Super Easy Homestyle Indian Palak Paneer Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · spinach sauce cloaking soft paneer, bright and creamy

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Palak paneer is easily the most popular and identifiable dish in North Indian cuisine. There are a number of ways to prepare this dish, some are simpler, while others are more involved. This recipe falls in the simple camp, being a home-style, comforting dish to enjoy with your family with some TV! What do you guys like to watch with your family dinners? My family and I loved to watch Knight Rider growing up.

I’ll toot my own horn here and share that what I love about my recipe is the vibrant green color that shines from the spinach! You want to cook the spinach as little as possible so that you keep that eye-popping green color. Other variations may be a more darker green, which is still delicious from the use of tomatoes, cashew paste and spices. This is a much simpler recipe with minimal use of spices for the pure spinach lovers.

Like most kids growing up in India, I think this would be the only dish where I would willingly enjoy cupfuls of spinach. The greens are actually so delicious in the gravy, this is a great way to feed veggies to those who fuss about it.

Tools Needed

• Large pot
• Strainer
• Nonstick pan
• Blender
• Wooden spoon

Ingredients for the Best Palak Paneer Recipe

Here’s what you’ll need to make this great palak paneer recipe. It’s a short ingredient list, so thumbs up for that!

• Paneer
• Spinach
• Cumin seeds
• Hing
• Green chilies
• Ginger
• Onions
• Cashews
• Ghee
• Salt, to taste
• Cream, for garnish

How to Make Palak Paneer

Remove the stems from the spinach and rinse thoroughly (this step is not needed if using baby spinach). Bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook the spinach for 1-2 minutes, until the leaves have wilted.

Strain the water from the spinach and run cold water over it. Alternatively, you can transfer the spinach to an ice-water bath to shock the vegetables and maintain the green color. Set the spinach aside while you prepare the sauce.

Heat a pot or pan on medium heat and add ghee/oil. Add in the cumin seeds, green chilies, hing, onions, cashews and ginger and sauté for a few minutes or until the onions soften.

Once the onions have softened, transfer the contents of the pan to a blender and drain and add the spinach. Puree until smooth and then transfer back to the pan.

Lower the heat to low or medium-low and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add in the paneer and warm until the sauce simmers and the paneer becomes soft and heated through. Taste for seasoning and adjust as required.

Garnish with cream if desired, serve hot, and enjoy!

Storing and Freezing Instant Pot Palak Paneer

For sure! I recommend keeping the prepared palak paneer in the fridge for about 4 days. To keep it longer, store in the freezer for 6 months.

To Reheat Palak Paneer From the Fridge

In the microwave: Heat uncovered for about 2-3 minutes, stirring every few minutes or so.

Over the stove: Transfer the contents to a pot or pan and bring to a slight simmer on medium-low heat.

To Reheat Palak Paneer From the Freezer

In the microwave: Heat uncovered for about 4-5 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds or so.

Over the stove: Thaw the paneer overnight in the fridge and then transfer the contents to a pot or pan and bring to a slight simmer on medium-low heat.

Serving Suggestions for Palak Paneer

I love having palak paneer with the following breads:

• Classic Layered Paratha
• Classic Homestyle Roti/Chapati/Phulka
• Homemade Tandoori Naan

If you don’t want to have bread with your palak paneer, you could try some Jeera Rice or plain Steamed Rice.

For the softest cubes, try making your own paneer at home — it melts into the spinach so well.

Palak Paneer vs Saag Paneer: What Is and Isn't in This One

Palak paneer is a popular Indian dish on almost every North Indian restaurant menu, and the name tells you the key ingredient. In Hindi, palak simply means spinach, and this recipe uses 700 grams of it, roughly 25 ounces, blended with the aromatics into a smooth, bright green gravy. Saag paneer is the close cousin, and the difference is the greens. Saag usually means a mix, often mustard greens, sometimes with fenugreek leaves or other leafy herbs, which gives it a darker colour, a more bitter edge and a coarser texture. This recipe uses spinach and nothing else, so it is palak paneer in the strict sense. Swap the paneer for boiled potatoes and you are close to aloo palak, another homestyle favourite.

It is also a deliberately short list. There is no garlic, no garam masala, no tomato and no dried fenugreek leaves in it. The flavour comes from whole spices and a few aromatics: 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds, 1/8 teaspoon of hing, 1-2 green chilies, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger, one medium red onion and 2 tablespoons of cashews soaked for at least 30 minutes, all sautéed in 2 tablespoons of ghee. If you want the earthier restaurant-style version, a pinch of garam masala stirred in at the end is an easy addition, but you do not need it. The hing does much of the savoury work garlic would normally do.

The Trick to Cooking Spinach So It Stays Green

The whole trick with this recipe is cooking spinach as little as possible. Mature spinach needs its stems removed and a thorough rinse; baby spinach leaves can go straight in. Either way, the spinach leaves spend only 1-2 minutes in boiling water, just until they wilt, and then go under cold water or into an ice-water bath. That quick shock is what keeps the colour vivid instead of olive, while the brief boil takes away the raw flavor of the leaves.