Instant Pot Chicken Saag (Chicken & Spinach Curry) is a delicious dish from north India. A step-by-step recipe to prepare this in the Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker.
Chicken is simmered in a creamy spinach sauce. Sounds exotic? Don’t worry, it is super easy to make. This curry is full of flavor and loaded with nutrients. You will always find some version of this spinach curry in any Indian restaurant, which is a popular one to order.
“Saag” is a Punjabi term used for leafy green preparations. These could be made with spinach, mustard greens, chard, etc. I used spinach in this Chicken Saag, but feel free to use other greens you like. This curry is a healthy way to incorporate leafy greens in a kid’s meal.
My daughter loves everything saag, so I make multiple versions – Palak Paneer, Saag Paneer, and Saag Aloo with mustard greens and Vegan Palak Tofu.
Love Spinach? Check out this collection of 21 Indian Spinach Recipes.
How to make Chicken Saag in Pressure Cooker?
This is a very quick, one-pot recipe. Start the instant pot and add in the oil, cumin, ginger and garlic. Then add in the chopped onions and sauté for a few minutes. The ingredients can be cut into large pieces as we are going to blend them later.
Add the spices and stir them with the onions. Add water and deglaze the pot (important for newer versions of instant pot). Then add in the spinach leaves and place the chicken on top of the spinach leaves. Cook on manual or high pressure for 8 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually. Remove the chicken pieces on the top and keep aside. Then use the immersion blender to grind the ingredients in the pot to a smooth paste.
You can also use a normal blender to grind and then transfer the saag back to the instant pot. If needed, cut the chicken pieces to the desired size and transfer them back to the saag in the pot.
Simmer for a few minutes so the chicken is mixed well with the greens. Use a glass lid when simmering as there could be some splutters when spinach boils. Chicken Saag is ready to be enjoyed with naan or rice.
Enjoy the goodness of spinach and chicken in this hearty and healthy recipe. Give this recipe a try and I am sure you are going to love it as much as we do!
If you are looking for more Indian Chicken Curry Recipes, check out these –
Instant Pot Chicken Saag Recipe (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
- 10 ounces Spinach (Palak)
- 1 lb Chicken thighs, boneless, cut into 2-3 pieces
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1″ inch Ginger, chopped
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 2 Onion, medium sized, cut into pieces
- 1/4 cup Water
Spices
- 1/4 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne or Red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and heat oil in it. Add cumin seeds and saute for 30 seconds
- Add the cut onions, ginger and garlic. Saute for couple of minutes. Add the spices and stir well. Add water and deglaze the pot.
- Add the spinach and carefully place the chicken pieces on top of the spinach. Press CANCEL and close the instant pot lid with vent in sealing position.
- Press MANUAL or Pressure Cook mode for 8 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, do a quick pressure release. PRESS Cancel.
- Open the lid, remove the chicken pieces and set aside. Blend the spinach and other ingredients to a creamy texture preferably using an immersion blender.
- If needed, cut the chicken into smaller pieces and then add it back to the spinach curry.
- Press SAUTE and give the curry a quick boil. This could splutter out, so cover with a lid.
- Chicken Saag is ready. Enjoy with naan, roti or rice.
Notes
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could transfer the ingredients to a regular blender, blend to a smooth paste and then transfer them back in the instant pot insert.
- I used spinach in this recipe. However I have made this using spinach and chard or spinach and mustard greens, and they come out great.
- If the chicken is not well cooked, then boil for a bit longer in step 7.
- If using chicken breast, cut into 2-3 pieces and pressure cook for 6 minutes.
It kind of lacked complexity of flavor. I helped it along with pakora masala, and 2T lime juice.
Hi Andrea – Thank you for sharing back the changes you made.
We Love this Recipe. I use lamb instead of chicken or mix both meats and every time come outside delicious. We also eat this with “Right Rice” made from vegetables. Delicious!
Hi Aga – Glad to hear you enjoyed the saag!
Hi!
Could I use frozen spinach cubes?
Hi Caity – Frozen spinach would work well in this recipe. Hope you enjoy the Chicken Saag!
Can you use ginger powder?? Instead of ginger?
Hi Deb – You can just about 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder in place of the fresh ginger root. Hope you enjoy the saag!
The dish came out delicious and gonna make again soon!
Hi – So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing back 🙂
I’ve been craving Chicken Saag but don’t eat out much since COVID so I decided to make it myself for my first time and I am so happy I stumbled upon your recipe. I’ve made your version twice so far, once with spinach and again with collards from my garden. Both versions were delicious and completely satisfied my craving for the restaurant version I’d grown so accustomed to. I did slightly modify the recipe by using fresh turmeric which I prefer over powder and I also added a small serrano chile for some extra kick.
Hi Raleigh so glad that you enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing it. 🙂
This is a really fantastic recipe! I had no idea it would have such a nice texture without adding cream or butter. It tastes like a treat but is so healthy! Quick and easy too. This will be a weekday staple at my house. Thank you!
Hi Julie – So good to hear that. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Outstanding! This recipe is soooo good, it will definitely be in my regular rotation. Made it exactly as the recipe calls for then added a very small amount of heavy whipping cream (1/8 of a cup) at the end to make it a little richer. Thank you so much!
Would it work to use a crock pot instead of an instant pot and just let it cook for a couple hours?
Hi Audrey – Yes, that should work too.
Absolutely lovely. For those who want a milder curry that doesn’t compromise flavor. The bright green color was invigorating, as well. I made this in a Dutch oven and used 1/2 cup chicken broth instead of water.
Hi Jenna – So glad to hear you enjoyed the Chicken Saag!
Fantastic! And so much healthier than our favorite restaurant’s version, which I suspect has butter or heavy cream in it.
I halved the salt.
To thicken, I added 2 Tbsp Wondra flour (gravy thickening flour) and saute boiled for 10 minutes, with a lid!
Hey Cici – Glad to hear you enjoyed the Saag!
We’re plant-based smas i wonder if this would work with soycurls. If i renydrated the discussions before putting them in the IP, do you think it would ok to cook on hi pressure for only two min with quick release?
Hi Janet – Unfortunately I have never tried using soy curls in this recipe, so it is hard for me to say how long they would take to cook. The spinach cooks very quickly and will be done even in 2 minutes, so go with the time it takes for soy curls to cook.