Palak Paneer is one of the most popular dish from North India. It is made with Spinach and Cottage Cheese, cooked with ginger, garlic, onions and aromatic spices.
This is a simplified one-pot version of the authentic palak paneer, made in Instant Pot, which takes just 20 minutes to prepare. This is a nutritious Vegetarian, Gluten-free and Low Carb dish.
Instant Pot Palak Paneer is made with Spinach and Indian Cottage Cheese. There is another popular North Indian dish, Mustard Greens Saag, which is very similar, however it is made with both Mustard Greens and Spinach.
If you want to make this dish vegan, check out the Palak Tofu recipe. And if you like to include Chicken in place of Paneer, check out my popular Chicken Saag.
Don't forget to check out my post on 23 Best Instant Pot Indian Recipes.
How to make Palak Paneer in Instant Pot?
This is an easy to make dish, you don't need too many ingredients. The basic - onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and some spices. And off course spinach and paneer. I used a whole box of baby spinach from Costco.
1 - Start the instant pot and saute the ginger, garlic and onions in some oil, along with aromatic cumin seeds.
Then add tomatoes and spices. I chopped the onions and tomatoes. However you could cut them into large pieces as we are going to blend them later.
2- Then add in the spinach and pressure cook for just 2 minutes. I prefer to release pressure after 5 minutes of the cooking being done. This helps to retain the beautiful color of the spinach.
3 - I use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients. You can leave it coarse or blend smooth, based on your preference.
If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer to your countertop blender or food processor to blend.
4 - Stir in the Paneer and some garam masala.
Let it rest for 5 minutes. This will help for the paneer to get soft and soak in the flavors and soften.
I don't fry the paneer, however if you prefer it lightly fried, that would work perfectly too. Palak Paneer is ready to be served with rice, naan or parathas.
Hope you enjoy this easy one-pot Palak Paneer recipe.
If you love spinach, here are some more Indian spinach recipes:
Instant Pot Palak Paneer Recipe (Pressure Cooker)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Spinach (Palak) washed
- 2 cups Paneer or Cottage cheese cut in bite sized cubes
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 Green Chili Pepper chopped
- 1 Onion medium, chopped
- 5 cloves Garlic chopped
- 1" inch Ginger chopped
- 1 Tomato medium, chopped
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
Spices
- ½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili powder (Mirchi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in sauté mode. Heat oil and add cumin seeds.
- When cumin seeds start to splutter, add ginger, garlic, green chili and onions. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add tomato and spices. Stir and let it cook for 2 minutes.
- Add water and deglaze the pot (see notes). Add in the spinach. Press cancel and close the instant pot lid with vent in sealing position. Set on manual or pressure cook mode on high pressure for 2 minutes.
- Once the instant pot beeps, do a 5 minute natural pressure release, which means release the pressure manually 5 minutes after the beep.
- Blend the ingredients in the pot to a creamy texture using an immersion blender.
- Add the paneer and garam masala. Let it sit for 5 minutes, so the paneer soaks in the flavors.
- Palak Paneer is ready to be served with naan, roti or paratha.
Video
Notes
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Check out other Instant Pot Curries you might enjoy:
Heather says
Hi Meeta!
I live in a studio and don't have room (or $$) for an immersion blender. In your opinion, would this recipe still work without blending it? I saw in another comment you suggested chopping the spinach finely before adding. Will that change the flavor or texture at all? Any other tips?
It's one of my favorites when I go out to eat. Once I'm done with grad school I will buy the necessary equipment. In the meantime, I will continue to make and enjoy your other recipes!
Thank you!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Heather - If you don't have an immersion blender, I would suggest to dice the onions, green chili, ginger, garlic and tomatoes finely. Cook the onions a little more till they are golden, about 4-5 minutes. Then follow the recipe. Would love to hear how it turns out.
Heather says
Hi again,
I wanted to give you an update in case anyone else had the same question. I tried the modifications you suggested and, while it tasted delicious, I don't think the recipe works without blending. Until I can buy a food processor I will stick to your other recipes. The vegetable korma is my favorite!
Heather
Meeta Arora says
Thank you for sharing, Heather!
Deepika says
I have always made it fresh and had it. It’s the yummiest Palak panner I have ever made. And not only this, all other recipes of yours I have tried comes out awesome!! Thanks for such accurate and good recipes Meeta!!
But for a party, is it ok to cook Palak base earlier and freeze it ? Will it come out good on the party day?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Deepika - So glad you are enjoying the recipes. Yes, I think the palak base can easily be freezed. You can defrost the day before, reheat well, and add the paneer, and let it simmer for some time until the paneer softens.
Vivek Sharma says
Delicious, easy, fast and healthy! This is one of my favorite recipes. It's better than what most restaurants serve. I replaced paneer with Trader Joe's firm tofu and it was still pretty amazing! Thanks, Meeta!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Vivek - Happy to hear you enjoyed the palak paneer with tofu!
Catherine M says
I order palak paneer almost every time we go out for Indian food. I've made it several times from recipes on the internet, pan-frying the paneer cubes separately and wilting the spinach down in a separate pan. Then I "met" you! Your instant pot recipe came through my inbox a few weeks ago. Thank you for making it possible to put together a great meal after coming home from work yesterday (a huge bonus) and putting together a meal that we all LOVED. I surreptitiously took the very minimal leftovers to work today and everyone was dying to know what I was eating. This is definitely going to be my go-to forever. I don't love large chunks of paneer so I tend to do a 1/4 inch dice so that it gets distributed throughout any dish. I had a couple of summer squash in the refrigerator: not quite knowing what to do with 2 small yellow squash, I diced it very small, added in with the onion and voila! The whole dinner was amazing. Thank you!
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi Catherine - That makes me really happy. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
MK says
Hi - have you ever made this with frozen spinach (thawed)? Would it be the same amount, or less than fresh, if you were to use frozen chopped spinach?
Meeta Arora says
Hi MK - Sure, this recipe will work well with frozen spinach too. I would suggest to add the same amount (by weight). Hope you enjoy the palak paneer!
om kumar says
Lovely recipe Meeta Arora! I have tried many many of your recipes and they all turn out lovely! My kids used to love only restaurant North Indian dishes. Being a South Indian, I could never capture that. But with your recipes, my kids are enjoying home food 😊 Thank you!!
Om Kumar
Meeta Arora says
Hi Om Kumar - Happy to hear you all are enjoying the North Indian dishes. Thank you for sharing back!
Azhar Khan says
I've made this about 4-5 times, its the best instantpot Palak Paneer I've seen. The only change I made was reduced the spinach amount from 1 lb to about 360 grams.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Azhar - So glad to hear you enjoyed the palak paneer. Thank you for sharing back your review!
Uma says
I have made this twice already and love it!
But my instantpot gives the error food burning, even before the pressure is built.
How to avoid this error .
Help
Meeta Arora says
Hi Uma - Sorry to hear you got the burn message. I suggest to add 1/2 cup of water if your ip is more sensitive to burn message. Make sure to add the water and deglaze the pot. Hope you enjoy the palak paneer!
Sarah says
Very yummy. I love getting palak paneer at restaurants but never dreamed of making it myself. I made this in my 8 quart instant pot and it turned out great. I used 1/2 cup water and a little extra because I am not as experienced with the instant pot, although I think it would have been fine with the 1/2 cup. Also did not put as much spinach as it called for as the pot was getting very full! (Maybe 360 g, still turned out great). I did add lots of salt at the end, which brought out the flavours more. I ate it with roti and it was delicious! Thank you!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Sarah - So glad to hear that you enjoyed the palak paneer. Thanks for sharing back the changes you made!