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This is unbelievable. I’ve made so many butter chicken/paneer/whatever recipes and not been happy with any of them UNTIL NOW. Delicious. Even my picky kids liked it. And it’s super easy! Thank you!!!
Katrina
This is a brand new recipe that’s part of our Spring 2023 SOS Series – in other words, EASY recipes! View our full collection of SOS recipes here.
In This Post: Everything You Need For Butter Chicken Meatballs
- VIDEO for making this recipe
- About Butter Chicken
- How to make this recipe dairy-free
- Other protein options (meatless, too!)
- How to add veggies
- FAQ about this recipe
- More weeknight meatball recipes
Butter chicken, but make it meatballs!
Oh my goodness, it’s so good! My family is truly in love with this recipe.
These butter chicken meatballs are covered in a rich and mildly spiced tomato gravy that is made luxurious with just a little bit of butter and cream. It is a thing of beauty. I look forward to dinner all day long when I know we are having this. And as I’m sure you imagine, the leftovers are even better, so lunch the next day is something to look forward to, too.
You can make it on the stovetop or in the Instant Pot, and you can use a regular or immersion blender to get your sauce nice and creamy. I often have a batch of baked chicken meatballs on hand so I like to use those, but this would be delicious and easy with some store-bought meatballs to really lock in the SOS goodness here. It is the perfect easy fall recipe.
There are a lot of spices listed, but the beauty is that you probably already have them all and it takes two minutes or less to measure them and get them cooking into something spectacular.
Weeknight magic on deck!
If you love these meatballs as much as me, you’ll also love these Yellow Curry Meatballs!
Prefer To Watch Instead Of Read?
Butter Chicken Meatballs
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4–5 servings 1x
Description
These butter chicken meatballs are covered in a rich and mildly spiced tomato gravy that is made luxurious with just a little bit of butter and cream. Serious weeknight magic!
Ingredients
Butter Chicken Base:
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- half of an onion, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced (or a garlic paste)
- a small piece of fresh ginger, grated (or a ginger paste)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- one 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes or plain tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup water (more as needed later)
- 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I use 1 teaspoon, just depends how salty you want it)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 20 ounces of cooked chicken or turkey meatballs (these are the ones I always use! this should be about 4 cups of meatballs)
To Finish:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (more to taste)
To Serve:
- 1 1/2 cups basmati rice, or precooked rice
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Make your rice according to package directions.
- Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and spices; sauté until softened.
- Add tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth, or use an immersion blender directly in the pot to blend.
- Add sauce back to the pan. Add the meatballs; simmer with the cover on or keep on low heat until warmed through.
- Add the butter and cream to make a luscious, heavenly sauce to coat your meatballs.
- Serve over rice with a sprig or sprinkle of cilantro. Add spiciness to taste with cayenne or chili oil! OH ME OH MY.
Notes
Blending methods: For the silkiest sauce, I like to use a regular blender (we have a Blendtec at home). But an immersion blender can also work and it is the easier option; this works best with a deeper pot like a Dutch oven or the Instant Pot. If you’re using an immersion blender, tilt the pot to one side to pool all the sauce together before using. If you’re getting splatters, you might need to add an extra bit of water to make sure there’s enough volume of sauce to run it through the immersion blender smoothly. I would not recommend using an immersion blender in a shallow skillet where it will splatter over the sides – in that case, best to transfer to a blender!
Instant Pot instructions: Add all sauce ingredients; cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender directly in the Instant Pot to make it smooth; add meatballs and turn it to warm or sauté until heated through (this takes 5-10 minutes). Finish by stirring in the cream and butter.
Instant Pot instructions with regular chicken: If you’re using just regular chicken breasts or thighs instead of meatballs, add the chicken to the Instant Pot right at the beginning of cooking with the sauce. Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes, then remove and shred or pull apart the chicken. Meanwhile, blend sauce, and then add chicken back in with the cream and butter. We do it this way quite a bit as well!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian-Inspired
Keywords: butter chicken, butter chicken meatballs, Indian recipes, quick and easy dinner, dinner recipe
About Butter Chicken
Butter Chicken is a type of curry where chicken is coated in a spiced tomato and butter sauce, according to Wiki! It’s an Indian dish that is traditionally called Murgh Makhani, normally involving marinated chicken that is then cooked in a clay oven.
I’m taking a slightly different approach here – meatballs instead of chicken! No marinating, no clay oven, but the butter sauce in this recipe meant to be a fast and easy take on the classic that everybody loves.
I have made the Butter Chicken from Two Sleevers plenty of times (remember our “best of the internet Instant Pot recipes” post?) so this version is a play on that! I reduced the overall sauce amount so it’s not a double batch, and used store bought garam masala instead of making my own with whole spices, and discovered along the way that we actually really loved this with meatballs!
Making This Dairy Free
Subs for the butter: I think using dairy free butter would be awesome and an easy swap for the butter.
Subs for the cream: A knob of dairy free cream cheese melted in there would be perfect! Another idea: when you blend the sauce, add a handful of cashews (assuming you have a high powered blender) and you’d get a creamy, totally dairy free sauce. Method would be similar to this recipe.
Other Proteins That Would Be Good Here
Chicken: Obviously just regular chicken breasts, or chicken thighs, are the traditional protein and they work great – I use them both from time to time! If you do use regular chicken breasts or thighs, I’d recommend trying to find a texture that is somewhere between shredded and chopped. Roughly pulled chunks is what I like best! If you’re making this in the Instant Pot, I would just throw the chicken right in as the sauce cooks! 10 minutes for smallish chicken breasts, 12-14 for chicken thighs.
Meatless: This would be delicious with a cubed block of paneer. I just saw one at Costco this morning so that is fresh on my mind. YUM. You could fry up the paneer first and then get it all up in the sauce? Mmmm. Similarly – baked crispy tofu would be amazing! Here’s our guide for how to cook tofu with instructions for my favorite tofu method (the “baked crispy” one). You could also go to all veg route with this butter cauliflower and chickpeas!
Meatless Meatballs: And let us not forget about the ALDI frozen meatless meatballs which are so fabulous and would just pop right into the sauce for a perfect meatless meal.
How To Get More Veggies In
Peppers: This would be more like a tikka masala, but you could sauté or roast some bell peppers and throw them in with the sauce and the chicken! Yum. I would not recommend putting them right into the Instant Pot because they might overcook and get mushy.
Cucumber Salad: No cooking required. Toss sliced cucumbers with a tiny splash of vinegar, olive oil, salt, and sugar. Throw some herbs in if you want. The end!
Simple Green Salad: My go-to for adding greens to a meal (especially in an SOS fashion) is this simple green salad. There’s a homemade balsamic maple dressing here, but I’ve also used store bought dressings – Trader Joe’s maple vinaigrette is fantastic. Throw some nuts and dried fruit on top and my whole family will get into this big time.
Roasted Veggies: Little more work required for this, but roasting up some broccoli or cauliflower in the oven while everything cooks up in the Instant Pot would be an easy, delicious idea too!
Butter Chicken Meatballs: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Paneer, tofu, or meatless meatballs would all be great options here. Highly recommend these vegetarian meatballs!
Using vegan butter and using the coconut milk option would make this dairy-free. You could also try blending a handful of cashews into the sauce to make it creamy (if you have a high-powered blender).
The only issue with gluten in this recipe could be the meatballs you use. For our Baked Chicken Meatballs, you can sub in some almond flour or GF breadcrumbs. Or, you can pivot to chicken breasts instead and eliminate the gluten entirely.
As-is, not at all! But if you’re looking for some spice, I’d recommend some cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to increase the heat.
Yep! If you’re making this in the Instant Pot, I would just throw the chicken right in as the sauce cooks! 10 minutes for smallish chicken breasts, 12-14 for chicken thighs. Then pull them out to chop or shred before you blend the sauce up, and then add the chicken back in after.
Well, that’s a keeper. The whole family loved it. Thank you.
This is one of our favorite meals! My 13 year old daughter requests it every single week. I use the microwave frozen rice from Trader Joe’s and serve with garlic naan. Delicious! I also add peas to the sauce in the last 5 minutes or so. Thanks for a great recipe!
Best recipe!
This was delicious! I didn’t blend my sauce and it was still incredible and we love Indian food!
We love this recipe! I would love to make for a friend who had surgery, but has anyone tried freezing the sauce? I wasn’t sure how it would do with the cream?
Delicious!!!😋
Can I make this without garam marsala? Don’t feel like running to the store.
that’s where a lot of the flavor comes from, but you could replace with 1/2 teaspoon cumin if you have that.
This was a fun recipe to make. It does not taste the same as authentic butter chicken, but it was somewhat similar and still pretty tasty.
Delicious and easy! My 6 and 4 year old daughters loved it. Will definitely be added to the dinner rotation
This recipe was such a winner! Husband and both toddlers loved it and wanted it packed in their lunches. Very few recipes get that kind of reaction, so this one’s getting printed and going in our favorites binder. Thank you!
Love hearing it will be in your rotation!
I am making these for the 3rd time in 2 months and my daughter (who is our pickiest eater) literally jumped for joy when I told her what I was making. Such an easy recipe, and so delicious!
I really like watching the recipe videos but lately they just play ads over and over and never get to the actual video 🙁 .
Just letting you know.
Made this twice and both times received rave reviews from the family (2 year old, 8 year old, and husband). They’ve requested it be part of our regular meal plan rotation! Thanks for another winning recipe.
As Indians who were born and raised in the Midwest, my husband and I struggle to make Indian food like our moms. This is truly an incredible recipe, thank you for making such delicious food feel doable and authentic tasting! We love POY in our household !
Oh, that means so much!
Absolutely delicious and kid approved! My 12 year old told me it was amazing and asked if I can make it again. I highly recommend doubling the chicken meatball recipe and tripling the sauce.
We have started making this weekly in our house. My kids love the chicken meatballs on their own, and then we eat it with a Greek yogurt naan (literally Greek yogurt flour and baking powder) to sop up the sauce and oh my gosh it’s so good!
I made this with the meat from a rotisserie chicken, roasted curry cauliflower, naan, and raita and it was really good. After the first few bites I added some cayenne and 1/2 a teaspoon more salt and it was perfection!
My 2-yo doesn’t waste stomach space on anything she finds less than supremely delicious. At dinner last night, I watched in amazement as she devoured 4 of these meatballs while repeatedly declaring “yummy!” (For reference, she chose to subsist on cucumbers for the previous night’s dinner.) Will be making again!
Made this tonight and everyone loved it! 10/10 amazing so good. It is a little tricky going from the pan to the blender and back. But I do think it was worth it tk have it a smooth sauce yum!😋
How long would you say the sauce is good in the fridge? If planning to meal prep. Thank you!
5 to 6 days!
Would it be dramatic if I said I would make this every week?? This recipe is so good! i’ve seen so many good reviews on the chicken meatballs and am glad I finally tried them! I have a bad habit of ordering takeout so doubled the chicken meatball recipe and froze the rest for future me. This was so easy to follow and so flavorful. Thank you, POY team!!
Not dramatic! So glad you like them.
This was amazing. Makes a lot, for just two of us here…can the leftover sauce be frozen with the meatballs?
Yes!
Awesome! Even with making the meatballs (I followed the linked recipe) this only took an hour from start to finish. So delicious. Will make again.
If cooking this with chicken breasts in the Instapot would you recommend natural release or quick release after the 12mins?
Hi! If you’re using thawed chicken breasts, you will want to use quick release after the 12 minutes. (If using frozen chicken, you may need to cook more like 15 minutes.)
These are so good, making them again for sure