Palak Paneer or Spinach with Homemade Cheese is easily one of the most recognizable and popular Indian dishes. Besides being a staple of Indian restaurants, top Indian chefs such as Sanjeev Kapoor and Tarla Dalal have made it even more popular. Here is our version of this palak paneer recipe. It’s packed with the goodness of spinach and loaded with protein from the paneer, a homemade cheese which doesn’t melt when heated. Try this delicious recipe and you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make!
Scroll to the bottom for video
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients:
Spinach – 1, 16 oz pkt chopped, frozen (about 1/2 kg)
Paneer – 7 oz or 200 g
Oil – 3 tbsp
Onions – 2 med, minced
Ginger – 1″ pc, minced
Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
Water – 1/2 cup
Tomatoes – 2 large or 14 oz can diced (pureed)
Garam Masala – 2 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
Red Chili Powder – to taste
Salt – to taste
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Heavy Whipping Cream – 8 tbsp or to taste
Milk – to taste (optional)
Method:
1. Cook frozen Spinach with 1/2 cup Water in a microwave safe dish for 7-8 minutes stirring in between.
2. Blend cooked Spinach to desired texture (avoid over-blending).
3. Heat 2 tbsp Oil in a medium non-stick pan on high heat.
4. Once Oil is hot, add in the minced Onions, stir, cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
5. Add in the Ginger and Garlic and mix. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.
6. Add in the Tomates, cover and cook till the oil separates from the mixture.
7. Keep stirring frequently as the Masala (Onion, Tomato, Ginger & Garlic mixture) tends to burn very fast.
8. While the Masala is cooking, cube the paneer to desired size…1/2? cubes work well.
9. In a non-stick frying pan, heat the remaining 1 tbsp Oil.
10. Once Oil is hot, add in the paneer cubes and let them cook till they are golden brown on all sides.
11. Remove from the pan into a plate with paper towel to soak the excess oil.
12. In a couple of minutes, pour the Paneer into a bowl of cold water. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
13. Meanwhile, once the Masala is prepared, add in the mashed Spinach.
14. Mix and add the Garam Masala, Cumin Powder, Coriander Powder, Salt, Chili Powder & Turmeric Powder.
15. Mix well and cook for 3-5 minutes.
16. Add in the desired amount of Cream and /or Milk. Mix and cook for another few minutes.
17. Gently squeeze the water out of the Paneer and put the Paneer in the Spinach.
18. Mix gently and serve hot.
19. Enjoy with Naan, Chapati, Paratha or Rice.
Tips:
1. Health tip- some great substitutes for Heavy Whipping Cream are Milk, Soymilk, Lactaid, Half and Half or Evaporated Milk.
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Thank you for sharing this delightful Palak Paneer recipe. The detailed instructions and helpful tips make it easy to follow and cook. We appreciate the effort you’ve put into explaining each step. Can’t wait to try it!
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This Palak Paneer recipe is a true gem! Tried it last night and it turned out incredibly delicious. The step-by-step instructions made it easy to follow, and the flavors were just perfect. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Thank you for this delicious recipe, i have tried to make it many times but always spinach gets discolored but here it looks amazing. I can’t wait to give it one more try in a perfect way.
Hey Hetal and Anuja!
My dad made this curry for dinner one night and my sister, who is a critic when it comes to curries, loved it. We still make it over and over and never get sick of it. Thanks for the AWESOME recipe!
Hi,
How long can I keep cooked palak paneer sauce, if I made excess? Will it last for a week or so in the fridage?
Cheers
I made this recipe tonight. I added rotisserie chicke to it because my husband likes chicken in his. I also used rotel diced tomatoes instead of regular and light whipping cream. What a fantastic recipe! Whenever he orders this at a restaurant I never try it. If those dishes taste anything like your recipe I have been missing out. My husband has requested this be added to our menu rotation. Thanks for sharing.
i just made this today and it was excellent! love your videos–thank ou so much 🙂
Thank you Priti 🙂
Hi – love your website!
I’ve tried watching 2 videos but they’re not working after about a minute – this is one, the other is making paneer. I hope you can fix them!
Thanks.
Thank you for the delicious recipe! It’s better than some restaurants. After many years this is still a popular thread!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I have been looking for a palak paneer recipe for years that is as good as what I can get in restaurants and have been disappointed over and over again. This was exactly what I have been looking for–flavorful and creamy and delicious. I am a bit sensitive to onions and very sensitive to garlic, so I omitted the garlic and halved the onions, and it was still just amazing.
I can’t wait to make this for my friends and family–and am looking forward to trying your other recipes. Thank you so much!
Astrid
Hi Astrid,
Thanks for the compliments and our compliments to you too!
Happy Cooking!
Hello,
I made this tonight for dinner, and it turned out great except for one thing. There is something grainy in the dish. I taste it when I take a bite every now and then — almost like the sound/texture of small rocks or something. I washed the spinach before blending it in the food processor with water. It was fresh spinach, and so I didn’t cook it in the microwave first, I just used it as is. For whatever reason I forgot to wash the tomatoes, but I did remove the cores as much as possible and also removed the price sticckers. For the spices, I roasted them first and then ground them in the mortar and pestle. For the onion, I chopped it using the food processor and called myself cooking it thoroughly. I just wish I knew what was giving the dish that texture. This is the first semi-successful Indian dish I have ever made, but now I’m slightly afraid of eating it because of the texture and of what might or might not be in it. Oh, for the spinach, I did cut off most of the stem at the bottom and then chopped it enough so that I only needed to add water to blend it. I added too much water, but compensated by boiling it down and then adding milk at the end.
Thanks for a wonderful recipe. I have much more confidence in cooking Indian food, now!
Harry
Hi Harry,
Not sure what could have happened. The only thing I can think of from your description is the whole spices that you ground with the mortar and pestle. Maybe they did not grind well? Other than that, it could be a chunk of dirt stuck on the spinach.
I went through your recipe.. Just love eating .. Will definitely try this out. Great One and the biggest thing palak is good for keeping your weight in check..
I went through your recipe.. Just love eating .. Will definitely try this out. Great One
This was fabulous! I made it for my husband after a failed attempt with a different palak paneer recipe about a year ago. He loved this one! We are Indian and both born in Canada, so although my mom did teach me how to cook Indian food, I never really did for many years and since I’ve been married to a man who loves his Indian food, I’ve had to re-learn, and you guys are a HUGE help! I’ve never found any Indian recipe as easy to follow and that taste as good as yours. Keep it up, thanks a tonne!
Hi!
Thts a great recipe…I want to make and freeze this recipe and gathered from ur earlier comments that it’s better to make only the palak part and freeze and add the paneer on the day we want to eat it. But if i use frozen palak in this recipe, can i cook it and again re-freeeze it? Wont it get spoilt?Also for how long can this cooked palak(with spices) be stored safely?Many thanks.
Hi Neha,
You can safely refreeze this dish for about 4 months, provided that you store it in an airtight container.
Hello, Hetal and Anuja..how r u, when i made palak paneer, towards the end..tha palak released water and i had palak and water and kind of spoiled the dish..any cure to the problem..also summer is here, please give more vegetarian sandwich ideas..as always your fan..sunita
Hi Sunita,
We’ve heard of some people adding just a little corn starch mixed with water to help bind the spinach mixture together. We have not tried it though but may work for you.
just tried ths today and it came out perfect!!! u guys r doin an amazing job.. all ur recipes are so amzingly delicious and you guys make it so easy:):) great job!!! thnx a ton..
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
I made palak paneer according to your recipe tonight for dinner and have to say …it was delish! Simply amazing. I have been trying out different people’s recipes of palak paneer just for fun and I think I’m hooked on to your version! Even with very little cream and fresh paneer (did not even pan-roast the paneer), the taste was awesome. We had it with freshly made phulkas and could not stop eating. 🙂 Thanks for your awesome recipes. Have tried many so far.
Divya
Hello Hetal and Anuja, thank you for all your wonderful recipes and instructional videos. Last night I made paneer following your recipe (although I used 1% non-homogenised milk as it is healthier and I had read on other websites this would work). Today I tried to make palak paneer. Sadly, as soon as the paneer cubes touched the pan they started to melt, and I was left with a pan full of globby melted cheese which mostly just stuck to the bottom of the pan. I would be thrilled if you could offer me some insight as to why this happened! I’ve tried searching the internet but all I can find is that paneer does not melt! Thanks! Raechel
Hi Raechel,
Wow! We have never had paneer melt on us before. The only thing I can think of is the milk you used. We always use whole milk for paneer. We have tried it with 2%, but never with 1%. Whole milk works the best.
You’re English is very baaad,,