Palak Paneer – Indian Spinach Curry with Homemade Fresh Cheese

Recipe video above. A dish this iconic demands to be made properly – from scratch, with lots of fresh spinach and homemade paneer (Indian fresh cheese!) This is a magnificent vegetarian curry, packed with an extraordinary amount of nutrition and goodness!

Prep time: PT45M

Cook time: PT25M

Rating

4.94 stars (49 reviews)

Keywords

Palak paneer, Spinach curry, vegetarian curry

Ingredients

1 batch homemade Paneer ((Indian fresh cheese; recipe linked below))
30g / 2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter ((for pan frying, Note 2))
30g/2 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter ((Note 2))
1 1/2 onions (, finely chopped (brown or yellow))
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (whole) ((Note 3))
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp salt (, kosher/cooking salt (if using table salt, reduce by 1/4 tsp))
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 garlic cloves (, finely chopped)
2 tsp ginger (, finely grated (20g))
2 tomatoes (, peeled, seeded and diced (Note 4))
1 green chilli (, finely sliced (cayenne, Note 5))
700g/ 1.4lb fresh spinach leaves (English spinach) (, thoroughly washed and roughly chopped (~9 cups very tightly packed) (Note 6))
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp cream ((pure, heavy or thickened))
1 tbsp lemon juice

Cuisine

Indian

Steps

Saute onion & spices: Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes until onion is softened but not golden.
Add garlic and ginger, cook for 2 minutes.
Add the tomato and chilli, cook for 3 minutes on a medium heat.
Add spinach: Add about 1/3 of the spinach – or as much as you can handle in the pot (!) – and stir until wilted. Then add more spinach along with the water, cook again until wilted. Repeat until all the spinach is wilted.
Cook 10 minutes: Cook, stirring every now and then, for 10 minutes still on a medium heat.
Cream & lemon: Add the cream and lemon juice. Cook, stirring gently, for 3 minutes.
Puree half spinach: Remove half the spinach into a tall container and blend it to a puree using a stick blender. Pour pureed spinach back into the pot, and stir to combine.
Add Pan Fried Paneer: Gently stir in golden pan-fried paneer (see below). Stir gently to mix through.
Serve over basmati rice with fluffy, chewy homemade naan on the side!
Golden Pan-Fried Paneer (Note 8):
- Cut paneer into 1.25cm / ½" thick slices. Then cut each slice into 2.5cm x 2 x 1.25cm thick pieces / 1 x ⅘" x ½" pieces – approximately!
- Melt half the ghee or butter in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
- Place half the paneer in the pan and cook for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes until light golden - I tend to make it deep golden because colour = more flavour, but traditional is just a hint of gold Turn, then cook the other side until light golden.
- Remove onto paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with remaining butter and paneer. Use per recipe.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 510 kcal
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Protein: 16 g
Fat: 39 g
Saturated Fat: 24 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 127 mg
Sodium: 647 mg
Sugar: 20 g

Reviews

Deb on 2026-09-09 (5 stars):
My god, this is good. This dish is a little labour-intensive, but the results are so worth it. I used a mixture of fresh (not baby) and frozen spinach, and store-bought paneer, and it was fantastic! Next time, I will make the paneer from scratch 😊. Thank you for an excellent recipe!
Deb on 2026-01-27 (4 stars):
I would have given this recipe 5 stars if it had stated how much to use if, like me, you wanted to use a store bought paneer. I went with the entire 300 g block. I also didn't have fenugreek seed (and my local grocery was sold out), so I used brown mustard seed instead, as per substitution guidelines via Google search results. Despite these differences, this dish was utterly delicious, and I highly recommend!! I also will make sure I have fenugreek seed for next time, and there will *definitely* be a next time!
Philip Hees on 2026-01-22 (5 stars):
Made this for the first time today. Pan-frying the paneer really changes the texture – my brother was convinced that there was some kind of meat in the dish! Delicious recipe.
Rose Kerwal on 2026-01-06 (5 stars):
This was really good! Super easy. I used store bought paneer, canned tomatoes, frozen spinach and sour cream instead of cream (what I had in the fridge) and it still turned out great!!
Helena on 2025-09-26 (5 stars):
Took the Spinach Curry to work, although wrk mates were 1st reluctant they loved it. When making the cheese, I added a bit of salt, caraway seeds & ground cardamom to give extra flavour. For the spinach curry, I followed the recipe to the letter, but to add extra taste I added 1 tblsp of spicy green curry paste & instead of cream i added coconut cream. + tiny cubes of potatoes for texture. Yummy in tummy.😁
S on 2025-02-14 (5 stars):
Ditto everything Amanda said! Palek Paneer is my all-time favorite dish and this was my first time trying to make it myself. It came out perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing.
Victoria Uribe on 2025-01-09 (5 stars):
I loved this dish!! One of my favorites
Julia Boyle on 2024-10-15 (5 stars):
I used two big bunchs of silverbeet and 500 grams of Tasmanian Paneer from woolies. Followed the recipe other than than! It was delicious on brown basmati.
Joseph on 2024-09-09 (5 stars):
Pup's well hung? i beg your pardon?
Peter Mavroudakis on 2024-07-16 (5 stars):
I made your recipe for Palak Paneer exactly as you wrote it - including the homemade paneer. It was awesome - one of the best I’ve tried over the past couple years. But I won’t lie; I worked pretty hard. It was worth every minute. Thank you.
CK on 2024-06-13 (5 stars):
Went the whole hog and made my own paneer from your recipe! Was feeling inspired after two weeks of ordering paneer in various guises each night in India. This curry was earthy and rich and absolutely delicious. It tasted very authentic - and gave me the chance to use some of the spices I brought home ;-) Did half/half with two bunches of fresh spinach and 150g frozen. Seriously good stuff, Nagi! Trying your samosas tonight.
Mary on 2024-01-31 (5 stars):
This recipe turned out SO good! Both my husband and my son said that it tastes better than the restaurant we order from. Nagi, thank for such great recipes and the care & time you take to make sure it works for your readers!
Fredrick Tannenbaum on 2024-01-26 (5 stars):
This recipe was yummy in my tummy:) This recipe really fueled the family through our Grandpa's ankle surgery. However, there is a lot of spinach.
Alaine Broadaway on 2023-08-27 (5 stars):
Ok I admittedly made this with allll the shortcuts that Nagi can't endorse (including bagged spinach, store-bought paneer, even even onion powder) and it was still absurdly good. Can't wait to try it correctly.
Maryanne on 2023-08-24 (5 stars):
This is a delicious palak paneer recipe. Pro tip: If you buy your paneer you can soften the cut paneer cubes in hot water for 15 minutes before adding them directly. It makes them soft and melty and is a different way if you dont like the fried approach. I found this tip on the website: Cooking With Manali. However, I still prefer Nagi's recipe for Palak Paneer - sorry Manali!.