Are there any easy butter chicken recipes (preferably not from scratch)

I like butter chicken over rice, but the recipes online tend to have 10-20 ingredients.

Are there premade powders or such things where I can just add a few ingredients to it to make butter chicken?

I’ve tried a couple of jars of butter chicken sauce but it didn’t turn out that great. I’m not sure if there are other spices I’m supposed to add or what exactly.

there are packages of spices you can use to make tacos, pot roast, etc. is there a butter chicken package of spices you can add to a few other ingredients to make it? Are there any people really like?

Are you near an Aldi? They often carry jars of the sauce.

Patak’s made pretty good Indian spice pastes, so perhaps try theirs? (That said, I’ve tried simmer sauces like that and found them really bland. You’re better of making the dish from scratch, or just ordering out from a good Indian restaurant.)

There is a delicious butter chicken solid spice mix. A similar green mix is also sold. Basically add butter and chicken.

I am of Indian origin and will try to help. I make pretty good butter chicken from scratch.

Are you amenable to make the gravy for once, freeze it, and keep using it as and when you desire ?

You can add paneer, shrimp, pork, chicken, … any protein (except maybe fish) and have butter shrimpt/pork/chicken …

Lamb and Beef don’t pair up either with this recipe.

I’ve tried the aldi sauce, and didn’t think it was that good. However I’m not a great cook.

I’m wondering if there is something I can add to the store bought sauce to make it taste a little better.

Do you know the brand?

This recipe is really good if you have an Instant Pot. Not too many ingredients, and most of them are spices that you buy only occasionally and then keep on hand.

It is prepared in Toronto by the brand Zaika Foods Butter Chicken Barbecue Spices (zaikafoods.ca). It is a delicious red (the green is very similar) mixture of chilies, coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, black cardamom, mustard, cassia, star anise, nutmeg and cloves. I can’t speak for authenticity, but it tastes amazing with chicken, without any salt. A couple local Asian groceries in my small city stock it but the big supermarkets do not.

Not really a fan of the Patak’s sauces, but if I’m not ordering takeout I’ll go with a jar of Sharwoods.

Patak’s makes a “Spicy Butter Chicken” which I think is mediocre but is quick and convenient. It is much better than the milder version for me. The Zaika spice blend is both more flavourful and complex, and could be mixed with chicken, butter or ghee and desired salt to make a tasty dish. (I would melt the butter, add a couple diced onions and stir until golden, add salt, brown chicken on each side, then add cooked rice and liberal amounts of spice).

It would also taste good as a barbecue rub or made into a sauce, mixed with about equal amounts of ketchup and low fat Italian dressing - plus a little salt. In both cases, Mexican hot sauce, fresh or dry chilies or ample black pepper could be added to boost the spice level which is mild to moderate.

I personally think the Patak’s pastes are fine; not a fan of the simmer sauces, but the pastes do a good job, IMHO:

You can always doctor to your preferences.

Shan’s powdered mixes are quite good, too:

The OP may not want to do that, but i am interested. We have a fairly complete spice rack.

I know the OP said not from scratch, but it’s really not that difficult. Find an Indian grocery-- you can buy big bags of unground spices at surprisingly low prices (this is also a great way to stock up on some spices used for other types of cooking-- like bay leaves. A small jar of bay leaves is ridiculously expensive at say, Kroger; at an Indian grocery a big bag of bay leaves is cheap).

If you don’t have an Indian grocery in your area, Amazon is probably your best option.

Unground, unlike pre-ground spices, will keep for a long time. So buy unground whenever possible (turmeric and ginger you don’t have much choice-- fresh or ground). Invest in some type of grinder-- I use a repurposed coffee grinder.

So when you get the urge for some butter chicken you’ll have those 10 or 20 ingredients on hand. Measure out the whole spices you need at the time, toast them up in a pan, then grind them up and bloom them in the cooking oil or ghee. Your results will be far, far better than any jar sauce.

ETA: having Indian-style spices on hand might also lead you to get creative with other meals-- I’ve made Indian spice inspired chili, spaghetti sauce and soups that have turned out terrific.

The Patak’s “Spicy” Butter Chicken sauce is just fine. I make it all the time; it’s easy and quick and delicious.
Don’t listen to these nay-sayers. Give it a shot. Let it simmer for as long as you can stand, and maybe add a few shots of hot sauce or a few sprinkles of cayenne. I’m telling you, it’s very good. Make sure it’s the spicy variant.

AFAIK, your options are the pre-made sauce, or making it yourself. I haven’t seen any “spice kit” type things for Indian food in the same way that you find stuff like “taco seasoning” or chili mixes where you just add to meat and water.

If you do choose to make it yourself, one thing you can do to save a lot of time is to get the premade ginger-garlic paste. That way, you can just roughly guesstimate how much paste you need from the ginger and garlic measurements in the recipe, and there’s no peeling or grating garlic or ginger. We make a chicken tikka masala recipe fairly often that also calls for grated ginger and garlic, and the paste does a fine job substituting for the fresh stuff. And you can always augment it with extra ginger or garlic if you don’t like the balance the first time you use it.

My vote would be to make it yourself, double the recipe, and freeze the leftovers in meal-sized portions.

No, there are pre-mixed spice kits. Someone linked to the Shan brand of butter chicken spice mix upthread, and you’ll find others in most Indian grocery stores.

What’s the point though? You hardly save yourself any real effort going with the mix, and the paste is essentially sauce anyway.

I love cooking Indian dishes, many of them seafood dishes from Eastern India which are not available in Indian restaurants.

I have noticed that temperature plays a big part in cooking. I have seen this with Mom’s cooking too, as a child.

The temperature bit is true for Italian cooking too - from my experience. For example : garlic (used in chicken parmesan or other dishes) is sliced fine and FRIED.

If the garlic is not fried well, it will taste awful (my opinion). Also substituting garlic powder for fresh garlic affects the taste.

Same goes for spices in Indian food, each kind of spice (just like garlic above) needs to be fried at the right temperature to take the bad taste away.

Bottomline : If you are thinking of dumping all spice powders into a cooking vessel, its never going to taste that good.

Huh. I’m exactly the opposite. Fried hard garlic in Italian food tastes not-so-good. It needs to be mellow and sweet.

My only rule with frying spices is don’t burn them – burn them and you might as well start over. I’ve never had an issue with cooking spices, but you do have to bloom them in hot oil for them to release their flavors properly. (Some of my favorite Indian dishes are finished with a tadka, where whole spices are bloomed in hot fat and poured over the dish before it is served … wonderful stuff.)