Rich and creamy Homemade Chicken Tikka Masala is a heavenly dinner! Flavorful marinated chicken breast inside a rich and creamy spiced curry sauce is delicious over white or brown rice with freshly torn basil leaves.
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Chicken Tikka Masala is one of my favorite Indian dishes and it is very easy to make and super delicious.
Tips and Tricks
Marinating the Chicken – Traditionally the chicken is marinated for 30 minutes. I usually don’t like to wait that long, somewhere between 5 – 15 minutes. Normally I throw all the ingredients into a bowl for the marinade, then start sauteing the onions and garlic. By the time they are done, I will cook the chicken.
Yogurt or Sour Cream – It is very common to use yogurt to marinate the chicken, but I have found that sour cream works just as well!
Garam Masala Spice Mix – You may not have Garam Masala Spice mix in your home, I didn’t either, so I looked up a recipe for a homemade spice mix. You could also buy a bottle at the store, but if you have the ingredients at home it is really easy to make. A few ingredients you need are – ground cinnamon, ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground cardamom, ground cloves, coriander, etc.
Heavy Whipping Cream – A must in this recipe! The cream creates a rich and creamy curry sauce that is very delightful! I tried to use milk instead of cream and it tasted good but it wasn’t as rich and creamy as I wanted. The cream makes a great difference!
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Chicken Tikka Masala
Equipment
- Large skillet
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast cubed
- ½ cup sour cream or yogurt
- 4 teaspoon garam masala spice mix divided
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
- ½ cup Homemade Chicken Broth
- ¼ – ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil/ ghee
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cubed chicken breast, sour cream or yogurt, 2 tsp of garam masala spice mix, ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground ginger, ground cardamom, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined. Allow the chicken to marinate for 5 – 10 minutes.
- In a large cast-iron skillet, saute the onions in a few tablespoons of ghee. Saute the onions until they are just starting to brown, then add the minced garlic and 2 tsp of the garam masala spice mix. Cook the garlic for 30 seconds – 1 minute, stirring so it doesn't burn. Remove the onions from the skillet.
- Heat more ghee in the cast-iron skillet, then cook the marinated chicken, 5 – 10 minutes. Once the chicken has been browned, add the onions back to the skillet and the can of tomato sauce. Cook the tomato sauce for 2 – 3 minutes to remove the bitter taste of canned tomatoes.
- Next, add the chicken broth and heavy cream. Cook until the sauce starts to thicken, stirring occasionally so the bottom doesn't burn.
- Taste and adjust for seasoning. Serve with white rice and freshly torn basil leaves. Enjoy!
Nutrition
All nutrition information is automatically generated and should be only used as a rough estimate. This recipe card may contain affiliate links.
Just saved this recipe to try next week! Looks delicious!
Thank you, Stephanie!