

To serve

• chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves only

Instructions

Prepare the chicken

1. Put the yoghurt in a bowl with the garlic, ginger, salt, chilli powder, garam masala, turmeric and cumin.
2. Stir everything together, then add the chicken, ensuring each piece is thoroughly coated.
3. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Remove from the fridge 15 minutes before cooking.

Meanwhile make the sauce

1. Melt 30g of butter in a large frying pan, toss in the garlic and ginger, and fry for about a minute. Then add the cardamom seeds, cloves, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala, and chilli powder. Give it all a good stir and cook for another 1–2 minutes, until the spices release their wonderful aroma.
2. Add the whole green chillies, making sure to pierce each one with a knife so they can release their heat into the dish. Stir in the tomato purée and lemon juice and cook for another few minutes.
3. Add the can of tomatoes with their juice and stir in the honey. If necessary, use a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes so the sauce is nice and smooth.

Cook the chicken

1. Thread the chicken pieces onto metal skewers, drizzle with a little vegetable oil and cook in a hot grill pan.
2. Don’t cook them all the way through, as they’ll finish cooking in the sauce—fully cooking them now will make the chicken dry!

To finish the dish

1. Add the chicken to the sauce and cook until it’s fully done and the sauce has thickened nicely. Keep the heat low and let it simmer gently, as boiling can make the chicken tough.
2. Take the sauce off the heat and let it cool for about 5 minutes. While it’s cooling, fish out the chillies and track down the two cloves—if left in, someone might bite into one and risk breaking a tooth—so be sure to take them out!
3. By now, the sauce should have cooled slightly; if not, it may curdle. Add the remaining butter (40g) and stir, then pour in the cream, stirring continuously until fully melted.
4. Return the pan to the heat and cook until everything is piping hot. Taste and adjust with more honey, chilli, then serve immediately topped with chopped coriander.

Notes

I really recommend you use double cream (heavy) if you're in the US otherwise if you use single cream the sauce is far more likely to curdle.

https://www.aglugofoil.com/2010/01/indian-butter-chicken-murgh-makhani.html

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