If you have ever thought that making Indian Palak Paneer (or Spinach with Paneer) was complicated, here's the recipe that will convince you otherwise. Delicious, nutritious, full-flavored, and super easy to make!
What Is Paneer?
Paneer is a fresh cheese common in Indian cuisine. It is a non-melting cheese made by curdling milk with an acid, like lemon juice. You can even make homemade paneer.
What Is The Difference Between Saag Paneer and Palak Paneer?
Saag. It's not some exotic, hard to find ingredient. Believe it or not, saag simply means a mixture of spinach and collard greens.
However, for this saag recipe, I used only spinach. This makes it more of a a Palak Paneer recipe instead of a Saag Paneer recipe.
Why This Palak Paneer Recipe Is So Good
- Pour and Cook- dump everything in and cook. Finish by pureeing with an immersion blender.
- Low Carb- Only 8 net carbs per serving.
- Vegetarian- a delicious meatless option.
- Fast- Ready start to finish in 20 minutes.
I have instructions for how to make this in the Instant Pot as well as a slow cooker, so feel free to make it whichever way you prefer.
How To Make Palak Paneer
Pressure Cooker
- Set pot to sauté and when hot, put in the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, put in the garlic and ginger and chili, and sauté for a bit.
- Dump all ingredients except paneer together and set to high pressure for 4 mins.
- When done, use an immersion blender and mush everything up into either a very smooth puree, or leave some bits un-chopped. You'll probably have to tilt the pot a little to get your blender to work.
- Gently mix in the paneer and serve
Slow Cooker
- Cook on high for 3 hours. Push the spinach down once so all gets moist.
- When done, use an immersion blender and mush everything up into either a very smooth puree, or leave some bits un-chopped
- Gently mix in the paneer and serve
Can You Freeze Palak Paneer?
Yes, this recipe actually freezes quite well. Just make sure that you're freezing it in small batches as opposed to one big container. That way it will reheat faster the next time you find yourself wanting some.
Tips And Tricks For Making This Palak Paneer Recipe
- Now in this recipe, you can either buy ready-made paneer at the Indian grocery store, or better still, you can make your own paneer at home by following my very simple, fail-proof homemade paneer recipe.
- You can use either fresh or frozen spinach for this. If you're using frozen, just break up the blocks of spinach a little.
- You can also mix up greens for this such as adding swiss chard, collard greens, or mustard greens. This would make it a saag paneer since Palak means spinach. It's actually very tasty that way.
- There's really only one additional step that you might consider adding, which is to sauté the ginger and garlic and chili in oil, to get the oil richly flavored.
Enjoy Palak Paneer And Looking For More Recipes?
- Make some restaurant-quality Indian peas and paneer or Matar Paneer in your Instant Pot or pressure cooker.
- Make this low carb quick Paneer Tikka with just a few spices, and pan-fry in ghee for a boost of fat to make this keto-friendly.
- This fantastic and supremely easy Instant Pot Vegetarian Paneer Biryani is an easy, authentic, kid-friendly, vegetarian dinner that is done in under 30 minutes.
- You'll love how easy this Chicken Saag is to make.
So next time you get the craving for some Palak Paneer or Saag Paneer, save yourself the unnecessary extra time and effort and follow this delicious recipe! Make sure to let me know if you enjoyed this recipe in the comments!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Oil
- 5 cloves (5 cloves) Garlic, chopped
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Ginger, chopped
- 1/2 (0.5 ) Jalapeño Peppers, chopped
- 1 (1 ) Onion, chopped
- 1 pounds (453.59 g) fresh spinach
- 2 (2 ) Tomatoes, chopped
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Ground Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper, (adjust as needed)
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) Water
- 1.5 cup (337.5 g) paneer
Instructions
Pressure Cooker
- Set pot to sauté and when hot, put in the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, put in the garlic and ginger and chili, and sauté for a bit.
- Dump all ingredients except paneer together and set to high pressure for 4 mins.
- When done, use as immersion blender and mush everything up into either a very smooth puree, or leave some bits un-chopped. You'll probably have to tilt the pot a little to get your blender to work.
- Gently mix in the paneer and serve
Slow Cooker
- Cook on high for 3 hours. Push the spinach down once so all gets moist.
- When done, use as immersion blender and mush everything up into either a very smooth puree, or leave some bits un-chopped
- Gently mix in the paneer and serve
- Now in this recipe, you can either buy ready-made paneer at the Indian grocery store, or better still, you can make your own paneer at home by following my very simple, fail-proof homemade paneer recipe.
- You can use either fresh or frozen spinach for this. If you're using frozen, just break up the blocks of spinach a little.
- You can also mix up greens for this such as adding swiss chard, collard greens, or mustard greens. This would make it more of a saag paneer since Palak means spinach. It's actually very tasty that way.
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Nutrition
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Jason
Of the three Saag recipes here this looked the most like the version I prefer at restaurants, so I tried making a lamb version today.
I used 10oz of frozen spinach because that's what we had.
I used a can of diced tomatoes, similarly.
I did not add water.
I added boneless butterflied lamb in large chunks and cooked for 10 minutes instead of 4.
I removed the lamb with tongs before immersion blending, and cut it into bite-sized pieces before adding it back in.
It came out great!
Emily
I make this recipe often and I love it. I recently purchased an air fryer and used fried tofu instead of paneer. The recipe is excellent either way.
Bridget
I have made this recipe multiple times now, and I'm still amazed at how good it easy, especially for being so easy. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Heather
So, I know my comment is going to be a little long and a little off-topic, but this recipe inspired this, so I hope it's okay. 🙂
I got an Instant Pot several years ago but was kind of afraid of it. I did hard-boiled eggs and rice, which turned out okay, and then I tried spaghetti and meatballs and it failed and I decided the IP was just going to be an expensive rice cooker.
And then quarantine hit us, and my husband sort of wistfully mentioned how he missed Pakistani food (he worked in Lahore for a year). I decided to try your Butter Chicken recipe that everyone raves about, and we were just stunned at how good it was. I happened to have your IP Indian cookbook because I'd bought it on one of those days Amazon was selling it for $1.99. So I tried the Vindaloo, the Punjabi Chicken Curry, the Punjabi Lobia...each dish was amazing, and we kept not being able to decide which was best. I worked my way through most of the IP Indian Cookbook, and then I bought a bunch of your other books and I'm working my way through them now, too. 🙂
Eventually I even used the IP to make dishes that are not by you, but I keep coming back to your dishes. One of the wonderful things about the Indian dishes is that all the ingredients can be kept in the freezer or the cabinet - it's perfect for quarantine! Tomatoes, spices, UHT cream and rice in the cabinet; fresh ginger, garlic and onion; chicken thighs in the freezer; a few types of dried beans.
So, your books have totally transformed the way I cook. I've always enjoyed cooking, but then quarantine kind of sucked some of the joy out of it, and I had to plan very carefully since we were reducing our shopping trips, so I felt like I couldn't be "spontaneous." Now, with your IP recipes, it's fun again, there's not much clean-up, we have everything on hand so I have several dishes I can choose from depending on my mood, and we don't have to worry that we can't order pizza during lockdown, because dinner is never more than thirty minutes away.
All of which is to say - I made the Palak Paneer tonight and I think it's actually my new favorite. :). My husband liked it so much he actually couldn't speak for a few minutes. But I may have a new favorite when I try your lobster bisque next week (it's going to be our anniversary dinner!).
Jane Ormrod
OH my, this was so easy and so good. Unlike all of the Saag Panners that I buy for take-out, this one actually smelled like fresh spinach!
I think that I should run to the store and buy another block of paneer, though, because the 340 g. recommended in this recipe seems a bit skimpy.
Otherwise, this is sooooo perfect! AND so easy.