Butter Paneer has the rich, creamy flavor of the ever-popular butter chicken, but in a vegetarian form featuring paneer cheese instead.
While my family likes butter chicken just fine, my kids actually prefer paneer to chicken. They love the soft, slightly squeaky texture of the fresh cheese that doesn't melt when it's heated.
So when I make Indian-inspired dishes at home, I often find a way to incorporate paneer. In this case, I make Butter Paneer, which is essentially the same as the popular Indian dish you all know and love, swapping out the chicken for paneer.
While I have made various butter chicken recipes over the years (the one I currently have on my blog is more of a short-cut version), this version of the sauce is one I could really stick with. It's the kind of sauce that makes you want to lick the bowl after you're done eating. And it gets bonus points for taking less than an hour to make!
How to make Butter Paneer
Making this mouthwatering plant-based dish starts with marinating the paneer. It doesn't need to marinate for long, just until the rest of the sauce is ready.
Stir together some yogurt (regular or Greek), oil, garlic, garam masala, turmeric, salt, and cayenne. Add the cubed paneer and gently toss it together until all of the paneer is evenly coated in the yogurt mixture. Set it aside while you prepare the sauce.
To make the sauce, first start sauteeing some diced onions, tomato paste, and salt in some oil until the onions are soft and the tomato paste has darkened. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Stir in some garam masala, paprika, and cinnamon, and cook until fragrant.
Stir in some tomato puree (or diced or crushed tomatoes) and cook until it comes to a simmer. Stir in the cream and remove the pot from the heat. Use an immersion blender (or regular blender) to puree the sauce until smooth (it will be thick).
Return the pot to medium heat and stir in the butter until melted. Stir in the paneer and any excess marinade and cook until the paneer is heated through. Serve your butter paneer with rice, quinoa, naan, and/or paratha.
Butter Paneer Make-Ahead Instructions
To prep your butter paneer ahead of time for minimal work at mealtime, follow step 1 to marinate the paneer in an airtight container. Place the container in the fridge and let it sit for up to 12 hours.
You can also prepare the sauce ahead of time by following steps 1 through 4. After you blend the sauce, transfer the pot or other container that you store it in to the fridge and store it for up to 2 days. When it comes time to cook the meal, heat the sauce over medium heat until steaming, then follow steps 5 and 6 in the recipe to complete the meal.
Butter Paneer Ingredients
- Canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil - you will need some to marinate the paneer, and more later to make the sauce
- Plain regular or Greek yogurt
- Garlic - you will need garlic both for the paneer marinade and for the sauce.
- Garam masala - garam masala is a spice blend that is often used in Indian cooking. It may contain spices like cinnamon, mace, coriander, peppercorn, cumin, and cloves. You can buy garam masala in well-stocked grocery stores (in the spice aisle or the international aisle) or make it yourself, if you already have the spices you might need. If you don't anticipate using it often, I recommend buying only what you'll need for the recipe, as ground spices don't have a long shelf life (in Canada, Bulk Barn is perfect for these situations)
- Ground turmeric
- Kosher salt - you will need salt both for the paneer marinade and for the sauce. To enhance the savory flavors in this dish, you could also use MSG-salt.
- Cayenne pepper - this is the only spice that contributes any heat to this dish. The ¼ teaspoon that I recommended in this recipe provides a very manageable mild heat. However, some may consider it "spicy" (my spice-intolerant daughter was away when my family ate this, but I think she would have said it was "too spicy"). If you don't want much or any heat, reduce the amount of cayenne to ⅛ teaspoon or even just a pinch. If you like spicier food, increase the amount to ½ teaspoon.
- Paneer - paneer is a fresh, acid-set cheese that is similar to cottage cheese, but pressed into blocks. It does not melt when heated. Where I live, paneer is available to buy at almost all grocery stores. I buy mine at Costco in large (1+ kg) blocks, and cut it into 3 pieces to use for 3 different recipes (I freeze the two I'm not going to use right away).
- Onion - If you're in a rush, feel free to use frozen diced onion to save time.
- Tomato paste - Pro-tip: for recipes like this where you only need a small amount, freeze tomato paste into 1 Tablespoon portions using a silicone ice cube tray. Or buy your tomato paste in tubes for easier measuring and storage.
- Grated ginger - pro-tip: always keep whole ginger in the freezer (store it in a zipper bag or air-tight container) and grate it direct from frozen with a microplane.
- Paprika - use regular (hot or sweet, depending on your preference), not smoked paprika for this recipe.
- Ground cinnamon
- Tomato puree - I used tomato puree because I always have it on hand, but feel free to use an equal amount of diced or crushed tomatoes instead. Be cautious with "tomato sauce" as sometimes it has additional seasonings added to it. Check the label for ingredients if you're not sure.
- Whipping cream - using whipping cream will yield the creamiest sauce, but you can substitute half and half cream (usually 10% MF) or coffee/cereal cream (usually 18% MF) if you wish.
- Unsalted butter
Want more Indian-inspired recipes?
Butter Paneer Nutrition Notes
The nutrition information in the recipe below is for one serving of the butter paneer (¼ of the recipe) and does not include what you might serve it with, like rice or naan bread.
To reduce the amount of saturated and total fat, as well as calories, you can replace the whipping cream with a lower fat cream option like half and half or cereal (coffee) cream, but the sauce will be less creamy.
Butter Paneer
Equipment
- Microplane for grating ginger
Ingredients
For the Paneer
- ¼ cup plain regular or Greek yogurt
- 1 Tablespoon canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper If you want your butter paneer to be very mild, reduce the amount to ⅛ teaspoon or just a pinch. Increase to ½ teaspoon for spicier butter paneer.
- 1 pound paneer cut into ½" to ¾" cubes
For the Sauce
- 2 Tablespoons canola oil or other neutral-flavored cooking oil
- 1 medium onion minced
- 1 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt or MSG-salt
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoon grated ginger
- 1 Tablespoon garam masala
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup tomato puree or diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
For the Paneer
- Stir together ¼ cup plain regular or Greek yogurt, 1 Tablespoon canola oil, the minced garlic, 1 teaspoon garam masala, ½ teaspoon ground turmeric, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. Add the cubed paneer and toss it in the sauce until it's evenly coated. Place the bowl in the fridge to marinate while your prep the sauce, or for up to 12 hours (overnight).
For the Sauce
- Heat 2 Tablespoons canola oil in a large saucepan or medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the minced onion, 1 Tablespoons tomato paste, and 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt. Cook until the the onion becomes soft and the tomato paste darkens, about 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in the minced garlic and grated ginger and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in 1 Tablespoon garam masala, 1 Tablespoon garam masala, and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon and cook for another minute.
- Stir in 1 cup tomato puree and cook until it comes to a simmer, about 2-3 mintues. Stir in ½ cup whipping cream and remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce (alternatively, you can use a traditional blender, but I recommend letting the sauce cool a little bit before hand and/or blending in 2-3 batches to prevent the steam from blowing the lid off the blender).
- Return the pot to medium heat and stir in 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter until it melts into the sauce. Stir in the cubed paneer and its marinade and cook until heated through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Serve the butter paneer over rice and/or with naan or parathi bread.
Nutrition
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