Butter Chicken Pasta is a follow-up meal using the leftover Butter Chicken Sauce or freshly made and serves it as a sauce with pasta boiled in salted water. The pasta is transferred directly from the pot to the pan with sauce, where it is tossed with additional pasta water to adjust the consistency. It makes for a creamy butter chicken spaghetti dish that is an excellent way to use up leftover butter chicken. To which more meat can be added as you like.
Butter Chicken Pasta Ingredients
Leftover Butter Chicken Sauce, Pasta, Sea Salt.
Optionally with more chicken breast marinated and cooked to include in the pasta.
Butter Chicken
Either Butter Chicken made from scratch or using leftover Butter Chicken. You will only need about 2 cups of Butter Chicken sauce that is thinned out with pasta water for 400 g to 454 g of pasta. That’s enough for 4 servings. The sauce is placed into a large pan over medium heat when about 2-3 minutes of pasta cook time remains.
Pasta
The pasta can be linguine, bucatini, spaghetti, and even short pastas like rigate or penne. Whatever pasta you choose, weigh out 1 lb and boil in 16 cups of water with 2 Tbl of sea salt. Once the pasta is al dente, transfer it directly to the pan with sauce to toss before serving.
Boiled Pasta
Add 2 Tbl of sea salt to 16 cups of water in a pasta pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the pasta and mix. Cover to help it return to a boil faster and mix again. Continue to boil uncovered while mixing until al dente, about 13 minutes, or about 15 minutes for short pasta. From here the pasta will be transferred to a pan with the butter chicken sauce to toss before serving.
Meats
Depending on whether you have any leftover meat in the butter chicken or not. You can add additional meats that are seared in the pan until done before adding in the butter chicken sauce. This can include 1 lb of chicken breast, thighs, legs, or even diced pork.
Garam Masala Oil Marinade
Optionally marinate more chicken or pork in the Garam Masala Oil Marinade to include in the butter chicken sauce. Just sear it in the pan until cooked through, then add the butter chicken sauce to warm it and wait for the pasta.
Homemade Garam Masala Ingredients
1 tsp Coriander
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Kashmir Chlies
1/2 tsp Cardamon
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Clove
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Fenugreek
Oil Based Marinade
- 1/4 C Neutral Oil
- 1 Tbl Lemon Juice
- 1-2 Tbl of Garam Masala
- 1 Inch Ginger & 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced into a paste
- 1 tsp Sea Salt or less
Pan-Butter Chicken Pasta
The butter chicken sauce itself will be on the thick side. While the pasta is in the pan, dilute the butter chicken sauce with pasta water. Aggressively mix until the sauce is creamy. Add more pasta water to achieve the consistency desired. The sauce should be thick and creamy, adhering to the pasta. Not too thick where it dries out and not too thin where it doesn’t stick to the pasta.
Garlic Bread Naan
Toast up some naan bread in a skillet over medium heat on both sides and brush with garlic butter.
Ingredients
- 1 lb Pasta - 400 g to 454 g.
- 2 C Leftover Butter Chicken
Pasta Water
- 16 C Water
- 2 Tbl Sea Salt
Instructions
- Pasta Water: Bring the pot of pasta water to a boil on the back burner. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 13 minutes.
- Butter Chicken Sauce: When about 2-3 minutes of pasta cook time remain. Place Butter Chicken sauce into the pan and heat over medium heat.
- Pan Butter Chicken Pasta: Shut the heat off for the boiling pasta and grab the pasta out with tongs, carrying over some pasta water into the pan. Keep the heat at medium and mix aggressively until you get a thickened, creamy sauce. Add more pasta water if needed to adjust the consistency, as the mixture will already be pretty thick. The sauce should be creamy and cling to the pasta. Not too thick where it dries and not too thin, it doesn't cling to the pasta.