Palak Paneer, Lighter
The Punjabi classic without cream: a bright, garlicky spinach purée with soft paneer, enriched with a little milk. The spinach carries the flavour, so nothing is lost.
- Region
- Punjab
- Status
- Adaptation — milk replaces cream; spinach quantity increased
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Prep 10 min · Cook 20 min · Total 30 min
- Serves
- 3
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Quick weeknight dinner
- Tags
- High protein · Quick · Lower-carbohydrate (curry only) · Soy-free · Whey-free · No added sugar · Gluten-free* (curry only)
- Allergens
- Milk; gluten (roti)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 425 kcal
- Protein
- 23 g
- Carbs
- 45 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 12 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palak paneer only (about 280 g) | 285 | 18 g | 18 g | 15 g | 7 g | 6 g | 12 g | 6.5 g |
| Dinner plate: curry, 1 whole-wheat roti, salad | 425 | 23 g | 45 g | 16 g | 7 g | 12 g | 14 g | 5.5 g |
High protein. A restaurant palak paneer of the same size often has 400–500 kcal from cream and butter. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 200 g full-fat paneer, in 2 cm cubes · 500 g spinach, washed
- 100 g onion, finely chopped · 80 g tomato · 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste · 2 green chillies · 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 10 g groundnut oil · 1 tsp cumin seeds · ½ tsp turmeric · 1 tsp coriander powder · ½ tsp garam masala · 1 tsp kasuri methi · 4 g salt · 60 ml milk
- Plate: 105 g whole-wheat atta for 3 rotis · 300 g cucumber-onion salad
Method
- Blanch spinach in boiling water for 1 minute; plunge into iced water. Squeeze lightly and blend with chillies to a smooth purée.
- Heat oil; add cumin and sliced garlic until golden. Add onion; cook 5 minutes until soft.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and tomato; cook 4 minutes until the tomato breaks down. Add turmeric and coriander powder.
- Add the spinach purée, salt and 80 ml water. Simmer 3–4 minutes only, to keep the colour bright.
- Stir in milk, then paneer, garam masala and crushed kasuri methi. Simmer 2 minutes. Serve with roti and salad.
Protein optimisation
- Paneer supplies 12 g per serving; spinach 3.5 g; milk and other vegetables 1.5 g.
- Boost: replace milk with 60 g hung curd whisked in off the heat (+1 g protein per serving), or add 50 g more paneer (+3 g protein, +45 kcal, +3.5 g fat per serving).
- Low-fat paneer (check the label) saves about 70 kcal and 8 g fat per serving.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Punjabi winter saag paneer — use 250 g mustard greens and 250 g spinach, and a little makki atta to thicken.
- Substitution: firm tofu for paneer (see L16).
- Storage: 2 days refrigerated; the colour dulls on reheating.
- Food safety: refrigerate within 2 hours.
- Meal prep: make the spinach purée ahead; it keeps 1 day.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com