Use Butter Chicken For Inspiration In Your Next Pasta Dish

If you're struggling with the Sisyphean task of what to make for dinner tonight, pasta's always a safe bet. But the thing is, it doesn't always have to be a spaghetti and meatball affair. Pasta's one of the easiest dishes to experiment with, and that's why turning it into a fusion dinner is a simple but easy way to switch things up. And one suggestion I've got for you involves the classic Indian takeout dish, butter chicken; traditionally known as murgh makhani.

If you've never had it, butter chicken is a chicken curry dish made with a spiced tomato sauce. It's rich and silky due to the addition of butter and cream, and it's one of my absolute favorite things to order for Indian takeout. Butter chicken is typically not too spicy, if at all. And because that creamy tomato sauce is such a big highlight of the dish (seriously, it's worth its weight in gold), it makes for a good candidate to toss pasta in. You typically eat it with a carb-based side like naan or rice, which the pasta then takes the role of.

So here's the challenge I'm sure many of you are facing: you've never made butter chicken. We have an Instant Pot butter chicken recipe for you on our own site. But if you want to go even easier, I've got another solution. Modern packaged convenience food choices have become very diverse these days. And you can, in fact, find jarred butter chicken simmer sauce in many major supermarkets; usually in the international foods section. I've even found it at Costco, so keep your eyes peeled if you shop at a warehouse club.

All you typically need to do is brown a quantity of chicken in a saucepan per the jar's instruction, cover it with the sauce, and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The butter chicken will be ready to go in about the time it takes to boil up your pasta shape of choice. Then all you need to do is toss everything together. And if you want to add some garnishes, you can top the pasta with a sprinkle of cilantro and maybe a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I'll occasionally add some finely chopped red onion if I have any too, for a little bit of fresh crispness.

You don't have to be limited to pasta, by the way. Butter chicken makes for a great filling for tacos, and you can even garnish them with plenty of chopped onions, cilantro, and lime juice; along with your favorite chutney in place of salsa. I once made a pantry-clearing dinner of butter chicken enchiladas, which turned out to be a great idea. You can pretty much use butter chicken for when you're looking for the utility of both a protein and a sauce, so your imagination's your only real limit here. Steamed cabbage rolls filled with butter chicken. Butter chicken dumplings. See where I'm going with this?

But pasta's one of the easiest places to start. When coupled with the convenience of a jarred sauce, dinner can be ready in about 30 minutes or less. And since butter chicken sauce is a bit like a curried version of a creamy vodka sauce (sans the vodka, naturally), you already know this combination is going to be a good addition to your dinner rotation.