Authentic tandoori chicken in oven recipe is easy to bake at home. Tender, juicy, and roasted chicken breast with bone marinated in Indian tandoori masala with yogurt has unique flavor and irresistible smoky aroma. Best idea for family dinner meal.
Traditionally prepared on tandoor (clay oven) on high heat but here I baked the same recipe in the oven. Budget-friendly and simple dinner idea for family dinner.
What a great idea to make chicken marinated with yogurt and masala and then baked in oven to give tandoori flavor. The absolutely juicy, tender, and delicious chicken will be ready in no time. If you are looking at how to make tandoori chicken at home then look at the step-by-step video recipe to follow the quick steps.
Jump to:
- What is Tandoori Chicken?
- Best Chicken Cut For Tandoori
- Ingredients
- How to Make Tandoori Chicken in Oven
- How Long To Bake Chicken (Time & Temperature)
- Quick Tips
- What to Serve With?
- Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken
- How To Store and Use Leftover
- Reheating Tandoori Chicken
- Try Roasted Chicken Recipes
- Q & A
- Tandoori Chicken in Oven (Baked / Broil)
What is Tandoori Chicken?
It's an authentic recipe from Punjab, India where people used to marinade chicken in Indian spices (tandoori masala) and then place it to roast in tandoor. Basically, the tandoor is a desi oven made with clay.
As the recipe gets popular all around the world so people start making it in the oven, griller, or over the charcoal.
It's a special recipe for festive occasions. In Pakistani and Indian recipes, tandoori chicken has a special placement for dining and people loved to serve on festive occasions like family get-togethers and parties. Many restaurants in India . I love to share how the curry guy uses the tandoor to bake recipes. It’s amazing!
SEE ALSO: Chicken Tikka | Chicken Tikka Masala | Chicken Tikka Biryani
Best Chicken Cut For Tandoori
Here I took bone-in skinless chicken pieces. Breast, thighs, and drumstick cuts can be used. Deeply marking the chicken with a sharp knife will help to penetrate the marinade which will make it flavorful and work as a catalyst to tenderize the chicken.
If you want to make it with boneless chicken, then prefer to make chicken tikka.
Marking is the process to make deep cut on chicken pieces. It plays a vital role to tenderize the chicken from inside also add a tempting look after baking/roasting. Make sure the cut should be diagonal or sloppy.
Ingredients
Chicken: It's recommended to take chicken with tandoori cut from store or take the whole chicken and cut it into half and mark them properly. I personally prefer to take chicken without skin as it makes the best taste after baking in the oven. Best is to take the combination of breast with leg, or thighs, and, drumsticks.
Ingredients for Marinade:
Yogurt: Recommended to take thick and nonwatery yogurt. Love to use Greek yogurt! it play an important role to stick the marinade on chicken while cooking.
Spices: Add salt, black pepper, and red peppers, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Mango powder is optional.
Spices: It's essential to add turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, and Garam masala.
Roasted Gram Flour (Besan): Roast the gram flour on slow heat in skillet as it become aromatic remove from heat. It will add a nutty flavor in roasted chicken. Alternatively, use roasted chickpea powder.
Ginger Garlic Paste: Freshly made ginger garlic paste.
Oil/Butter: Added oil for lubrication. Add in tandoori marinade or apply while baking.
How to Make Tandoori Chicken in Oven
Prepare the Chicken Pieces:
Cut the chicken into half with breast and leg part together or take store bought tandoori cut chicken. Clean it to trim the extra fat and rinse with tap water. Tap it to dry! Mark the chicken using sharp knife and make the deep sloppy cut.
Tandoori Chicken Marinade: Prepare tandoori masala and mix it in yogurt to get the thick paste. In a bowl, add yogurt, freshly made ginger garlic paste. Along with salt, black pepper, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, and garam masala. Pour little oil to add lubrication. Mix it well!
Apply Marinade on Chicken: Rigorously rub the marinade on chicken pieces. Make sure to fill the marinade in slits so the spices can penetrate to bones that will make it more tasty and juicy. Marinate for 2 hours (minimum) or best to marinade overnight (8 hours).
Set the chicken in baking tray! spray oil
How Long To Bake Chicken (Time & Temperature)
Preheat the oven for 10 minutes. Place the baking tray in oven and bake for about 40 minutes at 425°F (218°C).
Broil The Chicken: To add a perfect tandoori texture in the chicken, broil it for 10 to 15 minutes on 425°F (218°C).
Take it out from the oven and serve! To make the chicken more tempting, I have added onion rings and some veggies to bake with chicken.
SEE ALSO: Steam Chicken Recipe | Creamy Garlic Chicken
Quick Tips
- Rub the marinade deeply to infuse the flavor of spices.
- Make sure to have an appropriate quantity of ingredients to prepare the marinade.
- Don't make the marination runny or watery otherwise the chicken will release water during baking.
- Marination needs to stick to chicken pieces to give it the perfect flavor.
- Temperature management is more important to make the best chicken.
- Don't overcook the chicken otherwise, it will taste like rubber.
What to Serve With?
There are many options to serve with tandoori chicken. Serving ideas could be different for lunch or dinner. Best to pair up with tandoori naan, onion rings, or chutney. Another idea is to serve with basmati rice. I hope it will add as the best dinner bite for your family.
Air Fryer Tandoori Chicken
Preheat the air fryer to 375°F. Spray oil to the air fryer basket. Place the marinated chicken in the basket and lightly spray the oil over the chicken to make it lubricated while frying.
Cook it for about 30 to 35 minutes. After 20 minutes, flip the chicken pieces to fry from another side.
Take it out and serve!
How To Store and Use Leftover
Place the leftover chicken in an airtight glass container and store it in the refrigerator for about 4 to 5 days. Alternatively, freeze the marinated tandoori chicken for 2 to 3 months.
It's a multipurpose recipe and always help to make variety of recipes with leftover chicken. I personally make pasta, macaroni, chicken fried rice, chicken salad, and some snacks.
Reheating Tandoori Chicken
To reheat the frozen chicken, thaw it first! If taking out from refrigerator, then simply microwave for 3 to 4 minutes. To reheat on stove, spray oil in pan and heat it. Place the chicken at high heat in a pan. Add little splash of water. Cover for 2 to 3 minutes to make it steamy.
Try Roasted Chicken Recipes
Q & A
To make the chicken moist, juicy, and tender 'brining' is important. Brining is the cooking technique in which you cut the chicken and leave it in salty cold water for half an hour. After that, you can rinse with fresh water and move forward with your recipe.
Preheat the microwave before 10 minutes of baking and set the temperature to 220°C or 428°F. Place the marinated chicken in the microwave oven and cook for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the chicken to cook from another side. Reduce the oven temperature to 200°C and cook for 15 minutes. Make sure to add oil/ghee to the chicken to avoid dryness and add more lubrication to the chicken. Broil the chicken for 5 to 10 minutes. For this turn on the grill (upside) of the oven.
Tandoori chicken turns red just because of Kashmiri red chili powder. Most restaurants use edible red food color in tandoori marinade to enhance the bright red color of roasted chicken.
Tandoori Chicken in Oven (Baked / Broil)
Ingredients
- 250 g Bone-in Chicken (Skinless) 2 Pieces (Breast, leg, and thigh) -
- 1 Cup Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1 teaspoon Gram Flour Besan (Roasted)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Paste
- 1 teaspoon Ginger Paste
- 1 tablespoon Oil
Instructions
Cut The Chicken
- Cut the whole chicken into half. Breast, thighs, or drumsticks.
- Mark the chicken with a sharp knife and make the deep cuts.
- Clean the chicken by removing extra fats and rinse it with water. Tap it to dry.
Prepare Chicken Marinade
- In a deep bowl, add thick yogurt with freshly made ginger garlic paste. Spice with salt, red chili, coriander, turmeric, cumin, garam masala, and roasted gram flour (Besan).
- Pour 1 tablespoon of oil into the marinade and whisk it well to make a thick paste.
- Add the chicken pieces to the marinade. Rub the chicken to properly coat the marinate from inside. Make sure to fill the marinate inside the slits.
- Leave it to marinate for 2 hours (minimum) or overnight for best result.
Preheat The Oven
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) for 10 minutes.
Set The Baking Tray
- In a wide oven tray, place the foil and drizzle oil.
- Place the marinated chicken pieces and all set to bake in the oven.
- Make sure to place chicken at some distance to cook properly from all sides.
Bake The Chicken
- Place the tray in a preheated oven at 425°F (218°C).
- Bake for 40 minutes.
Broil (For Roasted Texture)
- To add a perfect roasted texture, broil the chicken for 15 minutes.
- Brush oil on the chicken while doing this step to make a lustrous texture.
Serve
- Now tandoori chicken is ready to serve!
- Best to pair up with naan, roti, rice or chutney.
Video
Notes
- Deeply mark the chicken so it can absorb the marination.
- Tap to dry the chicken before marinating.
- Marinate for longer hours (4 to 6 hours recommended) can make the chicken juicier and tender in flavor.
- In a baking dish, don't forget to layer with oil otherwise the chicken will stick.
- Make sure to add oil or butter to the marinade to make the chicken juicier and tender. In this way, it will not dry up right after baking.
- Red food color is optional to add in marinade. It will just add a reddish look to the chicken.
- Don't cook the chicken for so long to avoid rubber texture.
Hinz
Delicious dinner with Tandoori chicken in oven. Quick and easy recipe for foodies to try at home kitchen!