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Restaurant Style Tofu Butter Masala Recipe – Easy Indian Butter Tofu “Paneer”. Dairy-free Tofu Paneer Butter Masala. Tofu is marinated and baked then simmered in tomato ginger cashew sauce. Vegan Butter Tofu Gluten-free Recipe. Jump to Recipe
You have got to make this Butter Tofu! Butter Tofu, Butter Masala or butter curry or whatever you want to call it. Red butter sauce for everything. Butter masala sauce is a popular sauce used with meats, paneer cheese or vegetables in Indian restaurants (that have a mostly North Indian Menu). It can be called makhani sauce (translates to “buttery” sauce) or butter sauce. Each restaurant can have its own version of sauce. I generally use my makhani sauce to make butter masala with veggies, tofu,chickpeas or fake meat. That makhani sauce is a rich creamy general masala sauce that makes everything taste amazing.
This butter sauce is a simpler and more restaurant like variation and can be used with veggies, chickpeas or any other additions. I use baked tofu to work as “paneer” to make a Butter Paneer. Serve with flatbread, rice, Roti or Vegan Naan. No Butter in this sauce. Feel free to use vegan butter instead of oil.
Video:
More restaurant style Indian Mains from the blog
- Mushroom Matar Masala
- Bombay Potato and Peas
- Tofu Pasanda
- Tofu Matar Masala
- Tofu in Spinach Curry – Saag Tofu
- Vegetable Jalfrezi – Veggies in smoky tangy curry
- Gobi Broccoli Makhani
- Tempeh Tikka Masala with Kale
Like this recipe? Then there are 20 more options in my Indian Kitchen book.
Tips and Troubleshooting:
- Troubleshoot: If the sauce flavor has a bitter after taste, it could be from ginger(over mature ginger can be bitter, use young juicy ginger), from the tomatoes that have not roasted well (cook them longer on medium low heat to roast well), or a larger amount of Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, use less).
- Fenugreek leaves are the only ingredient in this recipe that needs to be either ordered online or picked up from an Indian store. To sub use 1/4 tsp powdered fenugreek (fenugreek seed powder), or 1/4 tsp ground mustard. Do get some fenugreek leaves as they are used in many Indian sauces and have a fabulous authentic flavor profile. Try the Instant Pot Version of Vegan Butter Chicken here.
- Soy-free: This recipe can be easily made soy-free with Chickpeas, seitan, Chickpea tofu or Veggies.
Step by Step Photos:
Marinate the Tofu, then bake.
Baked and ready for sauce.
Some elements of this recipe are inspired by Manjulas Kitchen and Veg Recipes of India Paneer butter masala recipe.
Make the Butter Sauce. I use canned diced tomatoes as they give a deeper color.
Fold in the Tofu, sliced ginger and sliced green chile. Serve hot with Roti or Naan. Let me know in the comments how it worked out! Please also rate the recipes.
What is Butter Masala
Butter Sauce, or makhani or butter masala sauce is a creamy tomato based sauce often found in Indian restaurants. It is a mild savory sweet creamy sauce that is often served with meats or paneer cheese (butter chicken or butter paneer). Versions differ based on restaurants and chefs and i have slightly different versions on the blog and my book too. Try all the sauces with this baked tofu to find the one that you love!
To make more like a restaurant version, add more oil and vegan butter 🙂
Butter Tofu Paneer - Restaurant Style Tofu Butter Masala Recipe
Ingredients
Baked Tofu "Paneer"
- 12 oz firm tofu, pressed between paper towels for 10 minutes, then cubed
- 1/2 tsp each of garam masala, ,paprika, salt, and turmeric
- 2 tsp ginger paste , or minced ginger
- 2 tsp garlic paste or minced, or 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1.5 tsp water, 1/2 tbsp
- 1.5 tbsp cornstarch, or other starch such as arrowroot
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast, optional
- 1 tsp oil
Butter Sauce:
- 1 tsp oil , or vegan butter
- 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 3 large ripe tomatoes , or 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 inch cube of ginger, 1/2 inch chopped, 1/2 inch julienned or thinly sliced into sticks
- 1 hot or mild green chile juilenned or thinly sliced, or use very thinly sliced green bell pepper
- Cashew cream made with with 1/4 cup soaked, 15 mins cashews blended with 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp paprika , or kashmiri chili powder
- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp kasooori methi - dried fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar or other sweetener, to preference
Instructions
Bake the Tofu:
- Press and cube the tofu if you havent already. In a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients under baked tofu, to make a marinade. Add tofu and toss well. Let it sit for 15 min (optional). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F / 200ºc. Place the tofu cubes on parchment lined sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
Make the Butter Sauce:
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until golden. You can also add in 1 bay leaf and 1 cinnamon stick with the garlic for additional flavor. Remove these before serving.
- Puree the tomato with the chopped ginger and half the green chile. Add to the skillet and cook until the puree starts to thicken and does not taste raw tomatoey. Dont wash the blender.
- In the same blender, blend the cashews and water until smooth. Blend the cashews for a minute, let it rest for a minute and then blend again for about a minute for a creamy result. Works with unsoaked cashews. Or use premade thin cashew cream (about 1/2 cup).
- Reserve 1 tbsp of the cream for garnish. Add the rest of the cashew cream to the skillet. Add spices, fenugreek leaves, salt and sugar and mix well. Use 1/2 cup water to rinse out your blender and add to the skillet. Mix and Bring to a boil. Taste and adjust salt, heat (add cayenne) and sweet. Add more water if needed for preferred consistency. Add more cashew cream for creamier.
- Fold in the baked tofu. Simmer for a minute. Mix in the julienned ginger and green chile. Alternatively, mix half of the ginger and chile and use half as garnish. Add a drizzle of the cashew cream and other garnishes as pepper flakes, chopped cilantro. Serve over Easy Garlic Naan, rice or roti.
Video
Notes
With soy curls: Add 1 cup soy curls directly to the skillet at step 4 with cashew cream and 1 cup of water. Simmer for 10 minutes. Nutritional values based on one serving Nut-free: Use coconut cream (thick white part from a can of full fat coconut milk) To sub fenugreek leaves: Use 1/4 - 1/3 tsp powdered fenugreek (fenugreek seed powder), or 1/4 tsp ground mustard. No onion garlic; this recipe is already onion free. Use zucchini to sub garlic in the sauce. Add 1/2 tsp more fenugreek leaves to balance the flavor.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Oops. Sorry for the double comment before! It was very good! Just in case there are other readers with cranky food processors – soak the cashews for at least an hour so they’re extra soft, and blend for about 8 minutes, cooling your motor as needed to get a creamy consistency; in the end, I just used water, no almond milk during the blending. I made it soy-free for some friends with mushrooms and peas, and it was *almost* too rich!
Thats awesome!! You can use less of the cashew cream to preference or add more veggies and more water. Adjust away!
Aha! Patience is really going to be my virtue, I have a small food processor (no room for a blender just yet). I’ll soak the cashews for longer, blend for 8 minutes (over 20) and maybe instead of water, I’ll use a bit of almond milk, so it encourages the creaminess. Thanks so much!!! I’ll report back as soon as I’m done!
Hallo… so, how would you feel about using blanched almonds instead of the cashew nuts in this recipe? Even with a soak in luke-warm water, my cashews don’t always come out very creamy, and I’m trying to figure out whether it’d be worth giving blanched almonds a try… Thanks!
almonds take even longer to get creamy. Do you soak the cashews what happens to the cashews after blending. Is the mixture gritty? If the mixture is gritty, it just needs a longer blending. it depends on the blender. Blend for 1 full minute, then let the mixture rest for 2 minutes, then blend again for a 1 minute. Repeat once more.
My cashews get creamy even in my tiny blender and even when they arent soaked. Oi just make sure to blend them 3 or 4 times for about a minute cycle.
Hello! All right, I will probably just need to be patient. I love my food processor, but it’s not the newest, “bestest”. The idea of blending one minute, resting one minute, blending again, for perhaps 4 minutes blending time might be the best, with some soaked cashews. Thanks!
I would use a blender. Food processor for smaller quantities might take even longer or not work well at all.
Aha! Patience is really going to be my virtue, I have a small food processor (no room for a blender just yet). I’ll soak the cashews for longer, blend for 8 minutes (over 20) and maybe instead of water, I’ll use a bit of almond milk, so it encourages the creaminess. Thanks so much!!! I’ll report back as soon as I’m done!
I so appreciate the substitution notes! Thank you. I’m going to try this recipe this week.
From experience I know that your recipes are amazing, so for the first time out with this recipe we doubled it. Not sorry! This is so rich and smooth with subtle flavors. Totally saving this one to make again! You should write a cookbook. ;^) haha
Super easy recipe and it turned out great. However, I recommend that you very finely mince the garlic for the sauce part since having big chunks of garlic was a bit distracting to the dish. Similarly, the julienned pieces of ginger added at the end were also a bit off. Nothing bad or terrible but biting into a slice of raw ginger wasn’t always too tasty. Overall, great recipe and even my Indian friend from India complimented on how good it was!
Awesome! Yes i mention finely chopped. Its almost minced but not too fine to cause the garlic and ginger to release too much juice.
This is one of my favorite vegan recipes. I usually adjust the flavor once I’ve added the tofu and let it simmer for a little while. It’s low carb and vegan so it’s my go-to when I have paleo or gluten-free people over. When I first found this recipe I made it twice in one week! Really REALLY DELICIOUS
tofu still cooking but this sauce is so good! will be very difficult to keep this until tomorrow!
make a triple batch of that sauce!
I made this yesterday for my omnivore girlfriends and they loved it. I added half a can of coconutmilk for more gravy and to adjust thickness. Really nice. I’ll make it again for my sister when she come Tuesday (I want it again). Thanks for a lovely recipe, I’ll try some more of yours for sure.
Awesome!
This was outstanding!! I’ve been trying to cook Indian recipes for years and finally this one tasted right! I used the solids from a can of coconut instead of cashews and a serrano pepper. The Indian couple that run the grocery store in my building were so excited I was buying fenugreek leaves from the Indian section of their store that they gave me a box of butter chicken spices. I subbed that for the spices you had down. Delicious!
Awesome!! Whats in the butter chicken spices?
I think it’s MDH brand? It has coriander, chili red, salt white, dried onion, cumin, dried garlic, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, dried ginger, cardamom green, cloves, nutmeg, mace, and star anise.
I loved how the tofu picked up all the flavor!
ah yes, thats a good one!