Is it ultra-processed?
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Is Waitrose Butter Chicken ultra-processed?

Butter chicken Sold in the United Kingdom

Pack of Waitrose Butter Chicken

Yes, it's ultra-processed

  1. 1 Unprocessed
  2. 2 Kitchen staple
  3. 3 Processed
  4. 4 Ultra-processed

Signs of ultra-processing in its ingredients:

  • 31 ingredients
  • 1 additive
  • Nutri-Score B

Less processed butter chicken

Less processed isn't automatically healthier, so compare the labels for what matters to you, such as sugar or salt.

Ingredients

Ultra-processing Processing signs are highlighted

chicken breast 41%, half fat cream, onion, tomato paste, low fat natural yogurt, unsalted butter, rapeseed oil, honey, garlic purée, ginger, cashew nuts, paprika, salt, coriander, coriander, cumin, cornflour, fenugreek leaf, green chilli, cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli, colour (paprika extract), mace, ground ginger, white pepper, clove, bay leaf, nutmeg

Additives: E160c Paprika extract

As written on the pack

Diced chicken breast (41%), half fat cream (milk), onion, tomato paste, low fat natural yogurt (milk), unsalted butter (milk) (4%), rapeseed oil, honey, garlic purée, ginger purée, ground cashew nuts, paprika, salt, chopped coriander, ground coriander, cumin, cornflour, ground fenugreek leaf, green chilli, cardamom, turmeric, cinnamon, chilli powder, colour (paprika extract), mace, ground ginger, white pepper, clove, ground bay leaf, nutmeg

What makes it ultra-processed

Cosmetic additives

Added to change how the food looks, feels or tastes, not to keep it safe. A hallmark of ultra-processed food.

  • E160c Paprika extract Paprika extract is a red-orange colour extracted from paprika peppers.
  • Colour Colours are added to restore colour lost in processing or to make a product look more appealing.
4 ingredients that would only make it processed

Kitchen staples like sugar, salt and oil. On their own they make a food processed, not ultra-processed.

  • Meals Products in the category "Meals" are at least group 3.
  • Butter Butter, the fat churned from cream.
  • Honey Honey, used as a sweetener.
  • Salt Salt, added for taste and preservation.

How the NOVA groups work

Among 10 butter chicken

From least to most processed, this one ranks 6th. 50% of the butter chicken here are ultra-processed.

Ranked by NOVA group, then by the number of ultra-processing signs, additives and ingredients. Our ordering, not part of NOVA.

All 10 butter chicken, least processed first

About this information

  • Data from this product on Open Food Facts (barcode 5000169247150, last edited 27 March 2026), available under the Open Database License. If something is wrong or the recipe has changed, you can correct it there.
  • Photo: Open Food Facts contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0.
  • The NOVA group is an automated estimate from crowdsourced data: a missing or mistyped ingredient can change it.
  • NOVA measures processing, not nutrition. For nutrition, Open Food Facts gives this product a Nutri-Score of B (from A, best, to E).
  • General information, not medical or dietary advice. Check the pack if you have an allergy.