Butter chicken pasta is the weeknight dinner that happens when you have a jar of ghee and rigatoni in the cupboard. The butter chicken sauce — tomato, cream, garam masala — coats pasta exactly as well as it coats rice, and the pasta water adds a starchy body to the sauce that makes it cling to every ridge of the rigatoni. It is not traditional Indian cooking. It does not pretend to be. It is a good dinner in 30 minutes.
Butter Chicken Pasta Recipe
Ingredients
- 400g rigatoni or penne
- 500g boneless chicken breast, diced 2cm
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 400g crushed tomatoes
- 150ml single cream
- Sea salt and pepper
- Fresh coriander to serve
Method
- Cook the rigatoni in heavily salted boiling water until al dente. Reserve 200ml pasta water. Drain.
- Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a large skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and sear for 4-5 minutes until golden and cooked through. Remove.
- Add remaining ghee. Cook the onion for 8 minutes until golden. Add garlic and all spices. Cook 1 minute.
- Add crushed tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes until reduced.
- Stir in the cream. Return the chicken. Simmer 5 minutes.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce. Toss, adding pasta water a splash at a time until saucy and coating.
- Serve immediately, topped with fresh coriander.
Is this seed oil free?
Yes. Ghee is the only fat. Check your pasta — most dried pasta contains only semolina and water with no added oil.
Can I use chicken thigh?
Yes — thigh stays more moist if the sauce simmers longer. Cut into 2cm pieces and cook 7-8 minutes.
What other pasta shapes work?
Any ridged or tubular pasta that holds sauce — penne, fusilli, cavatappi. Avoid long pasta like spaghetti.
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