Garlicky Palak Paneer

My garlicky palak paneer recipe is a family favorite! Palak Paneer, or Saag Paneer, as it’s called in some Indian restaurants, is an Indian creamed spinach recipe with chunks of pan-fried Indian cottage cheese (paneer.) It’s the perfect vegetarian dish, and it’s so good served over basmati rice or with naan!

Today I bring you a recipe that’s been at least 5 years in the making.

There have been several occasions where I’ve wanted to share my palak paneer recipe with you, but for one reason or another, I would hold back and want to do just one more round of recipe testing.

There are probably as many ways to make homemade palak paneer as there are Indian restaurants in India. Each family has its own take on it. Each restaurant adds its own twist. Some people use tomatoes; others don’t.  Some use grated ginger. Others don’t. Some versions are heavy on the spices, and there are others without much. Some restaurants use a combination of mustard greens and spinach and call it Palak Paneer. Other’s use the same two greens and call it Saag paneer. All of this is to say that there is a wide variety of what’s accepted as Indian pureed greens in a cream sauce.

And that’s what I’ve brought you today. Like my homemade butter chicken recipe, it’s one that I make for my family and friends. No promises that this is the best palak paneer you’ll ever have because that’s highly subjective! But it’s one that I consider the best and I often get told that it is. Does that even make sense?

Today, I’m glad I finally get to share it with you!

Ingredients for homemade Palak Paneer

• Fresh Spinach: I like to use freshly cleaned spinach for this recipe. You could use regular or baby spinach. If you’d like to make saag paneer, you can use any combination of mustard greens, collard greens, kale, and spinach.
• Paneer: is easily available in most mainstream grocery stores these days. I usually just cut the paneer into small bite-sized pieces.
• Onions + Garlic: arguably the heart and soul of most Indian recipes. We’re using freshly chopped onions and fresh pressed garlic for this recipe. 
• Serrano peppers: we use serrano peppers when making palak paneer because it’s a type of pepper that’s very easily available. You could also use jalapeño peppers if you’d like. For more heat, swap a pepper for Thai green chilies (bird’s eye.) 
• Herbs + Seasonings: we’ll use dried fenugreek leaves (also known as kasoori methi), fresh dill, ground white pepper, and cayenne for this recipe. If you have an Indian store nearby, you could also use Indian chili powder. I don’t use garam masala, or cumin seeds in my recipe, unlike most.
• Ghee: Ghee or oil is the most common fat used in homemade Indian food. You could also swap some of the oil for butter if you don’t happen to have ghee on hand.
• Dairy: We’ll use a bit of whole milk (or 2%) and then finish off the palak paneer with some heavy cream right at the end to get a luscious gravy.
• Serving suggestions: use chapati, paratha, roti, basmati rice, jeera rice, or naan like they serve at an Indian restaurant.

How to make the best palak paneer recipe

1. Blanch the spinach. If you bought spinach by the bunch, I suggest allowing the spinach to soak in a large bowl of water. This will allow the dirt/sediment that clings to spinach leaves to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Boil water, then generously add salt. Add the spinach and allow it to blanch for 1 minute. Drain and immediately plunge into a cold water bath. This will allow the spinach to maintain a vibrant green color even when we saute and puree the spinach!
2. Pan-fry the paneer. Cut the paneer into cubes. Wipe the paneer dry and pan fry the paneer for about 3-5 minutes. Keep in mind that all you’re doing to the paneer is browning the outside crust a bit. Remove to a plate and set aside for later.
3. Drain the spinach. At this point, you want to squeeze out leaving just a little water so that the puree isn’t too watery.
4. Palak paneer. Heat the remaining ghee or oil in a pan and sauté eat onions and serrano peppers until the onions soften. Then, add the garlic and saute it in the ghee until it’s not raw. Add the fresh dill, blanched spinach, and milk, and bring this to a boil. When boiling, transfer this to your blender and blend until smooth. Pour into the pot. Turn the flame on to medium heat and season with salt, white pepper, and cayenne. Allow the mixture to heat through until the flavours come together. When warm, drizzle in the cream and stir to combine until it reaches that perfect consistency. Let the cream simmer in the puree for a few minutes. Then, add the fenugreek leaves and the pan-fried paneer to the pot. Taste and adjust with additional salt.

Other Authentic Indian recipes to try

Dinner

Weeknight Chana Masala Rice Bowls

Chicken

Chicken Tikka Masala

Fish & Seafood

30-Minute Spicy Shrimp Masala

Dinner

Butter Chicken (Murgh Makhani)

One Pot

Easy Tandoori Chicken Sheet Pan Dinner

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Best Garlicky Palak Paneer (Saag Paneer)

5 from 12 votes

My garlicky palak paneer recipe is a family favorite! Palak Paneer or Saag Paneer as it’s called in some Indian restaurants is an Indian creamed spinach recipe with chunks of pan-fried Indian cottage cheese (paneer.) It’s the perfect vegetarian dish and it’s so good served over basmati rice or with naan!

Save RecipeSaved Recipe Pin Recipe Print Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 5 servings

Author: Marzia

Equipment

• Dutch Oven
• Power Blender

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Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 ¼ pound spinach 20 ounces, see notes
• ▢ 1 (8-ounce) paneer cut into small cubes
• ▢ 4 tablespoons ghee or oil
• ▢ ½ medium yellow onion finely chopped
• ▢ 1-2 serrano pepper seeded and minced (use less for less heat, more for more)
• ▢ 8-10 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh dill chopped, use more if you like more, less if you don’t
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon white pepper
• ▢ ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
• ▢ ¾ cup whole milk or 2% works too
• ▢ ½ cup heavy cream
• ▢ 1-2 teaspoons dried fenugreek leaves optional

Instructions 

• SPINACH: Fill a large stockpot (or saucepan) with water, when boiling, salt the water with a big pinch of salt. Add the spinach to the water and blanch for 1 minute and immediately drain and plunge the spinach into a cold ice water bath. When cooled, drain the spinach and press out as much water as you can. You want the spinach to be pretty dry; set aside for now.
• PANEER: Cut the paneer into small cubes. Add 1 tablespoon of butter (or ghee) to a large skillet placed over medium heat. When hot, add half of the paneer pieces and pan-fry, flipping as needed, until it turns golden brown, about 3-5 minutes. Remember the paneer just needs to heat through and brown on the outside a bit. Remove to a plate, and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
• PALAK PANEER: Once the spinach is cooled, add the remaining 3 tbsp of ghee to a hot pan and sauté the onions and serrano over medium heat for 9-11 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Then add the garlic and continue to cook, stirring for about 1-2 minutes. Add the dill, blanched spinach, and milk and bring to a boil. When boiling, remove from heat, add this mixture to a blender (blend in batches if needed.) Then put it back in the same pot. Turn the stove on to medium heat and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne (if using). Allow it to heat through. Drizzle with cream and stir to combine, allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes. If the puree is too watery, allow it to cook for slightly longer. It shouldn’t be too thick or too thin. When it thickens a bit, taste and adjust with salt as needed. Add the paneer, crush the fenugreek leaves between your fingers and add them to the palak paneer. Taste and adjust with more fenugreek is desired. Serve with warm basmati rice or with my homemade naan.
  

Notes

• For this recipe, you can use baby spinach or regular spinach.
• To make saag paneer, you would use a combination of spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, and even kale.

Nutrition

Serving: 5g | Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 34g | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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