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This Vegan Palak Tofu Paneer is the easiest Vegan Palak Paneer with Tofu. Its dairy-free, gluten-free. Can be made soy-free w/ chickpea tofu, veggies or cooked chickpeas. 20 minute active time and ready in another 10. Serve over cooked grains of choice or with flatbread. Vegan Gluten-free Indian Recipe. Jump to Recipe
Any which way, lets get back to this Vegan Palak Tofu “Paneer”. Palak is Spinach and Tofu acts as the spiced up Paneer. I used to love the creamy palak paneer in my pre-gan days. Since vegan-izing it, I usually make it with Tempeh. With Tofu however it tastes even creamier. And the best part is it takes less than 20 minutes in the kitchen. Saute the Tofu, meanwhile blend up the spinach, no Blanching needed!, add to Tofu and let cook while you clean up, or prep/make the flat bread or rice. Drizzle cashew cream and serve. Done. For a more paneer like consistency, mix the tofu with the oil and spices and bake it for 20 mins. I find that panfrying is much quicker for a weeknight meal.
Another delicious Indian restaurant style curry veganized! Lets make this vegan Palak Paneer.
You can make it soy-free with potatoes and/or cauliflower, cooked chickpeas/beans or Chickpea Tofu . Serve with flat breads, or top a bowl of quinoa or brown rice, or make sandwiches or top a pizza!
The easiest and the tastiest Vegan Palak Tofu Paneer !
Back to this Saag “Paneer”. I often substitute half of the greens with other green leafies, like collard greens or mustard greens. This spinach gravy is a delicious to add greens to meals if you are not fond of green smoothies.
More restaurant style curries on the blog
Vegetable Jalfrezie – Veggies in tangyy smoky curry.
Tempeh Do Pyaaza – Tempeh in double onion curry
Dahl Makhani
Mango curry Tofu
Tempeh Tikka Masala curry
Gobi Makhani – Creamy buttery curry
Step by Step Photos:
Saute the Tofu in a little oil for 2-3 minutes.
Add all the spices and mix and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, collect all the ingredients for the spinach curry and blend them.
The tofu is all seasoned up by now.
Add the spinach puree, mix well and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Drizzle some cashew cream or coconut cream and serve hot.
This popular recipe is also in my cookbook! Now available internationally!
Vegan Palak Tofu "Paneer" - Tofu in Spinach Sauce
Ingredients
Spiced Tofu
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 7 oz firm tofu block, , 1.5 cups cubed tofu, pressed for 10 mins to remove excess moisture and then cubed
- 1/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- a generous pinch of kala namak, , optional, or use 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp cayenne, Or use paprika for less heat
Spinach curry
- 2 cups packed Spinach, washed, chopped if large, Or 6-8 oz frozen spinach
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup almond milk or coconut milk, (use less or more for preferred consistency)
- 2 Tablespoons soaked cashews, , soaked for 15 minutes or use ground raw cashew (less or more for creamy consistency to preference)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 Serano chili pepper , or to taste
- 1 medium tomato chopped
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar or maple syrup
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon garam masala, , less or more to preference, depends on the freshness of the spice mix and your preference of flavor
- cashew cream, pepper flakes to garnish
Instructions
- In a pan, add oil and heat on medium heat. Chop up the tofu and add to the oil. Mix to coat and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add all the spices under Spiced Tofu and mix to coat. (Add 2 tsp nutritional yeast for cheesy flavor if you like) Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes, partially covered on low-medium heat. See video.Alternatively: Toss the tofu in oil and the spices, spread on parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 F for 20 mins for a more paneer-ish texture.
- Meanwhile, wash the fresh spinach and add it and all the other ingredients under Spinach curry except garam masala to the blender. Blend into a smooth puree. Add the puree to the sizzling tofu. Mix well. Add garam masala to taste. Cook covered on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until the raw garlic smell is not detectable and desired sauce consistency is achieved. Taste and adjust salt and spice.
- Drizzle some cashew cream and Serve hot with Naan, Roti or other flat breads, or with quinoa or rice. Add pepper flakes for added heat. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon powder for variation.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If you have even a halfway decent blender, this has to be one of the easiest -and most delicious-vegan renditions of an Indian traditional dish that I have tried.
Indeed !
This recipe is easy, delicious, and nutritious, thanks so much for sharing!!
I have a question: What is the cashew cream you use for this recipe? Is it a homemade cashew cream or something you buy at the store?
I blend some cashews with water and use. You can also use some coconut cream or thick part of coconut milk for garnish or just omit
This is one of my wife’s favorite Indian dishes (always been my least favorite), I made it for the first time tonight afyer years of having it as take out. I can’t say enough how good this recipe is, I will be making this again in the near future not only for her buy for myself too, thank you for sharing this recipe, I’m looking forward to exploring more of your page this week. Thanks again!
This is one of my wife’s favorite Indian dishes (always been my least favorite), I made it for the first time tonight afyer years of having it as take out. I can’t say enough how good this recipe is, I will be making this again in the near future not only for her buy for myself too, thank you for sharing this recipe, I’m looking forward to exploring more of your page this week. Thanks again!
Awesome!!
enjoy, sounds nice & glad that you’re making it @ home
I LOVE this recipe! It is one of my family’s favourites.
In place of fresh tomato, I substitute several pieces of sun-dried tomato, as it is more readily available, and adds more flavour.
I usually make a double batch!
Thank you for this great recipe!
thanks Louise, sun-dried sounds nice
This dish has become a staple in our house in the cool months when we are getting lots of varied greens from our CSA every week. We’ve used a wide variety of greens mixed together besides spinach: broccoli leaves, mustard, collard, even sweet potato greens (they’re edible, though regular potato leaves aren’t), and even carrot tops! If I have any edible green leafies that are at the end of their edible life, they’re going in the blender when I make this. I’ve also substituted some canned tomatoes for the fresh ones when fresh ones were out of season. It all works! We also skip the oil and toss the tofu with your spice blend and air fry it — we let it airfry while we’re putting everything else in the blender. It comes together SO fast. This recipe is such a great way to make something delicious with an abundance of greens!!!
oh sweet potato greens – interesting , wow you got the air fryer into the mix too!! 💨 💨
Amazing! Better even than the palak paneer that I remember from our favorite takeout spot.
Awesome !
I really love this recipe! It was so easy to cook, and the payoff is huge! It is so flavoursome and so comforting. The level of spice is just perfect. And I feel like vitamins are jumping around my body on account of the spinach. Thank you! I am looking forward to seeing what else you have got!
yay! thanks for popping in
This is the recipe that brought me to your website. I am not an experience cook, but this is so easy even for me. I have made it a handful of times following your recipe exactly. Love it! Thank you for sharing your talent with the world. I am honored to benefit from your gift.
Actually found this recipe in the comment section of a NY Times Cooking Tofu Saag recipe. Didn’t try the NYT version so can’t compare, but this was absolutely fantastic! Since I was making dinner for both vegan and non-vegans, I made a big pot of the spinach curry and let it simmer. Later added it to roasted tofu and shrimp (separately, of course). This was a HUGE hit. Everyone loved it. Will definitely be making again.
sounds like a great night! thank you
Very easy recipe to make – although I only did the sauce on this occasion. Super tasty and healthy!
good all on its own – thanks for popping in ♡