Paneer Butter Masala, a favorite at Indian restaurants, made in the Instant Pot or a traditional Pressure Cooker. This dish is also popularly known as Paneer Makhani.
Paneer Butter Masala has chunks of paneer or cottage cheese cooked in a mildly spiced onion tomato gravy. It is so smooth and creamy that you will not want to stop eating it. My daughter is a very very picky eater and has repeatedly requested this paneer dish, so I can attest that it is very kid friendly.
If you like paneer, check out other instant pot curry recipes – Palak Paneer, Paneer Tikka Masala and Matar Paneer.
How to make Instant Pot Paneer Butter Masala? – A different preparation
The preparation for this paneer butter masala is very different than the usual onion-tomato gravy. Usually to make gravy, we first sauté onions and then sauté tomatoes. However this one is done in a completely different way.
Add all the ingredients, except paneer, cream and honey in the instant pot and pressure cook for 8 minutes. You don’t need to finely chop the onions and tomatoes, as we are going to blend them later. This is also the reason, I suggest to add the whole spices in a pouch made from thin cheesecloth or a spice bag. This helps to get the flavor, but you can also remove it before blending.
Then blend the cooked ingredients using an immersion blender or in a regular blender. I used my immersion blender, which I could use directly in the pot. If using a regular blender, you would have to pour the contents into the blender and may need to let them cool before blending. Then pour them back to the instant pot after blending. The gravy is now ready. Add cream, honey and paneer chunks. Stir and let the curry rest for 5 minutes.
Paneer butter masala is ready. Garnish with some kasoori methi or cilantro and enjoy with naan, roti or rice.
Isn’t it a lovely color? And the most easy dish to prepare? This is my go to dish when I have not done much preparation…and oh, perfect to serve if you have guests coming over.
Love this gravy? Make it a dip with naan and serve it as an appetizer. This used to be a complimentary appetizer served at an Indian restaurant I frequently visited in Chicago.
This gravy also freezes well. Prepare in advance and freeze. Then when needed, defrost, give a boil and add chunks of paneer. And why only paneer, you can add green peas & paneer to make matar paneer or add green peas & sliced mushrooms to make mushroom matar. See notes for variations.
Don’t forget to check out my post on 23 Best Instant Pot Indian Recipes.
Paneer Butter Masala – Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb Paneer or Cottage cheese, chunks
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 1 Green chili pepper , (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 Onion, cut in large pieces
- 1 tablespoon Ginger, minced
- 1 tablespoon Garlic, minced
- 4 Tomato, cut in large pieces
- 1/4 cup Cashews
- 2 tablespoon Dried Fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 cup Cream, heavy whipping or coconut cream
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1 teaspoon Salt, adjust to taste
Spices
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin (Jeera powder), or Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne or Red Chili powder, adjust to taste
Whole Spices
- 1 inch Cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 5 Green Cardamom (Elaichi)
- 2 Black Cardamom (Moti Elaichi)
- 1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon Cloves (Laung)
Instructions
- Make a spice pouch by adding the whole spices to a cheesecloth. Tie it such that the spices cannot come out of it.
- Except paneer, cream and honey, add all ingredients and spice pouch to the Instant Pot including the spices. Close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot to manual or pressure cook mode on high pressure for 8 minutes.
- After the instant pot beeps, release the pressure naturally.
- Remove the spice pouch carefully. Blend the contents in the instant pot with an immersion blender or regular blender to a smooth paste. If using regular blender, you may need to cool the ingredients before blending. Get the contents back to the instant pot.
- Add the cream and honey. Stir into the sauce.
- Add paneer chunks. Stir them into the sauce and let it rest for 5 minutes. You can cover with a glass lid.
- Paneer Butter Masala is ready to be served. Garnish with dry fenugreek leaves or cilantro.
Video
Notes
- Matar Paneer / Mushroom Matar / Roasted Cauliflower – You can also add different veggies to this sauce and make delicious curries. All of the veggies can be added after making the sauce. Simmer for 3-4 minutes on saute mode to cook the veggies.
- Butter Chicken or Murgh Makhani – You can also cook butter chicken with this recipe. Add chicken thigh pieces on top of the other ingredients before pressure cooking. Cook for 10 minutes at high pressure. Remove chicken and cut into 2-3 inch size pieces. Add back to the sauce. Voila, butter chicken is ready! (Update: Butter Chicken Recipe here)
- Love this gravy? Make it a dip with naan and serve it as an appetizer.
- Vegan: To make this curry vegan, replace cream with coconut cream and paneer with tofu or vegetables.
Nutrition
Check out other Instant Pot Curries you might enjoy:
This was amazing- we loved it! We added fresh kale from the garden at he end and then turned the instant pot on sauté for a few min to wilt the kale. Delicious!
Glad you enjoyed the Paneer Butter Masala. Adding Kale or Spinach at the end is great! Thank you for sharing back your review.
Hi Meeta, I’m the one on Instagram hassling you with all my kheer questions! I’d like to try making this tomorrow. I don’t have any cheese cloth and I was wondering if I could replace the whole spices with some ground ones to avoid using the cheese cloth? If so, what would be your recommended quantities please? Many thanks in advance for so patiently answering all my questions. Love your site and feed and have shared with my family who also love Indian cooking.
No worries at all. If by any chance you have a tea infuser, you could add the whole spices in it or in any thin cloth (which you dont mind getting spoiled, not necessarily a cheese cloth). Otherwise you could still add the cinnamon stick and remove it after cooking. Skip the other whole spices, it will still taste great. I do that many times when making this for a quick weekday dinner. Hope you enjoy the curry. Thank you for sharing the site with your family, very much appreciate it!
SO delicious! Will definitely be making it many times again and will add it to my regular rotation. I made it with tofu just to make it a little healthier and it was phenomenal.
So happy to hear, Puja! Thank you for sharing back your review 🙂
Thanks for posting this. It turned out Flavorful, Aromatic and delicious. Loved it! So easy to make this. I wish i had taken a picture and shared it with you. Next time I will definetly do this.
Hey Miral – So happy to hear you enjoyed the Paneer Butter Masala. I would love to see a picture, just tag #pipingpotcurry when you share it 🙂
Excellent and easy! Used 4 chili’s and doubled cayenne to make it spicy. My Husband and I both loved it. Followed recipe exactly and will definitely make again. Thank you!
So happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing your review 🙂
I think I’d like to use less butter. Maybe oil. So happy to see a dump recipe for sauce.
Hey Elyse – Sure, you can use oil in place of butter in this recipe. I am myself so happy with this discovery of dump and ready sauce, and make it almost every week now. Yesterday we had paneer & green peas curry with this sauce 🙂
CAn you make this in a regular pressure cooker?
Hey Rachna – I think it should work in a regular pressure cooker too, however I have not tried it. I suggest to try 3 whistles and then let the pressure release naturally. Please share if you try it!
Can you do this in a regular pressure cooker?
Hey Rachna – I think it should work in a regular pressure cooker too, however I have not tried it. I suggest to try 3 whistles and then let the pressure release naturally. Please share if you try it!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I tried this on my adventure to learn cooking and it turned out to be the best Panner Butter Masala I ever tasted in my entire life. Thanks so much!
Hi JP – So happy to hear that you thought this was the best Paneer Butter Masala you ever had. Thank you for sharing back your review!
I like how your recipes are always so easy to follow and quick. I was wondering how I should modify this recipe if I have to add chicken/other meat. Could you help with that please? thanks!
never mind 🙂 I just saw in the recipe notes 🙂 I will surely give it a try!
Hey Devki – Thank you. I am happy to hear that you are finding the recipes easy and quick, which is definitely my goal with sharing these recipes. I would love to hear how the makhani turns out with chicken for you.