This Butter Chicken Tray bake could become one of your favourites. I love this kind of oven cooked dinner. So easy so delicious all baked in together. A family favourite cooked in a new way!

Butter Chicken is such a maligned dish, but it is one of those that everyone secretly loves. This version is special because you can throw it all together and bake it in the oven! It has a touch of chilli and spices you are sure to have in the spice cupboard.

You may have someone at your house that loves Butter Chicken too. If you do then this is the one to try. I just add it to my large baker and pop it in the oven.
It’s a good idea to serve it up with rice to soak up all the creamy spicy sauce. I love it with some raita (yoghurt with garlic and cucumber relish). My favourite though is buttered spinach on the side. All you need is a large 120 gm (4.5 oz) packet of spinach leaves a large frypan and 30 g of butter. Simply heat the frypan then add the butter and spinach and toss together with a little salt till just wilted and soft. If you don’t have a large frypan just do this in two batches.

Two ways to make this Butter Chicken
There are several ways you can make this dish. One results in quite a bit more flavour than the other but in the end, they are both very good it just depends how quickly you would like to eat.
There are two methods with pictures below. These are just to give you a visual reference when you are cooking. Scroll or jump to the recipe for the ingredients and method. Either one of these will produce a totally awesome tray baked butter chicken.

Butter Chicken 1:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8
- Collect all the ingredients for the dish including spices, cream, tomato, chicken, garlic, ginger and lemon juice
- Put the tomato puree into a medium bowl
- Add the cream
- Chilli flakes and salt
- Add the lemon juice and stir well
- Add the grated garlic and ginger and the onion
- Stir all the ingredients together well
- Add the chicken to the sauce mixture in the bowl and then lay all the pieces in a single layer and cover with sauce in the baker. Bake!
Butter Chicken 2 the saute spices method.
1. 2. 3. 4.
- Start by sauteing chopped onions in a little oil
- Add the spices while stirring over a medium to low heat
- Once all the spices are added continue to stir over the heat. You may need to add another tablespoon or 2 of oil. This won’t hurt and will stop the spices from sticking too much
- Last, add the garlic and stir till combined and fragrant about 1- 2 minutes. Take off the heat and continue as for method number 1

- For this method add the tomato, cream, lemon and chilli and mix
- Add the cooked spices (or the powdered spices if you are using method 1)
- Now put in the chicken and move it around to coat it
- The chicken is coated and submerged and ready to go into the tray
1. 2. 3.
- Use an ovenproof dish. Spray to coat
- Pour the mixed sauce and chicken into the tray
- Bake in the oven for approx 1 hour
If you like this one pot dish why not try these? Follow the links below
Satay Chicken Tray bake 
One Pot Balinese Chicken 
One Pot African Chicken 
And now you can try Butter Chicken Tray bake here’s the recipe!

Butter Chicken Tray bake
Ingredients
Butter Chicken Ingredients
- 1 kg Chicken thigh fillets ( 2.2 lbs) or a 1.7 kg whole chicken
- 400 ml tomato puree (13.5 fl oz)
- 250 ml cream (8.5 fl oz) thickened cream
- 50 ml Lemon juice
- 40 ml oil vegetable (1.5 oz)
- 200 gm onion chopped into dice (7 oz)
- 1 tablespoon garam marsala
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 15 gm ginger 1 tablespoon grated
- 4 cloves garlic large, grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F. Spray a baking dish approximately 20 x 32 cm (8x12in)
Method 1
- Use a medium bowl to combine the tomato puree, cream, and lemon juice
- Add grated garlic, ginger, onion, salt and all of the spices and stir well.
- Put the chicken into this mixture and turn to combine until well coated
- Put in a single layer into the baking dish and cover with the sauce.
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or up to an hour for large pieces. test that the chicken is fork tender and cooked through
Method 2
- Use a medium bowl to combine the tomato puree, cream, and lemon juice. Set aside
- Heat a medium sized pot and add 2 Tablespoons of oil and the chopped onion. Cook, stirring until the onion softens
- Add all of the spices and stir well while it is cooking. It may need a little extra oil if the mixture is very dry. Watch it doesn't burn
- Add the garlic and ginger and sate for several minutes or until fragrant (you start to small it cooking). Take off the stove and cool slightly
- Add the spice mix and the salt to the tomato mixture and stir well
- Put the chicken into this mixture and turn to combine until well coated
- Put in a single layer into the baking dish and cover with the sauce.
- Bake uncovered for 40 minutes or up to an hour for large pieces. test that the chicken is fork tender and cooked through
- Serve the Butter Chicken with raita (see the recipe), rice and popadums if you like
Notes

Butter chicken is an all-time favorite! The rich, creamy sauce paired with tender chicken makes for a meal that’s both comforting and indulgent.
Thanks
It appears that my comments haven’t been going through but please know I’m following along. I’ve heard of butter chicken but have never tried it so thank you for the recipe.
Hey Karen, sure enough they were in spam??. Thanks for following along
I adore butter chicken, esp. that mouthwatering buttery gravy 🙂 Love the oven version even more!
That gravy is what we love Angie. I could drink it by the cupful. Don’t tell anyone