Best Home style Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is one of the most loved and delectable paneer dishes in many Indian households. It is just an Indian cottage cheese recipe made along with spinach. If made right with the right ingredients, it can be a very tasty and healthy dish without all the extra cream. A delicious way to eat a lot of greens and healthy protein. What more do we want for a perfect meal !!

This Palak Paneer definitely gets a high ranking from kids too, even though it has a lot of greens, as the green gravy is very creamy and yummy and the addition of paneer is like the icing on top for them. I sometimes make it without the paneer too, just the creamy gravy to eat with roti or naan on request by my daughter.

Feel free to use the button at the top of the page to go to the recipe directly or the table of contents below to go to any section of the page you want. The recipe card has all the information that is needed to make the recipe perfectly. However, I try to provide as much useful information in the post for the readers who are looking for it.

What is Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is nothing but an Indian cottage cheese recipe made along with spinach. Palak is Spinach, Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. Since we are cooking paneer in creamy spinach gravy, this is called Palak Paneer.

Saag paneer vs Palak Paneer

If we compare Saag Paneer vs Palak paneer, they are very similar except for a tiny difference. Saag is gravy made out of any kind of mixed green leafy vegetables. So when we say Saag paneer, it means we used a mix of greens to make the gravy. When making Palak Paneer, we just use Spinach(Palak) to make the gravy. They both taste pretty similar depending on what kind of greens are used to make the gravy.

Reasons to love this Palak Paneer recipe

There are many different ways to make Palak paneer. This is the recipe I stuck to after making some trials over the years. Frankly, I can say that this is one of the best Palak paneer curries I have eaten over the years. Adjust spices according to your spice preference.

Trust me and follow the recipe to the dot and you won't regret it.

• Greens and protein-packed for an easy and healthy meal.
• Whole family approved dish.
• Adding few cashews makes the gravy very creamy and yummy without using cream.
• Beautiful natural green color. The amazing green color in the pictures is completely natural and not photo-shopped 😊.
• Not blanching spinach beforehand preserves nutrients and makes sure your body gets all the goodness of the greens.
• Super easy and versatile which means it can be made as an everyday dish or as a special occasion dish.

How to make with step by step images

Let's see how to make the best Indian cottage cheese recipe (Palak Paneer)along with spinach with step-by-step images.

Preparation

• If you are using a store-bought paneer, as a first step, dice the paneer into cubes and soak them in hot water for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can also add a little salt to this water if you want paneer to soak up more flavor. Paneer will be soft and ready to use by the time you finish other preparations and cooking.
• Dice one big onion into small pieces.
• Dice two big tomatoes into small pieces.
• Blend washed spinach, cashews, ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds, milk, and ½ cup of water into a puree and keep aside. Add a green chilli or two while making this puree if you want to increase the spice level.

How to make Palak Paneer

• Heat 1.5 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add one star-anise(optional), ½ teaspoon of shah jeera(black cumin seeds) 2 cloves, hing(asafoetida), and ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder. Fry them for few seconds till you get a nice aroma.
• Next, add diced onions and a little salt to help the onions cook faster. Saute the onions on medium-high heat until they turn golden brown.
• Then reduce the heat to medium and add 2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste, ½ teaspoon of coriander powder, and ½ teaspoon of cumin powder and mix well. Saute the spices for a minute.
• Next, add diced tomatoes and a little salt and cook covered until the tomatoes are completely cooked and oil is separating to the sides. Don't forget to stir in between for every couple of minutes to avoid burning.

• Then add the soaked paneer pieces to the onion-tomato mixture and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. This will help the paneer pieces to soak up the flavor and get even softer. Adding the paneer pieces to the moist onion and tomato masala instead of frying them directly in a pan makes sure they stay softer and flavorful.
• Now add the blended spinach puree, salt to taste, ½ teaspoon of red chilli powder, and ½ teaspoon of garam masala powder and mix well.
• Cook uncovered for 5 minutes while stirring in between. Check the taste and adjust the seasonings. Do not cook for more than 5 minutes after adding spinach puree to preserve the nutrients and beautiful green color. Cooking uncovered is important to maintain the natural green color of spinach.
• Switch off the heat and serve hot with roti, naan, chapati, paratha, or rice.
• If not serving immediately, Please cover the dish with a tight lid to preserve the beautiful green color. If you don't cover with a tight lid, then the Palak paneer will slightly darken but the taste will still be the same and awesome.

Pro tips for a creamy Palak paneer without cream

• Try to use spinach leaves that are crisp and dark green and avoid yellow, limp, or wilted leaves. Do not use stems that will give a bitter taste to the gravy especially thick, coarse stems.
• Make sure to cook the onion and tomato mixture until the oil separates out as this makes all the difference to the flavor.
• Adding the milk to spinach puree and cooking UNCOVERED for no more than 5 mins after adding spinach puree are the secrets for getting that beautiful green color to this Palak Paneer. Cooking for only 5 mins will also help in preserving the nutrients.
• If not serving immediately, Please cover the dish with a tight lid to preserve the beautiful green color. If you don't cover with a tight lid, then the Palak paneer will slightly darken but the taste will still be the same and awesome.
• This super creamy palak paneer recipe is mild to medium on spice levels if you skip green chillies. So please increase the spice levels if you want more spice by adding green chillies to the spinach before making a puree and by adding more coriander powder, cumin powder, and red chilli powder if required.

Frequently asked Questions

Serving Ideas

Here are some of the serving ideas for the Palak Paneer recipe.

• Serve it with any kind of flatbread like roti, paratha, chapati, naan, or jeera rice.
• Use it as a stuffing for Frankie rolls or any kind of rolls.
• Use it as a stuffing for lettuce rolls for a low-carb meal idea.
• If you are watching calories, eat it just like that along with your favorite salads and yogurt on the side. Keeps you full with the high protein content in paneer.

What is your favorite way of eating Palak paneer? Comment below to let us know and you can also rate the recipe using the star rating if you made this recipe.

Storing and Reheating

It stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 3 days in an air-tight container. Reheat in a covered dish in the microwave or reheat on the stovetop.

Recipe

Best Homestyle Palak Paneer

Yamini

Paneer (Indian Cottage cheese) cooked in a creamy and delicious green sauce made from Spinach to make this best Palak Paneer recipe ever. Qucik, Easy, delicious, and last but not least super healthy.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1.5 tablespoon oil any neutral taste oil will work like canola, avocado etc
• Pinch of asafoetida also called hing, optional
• 1 big onion chopped into small pieces around 2 cups chopped
• 2 big tomatoes chopped into small pieces
• 1 lb Paneer I used Apple farms Paneer block
• Boiling water in a pot enough to soak Paneer pieces

For Spinach puree

• 3 big handfuls of spinach
• 10 to 15 whole cashews
• ¼ cup milk I used 2%fat milk, you can even use 1% or no-fat milk
• ½ cup water
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 or 2 green chillies completely optional, skip for mild spice level

Ground spices

• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
• Salt to taste

Whole spices

• 1 Star anise
• ½ teaspoon Shah jeera black cumin seeds
• 2 cloves
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

Instructions

 

Preparation

• If you are using store-bought paneer, as a first step, dice the paneer into cubes and soak them in hot water for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can also add a little salt to this water if you want paneer to soak up more flavor. Paneer will be soft and ready to use by the time you finish other preparations and cooking.
• Dice one big onion into small pieces.
• Dice two big tomatoes into small pieces.
• Blend washed spinach, cashews, ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds, milk, and ½ cup of water into a puree and keep aside.

How to make Palak Paneer

• Heat 1.5 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add one star-anise(optional), ½ teaspoon of shah jeera(black cumin seeds) 2 cloves, hing(asafoetida), and ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder. Fry them for few seconds till you get a nice aroma.
• Next, add diced onions and a little salt to help the onions cook faster. Saute the onions on medium-high heat until they turn golden brown.
• Then reduce the heat to medium and add 1.5 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste, ¼ teaspoon of coriander powder, and ¼ teaspoon of cumin powder and mix well. Saute the spices for a minute.
• Next, add diced tomatoes and a little salt and cook covered until the tomatoes are completely cooked and oil is separating to the sides. Don't forget to stir in between for every couple of minutes to avoid burning.
• Then add the soaked paneer pieces to the onion-tomato mixture and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. This will help the paneer pieces to soak up the flavor and get moister.
• Now add the blended spinach puree, salt to taste, ¼ teaspoon of red chilli powder, and ¼ teaspoon of garam masala powder and mix well.
• Cook uncovered for 5 minutes while stirring in between. Check the taste and adjust the seasonings. Do not cook for more than 5 minutes after adding spinach puree to preserve the nutrients and beautiful green color.
• Switch off the heat and serve hot with roti, naan, chapati, paratha, or rice.
• Note: If not serving immediately, Please cover the dish with a tight lid to preserve the beautiful green color. If you don't cover with a tight lid, then the Palak paneer will slightly darken but the taste will still be the same and awesome.

Notes

• This super creamy palak paneer is mild to medium on spice levels if you skip green chillies. So please increase the spice levels if you prefer, by adding more coriander powder, cumin powder, and red chilli powder.
• Adding the milk to spinach puree and cooking UNCOVERED for no more than 5 mins after adding spinach puree are the secrets for getting that beautiful green color to this Palak Paneer.
• Cashews are added for a creamy texture. If you want to avoid cashews, then you can either skip them or replace them with a little half and half or cream for a creamy texture.

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