Palak paneer is a classic vegetarian dish from north India, made with fresh spinach and cheese, seasoned with fresh ginger, garlic and garam masala.
Palak paneer makes a healthy weeknight meal and is ready in 15 mins with this easy Instant Pot recipe! No boiling hot water or using your food processor to puree the spinach. Cook it all in one pot and let the immersion blender do its magic. Serve with steamed rice or hot parathas for a wholesome vegetarian meal!
What is Paneer?
Fresh, unsalted cheese that is similar to cottage cheese. Paneer is made by curdling milk using lemon juice or vinegar and then separating the why. All the excess water from the curdled milk solids are pressed out and then shaped to form soft cheese. Paneer is not aged and can be consumed right away. It adds a nice texture to curries, parathas, rice dishes and desserts. Check out my homemade paneer recipe.
How to Store Paneer?
Homemade Paneer can be refrigerated up to a week and can be frozen for extended shelf life. If buying paneer from a store, I usually cut it into cubes and freeze any unused portions right away.
Where can I buy Paneer?
I would recommend Gopi Brand Paneer from whole foods or Indian grocery stores. When buying paneer make sure it does not have any additives. Remember Milk and an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar are the only 2 ingredients needed to make paneer.
So, I have been making this stove top recipe for years now. It is my mom’s healthy recipe, without any cream, cooked with homemade ghee and paneer! I have changed the original stovetop recipe a bit here to make it more creamy using cashews soaked in warm milk. Make sure to puree the cashews to a smooth creamy paste for a creamy luscious curry. Heavy Cream or unsweetened coconut cream can also be added in the end to make the dish more creamy and mild.
Step by step Palak Paneer Recipe:
- Blend cashews with milk or water to make a very smooth puree and reserve. Heat oil in the Instant Pot and add cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, green chilies and saute for a minute. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes or they start to become translucent. Add fresh or frozen spinach, water and salt and pressure cook for zero minutes (fresh spinach) or 1 minute (frozen spinach)
- Press the keep warm button and quick release the pressure right away to avoid overcooking of the spinach. Add 1/2 cup of water and carefully blend the spinach using an immersion blender. You may want to tilt the pot a little to avoid splattering.
- Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Add cashew cream/paste, garam masala and paneer. Mix and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the sauce comes to a gentle boil. Take out the inner pot on a hot plate to avoid overcooking. Enjoy with parathas, naan or steamed rice!
PRO tips to keep the palak paneer looking green and fresh:
- Quick release as soon as the pressure cooking cycle completes.
- Turn off the keep warm button as you do the quick release.
- Make sure that the Instant Pot is turned off as you are puree with the immersion blender. Take the inside pot out on a hot plate while pureeing. As you may need to tilt the pot to avoid splattering.
- Return the inner pot back to the Instant Pot housing, add cashew paste, garam masala and paneer. Cook on sauté for 1 to 2 minutes only or until the gravy comes to a gentle boil.
- Turn off the Instant Pot and take the inner pot out and keep it on a hot plate to avoid overcooking the spinach.
Here is a quick video for this EASY Palak Paneer Instant Pot recipe:
If you enjoyed this Palak Paneer recipe, check out these EASY and delicious vegetarian Instant Pot curries:
- Aloo Gobhi – Spiced Cauliflower and Potato curry
- Dum Aloo – Baby potatoes cooked in creamy tomato cashew sauce
- Chana Saag – Chickpeas with fresh spinach
★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate.
- 1 LB spinach fresh or frozen, chopped
- 2 cups paneer cubed
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion chopped fine
- 1-2 tsp hot green chili minced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 15 cashews
- 4 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Salt to taste or 1 tsp
- Add cashews to milk and blend together to make a smooth paste. Keep aside.
- Turn IP to saute mode. Once the hot sign displays add ghee. Add cumin seeds, ginger, garlic and green chili. Saute for a min. Add onions and cook for 2 mins stirring a few times. Add chopped spinach, salt and 1 cup of water. Close IP with pressure valve to sealing.
- For frozen spinach - manual(Hi) for 1 min
- For fresh spinach - Manual(Hi) for 0 min
- Quick release. Turn IP to Saute(Less), this will stop the spinach puree from splattering all over.
- Add ½ cup of water(optional) and blend to make smooth paste using immersion blender. Add cashew paste, garam masala and paneer. Gently stir everything together. Serve hot with rice or parathas.
Recipe Video
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
This looks so appetizing 🙂 Both your pics and recipes are wonderful. Thank you 🙂
Thank you Hans!
Looks yummy ?
Thank you Lathiya!
Palak paneer is one of my faves!! This looks delicious!
Thank you Jess! It is my fav indian dish too.
Where do you get the paneer? Or do you make that?
Hi Laura,
You can buy paneer at whole foods. I also make it home. Here is the recipe: http://ministryofcurry.com/homemade-paneerindian-cottage-cheese/
Thank you so much! This is my favorite Indian dish and it seems so easy to make.
Laura, easy to make. Let me know how you like it!
The presentation is incredible! Looks fantastic, and exotic, I have to try this!! 🙂
Thank you!
This is one of my favorite Indian dishes! Looks fantastic, thanks for the recipe.
Thank you!
Lovely recipe as always, Archana!
Thank you Annika!
Looks lovely!
Thank you!
EZ to make, healthy and flavorful! Made for a sumptuous Sunday lunch. (Couldn’t resist the snooze after that)!! Becoming a fan of my newly acquired instapot. EZ clean up too.
Used bag of frozen chopped spinach. I didn’t have paneer so I substituted with fresh mozzarella balls.
Thank you Kalyani! I agree with you that frozen chopped spinach makes this recipe so easy and yes I love the cleanup with IP. I am so glad to know that you are loving cooking in IP.
If using fresh spinach, is it really 0 minutes? Thank you.
Yes!
Made this tonight for dinner in the IP. It was truly delicious! This might just break me of my palak paneer takeout addiction. I think I’m going to try freezing portions of it for quick dinners. Has any one tried that? I wonder if I should freeze without the paneer, or if it matters.
Hi Sarah, So glad you made this and enjoyed it. So much healthier than a takeout and so simple right? I have not frozen palak paneer but I have frozen just paneer and it works well. So I think freezing palak paneer will also work. I have seen many grocery stores selling this dish as frozen. Also did you try cooking this dish using frozen chopped spinach? It really makes this dish quicker and still delicious!
Hello Ministry of Curry – Great domain name. 🙂 I made this last night, and wanted to draw your attention to a little fix you might make: The ingredients list says ‘cumin’ and only in the directions do you say ‘cumin seeds’. I had already measured out the cumin powder and didn’t catch the mistake until after – boy did this have a LOT of cumin flavor!! We all agreed it was worth making again, ‘correctly’, because it was really good even with LOTS of cumin. Thank you for the recipe, and the one for the paneer, which turned out great with our goats’ milk. 🙂 I’ll be checking out your other stuff as well. – Wendy
Hi Wendy! Thank you for your kind words and also for pointing out the difference in my recipe. I will correct the recipe so it is clear. Thank you for trying the recipe and I am so glad you enjoyed this easy palak paneer recipe. I hope you enjoy rest of my recipes too.
Hi Archana! We are really looking forward to trying some of your other recipes. We are REALLY excited about the parathas – next rainy day! 🙂 Thank you for your hard work and dedication in doing this blog, and uploading the lovely pictures and sharing your expertise with the rest of us! 🙂
Thank you for your kind words Wendy! Let me know how the Parathas come out!
Love this recipe. I used preached baby spinach leaves. It worked well same time and method. I added plain yogurt at the end as well not cashew cream.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed this easy palak paneer. And I love your idea of adding plain yogurt for creaminess
I am allergic to nuts what else can I usw
Hi Rose, Traditionally cream is used in palak paneer. You can use 1/2 cup of cream instead. Hope you enjoy this yummy dish. Let me know if you have any questions
Oh I will try this thanks for replying!
This looks wonderful! I have paneer in the freezer, and I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Can I use other greens besides spinach, and would the cooking time be different?
Hi Lee Ann, Yes you can use any greens thats you like. As long as they are de-stemmed (like kale, chard) they should work with the same cook time. Let me know how you like it!
This was the best palak paneeer I’ve eaten! Why do you add Garam Masala at the end?
Thank you! My garam masala is already roasted and sprinkling in the end adds more fresh aromas
Thank you for this recipe. I made this last night for dinner and turned out really yummy and very easy. Thanks much!
You are welcome! Thank you for the feedback
Hi Archana
For fresh spinach I manual cook for 0 mins? So just a few seconds? Also after that I need to take out the palak mixture and blend? How long do I cook the paneer in the mixture ?
Thanks
Yes manual zero for fresh. We are just blanching. I use hand blender in the instant pot. And after you add paneer just bring the curry to gentle boil.
Hi Archana,
Thank you for the recipe. I tried it, and it was tasty.
I don’t have an immersion blender, so after pressure cooking, I had to transfer the cooked spinach to my regular blender and then transfer it back to the IP to sauté again. Do you use your immersion blender a lot?
I will add 1/2 cup water while blending next time, as my final dish was a little drier than I expected.
Thanks again!
Hi Dhanya, I love my immersion blender, I use it for soups, curry sauces, mango lassi. Most of the gravies do thicken up after they cool down. I am glad you loved the flavors. This recipe on repeat in my home.
Do you have to thaw and strain the frozen spinach before putting it in the IP?
Hi Leigh, add it frozen, no need to thaw.
Again, this sounds wonderful, but I don’t have an Instant Pot. What changes would I make for cooking on the stove? Thank you!!!
Hi Audree, Instaed of pressure cooking the spinach for 1 minute you would cook it on stovetop until it comes to a full boil. Then follow remaining recipe. Add extra 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water as on stovetop water will evaporate. Do not use lid while cooking this dish so it maintains the fresh green color.
Hi all the saag recipes I’ve seen always have turmeric, cayenne and coriander. Is there a reason they’re not in this recipe? Can I add them?
You can definitely add them. I love the freshness and flavors of spinach in this dish and do not like to overpower with too many spices. I like the heat in this dish from green chilies and hence no cayenne. I do not add turmeric to green curries as they can change the color of the curry but you can totally add. Also you can add coriander powder if you like.
Thanks for the recipe! I didn’t know palak paneer was so easy to make at home. I love that the ingredients used are all healthy and this recipe isn’t loaded with cream or butter. Will definitely be making this again and again.
Thank you Jennifer. We make this frequently for our weeknight meals. Its simple and delicious.
Hi Archana,
I’ve been following your recipes since I’ve started using IP. They very easy to follow and end product comes out very yummy, so thanks alot for that.
We are going on a 17 day road trip next week. Though I’ll be taking my IP with us but I was thinking if I can cook a few things and freeze them and then take them in the cooler with us, will that be okay? For example, I was thinking of making some paneer dishes, choley, rajma, dal and freeze them. We will have access to fridge to our accommodations (Hotels and AirBnBs) so we can pop them in the fridge when we check-in and can put them in the cooler with ice when driving. Do you think it’s a good idea. I just want to save some cooking when vacation mode is ON. We’ll take some naans and rotis too in the cooler bag and will cook rice in IP when needed.
Your advice in this regard will be highly appreciated.
Hi Ranjana! Your road trip sounds really exciting! You can totally take cooked frozen dishes as long as they are in a cooler with ice. You can keep changing the ice as it melts. I think it is a great idea and will totally work for the dishes you mentioned. Have fun! And I can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Could you please remove the video from the print recipe and post it in the body of your blog post. It added a third page to my printout, which I canceled.
Hi David, I am so sorry that it took up so much space. For some reason when i do print preview I do not see the video being printed at all.
The video was not being printed but the space taken up by the video was accounted for in my print preview, a large blank space spanning two pages thus making my printout 3 pages long with that blank space. I did copy & paste it into a Word document, deleted the Recipe Video spacing, and got a two page recipe.
Thank you for letting me know. I will look into it.
Oh, It looks well when cooked by an instant pot. I don’t have one at present but really consider it for the future! It’s so useful.
– Natalie Ellis
Thank you Natalie. I also have the stove top recipe on the blog.
How do I measure 1 pound frozen spinach?
Usually I buy trader joe’s frozen spinach which is 1 pound. If you have the 10 ounce boxes you can use 1 and 1/2 box.
Hi, I’m going to try your recipe tomorrow. Silly question- I have had fresh spinach that I have put into ziplock bags and put in my freezer. Would I weigh out 1lb of frozen spinach? Wouldn’t that be different then the fresh (ie 1 pound of fresh would be a lot more then 1pound of frozen)? Hopefully my question makes sense. Thank you!
Hi Payal yes your question makes sense. You want to use 3 to 4 cups of frozen spinach.
Are you using roasted or raw cashews?
This version looks delicious and I can’t wait to try it in my IP.
Hi Claire, raw cashews for this recipe. Let me know how you like it.
Hi I want to make this recipe but don’t want to add green chilies is it ok to use cayenne pepper? Also do I need fresh ginger or is ground ginger ok? If yes how much of each of the ingredients do I add? Thank you!
You can add cayenne pepper to taste in the end after pressure cooking. I would recommend fresh ginger in this recipe. Dry ginger will alter the taste of the recipe. You can skip ginger if you do not have fresh ginger on hand. It will still be flavorful. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi, Can I use cumin powder instead of cumin seeds? I only have the powder. Thanks!
Yes absolutely!!
Awesome thank you!