How to Reheat Butter Chicken: Quick Step-by-Step Guide

Butter Chicken, also known as Chicken Makhani, is a popular Indian dish known for its authentic spicy and creamy taste.

If you landed on this page, you are more than likely trying to figure out how to reheat butter chicken properly.

In this article, you will learn about the best methods, as well as step-by-step reheating instructions for this well-liked dish.

Let’s get right into it.

What to Know Before Reheating Butter Chicken

Before you start the process of reheating your butter chicken, there are some important food handling information you should be aware of.

It is extremely important that you use safe food handling procedures , when reheating your food.

This will reduce the chance of harmful foodborne illnesses that can occur if food is not stored, cooked or heated up properly.

Below are a couple tips to keep in mind before you reheat your food:

• Butter chicken should be reheated until it is steaming hot.  The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165°F (70°C).
• Leftovers should only be reheated once.
• Serve the reheated meal immediately.

How to Reheat Butter Chicken: A Look at the Best Options

There are three options available for your reheating butter chicken.

These are:

• Stovetop
• Microwave
• Oven

While each method is very effective, they all have their own pros and cons.

Below, we will give an overview of each method, along with step-by-step reheating instructions.

Pan/Stovetop: The Best Method

Using a pan or stovetop is the best way to reheat butter chicken is the best.

Reheating on the stovetop can be very quick and you also have a lot more control in the finished product.

Instructions

1. Place a pan on the stovetop at low-medium heat.
2. Add a small amount of butter or oil to the pan.
3. After the butter/oil has warmed up a bit, you can add the butter chicken.
4. Continuously stir the chicken for around 3-5 minutes (depending on how much chicken) until it gets steaming hot or reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (70°C).
5. If you find that the chicken has dried out a bit, you could add a small amount of cream to give it the creamy butter chicken texture that you are used to.
6. Once it has finished heating up, you can remove and serve.

Pros: Quick method that can have the meal reheated in about 5 minutes. You can add in extra ingredients, like cream, to bring the butter chicken back to life.

Cons: If the fire is too high, you could end up overcooking the chicken.

Microwave Oven: Quickest Method

If you want to reheat your butter chicken quickly, the microwave is by far the fastest option available.

Instructions

1. Place the chicken in a microwavable dish or container.
2. If you find that it has dried out a bit after being the refrigerator, you could add some cream to it.
3. Microwave on medium heat for about 1 minute.
4. Stir around to ensure that it gets evenly heated.
5. Microwave in 15-30 seconds intervals, till the chicken is steaming hot.
6. Once the dish is thoroughly heated throughout, you can remove it, let it cool slightly and serve.

Pros: Quick reheating method, can have the food ready in about 3 minutes.

Cons: If left unattended in the microwave, you run the possibility of the butter chicken overcooking.

Oven: Another Good Method

If you are not a fan of microwave or do not want to use the stovetop, the oven is another good way to warm up butter chicken.

This method is very slow (about 15 minutes), but it will get the job done and everything will be get heated up properly.

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 250°F (120°C).
2. In an oven safe bowl, add the butter chicken, along with some added cream or butter.
3.  Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, as this will ensue that the chicken does not dry out.
4. Allow the butter chicken to reheat for about 15 minutes, stirring every couple minutes to ensure that it the heat is distributed evenly.
5. While 15 minutes is the recommended time, it can be a bit longer depending on how much chicken you are reheating and how cold it is.
6. Once the chicken is reheated properly 165°F (70°C), you remove, let it cool slightly and then serve.

Pros: Will get the chicken steaming hot.

Cons: Is a long process.

Related: How to Reheat Samosas

Wrapping it up

And here ends our instructional guide to reheating butter chicken.

I am interested in knowing which method you plan on using and how it turned out.

You can let me know, by leaving a comment below.

 in the comments,

As you can see, there are quite a few options available for reheating your butter chicken.