Aldi has sold several varieties of Indian simmer sauces over the years, and the grocer has made so many changes to its Indian sauce formulas that it’s sometimes a challenge to keep up with all the developments.
We’ve seen Aldi’s tikka masala sauce go through at least four changes, and not always for the better. The most recent version is Cook House Tikka Masala Sauce, which is okay but nowhere near as good as the original Journey to India Tikka Masala we first fell in love with. We’ve also seen Aldi’s korma sauce go through changes, being offered first under the Journey to India label and now under the Cook House label.
Then Aldi started selling butter chicken simmer sauce as a Regular Buy that is available year round. The only other time we’ve seen Aldi sell butter chicken is as a limited-time ALDI Find, and it wasn’t that good. Now that Aldi is selling butter chicken sauce all the time, and because I recently used my family’s last good jar of tikka masala, I decided to pick up the jarred butter chicken sauce to try.
Cook House Butter Chicken Sauce cost $1.99 for a 15-oz. jar at the time of publication. This is a Regular Buy product, meaning it is available all year at Aldi. It is a product of the United Kingdom.
The sauce is described as “a creamy tomato simmer sauce with almonds & smoked paprika.” The jar states it is an “authentic recipe” and is mild.
The main ingredients are water, onion, tomato paste, sugar, cream, and modified food starch. We were disappointed to see water as the first ingredient, something that has become common in the reformulated versions of Aldi’s tikka masala sauces. As a positive, though, this sauce is made with mostly recognizable ingredients.
People with allergies should be aware this sauce contains milk and tree nuts (almonds). It may also contain peanuts and other tree nuts.
Cook House Butter Chicken nutrition info and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
One jar contains about six servings, with one serving netting you 60 calories, 3 grams of total fat (4% of your daily value), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% DV), 210 mg of sodium (9% DV), 8 grams of total carbohydrates (3% DV), 1 gram of fiber (3% DV), 5 grams of total sugars, and 4 grams of added sugars (7% DV).
To saute, heat oil in a saute pan or wok. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and brown evenly in hot oil. Add the entire jar of simmer sauce. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 10-12 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy with rice.
You also can pour the jar of sauce on top of meat before placing it in the oven to roast, or you can add the sauce to your slow cooker along with meat of your choice and let it simmer.
I prepared this sauce the way I usually do with jarred Indian sauces. I heated some cooking oil in a large skillet, added pre-cooked chicken from a whole bird I had previously roasted, added the jar of sauce, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes until it was thoroughly heated. I served it alongside Aldi’s naan and white basmati rice (both Regular Buys) and Aldi’s chicken samosas (an ALDI Find that is available once or twice a year for a short time).
My family and I didn’t have the highest hopes for this sauce. We’re still disappointed over everything Aldi has done to its original Journey to India Tikka Masala sauce, so we’re cautious whenever we try any new Indian sauces from Aldi.
However, we were pleasantly surprised by this butter chicken sauce. It has a tomato base that is nicely complemented by spices, including smoked paprika, ginger, garlic, onion powder, and tamarind. It also is mildly spicy. This might be our new favorite Indian sauce from Aldi, and I think I’ll be purchasing it again.
The Verdict:
Aldi’s Cook House Butter Chicken simmer sauce is surprisingly good. It has a nice balance of tomato flavor and spices and has just enough spiciness to make it interesting but not too hot. Recommended.
Thank you for this review. I recently tried the korma sauce from the same company and it was horrible. Granted, we lived in England for 5 years, so we know good curry. I ended up adding a can of coconut milk to the korma sauce and it made it a little more palatable. Anyway, your review gives me hope as I try the butter chicken tonight.
I tried it u have to jazz it up by spicing your chicken well and I added half and half about half a cup to make it creamier u can add yoghurt too
I haven’t tried the korma sauce yet, but with the other two, I throw in some garam masala and a big dollop of plain Greek yogurt to doctor them up a bit – not bad!
I used it in a Mediterranean fish soup , it has all the ingredients for the base. I simmered cubed celery and onions with a little olive oil, then added 4 cloves of crushed and minced garlic, I can of petite cubed tomato’s and a can of stewed tomatoes, I jar of butter simmering chicken sauce and a quart of chicken broth. Cook for 1/2 hr on medium, stirring occasionally. Added 4 fish filets (cut in half) and 1/2 bag of baby spinach, cook til fish is flaky. 5 minutes. Then enjoy. This is a simple and good recipe.
Sorry, but we just used this liquid for dinner and it had zero flavor. Not bad flavor, simply no flavor. It was like eating boiled chicken. I took a Covid test just to make sure I didn’t lose my sense of taste. Unless I had some kind defective product, I advise people to save their money and avoid this “sauce”.