This Baked Tandoori Chicken features healthy and delicious Indian flavors you can enjoy right in your home. Made from scratch, baked in your oven and perfect for a weeknight meal!
EASY TANDOORI CHICKEN RECIPE
Indian cuisine has to be one of my favorite cuisines with tandoori chicken being right there at the top of my favorite dishes. I’ve been going to Indian restaurants for a while now and I pretty much always order tandoori chicken. What attracts me to it really is the red color, I think it makes the chicken look so exotic.
However, a long time ago I learned to make tandoori chicken at home. With a few spices and a few tricks, the popular tandoori chicken can be made right in the comfort of your home in your own oven. Not only can you bake the chicken in your oven, you can also grill it!
WHAT IS TANDOORI CHICKEN
Tandoori chicken is an Indian chicken dish prepared by roasting chicken marinated in yogurt and spices in a tandoor cylindrical clay oven. You can read more about tandoor ovens here on thekitchn.com.
This delicious chicken dish is extremely popular in Indian restaurants, and it’s one of my favorite dishes to order. However, I also love making it at home without a tandoor oven. All you need is your oven.
WHAT CUT OF CHICKEN CAN YOU USE
When you visit an Indian restaurant and order tandoori chicken, almost always you will get chicken drumsticks. However, I have made this many times with boneless skinless breast as well as thighs and drumsticks.
In this recipe I am using both breasts and drumsticks. It works just as well with both cuts of chicken. Chicken breast with skin and bones works as well.
HOW TO MAKE TANDOORI CHICKEN
Clean the chicken and pat it dry. If using chicken breasts cut them in half. In a small bowl, mix all the wet rub ingredients together to form a paste. Using a knife, cut deep slits into the chicken. Smear the rub in between the slits and if there is any left over, rub it over the entire chicken pieces.
In a medium size bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Since Tandoori chicken is usually red, I used a few drops of red gel food coloring, however this is optional and the more food coloring you use the more red color you’ll get.
Place the chicken in the bowl with marinade and mix well, making sure all the chicken pieces are fully coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours.
HOW LONG TO BAKE TANDOORI CHICKEN IN THE OVEN
After a couple hours you can start preheating your oven to 400 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and over it, place a grill rack.
Place the chicken breasts over the grill rack leaving a bit of space in between each piece. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. 15 minutes, in brush some butter over each piece. After the first 30 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, brush with more butter and bake for another 15 minutes.
The chicken is done when the juices run clear when poked with a fork. The best way to check if your chicken is done, is to use an instant-read thermometer to check the temperature near the bone. When it reaches 165 degrees F, the chicken is done.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH TANDOORI CHICKEN
Make sure to serve this chicken with some lemon slices so you can squeeze the lemon juice all over the chicken. It will really bring out all those tandoori flavors.
I usually serve this with a side salad like a simple spinach salad with tomatoes. However tandoori chicken is great with some basmati rice, sliced fresh cucumbers, and some red onions.
HOW TO STORE LEFTOVER TANDOORI CHICKEN
As with most dishes, this tandoori chicken should be enjoyed as soon as it’s cooked. However if you have leftover chicken, store it in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
You can also freeze the chicken also stored in airtight containers and it could last up to 4 months in the freezer.
TRY THESE INDIAN RECIPES:
- Indian Cauliflower Fried Rice with Chicken and Roasted Chickpeas
- Roasted Potatoes with East Indian Spices
- Indian Salmon Curry with Saffron Rice
- Indian Style Lentils with Pork Tenderloin
- Mulligatawny Soup
- Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 lb chicken such as breasts, thighs or drumsticks
- 3 tbsp butter unsalted, melted, for brushing
Wet Rub
- 1 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1/4 tsp salt
Marinade
- 1/2 cup yogurt plain, such as Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp pepper freshly ground
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 drops red gel food coloring optional
Instructions
- Prepare the chicken: Clean the chicken and pat it dry. If using chicken breasts cut them in half. Using a knife, cut deep slits into the chicken.
- Apply wet rub: In a small bowl, mix all the wet rub ingredients together to form a paste. Smear the rub in between the slits and if there is any left over, rub it over the entire chicken breasts.
- Prepare marinade: In a medium size bowl, whisk together all the marinade ingredients. Place the chicken in the bowl with marinade and mix well, making sure each chicken breasts is fully coated.
- Marinate chicken: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours.
- Preheat oven and baking sheet: Preheat your oven to 400 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and over it, place a grill rack.
- Place the chicken breasts over the grill rack leaving a bit of space in between each piece.
- Bake: Place the chicken breasts over the grill rack leaving a bit of space in between each piece. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. 15 minutes in brush some butter over each piece. After the first 30 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over, brush with more butter and bake for another 15 minutes.
- Garnish with lemon slices, parsley and serve.
Video
Notes
- As with most dishes, this tandoori chicken should be enjoyed as soon as it’s cooked. However if you have leftover chicken, store it in airtight containers in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
- You can also freeze the chicken also stored in airtight containers and it could last up to 4 months in the freezer.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Absolutely delicious! We loved it and will be making this often
Very good, very easy dish that went over well. Not as spicy as I expected but very tasty. One tip the longer it marinated the better it is!!
Love these recipes Jo!!
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Hi, Joanna, This sounds absolutely wonderful, but before I try it, I want to clarify the cooking time. Is it a total of 1 hr. 15 min. (30-baste-30-baste-15) or a total of 45 min. (30-baste-15)? Sorry to be so dense! Thanks much for your wonderful blog! Vicki
You’re not dense don’t be silly. So it’s a total of 45 minutes, 15 min – baste – 15 min – flip over – baste- 15 min. Does that make sense? 30 min on one side and 15 on the other, but you baste every 15 min.
PERFECT sense! Thank you SO much!
My pleasure! 😉 You got this!
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Great recipe and excellent tip to baste with butter thank you. Absolutely yes to the red food colouring, it just makes it look so authentic. Lemon or Lime is as you say essential. However I would beseech anyone trying this to use skinless bone in chicken thighs….sooo much more flavour.
I love the color of chicken’s skin! Looks so tasty! It’s interesting when you marinated the chicken into 2 steps. I must try to see the differences!
– Natalie Ellis
Oh my gosh! This was absolutely delicious. Definitely going to make again, and again. Thank you!
My pleasure, so happy you liked it!
This is my first time to cook and it actually turned out soo so good. Definitely will cook this again. I didnt put any food colouring but I put a bit of paprika. I used the drumsticks and maybe next time I do will grill for 5-7 minutes before taking it out.
This was a good one.. I tried this in a manual Tandoor..it came out delicious !!
This was my first time making Tandoori chicken and this came out great! The chicken was moist and tender, but I still would have preferred it with some sort of sauce. We used Red Pepper Jelly from Trader Joes as it was the closest thing to a chutney in the fridge as a sauce this time and it complemented the chicken well. Next time I plan on making some sort of garlic-yogurt sauce. Great chicken recipe though!
Hi, in the ingredient list it says chili powder and red chili powder. Is there any difference between the two? Can I use the same chili powder in the marinade and the wet rub or are they two different kinds of chili powder? Thank you
No there isn’t, same thing, updated the recipe so it’s no longer confusing. 🙂
Thanks!!
Try and find Kashmiri chilli powder, it gives a richer red colour and is not too hot.
Great recipe, but should the cooking time be adjusted for boneless chicken? I pulled it out about 5 mins early and it was a bit overcooked. Overall though it was very delicious!
Yeah you’ll probably need to cook it for less, or you know your oven best, I’ve had quite a few ovens over the past few years and they all varied greatly.
Ok thanks, I’m a rookie in the kitchen especially when it comes to baking chicken. I’ll adjust the cooking times and hope for a better result, but the mix of ingredients is awesome!
I’ve been using this recipe due to it being a healthy alternative and it is fantastic. I tend to cut the chicken breast with the slits and rub in the marinade leave for the night . Do the marinade the next day and leave it for at least 6 – 8 hours. I also add smoked paprika into the marinade
I would say it’s better to make your own garlic and ginger paste rather than buy . It can last up to about 6 weeks in the fridge
It’s my second time using your recipe and I LOVE it!
So glad you like it!!
Is the ginger garlic paste available in jar form in grocery stores? Thanks, can’t wait to try!
Yes it is, it comes in little jars and I usually find it in the produce section with all the herbs.
I don’t have yogurt but found online that you can substitute it with sour cream. What do you think about that?
Sour cream would work just fine 🙂
You’re right! I tried it with sour cream and it tasted just as good as the first time with yogurt! Great recipe, both my husband and I love it. Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing!!
You’re welcome Curious 🙂
Hello.
Can i put this marinade in a ziplock bag? … Ive heard that it locks in more flavour (i maybe wrong though)
thanks
Rosie
Sure you can.
I have just made this but with chicken chunks instead of the breast using the same slicing method.
will they still cook the same?
I would think so. You might want to check them first and make sure they’re done, but I think they should be fine.
I will be making this lot of chicken tonight any tips? Grill or oven?
My chicken never cooks properly in the oven for some reason and it then ends up being too dry. What am i doing wrong.
Thanks : )
I think grilling it would be a great idea!!!
Easy and delicious. Absolute winner over store-bought paste
Jo, what gas mark do I cook the chicken on?
I’ve been checking this out since last night.. Finally going ahead!
You make this at 400 F degrees, don’t have a gas mark oven here, but did a google search and it seems like that’s gas mark 6.
This came out great. Thanks for the easy to follow instructions!
You’re welcome, glad you liked it. 🙂
Mmmm, I love Tandoori. I get the spices from this great little shop in my town with a fantastic Tandoor spice blend. (http://www.worldspice.com/blends/curry-tandoori) I’ve always grilled it, but I’ll have to try it in the oven, too! Instead of using red food coloring, World Spice (where I get the Tandoori Spice) carries beet powder, a natural colorant with really no flavor, and it just bumps the color up beautifully. I’ve also had really good success using their Alderwood Smoked Salt in place of the regular salt… It’s just subtle enough to give it that more authentic wood-fired taste! Clearly I have a mild addiction to World Spice… What’s a flavor-lovin’ girl to do??!
Oh, I’ll have to try the beet powder, sounds like a great alternative to food coloring. Thanks.