5-Ingredient Butter Chicken Using Jarred Sauce
Open a jar, cook some chicken — real butter chicken flavor in 25 minutes flat.
This is the recipe for the night when you want something warm and satisfying but you are not about to make a curry from scratch. A jar of butter chicken sauce does the heavy lifting here — you just brown some chicken thighs, pour the sauce over, and let it simmer until everything comes together. The result tastes genuinely good, not like a shortcut. Serve it over rice and you have a full, comforting dinner for under $10. No special skills required, no long ingredient list, no regrets.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs — cut into 1.5-inch chunks
- 1 unit jar butter chicken sauce — about 15 oz — Patak's or similar
- 1.5 cup long-grain white rice — dry, for serving
- 1 tbsp neutral oil — vegetable or canola
- 0.5 tsp salt — plus more to taste
Method
- 1 Cook the rice according to package directions. Start this first so it's ready when the chicken is done.
- 2 While the rice cooks, pat the chicken thigh pieces dry with a paper towel and season with the salt.
- 3 Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 1 minute.
- 4 Add the chicken in a single layer. Cook undisturbed for 3–4 minutes until golden brown on the bottom.
- 5 Flip the pieces and cook another 2 minutes — they don't need to be fully cooked through yet.
- 6 Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour the entire jar of butter chicken sauce over the chicken and stir to coat.
- 7 Simmer uncovered for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened slightly.
- 8 Taste and adjust salt. Serve over rice.
Variations
- Vegetarian swap — Replace the chicken with one 15 oz can of drained chickpeas and one 14 oz block of extra-firm tofu, cubed and pressed dry. Brown the tofu the same way, then add the chickpeas with the sauce. Simmer for 8 minutes.
- Faster swap — Use a rotisserie chicken — pull the meat into chunks and skip the browning step entirely. Just warm the sauce in the skillet for 2 minutes, add the chicken, heat through for 5 minutes, and serve.
- Creamier version — Stir in 2 tablespoons of plain whole-milk yogurt or heavy cream right before serving for a richer, restaurant-style finish.
Notes
Chicken thighs stay juicier than breasts here and are usually cheaper — stick with them if you can. If your jar of sauce tastes a little flat, a small squeeze of lemon juice at the end brightens everything up. Leftovers reheat beautifully the next day; the sauce gets even better overnight.
Equipment that helps
- Large skillet (12-inch) — A wide surface lets you brown the chicken in one layer so it gets color instead of steaming.
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