This homemade tikka masala sauce, with its vibrant color and vivid flavors, is perfect for meal prep. Set aside just 30 minutes to make a batch with tomatoes, onions and a few simple spices, then enjoy a restaurant-style tikka masala dish whenever the craving strikes!
I love it when I have a jar of this easy tikka masala sauce in my fridge for rushed weeknights, along with other favorite curry sauces, like tomato onion masala sauce and Indian curry paste.
Set aside a few minutes to make one or all of them over the weekend, refrigerate or freeze them for longer storage, and you will never have to break a sweat to serve your family delicious and nutritious dinners.
The tikka masala sauce is full of flavor: it's deliciously complex but mildly spicy and so smooth and creamy. You can use it to make amazing dishes like tofu tikka masala, or add to it your favorite beans, veggies or seitan.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe
- Creamy and delicious. The smooth, velvety orange sauce is full of vibrant flavors, from spicy and salty to sweet and tangy, with just a hint of bitterness from fenugreek leaves rounding out the taste.
- Meal-prep friendly. You can make this sauce days or even weeks in advance and store it. When you want to make a tikka masala, all you have to do is pull it out of the fridge or freezer, warm it with your vegetable or protein of choice, and dinner is served!
- Nutritious. The sauce is loaded with healthy ingredients, including tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, cumin and dried fenugreek leaves. You can add any veggie or protein of your choice to make it even more nourishing.
- Beginner-friendly. Indian origin dishes can be intimidating for a new cook, but this tikka masala sauce is so easy to make, you will amaze yourself!
- Allergy-friendly. The sauce is soy-free and gluten-free. You can substitute pumpkin seeds or melon seeds for the cashews.
Ingredients
- Vegetables: onions and tomatoes
- Herbs: bay leaves and ginger garlic paste. If you don't have a jar of ginger garlic paste (it's so easy to make), just use ginger and garlic separately. More in instructions below.
- Spices: cloves, green cardamom, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, dried red chilli peppers (use milder peppers like byadgi or Kashmiri chilli peppers. If using arbol peppers, use just one because it's spicier), turmeric and paprika (optional)
- Umami ingredients: tomato paste, kasoori methi and dried mushrooms (optional)
- Sugar or maple syrup. This adds a hint of sweetness to round out flavors; it doesn't make the sauce sweet.
- Raw cashews. You can use pumpkin seeds if allergic to nuts.
How to make tikka masala sauce
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 saute until they begin to brown. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and saute 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. 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!
Top tip
- Use a high-powered blender if possible to blend up the tikka masala sauce to ensure the whole spices are thoroughly blended. This will give you a very smooth sauce. If you don't have a high-powered blender, blend the sauce as best as you can, then put it through a fine mesh strainer before using.
How to use tikka masala sauce
- Warm up half the sauce with any beans of your choice. I will share with you my chickpea tikka masala next, using this sauce.
- Use it with lentils, like whole brown lentils.
- Add tofu, baked or air-fried, to the sauce and warm through.
Recipe FAQs
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).
The flavors in this tikka masala sauce are very authentic. Because this is a jarred sauce, I've combined the two base sauces used in a traditional tikka masala into one single sauce. This speeds up prep time but you don't lose any of that amazing flavor.
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.
Quick-cooking veggies like mushrooms, bell peppers, squash, cauliflower and carrots are great additions to a tikka masala sauce. You can also add roasted eggplants to this sauce.
More north Indian curry recipes
Tikka Masala Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 cloves
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 2 bay leaves
- 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
- ¼ cup dried mushrooms (optional)
- 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 ¼ cup canned coconut milk, the thick part)
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 saute until they begin to brown. Stir in the ginger garlic paste and saute 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!
Karen Heggs
Love your recipes Vaishali! Thanks for sharing.
Karen
Fran
delicious tasty but not too hot
jules v
yummyyyy recipe, your site is a godsend!
Ettie
Hi Vaishali,
I love your recipes and have had great successes ....until this one. I know it's my fault. What did I do wrong? I spent an hour trying to pick black bits of cinnamon off chickpeas until I gave up and binned the pot. Maybe I shouldn't have blitzed the cinnamon stick, I'm not sure. As you can see, I'm a novice cook. I'd like to try it again though. I'm usually pretty forgiving with my own cooking but not even I could manage to eat this. What did I miss?
Vaishali
Hi Ettie, you need to ensure that the paste becomes very smooth and the cinnamon is thoroughly blended into the rest of the ingredients. Use a high powered blender if possible and if the blades are not moving add more water. Also when roasting the ingredients don't let them turn black--when you fry spices they should usually be roasted only to the point where they are a couple of shades darker, if that. Finally, if you still see bits of spices, strain the sauce.
Ettie
Thank you! I'll give it another spin. Love your site. ❤️
Anonymous
Regarding Opie your lovely dog. I also am a dog lover. I am also a believer in the Near Death Experiencers. I have come to the conclusion that all living things have souls, but of varying degrees of levels of responsibility. Animals and plants are "hard wired". We are part divine because we are the image and likeness of God. Therefore, we can choose to obey God's laws or not; knowing good from evil. Since all living things have souls, then the bodies die, the souls obviously goes back to God. The Near Death Experiencers state that in heaven all things glow and are beautiful. Those are the souls God put into all those animals and plants. We on the other hand can choose, so we are given your loveliness by our wanting and willingness to love God unconditionally. Therefore, when we leave our bodies and go to God, we will meet all of our family, friends, and animals and plants that we came to know and love. So, since Opie is suffering from arthritis and Opie is suffering from heart disease, I know it will break your heart, I believe it is much kinder to let Opie go to God. You will eventually meet Opie in heaven when you leave this earth. Souls are what causes us to become attached to our loved ones of both animal and human species. That is why we don't love our cars or vacuum cleaners the same way as we love our animal friends, as well as human relatives and friends. The heart can hold many souls and you will make some loving animal from the pound a happier life if you would take on another loved one animal. With God's love and prayers, I hope you will find this helpful. With love, I am Mary C. White (708) 679-0794, marywhite3379@yahoo.com
Mary
I am so sorry about the loss of your beloved Opie. It looks like he may have suffered from hemangiosarcoma of the heart back in 2015. I lost two dogs to hemangiosarcoma--an insidious form of cancer that mostly goes undetected until it is too late. The first pup I lost within two days of the diagnosis. The cancer had spread everywhere and there was no hope for attempting chemo, surgery or integrated medicine. That said, I learned a lot about hemangiosarcoma so when another pup was diagnosed with it after he collapsed due to a small tumor filling his periocardium with blood. We didn't think he would pull through, but he his spirit was strong and he wasn't ready to go so in addition to chemo, we immediately (he was still in icu) started him on two supplements that I had researched AND the oncology department at Tufts University (and UPENN) highly recommend in conjunction with western modalities. Both are mushroom based...
1) Yunnan Baiyao (which a lot of bigger veterinary hospitals will have on hand, but it is way cheaper to buy it on-line) and 2) I'm Yunity--a supplement researched at UPENN--It is the big gun that helps slow down the cancer's spread. It is expensive, but my pup, who no one thought would live beyond a few days to a week or so, lived another 4 plus months before the cancer overcame him.
Those 4 months were priceless, and he was happy and enjoyed most of that time. (the chemo protocol was very aggressive and he was very sensitive to it so we had to stop the chemo to ensure he had a good quality of life--but a majority of dogs handle chemo with little to no side effects so I always think it is worth pursuing at first.)
Anyway, I'm posting this in 2020, in case you or anyone who happens upon this particular post finds themselves in a similar situation.
Vaishali
Hi Mary, thanks for your message and for thinking about other pet owners. I miss Opie every day and my heart gets heavy just thinking of him.
Opie did, in fact, take Yunnan Baiyao--he was seeing an acupuncturist for arthritis who recommended it. He was probably quite advanced by the time the vets discovered his problem, and he deteriorated rapidly once they did, but hopefully the supplement gave him some comfort.
Cara
I also am coming late to this post, but we also had that happen with our dog over 10 years ago. After the initial emergency room visit we were told much the same thing - he probably had a tumor and the build up of blood causes cardiac tamponade. They told us a permanent port of some kind could be inserted in the heart sac to drain the fluid periodically. Our dog was 13 at the time and of course it was expensive, and with risks, and no guarantees of additional time. We chose to just watch him daily and let him enjoy the time he had left as we know our beloved pets are with us for a short time always. I hope time brings you some healing and comfort like it has ours.....
Jeanette
Hi can you please tell me how much paste to use per 500gm meat or veg. It sounds delicious
Brad H
Dear Vaishali,
I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your Opie.
We just lost our beloved Dave, a seven year old Golden Retriever, to liver cancer.
He had a profound impact on our family, especially the Grandkids.
He was a kind, fun, and generous soul....not a mean bone in his body. Loved everyone and was patient with the kids to a fault. We know how hard it can be to lose such a close family member...our pets after all do become family.
I have saved your recipe and plan on making it soon. It sounds delicious ?....can’t wait.
Thank you for your generous time and for sharing such intimate stories of you and your sweet
They do help console us when we too go through such tough times.
Sincere Regards
Brad H.
Vaishali
Hi Brad, Dave sounds like a very special dog. I truly believe it's hardest to deal with a pet's loss, because they give us the unconditional love that no human can. I do hope that you'll take some comfort in the fact that he had a happy life with you.
jill
I'm very sorry to hear about Opie. We had a 14 year old German Shepherd, Jazer, who got bone cancer. He also was a one of a kind dog.. very smart indeed... could open doors, even twist handle ones, Understood everything that was going on around him.. if we were going on a holiday and got the caravan out, he would lay next to it, not leaving it, to make sure he wouldn't be left behind. Once he hopped into our bus, hoping to come with us somewhere and I told him, he had better hide if he wanted to come. He immediately squeezed in between the seats out of sight! No lies! He could track me anywhere and I would delight in winding a trail and hiding to watch him follow it right to me. I thought the cancer would just build around the bone, but it ate through it and one day what was left of the bone snapped and left his leg hanging.. he still tried to walk.. it was very distressing indeed. It was a front leg and his hips were already weak, so we had no choice but to put him down. Heart breaking, but we treat our dogs very well indeed.. they have good lives, so we take comfort in knowing that, because of us, he had a full and wonderful life and that's got to be a good thing to know. There are so many dogs that suffer with bad owners. We have a new dog now. A very lovely Staffy X. He is happy and healthy, because we give him a good and happy home. The changes I have made are to cut out all 'dog food' I now feed only real meat, with a portion of organ meat and real bones... none of those manufactured 'treats'. I think the food industry wrecks our health and also our pet's health. I felt that bad food choices might have contributed to Jazer's cancer and want to make sure I do everything in my power to avoid my new dog, Bud, suffering the same fate. Chin up. Sadly they all have to go one day and when that day comes, take comfort in having given him a happy life. I like making my own food from scratch too, so thanks for the recipe... just omitting the sugar, I'm on a ketogenic lifestyle diet... not sure about the tomato paste?.. I'll look into that a bit more.
Vaishali
Hi Jill, thanks for your message. Opie passed away -- almost three years ago exactly -- but I still think of him every day and miss him terribly. He truly was a one of a kind dog, like your Jazer, and he will forever live in my heart. Your new dog sounds lovely. We have two dogs now, Leo and Lily, both amazing creatures. Good idea to make your own food-- I do that on the weekends and whenever possible. It does give my heart some ease to know they are eating stuff that's actually food as against whatever it is they put in that mystery food we buy off the shelf.
Claude
Looks good. Possible substitutions would be nice.
Tonya
Should i use whole cloves and how many?
Vaishali
Three cloves. Thanks!
d
The instructions indicate cloves but they are absent from the list of ingredients. What quantity is needed?
Vaishali
Three cloves!
Carolina
Vaishali, my best thoughts are sent your way. I have lost beloved animals - and last May, I lost my only child to breast cancer. I can say for sure that while my heart is broken, our love counts and fills me with the knowledge that during her life, she knew she was loved.
Nupur
I am so sorry about Opie, Vaishali. You all are in my thoughts. One of the best books I read recently is Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, a meditation on medical intervention at the end of life. For an elderly pet suffering, I would be in favor of offering palliative care only. But you will know in your heart what is best for your Opie and I wish you the best.
Ruth Eisenbud
At risk of wearing out my presence on this blog, I would like to add one more comment... about a good death...
Trouble, named for her ability to get her way, was my 20 year old cat who developed lymphoma... I watched her grow weaker and smaller for months, never knowing if I would find her alive when I returned home from work... I gave her the best of care... lots of kind words and petting, the softest beds and even baby food, which she seemed to be able to eat. It never occurred to me to have her euthanized or to undertake extreme measures to save her. That turned out to be fortunate. One evening when I returned from work... I could not believe my eyes... she was standing right at the front door waiting for me. I picked her up... she meowed and died in my arms. I allowed her the dignity of picking the time of her death... I will never understand how she summoned the strength to make it to the door. She died on her own terms... after she had a chance to say good-bye.
I cried a lot.... but to this day I am grateful for that one last good-bye.