This flavorful tikka masala sauce is a universal base for all your favorite tikka masala recipes. Make a batch today and store it in the fridge. When it's time for dinner just warm the sauce with a protein or vegetables of your choice - no need to start from scratch!
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What is tikka masala sauce?
Tikka masala sauce is a rich, creamy tomato-based curry sauce flavored with onions, ginger, garlic and spices, including coriander, cumin and cardamom. It is mildly spicy and savory with layers of complex flavor.
This is one of my favorite sauces to have on hand for quick weeknight dinners. Most tikka masala sauces use dairy cream but my vegan tikka masala sauce gets its creamy texture from plant-based ingredients. You can use it to make all of your favorite tikka masala dishes, including tofu tikka masala and chickpea tikka masala.
Why you will love this recipe
Rich, creamy and dairy-free
Good Indian restaurants don't make their tikka masala sauce from jarred store-bought pastes and neither should you. This homemade tikka masala sauce has fresh, authentic flavor from freshly cooked and blended tomatoes, onions and spices. It is smooth and creamy without heavy cream.
Made from scratch with everyday ingredients
The sauce is very pantry-friendly - all you need are onions, tomatoes and a few spices. There are no preservatives or anything undesirable you might find in a store-bought sauce.
Easy to customize
Adjust the heat to make the sauce milder or to give it an extra kick!
Versatile
You can pair this sauce with lentils, vegetables like cauliflower, eggplant and bell peppers, or with a protein like tempeh.
Great for meal prep
Make the tikka masala sauce on the weekend and refrigerate or freeze in portions for quick weeknight meals.
Wonderful recipe... The sauce is full of Indian taste. Love it!
-Alex
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Spices: For the best, freshest and most authentic flavor start with whole spices and blend them with the other sauce ingredients. For convenience you can replace the whole spices - cloves, cardamom, bay leaves, red chili peppers, cinnamon, coriander seeds and cumin seeds - with two tablespoons of a high quality garam masala.
- Tomato paste: There already are tomatoes in this recipe but adding some tomato paste as well lends a nice hit of umami to the tikka masala sauce.
- Kasoori methi: Dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi in Hindi) have a pleasant bitterness that balances out the sweet and tangy flavors in this sauce and gives it a restaurant-quality finish. Don't try to substitute it with fenugreek seeds, which are very bitter. If you can't source it, leave it out.
- Dried mushrooms (optional): This is my secret umami ingredient for all my meal-prep curry sauces, including this tikka masala sauce and Indian curry paste. Just ¼ cup dried mushrooms of any variety add so much flavor and no one will even know they are there. They are optional so you can skip them.
If you enjoy making your own spice mixes and pastes, check out more of my authentic Indian and global spice blend recipes.
How to make tikka masala sauce
Sauté the spices
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the whole spices - coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and dried red chili peppers. Fry the spices until very aromatic. Make sure you turn off the heat as soon as the coriander seeds are a couple of shades darker and no longer because you don't want the spices to burn.
Cook the onions and ginger garlic paste
Add the onions to the saucepan and sauté until they begin to brown. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute longer. Don't let the ginger and garlic brown or burn.
Add tomatoes and powdered spices
Add the tomatoes to the pot along with tomato paste, turmeric and paprika. Mix well. Cover and cook five minutes over medium heat until the tomatoes are very soft. The reason we add the turmeric and paprika at this stage and not earlier with the other spices is because they are powdered and can burn easily in hot oil. Adding the tomatoes before adding powdered spices cushions the spices.
Stir in the optional dried mushrooms at this point, if using. Add a cup of water, bring the sauce to a boil, cover and cook five more minutes.
Add kasoori methi and cashews
Stir in the cashews followed by the kasoori methi and sugar to the pot and add salt to taste. Bring the tikka masala sauce ingredients to a boil, simmer for five minutes, then turn off heat. Let them stand for some time to cool before you blend the sauce.
Blend and finish the sauce
Place the sauce in a blender and add a cup of room-temperature water. Blend into a very smooth paste. The sauce is ready! The recipe makes enough sauce for two meals so use one half now and save the rest in the refrigerator for later.
Recipe card
Tikka Masala Sauce Recipe
Equipment you'll need
- Skillet or wide saucepan
- Blender
Ingredients
- 8 cloves
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 dried red chili peppers
- 1-inch stick cinnamon (broken into smaller pieces)
- 4 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 medium red onions (chopped)
- 1 heaping tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 4 medium tomatoes (diced)
- 2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon paprika (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 tablespoon kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- ¼ cup cashews (soaked for 30 minutes. To make this nut-free, use an equal amount of pumpkin seeds)
Optional ingredient
- ¼ cup dried mushrooms
Instructions
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and red chilli peppers. Fry the spices until a couple of shades darker and very aromatic.
- Add the onions to the saucepan and sauté until they begin to brown. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes to the pot along with tomato paste, turmeric and paprika. Mix well. Cover and cook five minutes over medium heat until the tomatoes are very soft.
- Stir in the optional dried mushrooms at this point, if using. Add a cup of water, bring the sauce to a boil, cover and cook five more minutes.
- Stir in the cashews followed by the kasoori methi and sugar. Add salt to taste. Bring to a boil, simmer for five minutes, then turn off heat. Let the sauce cool.
- Place the sauce in a blender and add a cup of water. Blend into a very smooth paste. Your tikka masala sauce is ready!
Nutrition Information
My top tip
A high-powered blender is perfect for blending the ingredients into a very smooth sauce. If you don't have one, blend the sauce as best as you can, then put it through a fine mesh strainer before using.
More spice pastes
- Vegan Thai green curry paste
- Calabrian chili paste
- Harissa paste
- Tomato onion masala sauce for curries
- Ginger garlic paste
Recipe FAQs
Warm up half the sauce with any protein of your choice, including tofu, tempeh, beans and lentils. The sauce is already cooked so just warm through before serving. You can thin out the sauce with vegetable stock or water.
A tikka masala is identified with British Indian cuisine, while a makhani, a sauce used in recipes like vegan butter chicken and tofu makhani, is a stalwart of north Indian cuisine. Both tikka masala and makhani have a vibrant, orange sauce and both usually include a protein like chicken, paneer or, in our vegan kitchens, tofu. But a tikka masala sauce would likely include yogurt while a makhani would include butter and cream. A tikka masala sauce usually also has more texture because you don't blend all the onions and tomatoes (although we will blend it all up in our storable, jarred version here).
No. Coconut milk is simply not a good replacement for cashew cream in a tikka masala because its flavor overrides the delicate flavors of this dish. And no, the spices do not mask it. If you can't eat cashews, use pumpkin seeds instead for an authentic flavored tikka masala sauce. To find out more on why coconut milk is not an appropriate replacement for cashew milk in north Indian recipes, please read my post on how to veganize Indian recipes.
Store the tikka masala sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to two weeks. Freeze for up to four months.
tee tee says
Do you have to crush kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) between your palms when you add them to the Tikka Masala Sauce. I noticed in one of your other recipes you had us to crush kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) between our palms when we add them to the sauce. Does crushing them make a difference in the recipes.
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Tee Tee, yes, crushing the kasoori methi leaves helps disperse them through the sauce evenly so their pleasant, aromatic bitterness disperses evenly through the sauce and adds balance to sweet and tangy flavors. It's not a huge deal if you forget - the dry leaves will eventually disintegrate in the sauce - but it's a good idea to give them a start.
Tanya says
I have made this several times and it amazing. This year I have an abundance of tomatoes and onions in my garden...I was planning on using this recipe and make a large batch...would you suggest canning or freezing for later use?
Vaishali says
Hi Tanya, I freeze it, but I think canning it should be fine. So happy you've loved the sauce. It's one of my favorites. ❤️
Tanya says
Thanks maybe I'll try doing some up both ways and see which I like better.
Karyn says
How much red chilies? Ingredients don’t list them.
Vaishali says
It’s two, added.
Tanya says
I have made this several times and it amazing. This year I have an abundance of tomatoes and onions in my garden...I was planning on using this recipe and make a large batch...would you suggest canning or freezing for later use?
alex koski says
Hi Vaishali,
Wonderful recipe, not surprising. The sauce is full of Indian taste. Love it! And easy. I had to run out for the Kasumi methi, but had everything else.
Thank you!
Vaishali says
Hi Alex, so happy you loved the flavor of the tikka masala sauce. Thanks for letting me know!