Instant Pot Tikka Masala – Vegan Tikka Masala Sauce Recipe. Easy Tikka masala sauce, made in a Pressure Cooker. Saucepan option. Add veggies, tofu, chickpeas, vegan chickin subs. Freezer Friendly. Glutenfree Soyfree Nutfree Jump to Recipe
This Tikka Masala Sauce is ridiculously delicious, super easy and freezer friendly. Cook the sauce in a pressure cooker. Then use or freeze for later!
If you are new to the Indian Tikka Masala Sauce, it is a tomato based, tangy spicy flavorful sauce often found in Indian restaurants, served with veggies, paneer, meats. Many of the restaurant sauces have similar base or flavor components with variations here and there. They vary slightly in flavor and texture (creamy, chunky etc). Make this fabulous sauce, adjust after pressure cooking to your preference and use with veggies, beans, tofu, vegan chikin/meat subs or however! Freeze in serving portions, so you can use the sauce to whip up a meal in 10 mins!
See Saucepan and oilfree options in the Recipe notes. Also see Tips section below.
With Cauliflower above for Cauliflower Tikka Masala. Add chickpeas for chickpea tikka masala, some crisped tofu, soycurls for chickin tikka masala! How do you tikka masala?
Like with all my Indian Recipes, I try to keep the flavors as authentic as possible while making it simpler. You can change up other things based on availability and preference (non dairy yogurt can easily be subbed with non dairy cream or milk). It doesn’t affect the amazing flavor, the sauce is flavorful enough and some changes here and there dont affect the deliciousness. It might affect the traditional flavor profile, which may or may not be detectable :).
More Instant Pot Recipes
- IP Red Lentil Chili. GF
- Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chickin(soycurls). GF – Creamy, Delicious
- Japanese Veggie Curry. GF
- Potato Chickpea Spinach Soup. GF
- Instant Pot Lasagna Soup with Red lentils. – So Easy
- More Instant Pot Recipes!
Step by Step Photos
Uncooked Sauce below
Sauce just opened after cooking
Tips for a fabulous Instant Pot Tikka Masala Sauce
- As with all Indian food or spiced up food, the flavors tend to get stronger as the sauce or dish sits for a while. I generally adjust the spices later when ready to serve rather than right after cooking.
- Indian sauces/base are always overcooked for the best flavor. The onions caramelized, tomatoes well roasted. Pressure cooking helps with the roasting if you cook it long enough. If the sauce flavor feels less complex, just pressure cook the sauce, without the added veggies/beans,for longer.
- Since I eat Indian food at home often, I tend to use much less garam masala and let the other flavors and components shine. If you don’t cook it often or want more flavor playoff, use more garam masala and more of the other spices and flavors in general. This also depends on the flavor payoff of the spices. Old spices and garam masala will have significantly less flavor, so just add more as needed. Mine is pretty potent and a 1/4 tsp is usually enough for me. 🙂
- The right garam masala also is essential for some of these spice heavy restaurant style sauces. Some brands have an imbalance of flavors which make the dishes one dimensional. Get garam masala from Indian stores or make your own using my recipe from Indian kitchen or just omit and add some ground cumin, coriander.
- Salt, spices and heat to your preference will make the dish. Esp the right amount of salt, which immediately helps the flavors and spices bloom on your taste palette. The sauce also thickens on cooling, or you can thicken by simmering for a few mins for more concentrated flavor.
- For Burn errors: Make sure to stir the tomato really well to pick up scorched or browned onion and spices. Those scorched bits on stove top would dislodge with the bubbling and lower heat, but in a pressure cooker, they are under pressure and at higher heat, so they will continue to burn. Mix really well before closing the lid.
Recipe Card
Instant Pot Tikka Masala - Vegan Tikka Masala Sauce Recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 small onion chopped (I usually just process the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli to chop in a processor or a chopper)
- 6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1 inch of ginger finely chopped
- 1 hot green chili such as serrano or bird's eye
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika (combination of sweet and smoked)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/3 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 to 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves ,plus more for garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
- 28 oz diced tomatoes(including juices) or 15 oz diced + 2 ripe tomato chopped
- 1/2 cup non dairy yogurt , plain unsweetened, plain lightly sweetened also works
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup non dairy cream such as cashew, soy or coconut (optional)
- smoked paprika or cayenne for garnish
Instructions
- Press saute on Instant Pot. When hot, add the oil then add finely chopped onion, ginger, garlic, and chili. Add good pinch of salt, mix well and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir occasionally
- Add the spices and mix well. Add bell pepper and mix well. Add tomatoes and non dairy yogurt and salt and mix well. (stir well for a few seconds to pick up the scorched onion bits, else they tend to scorch more and cause burn errors in some sensitive instant pots)
- Cancel saute. Close the lid. Pressure cook for 11-12 mins (manual high pressure)
- Let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid. mix, taste and adjust salt, flavor, heat. Add some sugar or maple syrup if needed. (I add 1/2 tsp if using plain unsweetened yogurt). Add some more fenugreek leaves or cilantro, some fresh smoked paprika or cayenne and garam masala for garnish.
- At this point you can freeze the tikka masala sauce for upto 2 months, and refrigerate for upto 4 days. Add some non dairy dream for creamier and use or store(refrigerated or freeze). You can also blend half of the sauce for smoother.
To use the sauce with veggies, chickpeas, tofu etc:
- Add the 4 cups vegetables, 3 cups chickpeas or 21 oz baked tofu or seitan/vegan chiken subs, and some non dairy cream like cashew/soy cream to the cooked sauce(after pressure cooking), and simmer for 10 minutes. Soycurls: Add 2 to 2.5 cups soy curls and 1/2 cup water to the sauce, Pressure cook for 6 mins and natural release. You can also add the soy curls earlier with the uncooked sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Shannon
This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. I make a big big batch and freeze leftover sauce. When we get low in the freezer it’s an emergency! My 5yo regularly requests this for dinner and has for years!
Absolutely fantastic and dead simple.
Vegan Richa Support
love it when the kiddos enjoy! thank you for sharing!
Tom
One of the best curries I’ve ever tried!
Vegan Richa Support
yay! thank you!
Pierre
Hi Richa,
I’ve made many indian dishes in the past but this has to be the simpliest and tastiest one. It really tasted fantastic. I was really suprised. I used tofu and peas and I just can’t wait to make it all again with soy curls. I didn’t get the Burn message on the Instant pot. Thank you so much.
Vegan Richa Support
Very glad to hear, Pierre!
Jackfruit Jill
Hey Richa! I only have ground/powdered fenugreek. Will this work? How much do I use?
Vegan Richa Support
Yes, you can use 1/4 tsp of the powdered fenugreek as a replacement.
Mark Bixby
I’m a big fan of your recipes and I attempted to make this one today, but my Instant Pot Pro Plus 6qt never automatically pressure-sealed, and basically boiled with the lid closed instead of pressure cooked. I was able to salvage an edible lunch, but I want to try again in the future to cook this properly.
This is my first IP recipe that was tomato-centric but did not include adding water in the instructions. So, I added the two full 14oz cans of diced tomatoes and liquid without additional water.
After my failed attempt, I did run the IP “initial test” of just pressure cooking water, and that sealed and pressure cooked correctly, so my IP isn’t malfunctioning.
In reading ALL of the comments on this recipe, I see that water sometimes needs to be added to tomato-centric recipes for the IP to work properly. How much water do you recommend adding to avoid IP trouble?
Vegan Richa Support
After cancelling the saute you might want to let the IP sit for a few minutes to cool. Just a splash of cold water (up to 1/4 cup) will help the cooling process. You can also use this to scrape anything stuck on the sides and bottom before pressure cooking.
Mark Bixby
I revisited this recipe today, and the 1/4 cup of added water did the trick to allow my Instant Pot to automatically pressure seal. Thanks!
Vegan Richa Support
Great!
Nikki
Flavor of this recipe is great, but the Instant Pot kept going into “food burn” mode even though I followed the recipe exactly, so I finally had to transfer it to a sauce pan and cook that way. End result was still yummy, but just wanted to warn Instant Pot users of the potential “food burn” issue.
Richa
It’s the instant pot. Some models or pieces are just over sensitive or heat unevenly. I have 3 and one of them has a tendency to scorch on one side and if using tomato based sauces it can show burn error even though nothing is really sticking. Stir well, add a bit more water(cold water) to reduce the temp of the pot a bit, then pressure cook. Sometimes a different inner pot also solves the problem. I have 2 inner pots of the same size and one of them is less prone to scorching
Gwen Mc
This looks delicious. Is there also a simple Tikka Masala recipe that people without Instant Pots or Pressure Cookers, can make?
Richa
Yes see saucepan instructions in recipe notes. All instant pot recipes have saucepan/stove top instructions in notes
Nav
So I’ve made this twice now and just absolutely incredible flavour! Once my sauce was made I took extra firm tofu and cauliflower florets and I coated them in a couple tbsps of vegan korma paste we get here in the UK, some olive oil and then I air fried them and added to the sauce. I’ve also done the same with butternut squash chunks and added a tin of chickpeas once the tikka masala was ready. Thanks for another superb recipe Richa!
Vegan Richa Support
love the air fryer method ❤️
arj
Question because I’m new to soy curls: do you need to reconstitute them first like it calls for in other recipes, or just toss in dry to the IP with the sauce? Thank you.
Richa
No they r dry . If it needs rehydrating, recipe will say to soak in x amount of water or broth
Kavita
Wowzers! I had been looking for something different to eat- a change from the day to day menu. My husband wanted something spicy and saucy – this totally hit the spot. I added cauliflower (cauliflower tikka masala recipe) and cooked it right into the sauce (did not bake it) and added chickpeas as well to get some extra punch. Omitted the cashew cream and it was still super YUMMY! Thank you for this great recipe!
Vegan Richa Support
wowzers. haha I haven’t heard that in a while
Abby
Hi! Can I use a ginger garlic paste? If so, how much?
Richa
2 tbsp
Jennie John
The ingredients are very tasteful and recipe looks delicious. I will definitely try this recipe. I will be trying this for one our family dinners. Thanks for your post.
Vegan Richa Support
I can’t wait to hear what you think
linnie
This recipe is beyond delicious!!!!!! I cooked it with the soy curls as suggested and added the leftover root vegetables from the vegan holiday roast. It turned out wonderful! Got loads of compliments at a friendsgiving party. Thanks for the great recipe!!!
linnie
Vegan Richa Support
friendsgiving – I like that. =) 💕
Suhaani Goel
MADE THIS AND IT CAME OUT SUPERRR YUMMMYYYY…the only thing i did different was mixing the tomato thing in a mixer so the gravy was smooth
Andrea
Fabulous! Easy to make, freezes well and SO delish!
Vegan Richa Support
thank you! Do leave a rating too!
Joedie
This is one of my all time favorites now! Delicious
Vegan Richa Support
yay!
Louis R Alexander
Love this Masala Sauce with Spicy Baked Tofu.
Vegan Richa Support
thanks for popping in ♡
Meggie Wolfe
Hit my craving for the chicken vibe I wanted. Love using soy curls! Ate this with some mustard greens from the garden 🙂 Thanks Richa
Mireille
I made the Tikka Masala and served it with Cauliflower tonight. It turned out even better than I had hoped. It has the perfect blend of spices that add a warm depth of flavour.
Vegan Richa Support
sounds great! thanks for popping in ♡
Vany
How do I keep the yogurt from curdling?
Vegan Richa Support
bring it up to temp a little by removing from fridge or adding a little sauce to it stir, then add all into the remainging sauce
Conner
Is it better to cook the soy curls with the sauce or after? And when you say 5-6 minutes for them, am I pressuring cooking again with the sauce after the 12 minutes for the sauce itself
Vegan Richa Support
either way works , add them them earlier with the sauce in step 2 ingredients and then 12 minutes – presto – magic
Lisa
I am dying to make this, but don’t have fenugreek leaves or seeds. I do, however, have curry powder. Would that be an acceptable substitute?
Richa
Just omit them. Curry powder usually depends on brands and often they are not Indian so they mess up the flavor profile
Kaj
Made this using tempeh and mattar. Turned out amazing
Virginia
This looks delicious!! I could almost smell it from the video – yum!
I don’t have fenugreek leaves on hand, will seeds work or is there any other substitute?
Richa
Yes use seeds. Powder them and add 1/4 tsp
Amy
To clarify, you would powder some seeds first, and then use 1/4 tsp of the powder? If yes, then approx. what quantity of seeds would you powder? Thank you.
Richa
The powder amount is almost same as seed amount, so measure at any point
Anne
I just acquired an instant pot and I’m honestly trying to figure out why people love them. Reading through this recipe I cannot see how this is any less work than using your delicious stove top tikka masala recipe from your book.
This is an honest question: Why have this device that takes up all this counter space? What is the advantage here? I’m clearly not getting something and I really really want to. So far literally the only thing that anyone has said that makes sense is that they cook dried beans quickly.
(5 stars for the book recipe since I haven’t tried this one yet)
Vegan Richa Support
you can even bake bread in them!! I”m in the process of writing a new IP Cookbook! Thank you for your 5 star rating =) 🌟 💫
Richa
I think some of the draws for the instant pot are,1. Easier and faster to cook beans and other long cooking ingredients. 2. Not having to stand around a hot kitchen as much. 3. Be able to make all kinds of dishes when you don’t have access to a kitchen like for example when you’re on vacation or in the winter and you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.
I have used pressure cookers all my life because they are quite an inherent part of Indian cooking because of the number of beans legumes used in the cuisine. So I already own stove top pressure cookers. The draw for me is the abilth to schedule the cooking using a delayed timer, using the yogurt function, and since it’s an electric appliance it is portable to take on vacation. Eventually you have to figure out your cooking needs And if it fits in those to make some things easier. For example I use my stove top pressure cookers still more number of times than I use the instant pot because they take a shorter amount of time to come to pressure and release the pressure. But I do use them frequently so I do need some format of pressure cooker in my kitchen
Madi
I didn’t get it either until I had little kids, and while Instant Pots don’t really save time necessarily, they do really cut down on the time I have to be actively observing/working with a dish I can’t step away from (I have to step away while making dinner a LOT nowadays), and it reduces the risk of things like the stove or oven being on or having a hot pan for a kid to grab.
Vegan Richa Support
IP. are a life saver!! Do leave a rating too!
Christine
Absolutely delicious, I don’t have to get unhealthy Indian takeout anymore, this is so simple to make and very yummy!
Molly
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe! I have struggled in the past with tikka masala recipes because the garam masala just didn’t taste right. I followed your recommendations for the cumin and coriander as well as the homemade cashew cream (I did raw cashew, water, oil, lemon, salt). Thank you for a tikka masala at home that I really do love!
Vegan Richa Support
perfect – thank you for your amazing rating
miranda
looks amazing . definitley going to make this
Vegan Richa Support
I’m excited for you – let me know how you like it
Shawna Heldt
This turned out amazing! No burn notice either even though it is a tomato based sauce. This will definitely be a staple to have in the freezer at all times! Thank you so much for all of your wonderful recipes 🙂
Vegan Richa Support
i’m so glad that you’ll always have it on hand in the freezer – amazing
Laura
Delicious! I didn’t have yogurt for the sauce, so I added more cashews (almost a cup total) to the sauce. I sautéed the onions etc separately on the stove since my Instant Pot doesn’t cook evenly on saute function. Added most of a can of chickpeas. Really good!
Vegan Richa Support
Your addition sounds extra creamy and delicious! Thanks for stopping by!
Tanya
Great recipe – I honestly didn’t think it would work due to the lack of much liquid in the sauce but I trust you so decided to go ahead and… it worked :-)!
Vegan Richa Support
Fabulous !
Laurie
Can I use fenugreek seeds instead of leaves? If yes, how much do I substitute?
Vegan Richa Support
you can use the seeds, powder them and use only a little more than 1/8 tsp as they have a much stronger bitter flavor.