I cooked an easy one-pan chicken tikka masala that tasted amazing in under 45 minutes

I cooked an easy one-pan chicken tikka masala that tasted amazing in under 45 minutes (Image: Angela Patrone)

One-pan meal recipes are a saviour for weekdays as the entire dish can be cooked in the same pan.

Recently, I made a chicken tikka masala that took less than 45 minutes to cook, which included prep time.

While typical chicken tikka recipes are just for the sauce, this one allows you to cook your rice in the sauce.

Not only is this meal delicious but it is also packed full of protein and low on calories - only 470 calories per portion.

When making this dish, I made two portions so I could have the other for lunch the next day.

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This meal is packed full of protein and low on calories (Image: Angela Patrone)

Ingredients (serves two)

320g chicken breasts, cut into chunks

200g zero percent Greek yoghurt (or full-fat if you’re not fussed about calories)

A teaspoon of garlic puree

A teaspoon of tikka seasoning

A teaspoon of smoked paprika

100g basmati rice

300g tinned chopped tomatoes

One onion

Two teaspoons of tomato puree

200ml chicken stock (using one stock cube)

Method 

I started by marinating the chicken in 100g of yoghurt with the garlic puree, one teaspoon pr tikka seasoning and the smoked paprika. I left it to sit for at least 10 minutes, but you can leave it for longer if you’re prepping it in advance.

Five minutes into the chicken marinating, I started frying off the onions with tomato puree and a teaspoon of the tikka seasoning - this took about five minutes.

I started by marinating the chicken before frying off the onions (Image: Angela Patrone)

I cooked the chicken for 10 minutes (Image: Angela Patrone)

The next step was to add the chicken to the frying pan, making sure that the chicken chunks were nearly fully cooked before moving on.

After, it was time to add in the chopped tomatoes, the rest of the Greek yoghurt and chicken stock to simmer for five minutes.

Once the time was up, I added in the basmati rice, gave it a mix and left it to simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on.

I left the chopped tomatoes, stock and yoghurt too simmer in the pan for five minutes (Image: Angela Patrone)

I added in the basmati rice and left it to simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes with the lid on (Image: Angela Patrone)

After 15 minutes the sauce will have thickened and the rice will be perfectly cooked (Image: Angela Patrone)

Once the time is up, the sauce will have thickened and the rice will be perfectly cooked.

This rich, creamy curry is so good and makes for a fantastic, healthier alternative to ordering a takeaway

For those who aren’t in the mood for rice, they can just leave the sauce to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes and pair it with naan bread or poppadoms.