Chicken tikka masala has that takeout-night comfort — creamy sauce, warm spices, and tender chicken — but it absolutely does not have to cost takeout money. This budget chicken tikka masala recipe breaks the whole dish into two simple halves: marinate the chicken overnight, then cook a quick masala sauce while the chicken browns in a very hot oven.
With the full plate — rice, homemade naan, and an onion bhaji — you are looking at around £2.00 per person. Compare that to a takeaway running £10–£15 per head and the savings speak for themselves. Better still, this method produces a result that tastes like it took far more effort than it actually did.
1. Why This Budget Chicken Tikka Masala Works So Well
A lot of cheap dinners feel cheap. This one does not. The trick is building big, restaurant-style flavor from pantry spices and a small amount of dairy, rather than relying on expensive shortcuts like pre-made curry paste or jar sauce. The yogurt marinade does the heavy lifting overnight — it tenderizes the chicken and pushes flavor right into the meat, so even a basic supermarket breast becomes something genuinely tasty.
There is also a clever texture play at work. The chicken is cooked on skewers in a very hot oven so the edges begin to brown quickly. That browning makes the final dish taste richer and more complex before the sauce even touches it. The sauce itself is built in the classic one-pan way: soften onion and garlic in oil, toast spices briefly, add tomato purée and chopped tomatoes, then finish with cream to taste.
2. Watch the Full Video Recipe
The video below walks through every step in real time — from marinating and skewering the chicken to building the masala sauce and assembling the full plate with naan and bhaji.
3. Cost Breakdown — Under £2 Per Full Plate
Before cooking, it helps to see where the money goes. The cost structure is simple: chicken plus a low-cost yogurt marinade, then a sauce from onions, canned tomatoes, cream, and pantry spices. All prices are UK supermarket rates.
| Item | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 🍗 Chicken + Marinade | ||
| Chicken breasts | 2 (approx. 400g) | £2.74 |
| Plain yogurt | 40 g | £0.10 |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | £0.12 |
| Ground ginger | 1½ tsp | £0.06 |
| Cumin, garam masala, paprika, salt | 1½ tsp each | £0.18 |
| Chicken + Marinade Subtotal | £3.20 | |
| 🍅 Masala Sauce | ||
| Vegetable oil | 3 tbsp | £0.06 |
| Onion | 1 medium | £0.09 |
| Garlic | 3 cloves | £0.12 |
| 6 spices (cumin, turmeric, coriander, paprika, chilli, garam masala) | 1½ tsp each | £0.36 |
| Tomato purée | 1 tbsp | £0.10 |
| Chopped tomatoes (tin) | 1 × 400g tin | £0.47 |
| Double cream | 150 ml (add to taste) | £0.66 |
| Sauce Subtotal | £1.86 | |
| 🍚 Sides (per person) | ||
| Basmati rice | 70 g | £0.11 |
| Homemade naan | 1 piece | £0.13 |
| Homemade onion bhaji | 1 piece | £0.08 |
| ✅ FULL PLATE PER PERSON (with all sides) | £2.00 | |
For another perspective on how this budget compares, Savings4SavvyMums has a chicken tikka masala version under £4 a head — useful for seeing how ingredient choices shift the overall cost.
4. Ingredients List
This recipe is easiest to shop for when you treat it as two separate mini-recipes — a short, punchy marinade and a one-pan sauce built while the chicken is already in the oven.
| ✓2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes |
| ✓40 g plain yogurt |
| ✓3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed |
| ✓1½ tsp ground ginger |
| ✓1½ tsp salt |
| ✓1½ tsp ground cumin |
| ✓1½ tsp garam masala |
| ✓1½ tsp paprika |
| ✓3 tbsp vegetable oil |
| ✓1 medium onion, finely chopped |
| ✓3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed |
| ✓1½ tsp each: cumin, turmeric, coriander, paprika, mild chilli powder, garam masala |
| ✓1 tbsp tomato purée |
| ✓1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes |
| ✓150 ml double cream (add gradually — you may want much less) |
| ✓70 g basmati rice per person |
| ✓Homemade naan bread — video recipe here |
| ✓Homemade onion bhaji — video recipe here |
5. Step-by-Step Method
Once you understand the flow, this is genuinely difficult to mess up. Four main moves: cube the chicken, marinate overnight, brown it fast on skewers in a hot oven, then finish in the sauce.
Step 1 — Marinate the Chicken (Overnight is Best)
Step 2 — Skewer and Bake at Very High Heat
Step 3 — Build the Masala Sauce
Step 4 — Finish With Cream (By Eye, Not by Measure)
The two-part approach — marinate the night before, build the sauce fresh the next day — is the smart way to cook this at home. Neither part is difficult, but together they produce a result that tastes considerably more expensive than it is. For a broader comparison on marinating and cream ratios, Host the Toast's version is worth reading alongside this recipe.
6. Rice, Naan & Onion Bhaji — The Full Plate
Once the masala is simmering, it is time for the sides. None of them need attention at the same time — they stagger easily while the curry finishes.
Basmati rice: Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the rice, stir once, then leave it alone. Strain when cooked. About 70 g per person is plenty alongside the curry.
Naan in a dry pan: Heat a pan until very hot before the dough goes in. Wet the side of the naan that will touch the pan — that small amount of moisture helps it puff and blister properly as it cooks.
Onion bhaji as a starter: Serving a crisp onion bhaji before the main curry turns a home dinner into something that genuinely feels like a restaurant experience — for just 8p per bhaji using the referenced recipe.
7. Serving Notes — What to Expect from the First Bite
Rice goes down first, then a generous ladle of chicken and sauce. Naan gets torn and used for scooping — which is half the pleasure. The onion bhaji starts things off with a satisfying crunch before the curry takes over.
The chicken should be tender with browned edges that hold up in the sauce. The masala tastes tomato-forward at first, then creamy, then warm and spiced at the back. Because mild chilli powder is used, this is not a tongue-scorcher — but the flavor still feels generous because the spices were toasted in oil first.
8. Tips & What I Would Do Again
The yogurt marinade is not just about flavor — it is a genuine schedule saver. A five-minute job done the evening before means dinner feels easy the next day, which is precisely when most of us are tempted to order a takeaway instead of cooking.
The high-heat skewer bake delivers more than expected. It is a simple way to get browned, almost charred edges without standing over a pan watching chicken pieces spit fat in every direction. And because the chicken finishes cooking inside the sauce, you do not need to hit perfection in the oven — you just want color and a head start on flavor.
The cream moment is worth singling out. Rather than treating 150 ml as a fixed rule, the right approach is to add a splash, stir, look at the texture, and then decide. It is a reminder that good budget cooking is a series of small sensible calls rather than rigid adherence to a recipe.
Even the naan detail — wetting the surface before it hits the pan — is one of those small tricks that makes a genuinely noticeable difference to the final texture. For a comparison of how different spice blends shift the character of the dish, Tastemade's affordable tikka masala is an interesting reference.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
This budget chicken tikka masala keeps everything clear and manageable: marinate for flavor, bake hot for browning, simmer in a spiced tomato sauce, and finish with cream to taste. It is comforting, filling, and genuinely affordable — a full restaurant-style plate for £2.00 per person.
Keep the onions soft, not browned, and add the cream gradually. Neither step is difficult — they just need a moment of attention at the right time. The naan, rice, and bhaji sides turn this from a weeknight curry into something that feels like a proper occasion, even on the tightest budget.
What would you serve first — rice, naan, or both? Drop a comment below and let us know how yours turned out.
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