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:
Amazing recipe I just used 2 tomatoes and it turned out pretty good
Another winner! Your recipes are great. I made this for dinner today and my mom said it was better than Indian restaurant.
I did garam masala instead of whole spices, that made it easy to use immersion blender as I do not have spice pouch. I also did not have cream, so used whole milk and it was still a great dish. Next time I will try coconut milk.
Hi Niru – So happy to hear that your mom enjoyed the paneer butter masala. Coconut milk will work great in this recipe.
About to make this recipe. I”m a new IP owner. Do the onions and tomatoes cook enough if they’re not sauteed for a while? I did however make your Channa Masala using the 5 ingredient garam masala. That turned out to be really good. Had an authentic Punjabi taste to it
Thanks so much!
Hi Sindhu РGlad to hear you enjoyed the Chana Masala. You will be surprised how good the paneer butter masala turns out without any saut̩ing. I hope you give it a try!
Hi Meeta Arora,
Do you turn on the IP in saute mode after adding paneer chunks?
Note: We love all your IP recipes for its ease.
Hi Aruna – Glad to hear you are enjoying the recipes. You can saute for couple of minutes and bring the curry to a boil. I usually just add the paneer and leave it in there, which softens it and then reheat while serving. If you feel the paneer does not soften, then I would surely heat on saute for couple of minutes.
Amazing recipe!!! I tried this last night and I followed it almost 95% to tee (minus black cardamom and red chili powder and added an extra tbsp of honey). The taste was spot on! My whole family loved it and it’s not always easy to please the kids! Such an easy and convenient recipe and great because I usually have most of the ingredients. I did substitute whole milk for the heavy cream. I usually skimp on the spices (whole and powdered) but I think those measurements are what made the flavor so wonderful! Thanks for such a wonderful recipe….looking forward to trying out the paneer tikki masala next!
Hi Pooja – So glad to hear you all enjoyed the paneer butter masala. You can also use this gravy as a base for many different curries – Matar Paneer, Mushroom Matar, roasted cauliflower, etc. Would love to hear your review of the paneer tikka as well.
I’ve tried this recipe 3 times now. For my taste, a tsp of clove is too much, but 5 cloves seems to be about right. This most recent time making it, I opted for the garam masala instead of the ground cumin, and I think that made it better than ever. This is an AMAZING recipe and is super fun to play around with. Many thanks!
Hi Chris – Happy to hear you enjoy the paneer butter masala recipe. I love that you are adjusting the recipe to your taste. Thank you for sharing back your suggestions 🙂
Hi there Meeta! I just came across your blog, and I am so excited to try out so many of these recipes. I am so grateful for your knowledge, content, and videos! I’ll let you know how this recipe goes! Thank you!
With Gratitude,
Rosie
hi Rosie – Glad to have you here :-). I would love to hear how the curry turns out!
Hello Meeta, this recipe looks very easy and yummy. I haven’t tried it yet. May know the quantity it yields ? For how many people is this quantity enough. I am planning to make the recipe for 40 adults . Could you suggest the quantity and the timer that I need to set to make the gravy enough for 40 adults .
Hi Sruthi – This yields a good serving for 4-5 people. However when cooking for a large crowd, the quantity will depend on the other dishes you have along with this one. I would do at least 5x the recipe. However I don’t think if 5 times this recipe will fit in a 6qt instant pot at once. So you might have to make the sauce twice.
Love this. On repeat in our house. My two year old gobbles it up!
Hey Priti – It is always wonderful to hear when kids enjoy a recipe!
Plan is to make this recipe today however, I don’t have a spice pouch. What is a substitute for it?
Hi Natasha – Sorry for the very late response. I have been occupied with my 2 month old baby. Either you can skip the whole spices or you can half the amount if whole spices added, and just blend them with the curry. For everyday cooking, I do skip the whole spices many times and just add some Garam Masala to taste at the end, which works great too.
I have a question but not about the recipe, though I’m in the process of making it right now.
That restaurant that served this as a dip … which one I was that, do you remember? I’m in Chicago and have been there, but I just can’t recall the name. My head’s gonna burst. 😂😂
Oh my…I am not 100% sure now.I am guessing it was India Garden, but I could not find it in the photos on yelp.