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Almost effortless, One Pan Sesame Pumpkin Butter Chicken – Indian inspired butter chicken made with plenty of spice, creamy coconut milk, pumpkin, extra chili butter, and even some sesame seeds too. Incredibly delicious comfort food made at home. Finish each serving with steamed rice and serve with warm, buttered naan. You’ll have the perfect dinner that can be enjoyed any night of the week. This meal is quickly made all in one dish. Just bake, serve, and enjoy – easy peasy!
As we inch deeper into fall, our weather is steadily getting cooler, and the days are already becoming so much shorter! Halloween is almost here, then suddenly, we’re in the coziest season of the year!
Things are always busy, but this time of year is especially crazy (in the best way)! With the sun setting early, time in the kitchen is limited, leaving even less time to create a decent meal after work.
Because of this, anything I can throw in the crockpot or slow cook in the oven is on my radar! This pumpkin curry fits the mold and mood of the season perfectly!
The entire curry is mixed and baked all in the same dish. It’s hard to beat that!
These are the Details
Ingredients
- chicken
- yogurt
- garlic
- ginger
- garam masala
- cumin
- turmeric
- cayenne
- salted butter
- onion
- coconut milk
- tomato paste
- canned pumpkin
- sesame seeds
- cilantro
- chili flakes
- paprika
Tools from The Kitchen
A baking dish is all you need!
The steps
Step 1: season the chicken
For this dish, I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts. My mom loves chicken breasts, but my brother loves thighs. You can use either or both, but make sure to use similar sizes. Personally, I think a mix works best, but use what you and your family enjoy most.
In a baking dish, toss the chicken with yogurt and add plenty of garlic and fresh ginger. Then, add all of the spices: garam masala, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Use the cayenne to your taste—I used 2 teaspoons, but we like things spicy over here! Again, use what works best for you.
If time allows, you can marinate the chicken for 30 minutes or overnight. If you’re in a time crunch, just start cooking. I’ve now made this both ways, and there’s not a huge difference.
Step 2: add the pumpkin and everything else
Now, the pumpkin! I used a can of pumpkin puree, it’s so delicious in a spiced curry like this. Honestly, I’d make this with pumpkin all year round simply because it’s just better. The sweetness from the pumpkin complements the spices.
Top the chicken with chopped onion. Pour over a can of coconut milk, add the tomato paste and pumpkin, and mix it all together until you have a very creamy sauce. Oh, and season with a little salt too.
Add thin slices of cold salted butter and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
Step 3: baking
Bake anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken.
The chicken comes out with some butter on top, but underneath is a very creamy, very delicious pumpkin sauce.
Step 4: serve
I don’t think you can serve this without rice (in notes) and warm naan. I certainly recommend making both!
The chili butter is extra, but if you love spicy food, we think it’s delicious!!
Leftovers and Freezing
This dish gets better once the sauce sits, so leftovers tend to be even more delicious!
This is also a great meal to freeze. I currently have a batch in my freezer that I know will be gone before I get home! My family is planning to thaw and enjoy it this week!
Looking for other fall dinners? Here are my favorites:
30 Minute Butter Chicken Meatballs
Super Simple Coconut Chicken Tikka Masala
Gingery Coconut Sweet Potato and Rice Stew with Chili Oil
30 Minute Spicy Indian Butter Chicken
Crockpot Creamy Coconut Chicken Tikka Masala
Lastly, if you make this One Pan Sesame Pumpkin Butter Chicken, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And, of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
One Pan Sesame Butter Pumpkin Chicken
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 600 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds small boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (use to your taste)
- salt and black pepper
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons cold salted butter, sliced
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- steamed rice and naan, for serving
Chili Butter (optional)
- 3 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoons chili flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- 1. In a baking dish, toss together the chicken, yogurt, garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt. Let sit 5 minutes.2. Preheat the oven to 400°.3. To the chicken, add the onion, then pour over the coconut milk. Add the tomato paste and canned pumpkin. Stir until creamy and well mixed. Arrange the butter slices over the chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Top with cilantro.4. Meanwhile, melt the butter, chili flakes, and paprika together. Cook until the butter browns, and then remove from the heat.5. Serve the chicken and sauce over bowls of rice with chili butter and naan. Enjoy!
Notes
Coconut Rice: Combine 1 can (14 ounces) of coconut milk and 1/2 cup water in a medium pot. Bring to a low boil. Add 1 cup basmati rice and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, cover, then turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible. Allow the rice to cook for 10 minutes on low, then turn the heat off completely and let the rice sit, covered for another 15-20 minutes (don't take any peeks inside!). Remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork
Phenomenal. This is really the best Indian style recipe I’ve made from your collection. The vibrancy of the flavors, the simpleness of the construction and the overall presentation: all top notch.
This will definitely be on the fall/winter menu rotation.
Hey Christopher,
Happy Sunday!! Thanks a bunch for making this recipe and so many others, so glad to hear it was a winner! XxT
Hi, Planning to make this week. The recipe calls for 3/4 c pumpkin. In your writing above, you mention you used a whole can. Does it make a difference which quantity I use?
thanks.
Hey Carol,
You can follow the recipe as written and use 3/4 cup of pumpkin. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love this recipe! xT
I made this for dinner yesterday, and it is delightfully delicious, cozy, and so fun to make! I took a shortcut on the rice and used microwaveable cilantro and lime rice which was a win. The meal pared well with a glass of Chenin Blanc, dining outside in some of the best October weather with my husband. Thank you, Tiegan! ❤️
P.S., that should have been Tieghan. 😊
No worries:)
Love to hear this, Bill! Thanks for making this dish and your feedback! Have a great Sunday! xT
Made it for the fam tonight! It was a hit! With coconut rice. Yum!
Hey Leslie,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this dish turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great fall weekend! xT
kind of crazy that this is just a copy of the “spicy butter sesame chicken” but with a cup of pumpkin added to it…
The whole family enjoyed this one! Followed the recipe as written, except for reducing the cayenne pepper to half a teaspoon, and then shredded the chicken at the end. Easy and delicious!
Hey Lynn,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this dish turned out well for you, thanks for making it! Have a great fall weekend! xT
Confused by this “With the sun setting early, time in the kitchen is limited, leaving even less time to create a decent meal after work.”
Do you not have lights in your kitchen? The sun sets earlier but the number of hours in the day stays the same. Same amount of time.
Hi Laura,
I only shoot my recipe photos using natural sunlight, so my time in the kitchen is now limited:) Have a great day! xx
Yeah that was a weird way to phrase it since your work is creating meals all day. If you are coming home after work to make dinner it doesn’t matter what the lighting is.
Why is star anise in many of the photos when it’s not an ingredient? Food prop / styling purposes? Or it is an ingredient but someone didn’t carefully and double check the recipe before posting it?
Chicken breasts and thighs cook at different rates, even if they’re the same size, so I’m confused how you suggest using a mix of both.
The recipe calls for breast or thighs.
Hey Julian,
For this recipe, you can use chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or a combo of both. It is really personal preference:) The cook time is 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your chicken. It’s always good to check to make sure it is fully cooked before serving! I hope this helps! xT
I think you have that mixed up. The chicken breasts are thicker than chicken thighs so they would need longer to cook. You could suggest that if using both, you could cut the chicken breasts into sizes similar to the chicken thighs.
Confusing because that’s completely different from what you posted above:
“For this dish, I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts. My mom loves chicken breasts, but my brother loves thighs. You can use either or both, but make sure to use similar sizes. Personally, I think a mix works best, but use what you and your family enjoy most.’
What changes would need to be done to use cauliflower instead of chicken? Looking forward to making this
Hey Sara,
I would do large chunks of cauliflower and follow the recipe as written. I don’t think you will need the full 30-40 minutes of bake time, I would just pull the dish when the cauliflower is fork tender. I hope you love this recipe! xxT