Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala–tender bites of chicken in a tomato sauce with creamy coconut milk. We like to serve this with rice or naan bread. The sauce is so good I could drink it.
Get the SLOW COOKER version of the recipe here
Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
My family and I loved the Instant Pot butter chicken so much that we decided to make it’s twin sister, tikka masala. This version of tikka masala is very saucy and the base is tomato. It’s seasoned with garam masala, a blend of Indian spices. My favorite thing is the addition of coconut milk which gives the sauce a bit of creaminess. When you serve this instant pot chicken tikka masala with naan bread it sort of reminds me of an Indian version of pizza.
Some notes about the ingredients:
Garam Masala–it’s not always at every grocery store. I found mine at Smith’s (Kroger) in the spice aisle and it was the McCormick Gourmet* brand.
Chicken–I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. I like this choice best but you can also use chicken breasts. You can use bone-in chicken as well, although I would increase the cooking time to 15 minutes and I would remove the skin so it doesn’t get all soggy.
Coconut Milk–I used full fat coconut milk because that’s how I roll. You can also use heavy cream.
More recipes you’ll love…
Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Instant Pot or Slow Cooker Yellow Chicken Curry
What Pressure Cooker Did You Use?
To make Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*. I love this Instant Pot because it has the yogurt making function which I use almost weekly. It has two pressure settings (high and low), and there are also little slots in the handles so that you can rest the lid there instead of putting it down on your counter-top.
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Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes plus 5 minute NPR
- Total Time: 12 minute
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Tender bites of chicken in a tomato sauce with creamy coconut milk. We like to serve this with rice or naan bread. The sauce is so good I could drink it.
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp vegetable, canola or olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and grated or minced
- 2 Tbsp garam masala
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- Optional: Cornstarch
- Fresh cilantro
- Naan bread or rice, to serve
Instructions
- Turn your Instant Pot to the saute setting. When the display says HOT add in the oil. Add in the onion and saute for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Then add in the chicken and tomato paste, ginger, 1 Tbsp garam masala, paprika and salt. Stir to coat the chicken in the seasonings. Add in the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot. Dump the tomatoes on top of the chicken. Don’t stir.
- Cover and secure the lid, make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 5 minutes on high pressure. Allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 5 minutes and then move the valve to venting.
- Turn the Instant Pot to the saute setting and stir in the coconut milk. Add in the additional tablespoon of garam masala. If you want to thicken your sauce mix 2 Tbsp of cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of cold water and stir the smooth mixture into the pot. The sauce will thicken quickly. Turn your Instant Pot to the keep warm function.
- Serve chicken and sauce with naan bread or rice. Chop up cilantro and sprinkle it on top of each dish.
Notes
I used my 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 60 7 in 1*
Garam Masala–it’s not always at every grocery store. I found mine at Smith’s (Kroger) in the spice aisle and it was the McCormick Gourmet* brand.
Chicken–I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe. I like this choice best but you can also use chicken breasts. You can use bone-in chicken as well, although I would increase the cooking time to 15 minutes and I would remove the skin so it doesn’t get all soggy.
Coconut Milk–I used full fat coconut milk because that’s how I roll. You can also use heavy cream.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot
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If I use precooked chicken, will the cooking time change?
Am a huge fan! Your recipes are the ones I use most. As always, thank you for the sacrifices you make to give us these recipes. So thankful for you!
I would change it to 2 minutes
Hi,
I am calorie counting and this recipe says it is 522 calories per 1/6 of the total recipe. Is this just for the chicken portion or does this include a rice portion? I’m asking because every other calorie amount for tikka masala that my calorie counting app lists is way lower in total calories. (All over the map but the highest one I found was 460 cals.). Just wondering what pushes this recipe so high. If it does include the rice then that makes more sense. Also, how big is the portion of rice?
Thanks!
Thanks for letting me know. This sounded high to me too. So I added the ingredients to my nutrition counter and it turns out they were wrong. I corrected them and they are a lot lower now. The rice is not included.
Have you ever made this with paneer? Would the cooking time be the same? Can you do the pot in pot method with rice? Thanks!! Can’t wait to try it. My 4 year old loves this dish.
I have not. You could stir it in after the food has pressure cooked, so yes the same cooking time. And yes you could do the pot in pot method with white rice or jasmine rice. Stick the pan with rice and water right on top of the chicken or you could set a trivet in between.
I made this last night…..it was AMAZING and as good as any I’ve had in an Indian restaurant. The flavors melded just perfectly!
★★★★★
YAYYYYY!!!
I saw the e-mail with this recipe at 4:40 and had it pressurizing by 5pm. I was inspired because I was sure we had toaster naan, but fortunately I realized we did not in time to make rice on the stove (I guess I need 2 IPs). The kids (3 and 6, and not always the best at eating new recipes the first time) ate it without complaint, even the 6 year old who does not love meat. Even my son of Indian parents husband approved.
NICCCCCCE!!!! I love this. Next time get the naan 🙂
I see in many of your recipes 2 T of tomato paste. How do you save the rest? I always just leave it out.
I scoop the rest into tablespoon portions and freeze. It works great!
Or you can buy the paste in a tube.
Another good place to get Garam Masala is at Winco in the bulk area. More cost effective than getting it at the store.
Also I have used heavy cream instead of coconut milk because my son in law is allergic to coconut
I love Winco! Thanks for the tip!
My pot didn’t come pressure, I had the burn message. I think there needs to be more liquid or skip the sauté part. I’ve made several recipes and this the first time this happened.
What’s the total volume of this completed recipe? I have the 3 qt Instant Pot Lux Mini and was told by Instant Pot customer service that most regular sized IP recipes don’t have to be halved to fit the 3 qt pot, as long as it doesn’t fill past the 2/3 mark on the inner pot for the pressure cooker setting; otherwise, I should be able to cut the recipe in half straight down the middle. Any advice? (If worse came to worse, I’ve had a notion at the back of my head that I’d kind of like to get the 6 qt version too… I am SO in love with this appliance!)
I bet you could fit it just fine in a 3 quart.
I made this, and it never came to pressure. Not enough liquid with the tomatoes, I think. It did go into count down, and did manage to cook the chicken, but there was some sticking and burning at the bottom of the pot.
Oh dang! I’m sorry. I’m not sure why yours didn’t come to pressure. Mine was just fine.