Spicy and creamy 30-minute butter chicken with basmati rice and quick stove-top naan. This tasty meal will add spice and flavor to your lunch routine! 
If you’re looking for a way to switch up your meal-prep routine then this is a great way to do so. Butter chicken is my favorite Indian dish and also one of the only dishes we have on a monthly basis. I’ve simplified my favorite butter chicken recipe so that it’s quick and easy to make and packed full of flavor and spice. It’s great for meal-prepping and makes lunchtime 100x better.
The basmati rice soaks up all the creamy buttery sauce from the butter chicken and the quick garlic stove-top naan is a great addition. You can skip the naan if you’re feeling super lazy and just go with the basmati rice and butter chicken.
Meal-Prep Butter Chicken
Ingredients
For the butter chicken
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced or grated (or use paste)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or crushed
- 1 ½ pounds about 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch chunks
- 1 can, 6 oz. tomato paste (or 8-10 oz can of tomato sauce)
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon chili powder, or paprika, adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon Fenugreek, I use powder, but seeds or mustard seeds can be used too, optional*
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup heavy cream, sub for half & half or yogurt for low fat
For the rice
- 1 cup basmati rice, or jasmine
- 1 3/4 cups water
- Large pinch salt
For the garlic naan
- small Pizza dough
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup minced cilantro, optional
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- To cook butter chicken:Heat a large skillet or medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil and onions and cook onions down until lightly golden, about 3-4 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and let cook for 30 seconds, stirring so it doesn’t burn. Add the chicken, tomato paste, and spices. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until everything is cooked through. Add the heavy cream and simmer for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally.
- To make naan: Combine the garlic, butter, cilantro and butter in a small bowl. Set aside. Divide pizza dough into 8 equal portions. Roll the dough into a small circle using a rolling-pin. Heat up a skillet (cast-iron preferred) over high heat and lightly grease the surface with some oil to avoid the dough from sticking to the skillet. Place the dough in the skillet. When it puffs up and bubbles and burnt spots appear, flip it over and spread with the garlic butter mixture. Cook until done. Repeat the same until all dough is done.
- To cook rice: Wash rice until it runs clear then rinse. In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 5 minutes.
- To Assemble: Measure 1 cup of cooked rice into each meal prep container. Pour about 1 cup of the butter chicken on the rice. Wrap a naan with foil or plastic wrap. To heat, microwave containers for 2 minutes or until steamy. Micwaorve naan for just 20 seconds.
Does this freeze well?
Hi, can you tell me how much the recipe is just for the rice and butter chicken?
My son recommended this recipe and I’m stopping at the Indian grocery store on my way home from work today for a couple of the ingredients. I’d LOVE to know what the nutrition facts are though.
Most of the recipe is great, my only gripe is the “naan”. Obviously it’s not authentic, but it’s just an ok substitute for naan. I ended up finding naan at Trader Joe’s, it’s cheap and only takes two minutes to heat in the oven. I also learned that you can get naan from some Indian restaurants. My friends got a bunch of fresh naan from a himilayan restaurant nearby, so I think I will get that from now on when making this recipe
Does this need to be reheated?
Yes, you would need to reheat in the microwave!
This was so easy to make and absolutely delicious. It tastes even better than takeout!! Will definitely be making this again.
Enjoy!!
What are the Macros? How many calories, how much protein, carbs, and fat per serving? Also serving size for the rice and chicken?
I did the math guys its about 365.9 calories per serving (I didnt caculate pizza dough but if you use a nan or a tiny nan like I did thats 360 calories in under for the entire 6 servings then it will be around my estimate.)
Thank you so much for finding the calories!!
Any chance you figured out how much protein per serving?
can you tell me the nutrional information, calories ect?
Just made it a few mins ago, (5/17/20) I followed the recipe to the letter. Expect I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream. I used Trader Joe’s organic boneless chicken breast. It tasted amazing!!! Rice came out BOMB!! So excited to make this again!!! So good!!!
Hey can any tell me the nutiotional facts for ths diSh??
How maNY CALORIES WOULD THIS BE ROUGHLY, per serving?
Is reheating rice ok? I thought you weren’t supposed to do that
Yes, just be sure to heat it until steaming.
Ive reheated rice… I put a damp paper towel over it to be sure it doesn’t dry out. Comes out like it was made fresh.
I tried this and felt it was just okay. i’ve had butter chicken before but this was my first attempt at making it. why is there no actual butter in the recipe?
hI THERE, DO YOU HAVE tHE Nutritional Info?
Nailed it! Excellent recipe! Thank you! I used instacart to get the ingredients which included a pillsbury pizza dough. I cut the dough tube into 8 “ROlls” and they were hard to roll out. Took a lot of time. Finally I figured out this type of dough is already rolled out rolled up. All I would have had to do was unroll it and save a lot of time! Next time! (Not sure why my post is appearing in caps. It’s not me.)
Turned out great. i didn’t make the naan as i’m trying stay away from carbs. I also used a can of coconut milk to substitute for the cream. It came out just as creamy and was delicious- no taste of coconut whatsoever. Will definitely be in the meal prep rotation.
Can I use low fat yogurt instead of fresh cream. Or is there any other option instead of cream
I just made this and it’s delicious. Turned out great. Will become a regular dinner at my home!!!
Hello, how long does it last in the fridge? And can it be frozen after it’s made?
Where do you get the containers?
Amazon! The link for the containers is in the recipe https://amzn.to/2Jg0E7j
Hey there!
I love your meal prep recipes–they are really helping me keep it together on weekdays! Some of your later recipes have nutrition information on them–can you tell me what the nutrition information is for this recipe? Or, alternatively/additionally, can you tell me what site/app you use to figure out the nutrition for each recipe? It would be really helpful to have be able to figure out what i’m making in my own recipes.
Hi can the butter chicken meal prep be frozen
I love your recipes, but I wish you subbed plastic containers for glass or compostable. You have a huge opportunity to promote sustainability on this platform!!
Thanks for your feedback, Tess. The plastic containers are re-usable but we are slowly transitioning to glass containers as well.
I used coconut milk in place of cream. Worked great! Terrific recipe!
Wow! Is that so? Will try it out today. Is that frst milk or second milk