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Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Our Instant Pot version of classic Indian butter chicken is rich and flavorful, but its creaminess doesn’t come from a flood of dairy, as is commonly the case. Instead, we give curry its requisite velvetiness with cashews (pureed in a blender with water) and only 3 tablespoons of butter (2 tablespoons are added early, and 1 tablespoon at the finish). For best flavor, use roasted salted cashews rather than raw. The chopped cilantro is added at the end, so to save time and ensure it remains fresh and fragrant, prep it while the chicken cooks. Serve with basmati rice or warm naan.
Editorial Note: This recipe was developed for the Instant Pot. For the version that employs the broiler and stovetop, see Butter Chicken.
4 to 6
Servings
Tip
Don't bother washing out the blender between pureeing the cashews and tomatoes; you can leave the tomato puree in the blender jar until ready to use to avoid dirtying another bowl.
FAST: 1 hour
Slow: 3½ to 4½ hours
25 minutes active
Ingredients
-
1
cup roasted salted cashews
-
14½
ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
Directions
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01In a blender, puree the cashews and ¾ cup water until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl; set aside if pressure cooking or cover and refrigerate if slow cooking. In the now-empty blender, puree the tomatoes with their juices until smooth, about 1 minute. On a 6-quart Instant Pot, select Normal Sauté. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and melt. Add the onion and 1 teaspoon salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin and chili powder; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken and tomato puree, then distribute in an even layer.
Reviews
August 24, 2026
Irene K.
Can I have the original recipe of the Fast and slow chicken? I misplaced my book when we moved and still looking for it. Thank you
July 27, 2026
Gabby
Is it possible to give a traditional method also for these recipes?
July 20, 2026
Very good
Added collard greens, v good.
September 9, 2025
Fabulous
The mouthfeel of the sauce was amazing, so rich and without a heavy hand of dairy. Thank you Milk Street team.
August 11, 2025
Did this recipe change?
I think this used to have honey, lime, 28 oz of tomatoes, and a full 1/4 cup of garam masala. Can we change this recipe back to what it was? It was amazing before.
We continued to get a “burn” error on our instant pot ultra with this recipe, even with dumping the contents out and scraping the bottom clean between errors. Any suggestions?
I got the same. This is not unusual with tomato-based sauces. In my case, I tried it again and it worked OK the second time. I would suggest adding maybe 1/2 cup of water before pressure cooking. That should thin out the liquid enough to stop it from burning. Then you can cook it on low saute (or medium saute) for longer than the recipe says -- maybe 10 minutes instead of 4-5 min, to reduce the sauce enough.
I'm wondering if the instructions are missing broth or water. Having tomatoes as the only liquid typically isn't enough. My pressure cooker was unable to get up to pressure. It is a delicious recipe though!
Hi Donee,
One of the tricks we use here at Milk Street to concentrate the flavors of our stews, braises and etc. is to use less liquid.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I totally appreciate that, but the liquid level was too low to allow the instant pot to reach pressure. Is it possible something was left out?
I totally appreciate that, but the liquid level was too low to allow the instant pot to reach pressure. Is it possible something was left out?
This is absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and it produced so much flavor and was so rich without being heavy from being loaded with cream and butter like other recipes. I made this in a 6qt Instant Pot and it never fully got up to pressure during the pressure cooking time, however, the chicken was still cooked all the way through between the pressure cook time and the additional sauté time at the end.
Milk Street! Wowza, thanks for yet another fab recipe. I did get the burn error (I was using an 8 qt IP) - I hit cxl, reset the time and it started cooking just fine although I had two areas of slight scorching on the pot when done. Loved making the cashew cream and how it thickened the sauce. I threw in some red pepper flakes and served each bowl with a large wedge of lime - PERFECTION!
would love to see a Milk Street tikka masala recipe some time
Awesome recipe, Milk Street. I followed the recipe as it was stated and it came out perfectly. It was better than the Indian food we had out last week! Please keep coming up with these recipes. I find that I turn more and more to you for that "what's for dinner tonight?" question. Thanks again!
Somewhat Bland and Disappointing. I’ve made this recipe twice and the stove top version twice as well. On the first run of each version it turned out bland and just lacking. I figured the error was my part and my deep desire for yummy Indian food at home caused me to persist and remake each recipe again. I painstakingly followed the recipes, stove top and instant pot. Again just a bit bland, and flat. I made my own naan and added a dollop of yogurt and that helped a bit. Overall I will not be making it again. Still searching for a recipe that comes close to our local family take away restaurant.
I made this last night and had no issues with reaching pressure levels in the instant pot. My family loved this and they are real Butter Chicken lovers. I did actually saute the onion, garlic and mix the chicken and tomatoes on the stove in a dutch oven with a greater surface area, which I usually do when asked to saute in a 6-quart instant pot. Another pan, I know!! But the flavors were complex and delicious!!!
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I need a stovetop instruction.