I’m going to be honest here. Just like the Naan, this Tikka Masala recipe is NOT as lazy as we normally like to be here at Stir & Chill. It is, however, delicious. It is the most divine Tikka Masala recipe for the least amount of work I could find in my almost year-long search. And if you’ve never had Tikka Masala, you’ll have to take my word for it, it is so worth the effort. When I made lazier crockpot recipes or tried other instant pot variations, they all ended up tasting watery and lacking in the spices and masala flavor that I was craving. I might adapt this for the Crock Pot someday, but for today, I think we’ve got something pretty amazing.
I got the original recipe for this from Twosleevers, and I am forever indebted to them for it. I was skeptical of the suggestion to add a carrot to the sauce, but OH MY GOODNESS, it made a difference. Somehow, adding that carrot takes away the wateriness, improving the texture and flavor of the sauce. GENIUS. The biggest changes I made to this recipe were in the directions, as I added my own instructions for cooking the chicken. In the original, you had to cook the chicken on top of the sauce, resulting in a somewhat blind hunt with tongs or a fork to pull out all the chicken pieces so you could blend the sauce. Since this recipe is already just barely within the realm of how much work I am willing to put into a dish, I ditched that for a tinfoil bowl with a hole in it so that the chicken cooked and then you just lift it out of the instant pot (with any excess liquid draining back into the sauce). I also used dried versions of every spice or aromatic except the onion since chopping onion into large pieces that will later be blended isn’t a big deal.
One of the best parts of this Chicken Tikka Masala is that while it is relatively inexpensive to make (the ingredients are pretty cheap, and the chicken you use goes far), the flavor is so refined you will feel like royalty eating it! If you think you don’t like Indian food, please try again! There is nothing better than some Chicken Tikka Masala and warm, fresh Garlic Naan (Indian flatbread). With all that said, I hope you guys enjoy the recipe!
Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
Equipment
- 1 instant pot
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs *or breasts
- ½ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
For the Sauce
- 1 Onion * I actually use closer to ½ a large onion, but if you have a small one use the whole thing
- 1 14 ounce can tomatoes diced or crushed are both fine
- 1 carrot
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1-2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
For Serving
- 4 ounces half and half *½ cup
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- fresh cilantro
Instructions
For the Chicken
- Cut the chicken into large chunks and place in a medium/large bowl or ziplock bag.
- Stir your yogurt well before measuring so that it does not separate later. Add the yogurt, garlic powder, ground ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, garam masala, and ground cumin to the chicken container. Then stir and regrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
- While your spices are out, get a small bowl and put the spices for the sauce (garlic powder, ground ginger, turmeric, cayenne pepper, paprika, salt, garam masala, and ground cumin) in a bowl. Set it aside for later.
Make the Sauce
- Chop your onion and carrot (the chunks don't need to be very small, we will blend them later).
- Once your chicken has marinated for at least an hour, add the onion, carrot, canned tomatoes, and sauce spices to the instant pot and stir.
- If you have a metal container that fits in your instant pot, you can use that for this next step. If you're like me and you don't take two pieces of tin foil that are wider than your instant pot and layer them in an x. Poke a hole through the middle and then use it to make a bowl in the instant pot.
- Add your chicken to your metal container on top of the sauce. Then, cook at high pressure for 10 minutes with a quick release.
- Once the instant pot finishes cooking, remove the container with the chicken and drain any excess sauce (if you poked the hole in the tin foil, it will drain as you pick it up). You can set the chicken aside or put it in the oven on a baking sheet (or in an air fryer) to brown.
For Serving
- Pour the sauce into a blender and puree well so that there are no chunks. Then add ½ cup of half and half and the extra teaspoon of garam masala.
- Put the chicken back into the sauce, add cilantro to garnish, and serve.
Notes
- If you’re not a spice fan, you can use half the cayenne pepper and paprika (or get rid of it) to take it down to a level that won’t burn while maintaining good flavor.
- You can also use heavy cream instead of half and half or yogurt in this recipe. If you use it to replace the yogurt, make sure you give it at least 2 hours to refrigerate.
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