Butter Chicken Pasta recipe

Why you will love this butter chicken pasta recipe

• If you prefer pasta over rice, this recipe is perfect for you. It requires minimal ingredients and offers a shortcut to the classic butter curry. Unlike traditional methods, there's no need to blend the sauce or heaven around to marinate the chicken in the yogurt marinade. This time-saving approach ensures that you can enjoy a delicious meal without compromising on taste.

• Affordable: with this recipe, you can be guaranteed a quality curry that tastes better than what you will get from your favorite takeaway.

• Flavor bomb: butter chicken is a mild curry that has a combination of sweet and savory flavors. This recipe sure delivers on that! you will be pleasantly amazed on how delicious this pasta dish is. It is going to be a party of delicious layers of flavors in your mouth. The combination of Indian spices and herbs takes this dish to a whole new level.

• Kid friendly: this recipe is mild enough for even the pickiest eater. That said, if you love spice and a lil bit of heat in your curry then you can easily adjust the level of heat to preference.

• Quick to make: this butter chicken is easy to prepare, you can have it on the table within 30 minutes. More importantly, it is protein-packed, filling, and leaves you satisfied.

What you will need

To make this quick and easy butter chicken pasta, you will need the following handful of ingredients.

Pasta: I used penne pasta for this recipe, the tubular shape is perfect for the creamy sauce. It holds the sauce so nicely and every mouthful with the chicken pieces is full of flavor.

Boneless skinless chicken breast: substitute with boneless skinless chicken thighs if you prefer.

Full-fat yogurt: this recipe only requires about ¼ cup so it's perfect if you have leftovers in your fridge.

Heavy cream: You can substitute with half and half (single cream) or even full-fat coconut milk.

Vegetable oil: substitute with olive oil, ghee, or butter

Passata: this is where I saved time with this recipe, using passata means, I don't have to blend the sauce once it is cooked.

Unsalted butter: what is butter curry without butter, just joking now, the butter is optional but it does add another level of richness to this curry.

Garlic paste

Ginger paste

Onion powder: yes, onion powder, as I mentioned earlier, I internationally used some ingredients to save time.

Ground cumin

Cayenne pepper: this can be adjusted to preference.

Tumeric

Coriander powder

Garam masala

Lemon juice

Salt

Butter

Sugar: this is optional, I added the sugar to balance out the acidity from the tomato, only add it if you need to. That said, most takeaways add sugar to their butter chicken.

How to make butter chicken pasta recipe

Cook the pasta: in a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of pasta water then drain and set aside.

Season the chicken: in a bowl combine cubed chicken breast, yogurt, lemon juice, garlic paste, ginger paste, turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Mix everything together until combined then set aside then move on to make the creamy sauce

Place a shallow skillet on medium-high heat, add olive oil, and heat until hot and shimerring. Add marinated chicken to the hot pan and cook stirring occasionally until the chicken is cooked, opaque, and longer pink.

Pour the passata and heavy cream into the pan and stir to combine, reduce the heat and bring the creamy sauce to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens and reduces and changes in color. The pasta should be cooked at this point

Season the sauce with salt and lastly add butter then stir together until the butter is fully melted.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to combine, making sure that each pasta is fully coated with the sauce. Add pasta water to thin out the sauce if need be.

Remove from the heat and serve immediately and garnish chopped red onion or freshly chopped cilantro leaves and naan bread. Enjoy!