Get your Indian fix by making one of my most popular recipes, chicken tikka masala, now adapted for the Instant Pot pressure cooker.
Chicken tikka masala is one of my favorite dishes of all time, and one of the most popular Indian dishes ordered at American restaurants. It goes great with basmati rice to help soak up all of the delicious sauce, or with some slabs of naan bread on the side. I enjoy this dish frequently in various forms, whether it be in a restaurant or just at home with a microwaveable frozen version (the one at Trader Joe’s is quite good!). I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that there have been times where I ate chicken tikka masala more than once in a single day. It’s just one of those dishes that ticks off all of the boxes for me: (1) warm and comforting, (2) thick and saucy, (3) tons of spices and flavor, and (4) tender bites of chicken.
I developed my one-pan stovetop chicken tikka masala recipe about half a year ago — it’s a made-from-scratch chicken tikka masala that’s surprisingly easy and tastes just as good as the restaurant version. Since then, I’ve been asked to adapt the recipe to make an Instant Pot version. Via pressure cooking, it only takes 10 minutes to cook the sauce, which is about half as long as the stovetop method. I’ve also made some minor adjustments such as tweaking the spice mix and using less heavy cream. All in all, this Instant Pot chicken tikka masala tastes just as amazing as the stovetop version, so you can pick whichever cooking method you prefer.
Recently, I added a slow cooker chicken tikka masala for those of you with crockpots and other slow cookers.
If you’ve ever made my stovetop chicken tikka masala, you’ll know that it comes with a generous amount of sauce. This Instant Pot version is the same. You won’t ever find me skimping on tikka masala sauce, otherwise, what’s the point of basmati rice and naan if there isn’t extra sauce to soak up? The flavors here are top notch — even the typically wary-of-Indian-food Mr. Savory Tooth loves it — and there’s also a wonderful hint of lemon flavor as an added bonus.
For a low carb and keto friendly version, simply make the recipe as follows and substitute white rice with riced cauliflower or low carb naan.
Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
For marinating the chicken:
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts about 2, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup plain 2% fat greek yogurt 7 ounces
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
For the sauce:
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce or puree
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 4 teaspoons garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream added last
For serving:
- basmati rice
- naan
- freshly chopped cilantro
Instructions
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Marinating the chicken: Combine all marinade ingredients (minus the chicken) in a bowl and mix well. Add chicken chunks and coat with the marinade. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
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Pressure cooker saute mode: Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for medium heat. When it has reached temperature, add chicken chunks (along with any marinade sticking to them) to the pressure cooker. Saute until the chicken is cooked on all sides, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the saute mode.
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Pressure cooker high pressure mode: Add all of the sauce ingredients except the cream to the pressure cooker, over the chicken, and stir. Secure and seal the lid. Select the manual mode to cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Use the quick steam release handle to release pressure.
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Pressure cooker saute mode: Select the saute mode on the pressure cooker for low heat. When it has reached temperature, add cream to the pot, stirring with the other ingredients. Simmer until the sauce is thickened to your liking, a few minutes.
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Serving: Serve with basmati rice or naan. Garnish with cilantro.
Nutrition Info
This recipe yields 12.5 g net carbs per serving. Nutrition information does not include rice or naan.
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 460 | |
| Total Fat 27g | 41% |
| Saturated Fat 17g | 85% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 171mg | 57% |
| Sodium 970mg | 40% |
| Potassium 320mg | 9% |
| Total Carb 19g | 6% |
| Dietary Fiber 6.5g | 26% |
| Sugars 6g | |
| Protein 32g |
This recipe is phenomenal.. I’ve made it 6 times .. quick question — how much is one serving? I saw the nutritional info but no actual serving size.
Hi Steph! The number of servings is listed above the recipe’s Ingredients list — it says 4 servings. So the serving size is one quarter of the entire recipe. The nutrition information is for one serving.
I’ve made this 5 or 6 times, and it’s always amazing. Can you use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast?
I haven’t tried chicken thighs with this recipe before. Hoping someone else will chime in with their experience.
I use chicken thighs, it comes out fantastic. I use 12 minutes instead of 10.
Great. Thanks for letting us know, Jacob.
We made this recipe tonight and loved it, but it seemed very watery! What did we do wrong? There was already alot of water when we started to add the sauce ingredients, so maybe it was our chicken or too much of the marinade went it? The cream didn’t thicken it up much at the end.
Sounds like your chicken was too moist. If you make this again, pat the chicken dry with paper towels before combining with the marinade.
The first time I made this recipe it was very watery as well and I had to simmer it for a while. I would suggest a combination of 15 ounces of tomate puree and tomato paste vice the tomato sauce! I’ve cooked this numerous times now and did that instead and it did not turn out as watery!
Instant pot chicken tikka masala!!! I’m Always looking for new instant pot recipes. Looks great, am planning on making it.
Is there any way to substitute yogurt for the heavy cream?
This recipe has been in my almost-weekly rotation for a long time, and I love it! This time I prepped everything, marinated the chicken overnight, brought my IP to work and made it for my friends at the office. One pal brought her homemade naan. It’s a feast! I used a trivet to hold a pan of rice and broth over the chicken/sauce to cook at the same time, and it was just divine. Thank you for this fabulous recipe.
ok this was absolutely DELISH!!! however, i do eat indian food a lot, and this was definitely spicier than any i’ve had before. and i only added 2 tsp of garam masala to the sauce. im not sure what the discrepancy is between people’s reviews on this and the spicyness. maybe it depends on the type of garam masala you use? next time, i’ll do half the spice and add it in later if needed.
Yeah, I’m seeing very bipolar reviews on how spicy this is. For me, it’s only mildly spicy, and I’ve tested this recipe with different garam masala brands.
I’m planning on making this for 4 adults and 2 children…if I double the amount of ingredients do I need to add more time to the pressure cooker?
The pressure cooking time remains the same.
My first recipe EVER with my new IP… boyfriend and I ate every last bit! We didn’t find it too spicy at all and ended up adding a little extra of each spice, we will be hands down making this much more in the future. Thank you so much.
So good! I wanted a recipe to try out my new instant pot (yay!) and this was perfect in so many ways! Quick and very easy recipe that even a newbie like me could follow. And so flavorful! All the spices in this were delicious. I was a little skeptical about how much tomato there was, but it turned out great, not too tomato-y at all. And the spice was just right. I was worried it wouldn’t be enough (I’m from New Mexico.) but this was just perfect. Nice and flavorful with just a bit of a kick to it.… Read more »
Excellent. We tried another recipe first, it was watery. This one was wonderful!
This came out delicious!! Any recommendations for a vegetarian version?
I have a vegetarian cauliflower version: https://www.savorytooth.com/cauliflower-curry/
Made this tonight it was great by oh my was it spicy!! I knew 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper would be too much for my family so I only did the slightest sprinkle of it but it was still too much. My 8 year old couldn’t eat any of it but my 12 yr old & husband powered through it lol. I had to serve more yogurt as an additional topping to help cut the spice. My question is was that just the cayenne responsible for that heat or is it also the masala seasoning? It’s my first time using garam… Read more »
The slightest sprinkle of cayenne — spread out among 4 servings — shouldn’t have such a strong effect. I think it’s the garam masala and/or black pepper. If you try this again, skip the cayenne entirely and only use half of the listed amounts for garam masala and pepper. Hopefully that’ll make this recipe more in line to your tastes 🙂
I made this and the heat level was minimal. You and your family must be extremely sensitive.
I’ve made this twice now – and it turned out delicious both times! I noticed the first time I made it I had a LOT of sauce left over, so the second time I added 3 diced potatoes (at step 3). The potatoes cooked perfectly and went so well with the dish. I also picked up the microwaveable basmati rice to save time – it worked great. This is my new favorite IP recipe!
Oooh, I might try this next time. It sounds good! Thank for the tip
Hi, how can we make this less spicy?
To make less spicy, reduce the amount of cayenne and black pepper. If you can’t handle any heat at all, chicken tikka masala and other Indian recipes may not be the best choice for you.
Can I use fat free Greek yogurt?
Simple and delicious – just as good as takeout! I followed the recipe exactly and served it over cauliflower rice. The spice level was perfect. I will be making this again for sure!!
I made this but subbed the masala seasoning (my grocery store was sold out) for curry powder…oh my god it was so good. hubby raved!
So so amazing! Loved all the extra sauce!!!
I made this and it was ah-mazing! I added a few veggies to the sauce prior to cooking in the Instapot and they were great! I also subbed coconut milk for the heavy cream which gave it a great nutty flavor 🙂
Hi! Did you put in the same amount (1 cup) or did you adjust the ratio? Making this for the first time.
Thanks for your help!!
Made this last night and served it over Jasmine rice … my family LOVED it!