This is an easy baked Tandoori Chicken recipe for everyone who happens not to have a tandoor sitting in the middle of your kitchen! Made with accessible ingredients from scratch, chicken is infused with flavour from a yogurt tandoori chicken marinade then baked until golden with little charred bits.
Finger lickin’ good!
Tandoori Chicken recipe
Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala or Tandoori Chicken?? Any outing to an Indian restaurant causes a crisis of indecision as we battle it out between these 3 wildly popular Indian chicken dishes!
There’s no denying that one of the reasons why we love Tandoori chicken is the signature smokey chargrilled flavour that can only be achieved in a clay tandoor built to withhold fierce charcoal heat.
But don’t worry, you won’t miss the chargrill flavour in this Tandoori Chicken recipe. My trick is to jack up the flavour of the marinade to compensate – we’re talking big, big flavours here!
Tandoori Chicken Marinade
Here’s what you need for the Tandoori Chicken Marinade.
Kashmiri Chilli is what gives Tandoori the signature red colour. Tastes like paprika with a bit of spiciness, you’ll need to hunt down an Indian grocery store for this. But don’t worry, paprika is a near perfect flavour sub! The chicken won’t be quite as red but will still have a red hue. You can easily increase the redness with a drop or two of red food colouring.
How to make it
The making part is very straight forward: mix marinate, add the chicken, then leave to marinate. 12 to 24 hours is best, or 48 hours. If you’re in a rush, then 2 to 3 hours will do the trick if you cut slashes into the chicken.
While this is a baked tandoori chicken recipe, it’s a ripper on the barbie too. And off the charts amazing if cooked over charcoal!
What to serve with Tandoori chicken
Here’s what I serve with Tandoori Chicken:
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Saffron Rice– love the colour contrast! Recipe below. Though plain basmati rice will do in a pinch (or other rice of choice).
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Minted Yogurt– the freshness of the mint and cool yogurt pairs so well with all things Indian. Recipe below.
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Side Salad*– try this Indian Tomato Salad or use the same dressing with slices of cucumber. Otherwise, check out this South Indian-style Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Coconut. A simpler alternative is Everyday Cabbage Salad (it’s in the recipe notes).
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Flatbreads – When naan is in hot demand, I reach for my Easy No Yeast Flatbreads. Because it’s not a saucy curry, I like to brush the flatbreads with garlic butter for extra flavour – SO GOOD!
* Fresh side salads are less common in Indian cuisine, vegetables tend to be cooked. So don’t get too caught up about an authentic fresh side salad – go with what you like! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Baked Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
Tandoori Marinade:
- 1 1/2 cups plain yoghurt (full fat best)
- 2 tbsp oil (any)
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp ginger , grated
- 5 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tsp garam masala spice mix (Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder (Note 2 subs)
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste (pure, not US chili Note 3)
- 1 tsp salt
Chicken:
- 1.2kg / 2.4lb drumsticks, bone-in skin on chicken thighs or Marylands (whole chicken legs) (Note 4)
- Oil spray
Mint Yoghurt (optional)
- 1 cup plain yoghurt
- 1/2 cup mint leaves, packed
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
Serving
- Basmati rice OR Saffron rice (see note)
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, cover and marinate 12 to 24 hours (Note 5)
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a tray with foil and place a rack on the tray.
- Remove chicken from the Marinade, shaking off excess (reserve Marinade), and place on the rack. Bake for 20 minutes, then slather Marinade generously on both sides.
- Bake for a further 10 minutes, brush/dab top with Marinade.
- Bake further 10 minutes, do a final baste with Marinade then spray with oil.
- Increase heat to 220C/450F. Bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes until you get some nice charred spots. Serve with Minted Yogurt and Saffron Rice (below) or plain Basmati Rice.
Minted Yoghurt:
- Combine ingredients in a food processor and blitz until mint is very finely chopped.
BBQ Option:
- Preheat BBQ with closed lid to medium, brush grills lightly with oil. Place bone-in skin-on chicken skin side down on grills, cook 5 min until surface is just caramelised - no more.
- Baste, then flip. Baste, then close lid. Cook for 20 minutes or until internal temperature is 175F/80C (bone in thighs and drumsticks), basting once or twice more.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015. Completely rewritten April 2019, new photos, new video, tidied up video and most importantly, new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Final photo from Dozer’s birthday cake recipe from Monday – when I was trying to do a “nice” overhead photo of the cake and when he saw I was teetering on a ladder fiddling with my camera, he knew it was an opportune time to lunge in for ANOTHER slice!
I don’t know what I did wrong, but it was very underwhelming. I have never cooked a recipe of Nagi’s I didn’t like, so this was so strange. I followed it exactly! Flavours were …kind of bland and tasted so strange
Another hit. 6 chicken drumsticks with half the marinade, between 2 of us with salad and a different mint sauce. So good. Thanks again Nagi
Can you add a bit of fenugreek powder I love fenugreek
Paul
Great recipe made for the first time on the weekend so easy and very tasty!
Can I put the marinated chicken into a clip lock bag & put it into the freezer? Will it be ok with the yoghurt?
This recipe is awsome
There is pepper in the video but its quantity is not mentioned in the recipe.
Another winner!!! I told my hubby it was one of your recipes and he said then it has to be good! I used chicken breast in big chunks on skewers, 10 min. max in the hottest temp in my air fryer. Delicious!!!
The easiest and tastiest chicken recipe ever prepared in my 76 years. I cooked it for eight this evening – thigh cutlets, drumsticks and wings – and it was the perfect dinner served with slaw, naan and Nagi’s potato wedges. I didn’t change one ingredient. Everything just right.
Wow Marie – that’s a big call in 76 years of cooking!!! I am glad that you are enjoying the recipes!! N x
Hi Nagi,
Can you use skinless thighs and drumsticks? Most tandoori is without skin? Just want to know of this effects the look or taste in anyway?
I’m about to try it with skinless thighs because that’s all I had. I’ll let you know how they turned out.
This was really delicious and a great way to tasty-up some cheap drums. I just baked it in the marinade, basting as per recipe and then thickened the sauce with a bit of cornflour on the stove top. Was super easy and yum! I used some of the mint sauce as a dressing for coleslaw with a squeeze of lemon juice, crushed garlic and a bit of caster sugar added. Would definitely make again👍😋😋😋 Another winner…thank you Nagi🤗🤗🤗
Hey Nagi, I made this today for my wife and I at home. Some friends from Europe recently brought me Kashmiri chili, so it was nice to see it used in this recipe. Thanks for the good recipe! -From an Aussie in Georgia (Tbilisi)
this was amazing. loved it and will defo do again. Thanks
I am glad you enjoyed it Andy! N x
What about using smoked paprika or liquid smoke to get some of that tandoori flavor?
Nagi, I’m a 23 year old bloke who, three months ago, only knew how to ‘make’ Weet-Bix. Since discovering your website, I have cooked every night for my housemates (using only your recipes!), and not one of the 60 recipes that I have tried has been anything less than delicious. You break the instructions down so simply, and your ‘notes’ and ‘videos’ are so helpful. As someone who has never been taught how to cook, please know that I am so so grateful. Thank you, and keep the great content coming!
Awesome! You totally rock learning a new skill! N x
Fab tandoori chicken recipe. I used chicken breast and cooked in grill. Adjusted cooking times ofcourse. Basting it every now and again really makes the difference! Thank you!
Oh my I stumbled on your website I love cooking but I’m no master chef. I have some favourites but I like cooking new things and test then on my husband and kids.
I have cooked several dishes that are on your site and they have gone down a treat. Love the videos, easy to follow and most are storr cupboard ingredients.
Thank you for inspiring me to cook more.
Louise
Couldn’t find my go to tandoori paste at the supermarket. So, I asked myself “what would Nagi do ??” Hardest decision was air fryer or BBQ. Looks like one less jar in the fridge.
Cut up a whole chicken into pieces and marinated per the recipe. Then cooked in the air fryer for around 50 minutes turning over and basting every 15 mins plus lightly spraying with oil.
Turned out amazing! Not one litlle bit of chicken left!! 😋
So delicious! My first time attempting to make Tandoori chicken and I’m Indian haha. Flavours were spot on and it had the perfect amount of heat. Danish husband loved it as well. Another recipe of yours that’s a total keeper. Thank you. xx