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Butter Chicken Meatballs

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Prep Time
5m
Cook Time
15m
Total Time
20m
This flavorful recipe features tender meatballs in a rich butter chicken sauce made with aromatic spices, fresh ginger, and tomatoes. Serve these creamy, buttery meatballs over aromatic basmati rice and finish with a garnish of fresh cilantro for a dish that's both comforting and cozy.
Butter Chicken Meatballs Image
Recipe Options

Ingredients

Servings: 4
Scale:
Scale
0.25
0.5
1
2
3
4
5
6

Butter Chicken Base

To Finish

To Serve

Steps

1
Make your rice according to package directions.
2
Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and spices; sauté until softened.
3
Add tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4
Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth, or use an immersion blender directly in the pot to blend.
5
Add sauce back to the pan. Add the meatballs; simmer with the cover on or keep on low heat until warmed through.
6
Add the butter and cream to make a luscious, heavenly sauce to coat your meatballs.
7
Serve over rice with a sprig or sprinkle of cilantro. Add spiciness to taste with cayenne or chili oil! OH ME OH MY.

Notes

Blending methods: For the silkiest sauce, I like to use a regular blender (we have a Blendtec at home). But an immersion blender can also work and it is the easier option; this works best with a deeper pot like a Dutch oven or the Instant Pot. If you’re using an immersion blender, tilt the pot to one side to pool all the sauce together before using. If you’re getting splatters, you might need to add an extra bit of water to make sure there’s enough volume of sauce to run it through the immersion blender smoothly. I would not recommend using an immersion blender in a shallow skillet where it will splatter over the sides – in that case, best to transfer to a blender!

Instant Pot instructions: Add all sauce ingredients; cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender directly in the Instant Pot to make it smooth; add meatballs and turn it to warm or sauté until heated through (this takes 5-10 minutes). Finish by stirring in the cream and butter.

Instant Pot instructions with regular chicken: If you’re using just regular chicken breasts or thighs instead of meatballs, add the chicken to the Instant Pot right at the beginning of cooking with the sauce. Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes, then remove and shred or pull apart the chicken. Meanwhile, blend sauce, and then add chicken back in with the cream and butter. We do it this way quite a bit as well!

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories
    716kcal
    35%
  • Fat
    29g
    1%
  • Saturated Fat
    11g
    0%
  • Carbohydrates
    72g
    3%
  • Fiber
    3g
    0%
  • Sugar
    4g
    0%
  • Protein
    47g
    2%
  • Cholesterol
    176mg
    8%
  • Sodium
    443mg
    22%
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
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