Chef John's Chicken Tikka Masala

This is a great recipe. After reading the recipe, I felt it had too much tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. So I reduced the tomato paste to one tablespoon and the crushed tomatoes to 3/4 cup. I blended the spices and checked the aroma. I felt something was missing so I added between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves a bit at a time. That improved the aroma and ultimately the taste. Everyone loved the chicken tikka masala. We often visit a local Indian restaurant and they almost always include chicken tikka masala in the buffet. My husband says the chicken masala I prepared is as good, if not better than, the restaurant version. I have always thought that mushrooms should be included and the next time I make chicken tikka masala, I'll use mushrooms in addition to the chicken. Thank you Chef John.

Have made twice and fabulous both times... however I made changes and also simplified the technique. used all spices as stated except cut salt in half and added a dashes of allspice and cloves. used chicken breast instead of thighs. cubed the meat, added the spices, sauteed in coconut oil (used no butter in the recipe). simultaneously I sauteed the onion, garlic, and ginger in coconut oil. once the onions were caramelized added to the chicken. the added a can of tomato paste and a can of coconut milk. no chicken stock was needed, nor was the can of tomatoes. that's it. let it simmer for 20 minutes.

This is better than the popular tikka masala recipe that I've made a few times from this site! I didn't have any ginger or cardamom, so I didn't use it, and I used regular butter, but besides that, I followed everything else correctly. The tomatoes and coconut milk have a great flavor together. The boneless skinless chicken thighs work so well with this. It was quick and not complicated. Also, I somehow made way more sauce than Chef John does in the video, but I'm not complaining about that! One of best meals I've made in a long time. Thanks Chef John.

EDIT: This was MUCH better as leftovers a day later, with (a LOT of) steamed parsnips added to the bowl. Maybe the sweetness of the parsnips complemented/counteracted the salty of the spice... and the coconut no longer seems too coconut-y. Everything married nicely, with nothing overpowering anything else. Very yummy. I've only had Tikka Masala at an Indian restaurant once in my life, so I'm no connoisseur. That said, my reaction to Chef John's interpretation as prepared in my kitchen is, "I don't love it. I don't hate it." What's keeping me from loving it, I think, is the salt. Whoo! Much too much salt for my palate. Other than that, the flavor is pretty good... though it doesn't have that I-don't-know-what I experienced at the Indian restaurant, that sense of "this isn't knocking my socks off, but I really, REALLY would enjoy another bite." Perhaps someone with more experience with Indian (or British?) cooking could identify what might be 'off' with this recipe, or maybe there's nothing 'off' and it's just me... I don't know. I probably will give this recipe another try, either eliminating or significantly reducing the salt. For me, that'll be a step in the right direction.

Taste is good, but not quite up to restaurant-standard tikka masala (if you want a closer approximation of a good restaurant-style tikka masala, try the Curry Stand Chicken Tikka Masala recipe, elsewhere on this site). I was mainly interested in this recipe because it's essentially paleo and whole30 compliant, if you don't serve it over rice. It really is good, but it's a really high-maintenance dish that essentially ties you to the stove for an hour. I'm wondering if I can get this to work in a slow-cooker... Possible I'll revisit this and bump it up to a full five stars if it really is significantly better the next day (I'm kinda thinking it will be). Lot of work to put this together, though...

So good. I have ate it for 3 meals in a row now.

The recipe is delicious! I made it exactly as written. It’s going to be added to my regular rotation. It takes a bit of time but the end product is worth it! As a note, the spices are a little bit milder than what you would get in a restaurant. I think that the flavors are good as a stand alone dish without trying to compare it to what I could get in a restaurant. If you are looking for more of the restaurant-style punch of flavor, you might want to adjust the spices accordingly.

This is a great recipe! Chef John is the best. I never made Indian food before so I was a little nervous, but this is a keeper. I made my own garam masala spices since I couldn't find any and will have it for the next time I need it. The only change I made was that I used Greek vanilla yogurt in place of coconut milk. I didn't want to pay $4 for a small can of it. The yogurt gave it a great consistency and that sweet taste that is needed. Lovely!

Loved it. Will make again. I found it easiest to gather and put together all my ingredients before the cooking process.

this took a little time to prepare, and we only thought it was ok. I didn't not have garam masala, so that might have affected it, but I had some spices that are in garam masala and I tried to approximate. Even with less (volume) of spices, my chicken was absolutely coated with spice, so I don't know what it would have been like if I had had the GM. Also, we ended up with so much sauce that we had to throw out a lot, even after eating quite a lot of sauce on rice. probably could have cut the sauce by half to my taste. Another thing that makes this a not great recipe for me is that you end up with parts of cans leftover, part of a can of chicken broth, part of a can of crushed tomatoes, and if you reduced the sauce also part of a can of coconut milk. inconvenient and expensive. although not awful, this won't be a recipe I go back to.

Really enjoyed this dish! I mixed it all together let simmer just a bit, poured into Crock Pot, placed in the refrigerator overnight, so that the flavors really had time to blend, an then cooked on low four hours. Did not use tomato paste, cardamom, or coriander, came out just fine. Yummy

This is one of the best recipes i have tried on this site! It taste amazing and even better the next day.

Other than using chicken breast meat cut into cubes and regular unsalted butter, I followed the recipe exactly and found it to be supremely tasty. I could drink the sauce for dessert!

Just made this dish and it was amazing. It will be a stable in our house!

We made this dish tonight for dinner. It was a little time consuming to get made and we omitted the red chili flakes and use only a sprinkle of the cayenne as we don't much care for things to be to spicy. But oh my goodness it was delicious! My husband is an anything coconut hater but he said, and I quote "that's on point!" This dish is absolutely worth the time it takes to make ! We will be adding it to our dinner rotation!

Pretty authentic Indian dish. I left out the cayenne pepper & pepper flakes because the kids don't like spicy. I also left out the tomatoes because husband doesn't like tomatoes. I cut the chicken into 1 inch cubes & marinated it in the spices for a few hours before cooking it. I also left out the chicken broth, but added a little cream & plain yogurt to make it creamier. I also added a splash of lemon juice. The kids said it tasted just like what we get at the local Indian restaurant. I served it over jasmine rice.

The taste was close to the one in the Indian restaurant but not quite as good. Still a very good flavor. However it took me 2+ hours to make. I am sure I am slow at some things but felt I was running the whole two hours. There was a lot to do plus I made the Naan bread also which consumed my time as well. Next time I will cut dice measure everything before I start cooking anything I do think that would make less stress. I will make it again because it was very good.

This is a fantastic recipe, I'm not a fan of coconut milk so I substituted with half cream and half plain yogurt. It also freezes and reheats well so I can make a large batch and divide it up for lunches later.

I liked the choice to use coconut milk in this recipe. The combination of spices was interesting especially the garam masala and turmeric. I didn't have ground cardamon so I substitute a pinch between ground cinnamon and nutmeg. Instead of using crushed tomatoes I used stew tomatoes which was about half of the volume of what the recipe called for. It still came out great and was good with the dark chicken meat. This is a spicy dish so you may want to cut back on a couple of the spices but I like spicy.

this is so good! I followed the recipe exactly and threw it all in the slow cooker! made my house smell great all day and tenderized the meat

This is a go to recipe in my house and I’ve memorized it. Sometimes I use heavy cream, sometimes coconut milk. I keep everything else the same!

Outstanding dish, I followed the recipe exactly as written. Would not change a thing. Sooooo good

This was very good indeed and I'd make it over and over again. My husband is the curry lover and he was a happy man. I served it over Basmati rice. I didn't have as much chicken as it called for, with just us two ()5 boneless skinless), but I kept most of the ingredients to the same level and I'm glad I did as the sauce was so great on the remaining rice. Yum!

This turned out really well! Everyone loved it. The only thing I changed was that I used butter instead of Ghee because Ghee was $16.00 for a little container.

This was as close to tasting like chicken tikka masala as any other chicken dish. I wouldn't even say it was reminiscent of chicken tikka. It was pretty good, however, but I think mostly because of Chef John's choice of chicken thighs instead of breasts.

I made this exactly as directed! No changes are necessary! To cut carbs I served it over cauliflower rice and finely chopped broccoli, delicious!

My wife had never had tikka masala so I made this for her to see what the fuss was all about. It tasted like the tikka masala I've had in restaurants. Made the recipe as written with the sole exception of using breast meat instead of dark meat. It seemed like we had an absolute bucket of sauce for very little chicken, so next time I think I'm going to double the amount of chicken in there so I don't have to drink the leftovers the next day.

Made this with Shrimp instead of chicken for my roommates a few days ago. Also substituted “nomato” sauce for tomato purée... only because one of my roommates cannot have tomatoes (nightshades of any sort). Turned out lovely! Definitely a delicious recipe!

This was delicious. It definitely tasted like chicken tikka masala and I didn't miss the heavy cream. The coconut milk is a genius substitution. We had it over brown rice with green beans. My husband loved it and asked if we can put it into the regular rotation. Thanks Chef John! You are a culinary master.

Excellent! Made it tonight, many spices but worth the effort! Served over basmati rice. Never had Indian food before and this is excellent. Will be looking to make more Indian recipe soon??

This is excellent! Thanks for sharing

amazing!

try and add some boiled poatoes to it when done---mix and leave for 15 minutes the when eating mash the poatoes into the masala ,

If you want leftovers you should double, no, triple the recipe. Trust me, you’ll want leftovers! The only change I made was using breast meat instead of thighs and I chunked it before cooking. I also let the chicken chunks sit in the spice rub for a few hours before cooking. I’m not sure if that added to the fabulousness of the recipe or not. I just always do as much dinner prep work as possible before leaving for work in the morning.

Chef John's recipes are bulletproof. The switch from heavy cream to coconut milk is a genius clutch Jedi move. An absolute pip making this the first time today. Thank you Chef John. Mad respect.

This is the BEST recipe I have made from here and I cook daily from allrecipes.com

great recipe and certainly taught me some good curry techniques plus I learned how to make ghee.

Chef John truly is a great cook ! I follow his recipes word for word and spice for spice ! Comes out perfect every-time ! Thank you

Turned this into an instant pot version and added some ginger paste and some sweet bell pepper and a Serrano pepper. They were licking the bowls...!!

I made this completely true to the recipe. It is absolutely delicious!

I followed the recipe the same as Chef John’s and it turned out very well. Too much for 2 people so we had it a second night.

Excellent! It looked, smelled, and tasted exotic and delicious. My husband said he felt he was in a restaurant and even my picky kids had seconds.

Amazing! Even better topped with fresh cilantro and lime juice!

Delicious!!

Chef John, you hit it out of the park on this one. I've been making the "Curry Stand" recipe on here, thought it was pretty good. Wanted to try something different. Your cooking sequence is more logical and straightforward. The taste is great (although I do admit to adding Curry powder and much more cayenne). So good, without the heavy creamy taste in other recipes. And people, don't substitute the ghee. The chicken browns so well in it. Look no further!

I’ve made this several times. It is so good! I love it! I’ll be making this a lot.

This dish was just ok in my humble opion... I wasn't bad at all, it just wasn't anything to rave over. Normally, any dish Chef John makes he could throw on the floor and I'd still eat it.( Like I know him) But on this dish, I think I would pass.

I found it rather bland, even after adding extra spices. It wasn't bad, just not as good as other recipes.

Fabulous !

I didn't use smoked paprika , cardamon, or cilantro because I didn't have it. It still was very tastey and easy to make.

Was very very good!

I prepared this dish according to the recipe and it turned out wonderfully. I made no changes and it was just as I expected. This was my first chicken curry and it was fun to make. I will prepare many times in the future.

Excellent. Simply added extra red pepper for a bit more kick.

This is literally the best chicken tikka masala. I did 1/2 thighs and 1/2 Breast. Used light coconut milk. Added a bit more of each spice and added a few ground cloves. Also added some Thai chillies cuz we love spice. Ate it with white rice and dosai. My boyfriend is Sri Lankan and super picky and said this is restaurant quality. Can’t wait to make this again!

Crazy amount of spices! Kind of fun to make! Went with baked brown rice. Delicious!

Absolutely delicious. I made it with chicken breast and saved on the cayenne and the chilli flakes as I have a two year old daughter. She loved the chicken as well and we could not stop eating.

I made it for my husband, daughter and grandson. they loved it. I don't usually like spicy food, but I too loved it. I was amazed by all the different wonderful flavors. Thank you very much Chef John, will definitely make more of Chef John's Indian recipes.

as always chef john slays it

This was the best curry I have every eaten! I even screwed up a couple of steps and it still turned out great. I would recommend prepping the chicken coated with all the spices ahead of time. I also added a little yogurt toward the end.

Good work John I think the only thing to improve this dish is leave it overnight and consuming the next day I will deafly be making this again.

Fabulous! Super easy to make and totally authentic. I diced the chicken before seasoning and sautéing it. Much easier. Also used regular butter and evoo as I didn’t have ghee. Making it again this weekend for guests. Totally recommend this recipe. Very flavorful.

I followed this recipe as is and it turned out great. Well, the only thing I did was omit the grated grinder for ground ginger since that’s all I had! Sopping this up with Nan bread is a must

This recipe is so easy and delicious. I will be making it again.

Too much salt but otherwise fantastic.

Very good recipe. Super simple. Very flavorful. I added more crushed garlic, sweet curry powder, Chinese five spice and some penzeys minced ginger. I also used half the amount of tomato. Came out perfect.

Chef John did it again. Dang this man is good! Only addition was about 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt for a little more creaminess.

I've made this twice now for my boyfriend (lactose intolerant) and me (gluten free). It is amazing! Highly recommend. I followed the recipe as written.

This was exactly the taste I was looking for!!! I used the cream instead of coconut milk and added more ginger. This dish is great when made and over the top great the next day. I made it with chicken breast, but will use thighs next time.

We loved it! I think it is a bit too tomatoey as written, so I'll cut back some next time. I added the spice mixture to diced chicken and allowed it to marinate for a few hours to deepen the flavor. Now, I think I need to invest in a spice grinder!

My youngest requests (demands) this each visit home from college. Luckily Wegmans has Naan bread in a family pack which is the perfect side to slop up the sauce. I absolutely love boneless chicken thighs and this recipe has so many wonderful flavors. Keep the recipes coming Chef John!

Very good recipe. Didn't put in tomatoes and chicken stock but kept tomato paste . Enough sauce without those items. Everyone in the house enjoyed it. Served over coconut rice. YUM

Loved this!!! I made edits, just based on what I had and ease. I cut the recipe in half using the allrecipes function. I only did this since we were not going to be around to eat leftovers. It was so good, that if I were home, I would've doubled it! I ran out of turmeric, so didn't add. I added a dash of clove and allspice to the spice mixture. I put the chicken breast in a ziploc with all the spices and threw in the fridge. I did this in the morning, so it would be easy to get dinner ready after work. I sauteed the onion, garlic and ginger and then added the chicken breast, which I cut into strips. I should've cut the strips prior to adding the spice mix. I then sauteed the chicken a bit before pouring in the can of coconut milk and about 2T of tomato paste. I had cut the recipe in 1/2, except for this, which I'm glad I did it this way. I didn't need chicken broth and didn't need to cook the chicken separately. I also didn't bother adding crushed tomatoes. I know I changed this a bit but I don't think my changes were too different from the original recipe, more my chosen way to cook. I also served with cauliflower rice, which Trader Joe's now has in their frozen section!! Score! We loved this meal!

I made this recipe but like everyone else, I had to make some adjustments. Instead of crushed tomatoes & tomato paste I used stewed tomatoes. My family eats seafood more than chicken so I also substituted the chicken for shrimp. Added naan bread and basmati rice. It was amazing!

Simply delicious! I added Tandoori Masala which makes the flavors POP even more :)

It was good, but a bit too salty. Halve the salt.

My husband and I have a kosher home. I will eat non kosher food outside my home, but my husband prefers to be vegetarian when eating out. Until last night, he had never tried chicken tikka masala! Because it uses coconut milk which is not dairy, I was able to make him this classic Indian dish. It was fantastic!!!

I made this and like others said, it was salty and missing something. I halved the salt and put in about a 1/2 tsp of ground clove and it was perfect! I love the pieces of tomatoes and onions and the chicken was very moist! I will be making this again and again and again and again! :D

I made this at work with help. It was absolutely delicious; we licked the bowls.

All curries -- at least, all well-constructed curries -- taste better the second (and especially the third) day after making. This applies to other stews and chili, too. This truism aside, I'm impressed; this tasted great straight out of my cast-iron frying pan. Where I differed from the recipe as provided: I reduced the salt by half. I added quartered baby potatoes. I didn't bother with the chicken stock. I used a full can of cubed tomatoes 'cause I can't think of what to do with a partial can thereafter. Curry aficionados will tell you that ginger and garlic are key to any curry. Do yourself and your family a favour: Buy organic ginger and garlic sourced from pretty much anywhere other than China; bodies don't benefit from lead, cadmium and other heavy metals (https://www.sccgov.org/sites/da/newsroom/newsreleases/Pages/NRA2016/Mondelezlawsuit.aspx). The changes I made . . . salt reduction and potato addition, basically . . . will only affect the perceived salinity of the meal. Chicken stock (which I left out) would only improve what I'm raving about. This is a solid curry, and I confidently recommend it.

This was the second time I made this and I love it.

Made the recipe as written- for the 4th time! This is the best tikki masala. Husband loves it too. Thanks chef John

We made this camping. It was devoured by all. I spiced mine with some extra stuff and adjusted spicy heat as I went.

This recipe is absolutely amazing! I make it pretty regularly! It's seriously the only recipe on this site that I do not alter in any way...well except for using a lot more ghee because I am a butter junky. This is restaurant quality eating here. I took it to an Indian fella at work and he said the spices are spot on.

Excellent tikka. Shouldn't be surprised it's a Brit recipe, outside India they have the best Indian food anywhere!!!

Made one batch with chicken and the other with tofu, and used a little extra coconut milk and left out the chicken broth to make it easier to deal with my meat eating and vegetarian family members. Went over well with everyone. treated the tofu the same as the chicken- dusted squares with the seasoning mixture and then sauteed in oil.

This is delicious! I actually made it vegan by subbing chick peas and potatoes for the chicken. I also don’t like the flavor of coconut milk in savory foods so I added a pinch or two of baking soda to neturilize the flavor and it worked perfectly. This is one of my favorite recipes!

Excellent! I'm new to cooking Indian food. This recipe was spectacular. I added diced eggplant to the dish (added it with the chicken) and it was great. Even my 12 year old nephew loved it and he only eats a few things. This will be a regular at our house now. Thanks, John, for another winning recipe! I've come to trust them all.

Great dish, full of flavour, delicious and will definetly make it again.

I have never had Chicken Tikka before and I thought this was a wonderfully balanced, delicious, and easy to prepare dish. I did make a couple of changes. First of all, I had chicken thighs on bone and I kept them that way. I would not do that again - cut into chunks. Also, I did not have coconut milk, but did have almond milk - it did work well. Lastly I used a 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes - I knew they would go to waste if I didn't use the whole can. I used a masher and mashed the tomatoes quite easily into a crushed state. Will be making again!

Really good recipe!

I did not make any change in the recipe, it is wonderful and taste very good. My husband make sure I saved the recipe.

I did a quick easy variation of this using pork roast that has been cooked and Frozen. Used Frozen chopped onion and green pepper about a half a cup total and threw in two diced potatoes scrubbed not peeled. sauteed the vegetables in olive oil to get them soft and then poured in one jar of prepared tikka masala sauce, added one regular can tomato sauce, one can heavy coconut milk and lots of Indian spice and about 2 tablespoons of sugar. I used garlic from the jar in with the onion and potato mixture. used all of the spices above except garam masala, added cinnamon and red curry powder and cardamom along with the above going very lightly on the smoked paprika. Just kept tasting until it was right. This was very good, great way to use leftover meat but must have the jar of sauce to begin with for a good base. sure it's great with chicken, frozen cooked or starting w fresh. some fresh torn thai basil as garnish would be nice in summer

My changes: Chicken breast, no cilantro, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, and 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes. If you are unsure about trying an Indian dish, this one will not disappoint. Cook the chicken in the pan for 5 minutes and complete the cooking in the sauce and it will be tender and moist.

A new family favorite.

Made it! It was a real it.

Absolutely delicious without alteration! Officially added to family faves.

I wanted to love this recipe but it just lacked flavor, gusto. I didn't find the authentic 'curry flavor' I thought it would bring. Appreciated the braising of chicken in seasoning tips.

Tasty enough, but lacks the complexity of a traditional chicken Tikka masala.

Excellant! Followed the recipe as wrote. Wonderful flavors with a nice richness and just enough kick. Served with Jasmine rice.