Instant Pot Butter Chicken {Low Carb}
Instant Pot Butter Chicken is tender chicken cooked in a creamy, spicy, tomato-based sauce. This version uses no cornstarch so it is low carb, and keto.
Instant Pot Butter Chicken (Chicken Makhani) is a recipe Melinda and I have been working on for awhile. Whenever we have a girls’ night out you’ll find us at our favorite Indian restaurant with an order of vegetable samosas, butter chicken, and garlic naan. With the start of the new year we wanted an Instant Pot version of our favorite dinner AND we wanted it to be low carb and keto (bye,bye vegetable samosas and garlic naan! We’ll miss you!)
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Instant Pot Butter Chicken is naturally low carb so we didn’t have to make any changes. Though a lot of recipes add cornstarch to thicken their butter chicken sauce it isn’t necessary. Setting your Instant Pot to saute after it has finished pressure cooking, will thicken the sauce up perfectly! If you are new to using an Instant Pot check out our post on How to Use an Instant Pot .
How to Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken:
- Set your Instant Pot to SAUTE and add butter, onion and garlic. Saute for approximately 5 minutes until the onions are tender. Press OFF to cancel the saute.
- Add the chicken, chicken broth, tomato sauce, tomato paste, red curry paste, garam masala, ground ginger, salt, and smoked paprika to the Instant Pot. Look the lid in place and turn the pressure valve to seal it. Set to HIGH PRESSURE for 7 minutes.
- When the timer goes off do a quick release and let all of the steam out of the pressure cooker.
- Remove the lid and using a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the sauce and set aside.
- Add the heavy cream to the pot and, using an immersion blender puree the sauce until smooth.
- Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE and stir the sauce while simmering for 7-10 minutes, or until it thickens. Turn OFF saute.
- Add the chicken back to the sauce, stir together, and serve with a garnish of cilantro.
Can I Use Chicken Breast Instead of Chicken Thighs?
The short answer is yes, BUT the dark meat gives this recipe so much more flavor, and it is even more moist and tender. I highly recommend using dark meat if you can.
When your butter chick is ready serve it over Instant Pot Basmati Rice (if you aren’t eating low carb) or cauliflower rice, zoodles, or all on it’s own, if you are eating low carb.
What Do I Serve With Instant Pot Butter Chicken?
Low Carb options:
- Cauliflower Rice
- Zucchini Noodles
- Sauted yellow squash
Other options:
What You Will Need to Make Instant Pot Butter Chicken:
- Instant Pot – You’ll need an Instant Pot or similar pressure cooker to make this recipe.
- Garam Masala – This delicious blend of spices can be found at your local grocery store or on Amazon.
Want More Instant Pot Recipes?
- Instant Pot Sausage and Kale Soup
- Instant Pot Hoppin’ John
- Pressure Cooker Taco Soup
- Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
INSTANT POT BUTTER CHICKEN
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Instant Pot Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 cups Onion, diced
- 5 cloves Garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 2 pounds Chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1/2 cup Chicken broth
- 15 ounces Tomato sauce, no added sugar
- 3 tablespoons Tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Red curry paste
- 2 teaspoons Garam masala
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup Heavy cream
- Cilantro, garnish
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to SAUTE and add butter, onion and garlic. Saute for approximately 5 minutes until the onions are tender. Press OFF to cancel the saute.
- Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce, red curry paste, and tomato paste to the pot. Sprinkle in the garam masala, ground ginger, salt, and smoked paprika and stir everything together.
- Add the chicken to the liquid and lock the lid in place. Turn the pressure valve to seal it. Set to HIGH PRESSURE for 7 minutes.
- When the timer goes off do a natural release for 5 minutes and then turn the valve on top to VENTING to let the remaining steam out of the pressure cooker.
- Remove the lid and using a slotted spoon remove the chicken from the sauce and set aside.
- Add the heavy cream to the pot and, using an immersion blender puree the sauce until smooth.
- Set the Instant Pot to SAUTE and stir the sauce while simmering for 7-10 minutes, or until it thickens. Turn OFF saute.
- Add the chicken back to the sauce, stir together, and serve with a garnish of cilantro.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried freezing this in individual portions? I’d love to have this be one of my meal prep staples but don’t want to gamble on changing the consistency on my own!
Hi Nicole, freezing should not be an issue. Meal prepping with this recipe will work out great!
Delicious! Even my stepson liked it. I think I’ll even be excited for the leftovers.
Added pasta and added total of 32oz of chicken broth. Kept same of everything else (no spiciness though). It was great!
I just made it and it came out delicious, I added two Chile serranos sliced to give it some heat.My family loved it! Will definitely on it again.
This recipe is a winner, winner chicken dinner! I tweaked it a bit, based on what I had (didn’t want to get out in the snow). I used chicken breasts instead of thighs. I used 1/2 can of Maesri Red Curry Paste instead of measuring. The other half went into the freezer. I only had an 8 ounce can of tomato sauce, so I used it with a whole can of tomato paste and doubled the broth. I also added a bell pepper with the onion. Finally, I used hot smoked paprika instead of regular smoked paprika.
My husband LOVED it, and it is going into the regular rotation! He added some extra hot smoked paprika and some roasted peanuts to his portion.
Is it possible to make this in the slow cooker? What times would you suggest?
You should definitely be able to make it in the slow cooker. I haven’t done it myself but my guess would be approximately 2-2.5 hours on high. You may need to add a splash more heavy cream if the sauce gets to thick. You’ll have to keep an eye on that.
Absolutely delicious! My family loved it. I’ll definitely make it again soon!