The Weeknight Kitchen · about 35 minutes

Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

Name: Easy Chicken Tikka Masala
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 2 tbsp ghee; 1 yellow onion; 1 tbsp garam masala; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp sweet paprika; 1 tsp ground ginger; ½ tsp cayenne; 1 tsp salt; 245 g plain yogurt; 120 ml heavy cream; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 can whole San Marzano tomatoes; 680 g cooked chicken; Fresh cilantro, basmati rice, and naan, to serve

The weeknight shortcut: skip the marinade and the char, lean on cooked (rotisserie) chicken, and build a velvety spiced tomato-cream sauce in one pan. Dinner over basmati in about 35 minutes.

~35 min total 10 min prep 1 pan method

Effort ●●○○ Time ●○○○ Anytime

Gluten-Free

Servingsamounts scale to match

Units

Ingredients

This is the shortcut version — already-cooked chicken, no marinade. Because the chicken is cooked, it only needs to warm through at the end, so the whole thing is one pan in about 35 minutes. Bloom the spices in the onion until fragrant, and keep the sauce at a gentle simmer (don't hard-boil) so the dairy stays smooth.

Easier, if you like

Rotisserie chicken + a jar of crushed tomatoes is the fastest path — no raw chicken to cook.
In a real pinch, a jarred tikka simmer sauce plus the cooked chicken gets you most of the way.

Method

Cook's notes

The weeknight cousin of the showpiece. This trades the marinate-and-char of the from-scratch Chicken Tikka Masala in The Showroom for speed — the from-scratch version is smokier and deeper; this one is on the table in about a third of the time.

Rotisserie chicken is what makes this a 35-minute dinner. Leftover roast or grilled chicken works just as well.

Spice blend: the listed spices add up to about 3 tablespoons — or use 3 tbsp of a tikka masala blend you like.

Simmer the sauce longer (up to an hour) for deeper flavor when time allows; it only gets better.

Vegetarian or dairy-free with easy swaps (already gluten-free)

Vegetarian: use cooked chickpeas, pan-fried paneer, or roasted cauliflower in place of the chicken.

Dairy-free: use coconut cream + 1 tsp lemon juice for the yogurt, and a coconut or oat cream for the heavy cream.

Gluten-free: the curry is gluten-free — serve with rice (naan is wheat).