SpiceCraft Butter Chicken

Posted: September 23, 2025 Updated: September 23, 2025

Is butter chicken Australia’s favourite curry? SpiceCraft seems to think so! It’s certainly the first one I think of, usually followed by rogan josh or vindaloo. With it’s rich spices, tender chicken and creamy tomato sauce it’s easy to see why it’s everyone’s go to dish.

This is post sponsored by SpiceCraft Australia. As you’ve no doubt seen, I’m candid in my posts. I’m not going to tell you something is great if it isn’t.

If you like, you can read more about how Kati Keksi is funded, and how you can support my work.

Fun fact, did you know butter chicken was invented as a way to use up leftover tandoori chicken? I didn’t, not until I started researching for this post.

It’s also quite a recently invented dish, with it’s origins going back to just the 1950s.

About SpiceCraft

In preparation for this post, I sat down and had a chat over the phone with Ambika, the founder of SpiceCraft. 

It’s always interesting to talk to small business owners about their products, how they’ve been designed and what they mean to them. 

One thing she mentioned that I really liked was where her products sits in the stages, or I guess evolution, of how customers produce their own Indian meals at home. 

The beginner level is buying a jarred sauce which you just pour over some cooked meat. 

The intermediate level, where you’re feeling a little bit more confident, is a packet sauce that comes with additional spices to make you feel like you’re a little bit more involved 

And the third level, where SpiceCraft products sit, is where you are cooking from scratch with the guidance of pre-portioned spices and a trusted recipe.

I think there’s a time and place for all levels of products. If you’ve followed me for a long time, you’ll know that I don’t really throw shade on the easy time savers. The exist for a reason and they’re popular for a reason. 

But it would be very difficult to argue that every product produces the same outcome. There is definitely a huge difference between the quality and authenticity of a meal when you are move involved in the cooking process.

Preparing the butter chicken by SpiceCraft

I have to say the packaging inside is just as gorgeous as as the outer box. It really does feel like a premium experience when you open your box and discover a little booklet of instructions as well.

Marinating the meat is the first step. There are options for 15 minutes, and hour, or overnight, depending on how much time you’ve got.

I marinated the chicken for an hour and a half. I considered doing overnight but I wanted to see what the product was like if you were time short. 

After marinating you can cook the chicken via any method that suits. The recipe booklet mentions air frying, grilling or in the oven. Mine went in the oven as I don’t own an air fryer.

The marinated chicken cooked for 20 minutes at 220°C followed by another 10 minutes at 240°C just to get a bit of crispiness to the exterior.

I really like the oven / air fryer cooking option. It means you’ve got your hands free to start making the sauce on the stove. 

The sauce comes together by mixing the first spice sachet with tomato paste and water. Once it’s simmering you add your second spice mix and the cream before adding the last sachet of ground fenugreek leaves. 

There are options along the way for simmering for a little bit longer. It’s not necessary but can improve the flavour. 

Since I was doing other things around the house, I opted for the 30 minute simmer. 

After that you add your chicken and simmer a little bit more and it’s done! 

The taste

I can really appreciate what they mean by building the layers of flavours in the instructions. 

As I took a few taste tests in the cooking process, I got different flavours coming through in each stage. 

The marinade on the meat is spicy and at times salty, ready to be mellowed out by the sauce. The sauce is creamy but not overwhelming or cloyingly fatty because light cooking cream is used.

I prefer this to other recipes I’ve come across which require coconut cream, which in my opinion is too rich without being intensely diluted.

The only thing I didn’t expect was that it’s a bit spicy. I love a bit of heat in my food, but most most butter chicken meals I’ve come across are very mild.

This is easily adjusted however, for our toddler daughter we added extra cream to her portion. She was very happy with it.

The verdict

The SpiceCraft butter chicken is delicious! I like that it makes a large serve, 1kg of meat versus other packs that usually call for 400-500g.

Admittedly, I haven’t had butter chicken in a while, but the last time we did it was probably a jar sauce. I don’t need to try one again to give you a taste comparison, I can remember it.

Jar sauces are sweeter than authentic ones, and often have an added starch as a thickener. It’s fine as a meal, but it never compares to what you have in a restaurant.

The SpiceCraft butter chicken feels so authentic meal, because there’s no way they’re using thickeners at restaurants, and SpiceCraft doesn’t either. The spices really come through and the richness of the sauce is well-balanced with the tomato base.

Also, I like that the add-ins aren’t that expensive, just some tomato paste and a packet of cream (so like, $4?).

Sometimes a tiny meal sachet will require $15 of extras before you even buy the meat. It’s nice to see the SpiceCraft butter chicken requires only a few items – some already in the pantry.

Where to buy SpiceCraft butter chicken

A selection of SpiceCraft products are stocked in most Woolworths stores and many independent grocers. The SpiceCraft website has a store locator page where you can type in your postcode or suburb.

Alternatively, you can use the product tracker on the Woolworths website to see where the SpiceCraft butter chicken cooking kit is available near you. All you need to do is pop in your postcode and a list of stores nearby will show up. You’ll find their range in the same aisle as other Indian meals.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Gluten free: Not detected, Coeliac Australia endorsed.
Vegetarian / vegan: Vegan (as base kit, modify to your needs).
Allergens: Nil. May contain: Peanut, tree nuts.
Serving size: 4 – 6 as per the packet. I’d say closer to six if using a full 1kg of chicken.

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