A tasty butter chicken with large chunks of butternut squash!
Butter chicken, a chicken curry, is a classic dish and in the fall I enjoy adding butternut squash (or pumpkin)! You can add the butternut squash by adding a puree and/or adding chunks of squash to cook in the sauce until tender. Other than the butternut, this is a pretty standard recipe for a butter chicken with seasoned chicken cooked in a tasty sauce/gravy. One change that I like to make is replacing the heavy cream that’s more commonly used, with coconut milk. This butternut butter chicken is great served over rice with naan bread!
Butternut Squash Butter Chicken
Prep Time: 10 minutes Marinate Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Servings: 4
A tasty butter chicken with large chunks of butternut squash!
ingredients
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated/minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated/minced
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (link)
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, grated/minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated/minced
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (link)
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth (link)
- 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk (or 1 cup heavy/whipping cream)
- 2 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- salt to taste
For the chicken marinade:
For the butter chicken:
directions
- Marinate the chicken in the mixture of the yogurt, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, garam masala, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, and salt for 20 minutes to overnight.
- Melt the butter in a large pan (or saucepan) over medium heat, shake the excess marinade off of the chicken and cook, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, coriander, and tomato paste, mix, and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth, coconut milk, and butter nut squash, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the squash is tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add the fenugreek leaves and butter, mix, season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!
For the chicken marinade:
For the butter chicken:
Option: Add 1 cup butternut squash puree to the sauce for even more butternut flavour!
Option: Replace the cubed butternut squash with cubed pumpkin.
Option: Add 1 cup pumpkin puree to the sauce for even more butternut flavour.
Tip: If you want a thicker sauce, do not cover with a lid as it simmers.
Option: Replace the cubed butternut squash with cubed pumpkin.
Option: Add 1 cup pumpkin puree to the sauce for even more butternut flavour.
Tip: If you want a thicker sauce, do not cover with a lid as it simmers.
Nutrition Facts: Calories 452, Fat 37g (Saturated 27g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 117mg, Sodium 524mg, Carbs 26g (Fiber 4g, Sugars 5g), Protein 32g
Nutrition by: 
Yum! I tried with both chunks of butternut squash and chicken, and another time with one cup of pumpkin puree and chicken. LOVED both ways!! What a great idea to include squash/pumpkin. Thanks. Our fam loves all Butter Chicken and this was a fun one to try.