Tandoori Chicken

July 11, 2025

732

***This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy* *for more info.***

Tandoori chicken is traditionally marinated in yogurt and a spice blend and then cooked in a clay tandoori oven. In restaurants the chicken usually has a red hue that comes from red chili powder and/or red food coloring.

In the early 1980’s a fellow Pakistani graduate student used to prepare Tandoori chicken for us. She Americanized the dish and left out the red hot chili powder for us. She shared the recipe and I have been making it for years.

In her recipe, the chicken is marinated in a mixture of yogurt containing sliced onions, finely minced garlic and ginger, lemon juice, garam marsala, coriander and cumin. She did not use any red colored spices nor did she add any red food coloring. If you absolutely need to have red tandoori chicken add a few drops of food coloring. If you prefer your chicken to have a kick to it, add some hot red chili powder to the marinate.

I normally use boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs. The chicken prepared from her recipe is tender, moist and packed with flavor to boot. The hubby and I enjoyed it at her home and in our own home prepared from her recipe. It’s a regular in my menu rotation.

The best results are obtained when the chicken is cooked on a wire baking rack that allows the marinade to drip away while the chicken is cooking. I included cooking methods below and in the notes in the recipe card.

Please see the recipe card below for exact amounts and directions.

Ingredient Round Up

Chicken breast(s) – You can substitute in boneless thighs.
Plain non fat yogurt
Onion
Garlic cloves
Ginger root
Coriander
Garam marsala
Cumin
Salt
Fresh lemon juice

Making the Tandoori Chicken

Slice the onion then cut the slices in half and separate the rings. Finely mince the garlic cloves and fresh ginger root. Place these ingredients into a gallon size zip lock storage bag.

Add the plain non fat yogurt and the lemon juice to the zip lock bag.

Measure out all the spices and then add them to the zip lock bag.

Zip the bag shut and massage the bag until all the ingredients are mixed together.

Add the chicken breasts to the zip lock bag. Massage them to ensure they are fully covered with the yogurt marinade. Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of several hours. Flip the bag over several times.

You can cook the chicken on an outdoor grill that has a metal wire grill surface, under the broiler or in an air fryer. I cooked my chicken in the air fryer and in the past I have put it under the broiler. My outdoor grill is gas with a ceramic surface and it did not let enough of the liquid drain away to allow the chicken to cook properly.
Place a raised baking rack inside of a foil line baking pan or air fryer tray. Place the chicken breasts on top of the rack.

Bake the chicken for 10 min at 370°F. Flip the chicken over and bake an additional 5 min. Raise the temperature to 400°F and cook for 4 min. Check the internal temperature. You are looking for an internal temperature of 165 – 170°F. If the chicken isn’t quite done, cook it for a few minutes more at the higher temperature.
The cooking times for thighs may need to be longer.
Let the chicken rest for 5 min. Serve and enjoy.

Serving Ideas

Tandoori chicken can be served for dinner with some plain or garlic naan and a cucumber salad dressed with yogurt and some Indian spices (raita).
Vegetable dishes such as oven roasted potatoes, air fried cauliflower dipped in or drizzled with raita, a chickpea salad or Indian cauliflower and garbonzo beans are nice accompaniments to tandoori chicken.
Plain rice, saffron rice, lime rice with cilantro all pair well with tandoori chicken. Curried rice dishes also work well with this recipe.

WW 0 pt