Tandoori Chicken is SO delicious and flavorful! You might think Chicken Tandoori, typically an Indian dish requiring a special oven, is complicated, but it can be very easy and cooked on the stove! This “SMOKED” SKILLET TANDOORI CHICKEN is loaded with so much flavor you’ll swear you used a smoker. This Tandoori Chicken Recipe is such a fun hack for a delicious and unique dinner at home.
Easy Tandoori Chicken Recipe
Easy Tandoori Chicken is a must! I absolutely love Tandoori Chicken. I love the Indian flavors of tandoori masala mixed with the creamy yogurt to produce such a tender, flavorful, and delicious meal. It’s traditionally only grilled or cooked in a tandoori pot…but odds are you don’t have one of those sitting around.
Tandoori Chicken is traditionally made with bone in thighs or chicken legs, but I’m a big fan of boneless chicken breasts so we figured out a hack to make it just as juicy, with what you already have at home, and just the way I like it. The trick for the smokey flavor is SO fun and easy, I know you’re sure to love it!
Serve it up with your favorite sides and some homemade naan.
Tandoori Chicken is a flavorful, fun, and easy dinner recipe your family will love!
Tips for making Tandoori Chicken without special equipment:
After cooking the chicken in a cast iron skillet, we transfer it to a bowl to add the smokiness to it. Don’t worry, you really don’t need anything special to make this recipe.
All you need to make this Tandoori Chicken Recipe smokey and AMAZING is a smoking chip or piece of charcoal, some tin foil, and a bowl that you can cover to allow the smoke to permeate. We have SO MUCH FUN trying this at home (be careful) and the taste was out of this world.
If you’re having a dinner party and want to impress your friends, this is the recipe for you. Not only does it have flavor for dayyyyyyys, it’s fun and cool to boot. Look at all that smoke! We don’t need smokers around here!!
What does Tandoori Chicken taste like?
When we say flavorful, this “Smoked” Skillet Tandoori Chicken is FLAVORFUL. FLLLLLLLAVORFUL. You can serve it on its own, but we like to have it with lots of lemon, cilantro, and red onion. Be sure to get a little of all the flavors all in one bite. YOU GUYS. I can’t. You have to experience it for yourselves.
Mom and I just kept saying “mmmmmmm” like dorks over and over again. Then she said her overused phrase that I constantly make fun of her for…”This really is one of my very favorite recipes!”. She says this time she really meant it though.
What is Tandoori Spice Mix?
The fundamental flavors of Chicken Tandoori come from the Tandoori Masala Spices used in the recipe. You can buy it at the grocery store and its a mix of:
- ground ginger.
- ground cumin.
- ground coriander.
- paprika.
- turmeric.
- salt.
- cayenne pepper.
The result of using this spice mix is a delicious and UNIQUE chicken recipe you’ll make again and again!
Please give this a try and let me know how you like this Tandoori Chicken Skillet! I love the faux “smoke” and think you will as well. I have a good feeling that you’re going to be as obsessed as we are.
We love to serve Tandoori Chicken with sides such as roasted potatoes, balsamic brussels sprouts, naan rolls, or garlic mashed cauliflower. Be sure to check out all of our favorite side dishes!
If you like this dish, I think you’ll love this chicken tikka masala and curry chicken too!
See the recipe card below for full details on How to Make Tandoori Chicken without special equipment.
“Smoked” Skillet Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste or 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons ginger paste or 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons tandoori seasoning (If tandoori spice isn’t available, use equal amounts of the following spices that you have; paprika, turmeric, coriander, cardamom and cumin to equal 2 tablespoons.)
- 6 skinless bone-in chicken pieces
- 2-4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2-4 tablespoons olive oil
For the smoke trick:
- 3, 1 ”-2” smoking chips or one chunk of untreated charcoal
- Oil for drizzle
- For serving:
- Thin red onion slices
- Lemon wedges
- Cilantro rough chopped
Instructions
- Place the yogurt, lemon juice, red chili powder, garlic paste, ginger paste, salt and tandoori seasoning in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
- With a paper towel, gently pat the chicken dry. Cut slits across the tops of each chicken piece, 1” apart and ½” deep. Add the chicken to the bowl and rub the seasoned yogurt all over the chicken pieces, being sure to rub it into the slits. Set the chicken aside to marinate, on the countertop, for 30 minutes.
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat the butter and oil over medium-hot heat.
- Add the chicken pieces, one-at-a-time, to the hot pan. Don’t crowd the chicken. Cook 1½-2 minutes, or until the skillet side is golden brown. Flip the chicken over, cook 2 minutes, and repeat this process approximately 10-12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. A meat thermometer should register 160°F for white meat and 165°F for dark meat, when tested in the thickest part of each piece. The different chicken pieces will take different times to cook. (White meat cooks more quickly than dark meat.)
- As each chicken piece finishes cooking, transfer it to a large, heatproof bowl.
Now, here is the fun, and slightly dangerous, trick to give the chicken the smoky “tandoori” flavoring without heating up the grill.
- If you have a gas stovetop, you are in luck. If you don’t, get out a grill lighter.
- First, make a 4” bowl out of a folded piece of aluminum foil (or use a heatproof 4” bowl). Nestle the bowl between the top chicken pieces.
- For safety purposes, place a heatproof dish close by the stove just in case the coal/wood chip get too hot or the flame gets too large.
- With heatproof tongs, hold the chunk of coal or the wood smoking chip over a lighter gas burner until the coal (wood chip) lights and begins to smoke. Place the smoking coal, or chip, in the prepared heatproof bowl on top of the chicken. Drizzle a few drops of oil over the burning coal (or wood chip) and place a large lid over the entire thing. The smoke needs to be trapped in the bowl with the chicken. Leave the bowl covered for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove the coal/wood chip and the small, heatproof bowl. Serve the chicken immediately. **See note.
- Enjoy!
**Note
- Tandoori chicken should always be served with the traditional garnishes of thinly sliced red onion, a lemon wedge, and chopped fresh cilantro. The four flavors meld perfectly together and complete the dish.
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Becky’s tips
I didn’t use bone-in chicken breasts – that is only because I already had the boneless, skinless in the fridge.
Nutrition Information
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Wow SMOKED” SKILLET TANDOORI CHICKEN recipe is looking some what easy. I’ll just try it…… Thanks for sharing
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