How To Make Air Fryer Chilli Paneer (Easy And Delicious)

I just love the crispy paneer and that bold and luscious sauce with the heat that packs a punch. I always used to view chilli paneer as a dish for a special occasion, and I’ve only made it myself a handful of times. As I mention in my free motivational guide to explore your potential in the kitchen, Making Cooking Fun!, going out to eat can inspire you to try new creations! I always love my chilli paneer, and having had it so often at restaurants inspired me to try an easier and healthier version with the air fryer. As a result, now that I’ve tried this air fryer version, it can now be part of a regular dinner rotation thanks to the time and preparation saved!

Using your air fryer will not only cut down on the cooking time but it will also keep the paneer nice and soft on the inside with a perfect crispiness on the outside. You’ll love this recipe because you can make this iconic restaurant favourite dish at home without the messiness and hassle of deep frying or even shallow frying, plus it’s much more nutritious for you! This post will show you all the steps to recreating this healthier version of this popular appetizer, from the batter to air frying and making the sauce. If you’re going to make this for guests for a party or just want to make dinner exciting, then this is for you! If Indo-Chinese cuisine is new to you, then this recipe is perfect to make as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Also make sure to share your crispy creations, favorite tweaks, or any questions in the comments below! Don’t forget to bookmark this recipe for your next craving and spread the flavor by sharing it with friends and family.

Be sure to watch the video to follow along with the step by step instructions and to grasp all the possible mistakes you could be making so you’re guaranteed success! If you’re not already, it would mean a lot to me if you could please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and don’t forget to hit the bell button to be notified when all my latest video recipes go live! Let’s get air frying!

Why You’ll Love This Air Fried Chilli Paneer Recipe!

• Easy to follow: We’ve got three components for this dish: the batter, the sauce, and cooking the paneer. By removing the frying element out of the equation from the traditional recipe, this becomes super easy since you can focus on the sauce as the paneer is air frying, whereas monitoring the paneer frying while making the sauce can be a bit tricky in the traditional recipe.
• Fast cook time: This dish comes together super fast once the prep work for the batter is done! You can have this any time you’re hungry and craving a restaurant favourite at home!
• Healthier alternative: See below on how you can incorporate this typically indulgent dish as part of your regular rotation! Just because it’s delicious doesn’t mean it isn’t good for you - quite the opposite, actually! We’re saving on plenty of refined oils by not deep frying, and we’re getting in protein and calcium from the paneer. Bonus points if you are making your own paneer since you know that will be all-natural and more likely to have a higher protein content than the store-bought ones (if you’re not in India).

Dietary Considerations for Air Fryer Chilli Paneer

This chilli paneer in the air fryer recipe is…

• Vegetarian
• Gluten-free, if using a gluten-free soy sauce or substituting with tamari or coconut aminos.
• High in protein: Paneer is an excellent source of vegetarian protein.
• High in calcium: Paneer is rich in calcium for strong bones and teeth.
• Lower in carbs than the traditional chilli paneer version since we don’t require as much breading as for deep frying.
• Packed with vitamins: You’ll get lots of antioxidants and vitamins from the veggies present in this chilli paneer.
• Significantly less oil is required than for deep frying.

Tools Needed to Make Air Fryer Chilli Paneer

• Cutting board
• Salt crock
• Air fryer
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Wok
• Chef’s knife
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Garlic press
• Wooden spoon
• Gloves
• Oil dispenser
• Ramekin

Ingredients for Air Fryer Chilli Paneer

Scroll to the bottom of this post or press the “Jump to Recipe” button for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD, which has all ingredients and their quantities for you to save for later. The recipe card will also allow you to scale the recipe based on how many portions you’re looking to make. By default, these quantities will serve two for an appetizer.

For the Paneer

• Paneer: I always take the time to make my homemade paneer because it’s just so much softer and tastes incredible! You can certainly use store-bought paneer if you want, but if you’re not in India where you get freshly made paneer, perhaps homemade paneer is your best choice!
• Corn starch: To coat around the paneer and get it nice and crispy.
• Rice flour: Rice flour will give you a light and thin coating around the paneer, whereas all-purpose flour can be a little denser and gummy.
• Egg white: Helps achieve a light and flaky crust on the batter.
• Soy sauce: Umami flavor to the paneer adding the Indo-Chinese flair.
• Oil: A bit for the batter and more for cooking when we add the paneer to the air fryer..
• Red chilli powder: Adds a bright red color to the paneer.
• Water: Add a small splash to thin out your batter, if needed.

For the Sauce

• Soy sauce: Savoury umami flavours to play with the sweet and spicy components.
• Ketchup: Helps add tanginess and sweetness.
• Sriracha: Or any hot sauce or red chilli sauce.
• Rice vinegar: You can use any vinegar of your choice.
• Sugar: To balance out the heat of the sauce.
• Red chilli powder
• Water: Mixed with corn starch to make a corn starch slurry to help thicken the sauce.
• Corn starch: The key to getting that thick gravy.

For the Chilli Paneer (gravy)

• Vegetable oil: To cook the veggies.
• Vegetables: Onions and peppers (or capsicums), that have been quartered. I’m using red onions along with red peppers and a jalapeño pepper.
• Garlic: Freshly minced garlic cloves.
• Green onions: Also referred as spring onions or scallions. You’ll want the green and white parts, sliced.
• Dried red chilies: Use your favourite style of dried red chillies, for smokiness and heat.
• Green chilli: I use Thai green chilies since I can’t get the Indian variety where I live.

How to Make Air Fryer Chilli Paneer

For the Paneer

Add the cornstarch, rice flour, egg white, soy sauce, oil, and red chilli powder to a bowl. Add just enough water to create a thick, smooth batter.

Add the paneer cubes and mix until the paneer is evenly coated. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.

Preheat the air fryer to 390°F. Lightly oil the basket and arrange the paneer in a single layer. Spray or brush the paneer with oil and air fry for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through and spraying again with oil halfway for even browning. Cook until crispy and lightly golden around the edges.

For the Sauce

Combine the soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha, rice vinegar, sugar, red chilli powder, and water in a bowl and mix well.

In a separate small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water for the slurry until smooth.

For the Chilli Paneer (gravy)

Heat vegetable oil in a wok or large pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, peppers and white parts of a green onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly charred but still crisp. Add the garlic, dried red chillies, green chilli, and red chilli powder and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.

Pour in the prepared sauce and bring to a simmer for 1-2 minutes. Stir the slurry again and pour it into the pan. Cook until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy.

Add the crispy air-fried paneer and toss well to coat in the sauce.

Finish with the sliced green onion greens and serve immediately.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

A batter that’s too thin: If your batter is too thin, then you won’t have enough protective coating around the paneer. This can result in the paneer burning since there’s not that extra layer to keep the paneer soft inside as the hot air circulates in the air fryer.

Not preheating the air fryer: Preheating the air fryer is key because this allows the air fryer to warm up so that as soon as you add the food in the basket, the cooking process happens immediately. By adding the food in a cold air fryer, this can result in inconsistent cooking times and having the paneer get too cooked on the inside before it gets a nice char on the outside. We need the inside to stay soft and have enough time to get the outside to be crispy and delicious.

Not adding oil: Whoever says you can completely skip the oil with air fryer cooking is lying to you! You absolutely require oil because the oil further helps prevent the batter on the outside from burning, so that you can cook the paneer for long enough to get it golden brown and crisp on the outside.

Overcrowding the air fryer basket: There needs to be enough space between the paneer pieces in order to give the air the chance to circulate in the air fryer and cook the paneer pieces evenly. If you cram in the pieces together, they won’t cook evenly, and one side will be more cooked than the other.

Not flipping the paneer halfway: You’ll want to flip the paneer halfway through the cooking time to ensure that one side does not get too dark, and that there is even browning all throughout the cubes of paneer. When you flip the paneer cubes over, ensure to spray with another coat of oil to protect the other side from the hot air.

Drowning the paneer in sauce: You could be avoiding all of these other mistakes and then reach this point where you let the hot and fresh crispy paneer sit in your sauce, then the paneer will soften as it rehydrates and you’ll lose all of your hard work! Make the sauce while the paneer is air frying, and add the paneer to the sauce and serve IMMEDIATELY! This is a dish that doesn’t taste as good if had as leftovers.

Tips for Achieving the Perfect Crispy Texture

• Get the right batter texture: You want the batter to not be too thin nor too thick. The batter is key to keep the paneer moist in the air fryer and to prevent the top from burning, and instead having it be crispy and golden brown. If the batter has too much liquid and it is too thin, then you won’t get a nice coating around the paneer. You want the starch to bind the paneer and batter together. In the air fryer, the paneer and batter will be exposed to hot heat, and we want to do all we can to prevent the paneer from turning dry. Slowly add the liquid in you will be just fine!
• Refrigerate the paneer in the batter: Even if you use the perfect amount of liquid, once you’ve coated the paneer with the thick batter, refrigerate everything to help the batter to stick around the paneer. You don’t want the batter to drip down the moment you add the paneer to the air fryer. If the paneer and batter are chilled, then it will take longer for the batter to drip down, and it will cling to the paneer.

Variations and Customizations

• Spice level: If you want the dish to be spicier, add more sriracha or hot sauce to the chilli paneer sauce. However, if you want your chilli paneer to be on the sweeter side, then reduce the hot sauce and add more ketchup.
• Vegetables: Other great veggies that you can add in here include other colorful peppers/capsicums, such as green capsicums or yellow; snap peas, broccoli, or carrots.
• Vegan: Although this will no longer be chilli paneer, you can follow the exact same process as outlined here and replace the paneer with tofu to make this dish vegan.

Serving Suggestions for Air Fried Chilli Paneer

Chili paneer is usually served on its own as an appetizer. However, if you want it as a main for lunch or dinner, you can serve it with noodles or some rice, such as Steamed Basmati Rice.

If you are serving just the chilli paneer on its own as a starter, then you can follow it up with pretty much any Indian or Indo-Chinese main dish. Here are some main dishes to make a wholesome meal:

• North Indian Dum Aloo
• Punjabi Baingan Bharta
• Dal Makhani
• Kadai Paneer
• Delhi-Style Chole
• Egg Curry
• Matar Mushroom Masala
• Butter Chicken
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Chicken Kofta