Palak paneer is great when served with a side of basmati rice. Some palak paneer recipes use whole yogurt in place of heavy cream for the sauce. I prefer using heavy cream because the sauce is runnier and the flavor is less tangy. However, feel free to use whichever ingredient you prefer.
Recipe by Lisa Lin on January 14, 2020
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT30M
Total time: PT45M
Rating
4.88 stars (66 reviews)
Keywords
palak paneer
Ingredients
14 ounces paneer (see note 1)
3 tablespoons ghee or safflower oil (divided)
pinch of salt
1 pound pre-washed baby spinach
2 tablespoons ghee or safflower oil
1 medium yellow onion (finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups))
2 tablespoons minced ginger
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 serrano pepper (seeded and finely diced (see note 2))
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or use 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin)
2 teaspoons garam masala
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Categories
dinner
Cuisine
Indian
Steps
Pan Fry Paneer
Cut the paneer into small pieces. Usually, I slice the block of paneer into about 1/3-inch slices. Then, I take each slice of paneer and cut it into smaller pieces.
Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of ghee or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add half of the paneer pieces and pan fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle a small pinch of salt over the paneer before flipping them over. Then, pan fry the other side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Transfer the fried paneer to a plate.
Add another 1 1/2 tablespoons of ghee or oil to the skillet and repeat the pan frying step above. I’ve found that the second batch usually takes less time because the pan is quite hot at this point. Transfer the remaining fried paneer to the plate.
Make Spinach Sauce
Fill a large saucepan with about 3 quarts of water and bring it to boil. Add the baby spinach to the boiling water. If all of it doesn’t fit into the saucepan, add half of the spinach first. Once the spinach starts wilting, add the remaining spinach. Cook for about a minute, until all the spinach wilts.
Use a spider spatula to remove the spinach from the saucepan or drain the spinach into a colander.
Transfer the spinach to a food processor. You don’t need to squeeze the excess liquid from the spinach beforehand. Blend the spinach for about 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and blend again for another 10 seconds. Leave the chopped spinach in the food processor (see note 3).
Heat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of ghee or safflower oil over medium-high heat. Add the diced onions and cook them for about 3 minutes, until they start to soften. Next, add the minced ginger, garlic, diced serrano pepper, and cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Then, add the garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Stir to coat the onions with the dried spices.
Transfer the chopped spinach into the skillet. Next, add the heavy cream and salt. Cover the skillet with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. Let the spinach sauce simmer for about 5 minutes.
Uncover the lid and add the pan-fried paneer to the spinach sauce. Turn off the heat. Serve the palak paneer with basmati rice.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 395 kcal
Carbohydrates: 9.1 g
Protein: 13.9 g
Fat: 34.2 g
Saturated Fat: 4.8 g
Cholesterol: 17 mg
Sodium: 1066 mg
Sugar: 4.2 g
Reviews
Teresa Hill on 2025-11-20 (5 stars): Best palak paneer I have ever tasted!
Meeko on 2025-08-09 (5 stars): Very easy to follow recipe and super delicious. Even my Gujarati husband liked it.
Sylvie Boisclair on 2025-08-04 (5 stars): Can it be frozen? Thank you!
Anne90 on 2024-11-13 (5 stars): Delicious and so easy. I have been looking for a recipe similar to one I had at a Nepalese restaurant. This one is almost perfect and so much less work than recipes that swear you have to use adult spinach and hand peel each stem off and rinse three times … thank you!!! 😊 Going to try adding fenugreek next time I cook it!
Carmen on 2024-10-13 (5 stars): I made this for my family for dinner and everyone loved it! Thank you for a great recipe that turned out perfectly first time.
erica c sollars on 2024-07-11 (5 stars): This recipe reminded me of one particular Indian/Pakistani restaurant I frequented in my 20s in Dallas; gave me a huge smile. I followed the directions down to a T. The flavors melded well, although I offer a few suggestions that may enhance the flavors. The recipe was lacking in the flavor of salt, so an additional 2 shakes of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt - just a tiny amount - was a transformation in the taste and made all of the difference. Superb. Also, there is an ingredient lacking, but I can't quite put my finger on it. To be fair, I did not include the serrano pepper due to personal preference (too spicy). Perhaps others may have experienced that, too, and might have a suggestion? I was also surprised that although I used 10oz of paneer instead of the 14oz called for, the volume of fresh spinach to paneer did not match. Instead, I used 4 grocery bags of fresh spinach (10oz each). It certainly did help, yet it still seems like too much cheese. All in all though, the recipe is delicious and I will most certainly prepare this again. Side note: my dad is strictly a 'meat-and-potatoes' guy, but when he tried this, he fell in love!!
Sarah L. Frederiksen on 2024-05-13 (4 stars): The taste of this dish is excellent and just what I remember of palaak paneer, minus the heaviness found in restaurant versions. I successfully chose to modify it by using fennel root and shallot instead of onion and garlic, and also blended all the veg in my Vitamix before warming it back up in the pan. This was so delicious with homemade roti and red rice that my kids even ate it!
Eve on 2024-03-25 (4 stars): This recipe is really good! When I have made it it was too chunky so I put the onions in the food processor as well, otherwise it was delicious!
Jennifer Mo on 2024-02-19 (5 stars): I've made this recipe several times now, and as a newbie to Indian cooking, I appreciate such an easy recipe with relatively few spices (all of which I have!). The taste is great even though I reduced the salt (for my high blood pressure spouse) by salting to taste, which is always much less than the full amount. Frozen spinach works great when I don't have fresh. This is my go to recipe for palak paneer now.
redon46489 on 2024-01-26 (5 stars): Just made this for dinner. It’s perfect in every way! Will be making it on the regular. Thanks for the delicious recipe Lisa! Everything I ever wanted in homemade palak paneer.
Ashley Oliver on 2023-06-30 (5 stars): I have made countless versions of Palak Paneer, all a little different, in a quest to make my favorite recipe from a Nepalese restaurant in Longmont, CO. I think this one has been the closest. DELICIOUS!
I did make a few minor changes: 1) I only used 3/4 tsp of salt, 2) I added 1 tbsp of kasuri methi to the sauce at the end once removed from heat, 3) I added 1 tsp of sugar
Parul on 2023-06-05 (5 stars): perfect recipe!!! i made it and its very delicious!!
Cynthia on 2023-02-14 (5 stars): I just learned the difference between Palak and Saag! Thank you.
I made this recipe exactly as written and I think it is delicious.
Next time I think I will use Grape Seed Oil instead of the Ghee (which has a bid of a rancid flavor to my taste).
Even though I doubled the recipe total prep and cook time was spot on at 45 minutes. I have a rice cooker which cooked the rice while I made the main dish.
