Last updated on November 11th, 2018 at 07:05 pm
This Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala is one hundred percent made from scratch, super flavorful, tender chicken, delicious curry and always a family favorite!
The Instant Pot prevails again with this incredible chicken tikka masala. Who knew that it could be this easy to make chicken tikka masala right in your home and in your beloved Instant Pot. I did, because once again I’m showing you another popular favorite and how easy it is to make.
The question you must be burning to ask me is whether or not you could truly have restaurant quality chicken tikka masala made at home. Of course you can. Don’t let Indian food scare you from trying to make it yourself. It really is not difficult to make at all. You just need a few good spices that are commonly used in Indian cuisine, and your Instant Pot.
But what is chicken tikka masala? It’s chunks of marinated chicken that’s been roasted or cooked in a tandoor oven, and finished in a spiced curry sauce. If you haven’t had this before, it’s a must, a truly delicious flavor-bomb and popular Indian dish.
CAN I DO THIS WITHOUT AN INSTANT POT:
That is probably the most popular question I get on any Instant Pot recipe and the answer is simply YES, of course. The Instant Pot is simply our skillet or whatever pot you choose to use, and it just helps us in cooking the chicken faster and under high pressure.
When the chicken is cooked under high pressure, the flavors become more intense and the chicken gets thoroughly infused with all the spices used. But you can always replace the Instant Pot with whatever you have, such as a skillet or Dutch oven. If that is the case, I would strongly recommend charring the chicken first as mentioned in the TIPS below.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA:
I prefer to serve this over steamed rice, my favorite being Basmati or jasmine rice, but any long grain rice would do. I also love to serve this with my fresh homemade naan or roti. Recipe for roti will be coming soon.
TIPS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT INSTANT POT CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA:
- Boneless skinless chicken breast is the most popular choice when making chicken tikka masala, but whenever I specify chicken breast or chicken thighs, I always get asked can I use chicken thighs instead or chicken breast instead. The answer is YES. Personally I prefer the thighs because it’s a juicier more flavorful meat but I wanted to show you in this recipe that both cuts of meat work, either separately or together.
- A true chicken tikka masala has the yogurt marinated chicken cooked in a wood or charcoal fired tandoor until the meat is thoroughly charred. Since we’re doing this in the Instant Pot we’re skipping that part, however keep in mind that you can still do that. To achieve that char flavor, you could use your grill and really grill the meat until it’s charred if not almost black, which should happen fairly quickly because of the yogurt marinade.
- Another common characteristic of chicken tikka masala is the marinade. The chicken is marinated in a yogurt and spice marinade anywhere from 30 minutes to 48 hours. The marinade needs that lemon juice and yogurt to tenderize the meat, plus copious amounts of ginger and garlic for additional flavor.
- The last but not least element of a good chicken tikka masala is of course the sauce, which for me, is my favorite part. The base of any chicken tikka masala is the ginger, onion and garlic which are a must. Tomatoes are then added for color and flavor and finally all our delicious spices. Probably any recipe you find online will have its own spice blend but popular spices found in a chicken tikka masala are turmeric, chili powder and coriander.
Looking for more delicious meals made in your Instant Pot? Check these out:
- Instant Pot Buter Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma
- Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
Ingredients
Chicken Tikka
- 2 lb chicken skinless and boneless, I used both chicken breast and thighs
- 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt I used Greek
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp salt
Curry Sauce
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large onion chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ginger minced
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp coriander ground
- 2 tsp cumin ground
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 14 oz fire roasted tomatoes or regular diced tomatoes
- 2 cups tomato sauce or passata
- 1 1/2 cups half and half
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 2 tbsp butter unsalted
- 3 tbsp cilantro fresh, chopped for garnish
Instructions
- Combine all the chicken tikka ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly so that each piece of chicken is fully coated in the yogurt mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to 48 hours.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. (See your manufacturer's guide for detailed instructions on how to use your instant pot.)
- Add the vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. Stir and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the onion softens.
- Add the fire roasted tomatoes, tomato sauce and stir. Add the chicken to the Instant Pot, including all the yogurt marinade and stir.
- Close the lid (follow the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to close the instant pot lid). Set the Instant Pot to the Poultry setting and set the timer to 5 minutes.
- Once the Instant Pot cycle is complete, wait until the natural release cycle is complete, should take about 10 minutes. Follow the manufacturer's guide for quick release, if in a rush. Carefully unlock and remove the lid from the instant pot.
- Add the half and half, salt and butter and give it a good stir. The butter is added to smooth the sauce.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve warm over cooked rice with naan or roti.
Video
Notes
- What is an Instant Pot: An Instant Pot is a multi-cooker, it's like seven different appliances all in one! It does the job of a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, yogurt maker, etc. I strongly recommend reading the manufacturer's guide for instructions on how to use your Instant Pot before attempting this recipe.
- Note: The Instant Pot will default to 30 minutes when set on Poultry, use the down arrow to change to 5 minutes.
- Half and half can be found near the milk and cream in the dairy section of your local grocery store. Half and half is a blend of equal parts whole milk and light cream. It averages 10 to 12% of fat.
- I used both skinless boneless chicken thighs and breasts, so both can be used with the same cooking time.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information does not include rice or roti. Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition
New to Indian flavors, I had a frozen entree of Chicken Tikka Masala and loved it, so thought I’d make my own. This recipe was easy to follow, came out great thought I’ll tweak it a bit next time. I’m going to cut up the chicken breasts next time, I think the flavors will saturate more, and I will not chicken out and put less cayenne pepper.
Thanks
Super easy and incredibly delicious! Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe! This was the first thing we made in our instant pot and we still make it at least once a month. We prefer this over the chicken tikka from our favorite Indian restaurants!
Very close to what I wanted, I’ll tweak this when I make it again (and I will make it again)! I didn’t cut up the chicken, and I think that might infuse the flavor throughout the protein better. I also won’t wimp out and cut back on the chili powder (it was a new jar).
I made this a few months ago when I was craving something super flavorful and it turned out perfectly! This was a great Indian-inspired recipe. My husband and I are not typically big fans of Indian food, but we gobbled this down. Now I just need to up my naan making skills. Thank you for the great recipe for my instant pot!
My pleasure, hope you try the butter chicken too, you’ll love it!
Thank you! Love! this recipe! It is “packed” with flavor! Yummy! I used bone-in chicken thighs (the meat was so tender it just fell off the bone!) Adding the cream (I replaced with 1 can of coconut cream) and butter in the end is a great touch!! I also garnished with mint from my garden. This gave it a little extra zing!
My insta pot wouldn’t come up to pressure. Do you know why that would happen? I even added more liquid to try to create more steam
Here’s an article that might help you: https://www.paintthekitchenred.com/16-reasons-why-instant-pot-not-sealing/
At first I experienced the same thing and got the “burn” alert. For older IP it would be the overheat warning. All I did was select “low” pressure for the five minutes and made sure the bottom of the pot did not have a burn layer. Took longer to get up to pressure but it worked and the result was great.
This was delicious and very flavourful! Mine turned out thin also but I think it was because I had 10 oz. cans of fire roasted tomatoes and used 2 rather than a 14 oz. can. It was fine because the basmati rice I served it with, soaked up all that great flavor and Trader Joe’s garlic naan also was great for doing that! Thank you for an easy IP recipe for one of my favorite Indian restaurant meals!
This was delicious and the first thing I have ever cooked in my instant pot. I followed your recipe exactly. Thank you for posting!
Hey, this is a favorite for me and my GF at the local Indian restaurants.
Thanks for making this easy to understand and remove the intimidation factor to this recipe.
For this I made my own garam masala and used coconut milk – My house smells amazing.
I did notice that my chicken thight (I probabaly used 2.5 lbs instead) came out a little underdone- so advice for anyone who scaled up on chicken :Bs you may need more time
Overall a great recipe and I cannot wait to try it again soon!
Thanks for the comment, Phil! Glad you enjoyed it!
I Made this tonite for dinner. Like others have commented the masala ended up too thin. In order to remedy this at dinner hour i opted to add some thickener made with cornstarch and water and then switched the instant pot back to sauté. Not a big deal…the flavors are wonderful…..i opted for quite a bit more chili powder than called for as I like the kick. Also topped with a bunch more cilantro…some basmati and naan………..dinner done! Thanks for the recipe.
Dear Jo,
I don’t usually do this but I just had to send you a message to let you know I think your food blog is the best one on the internet. I look at many, many food blogs and I have for many years. I am a complete food enthusiast and spend all of my free time looking for new things to make. I am very visual so your amazing recipes and captivating food photography really pulls in your audience. Great job!!!
Every recipe I have made from your blog keeps its “promise” and is absolutely amazing!! The first time I will make exactly how you have your recipe listed and then because everything I have made is so amazing I start to tweak and make other variations.
I tell everyone i know who loves to cook (and those who are just learning to cook) to check out your website and then I get feedback from them and feel exactly the same as I do about your visual layout and your amazing recipes here! I love your videos and also your “tips” for recipes!!
You have hit it out of the park!! Congrats and keep the recipes coming!
Cheers
Lori
Thanks, Lori! You’ve made my day, heck you’ve made my week! It’s people like you who keep me going at it. 🙂
Awesome recipe. Tasted delicious. My only quip is that the sauce was too thin. I followed the recipe to a tee 🙁 Any suggestions to obtain a thicker consistency?
You could maybe add some flour to thicken it up a bit if you’re looking for a thicker consistency. I would add it in step 3 and stir everything together, maybe about 1 tbsp or so.
Can you substitute coconut milk for half and half?
Yes for sure!
I loved your recipe and very easy too! This is personal preference but I wanted it a little spicier … any suggestions on what to add for a spicy tikka masala?
You can use a chili sauce or paste. Something like chili garlic sauce, sriracha, or gochujang would work.
I made this in my IP exactly as directed, and it was so delicious! We frequent Indian restaurants and felt that this recipe was restaurant quality: robust flavors, deeply spiced, and complex. I, too, felt the sauce was too thin so after releasing the pressure, I removed the chicken and used an immersion blender to coarsly puree the sauce with the tomatoes and onions. I then added the chicken back into the pot.
This recipe will be on repeat in our home!
Thank you been wanting to make this and now I will, I’ve been looking at your other IP work, I have some new meals to try.
This is on my to do list for dinner this weekend. Looks yummy! I have a pressure cooker with only a low or high setting. What would be the equivalent to the poultry setting? Thank you.
Probably best to check the manual as each pressure cooker could be different. The poultry setting is high pressure, by the way.
Thank you! That’s what I thought but wanted to check for sure. Looking forward to our weekend meal.
I made this last weekend. 5 minutes on high pressure in a Cuisinart pressure cooker was perfect. This was a great hit and the leftovers were even better!
So happy you liked it!
Made this tonight. Kept getting BURN message. Not sure what I was doing wrong. After a few attempts. Checked the chicken and it was cooked through. Tasted delicious
It also gave me burn message, thank god i ask nearby and stopped it and finished on stove. I then did some reading and sauces that are too thick can cause that. Made me scared to use pot for a while but it’s the only recipe where that’s happened
That’s interesting, I’ve never seen that message before! I suppose if you find the sauce to be turning out very thick, add a bit of chicken stock to thin it out.
Can you substitute plain greek yogurt for the half-and-half?
Haven’t tried it myself, but I think that would work just fine.
I make curries frequently, and never using a jar sauce/paste. Today I needed something for hubs to heat and eat while I took the car in for routine service (pretty much an all day affair). The recipe is similar to one I’ve used a lot, but I really wanted to see if 5 minutes in the IP would result in tender chicken. I made 1/2 recipe, which was more than enough for the 2 of us.
Yes, the IP definitely infused the flavors and the chicken was very tender! I marinated everything overnight, then cooked this morning. Hubs made some rice and heated just the amount he wanted. I heated up another serving when I got home, and there’s a bit left. Definitely on the ‘keeper’ list. I didn’t have any half & half, and it’s not all that common in the UK. Some similar recipes suggest heavy cream, and if using that, I would omit the butter. In any case, I did have a tin of light coconut milk, so that’s what I used – great alternative an frequently used in Indian as well as Thai curries.
For anyone without an IP, cooking on the stop top is common sense – everything is sauteed as usual, chicken added, and cook until done, likely around 20 minutes if chicken is cut in 1 to 2 inch cubes. If you want the flavors to blend, cook the day before, then add the half and half and butter when you re-heat.
So, thanks for yet another good recipe Jo.
My pleasure, so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi
Not everyone has an insta pot, can you please provide a cooking option for those who don’t? thanks
If you read the post you’ll find information on how to make it without an IP.
I did read the post and if you read it you will see that there are no specifics on how long one needs to cook/simmer the chicken and all the ingredients or if the onion and garlic perhaps need to be sauted first, etc. Sounds like a great dish I would just like to be able to adapt this sans insta pot.
That’s because there are multiple options you could do this. You could do it as specified in the instructions, which does saute the onion/garlic first, then just follow the instructions but in whatever pot you choose to use. Cook the chicken until done, I would do at least 20 to 30 minutes to get the flavors going. However, as mentioned, you could grill this first which would kind of cook the meat already, then just add it when mentioned in the instructions and simmer this for another 10 to 15 minutes. Hope this helps. The instant pot is just a pot that cooks faster, any recipe can be turned into a recipe without using an IP and the steps most of the time are the same, the only difference would be how long to cook the chicken.