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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.
Mmmm this was wonderful! I used almond butter instead of cashews and reduced the spice a little: success! Thanks for sharing 🙂
awesome! so glad you liked it1
Hello Richa……I made this tonight and my husband and I savoured every mouthful…..It was divine! I will be working my way through all your recipes…..Thank you so much for sharing! :-)))))
awesome! that sounds fantastic! let me know how the other recipes go 🙂
Hi Richa, I just discovered your website and made this fab palak tofu to compliment an eggplant and lentil curry. What a fantastic recipe, I am so impressed! I look forward to trying some of your other recipes – thank you Richa.
Great to hear that!! thanks for trying it and liking the recipe!
In my “pre-gan” days I always thought the paneer was tofu anyway!! This was crazy easy and delicious, even my kids love it! I’ve already made this at least 4 times…..keep ’em coming 🙂
yay! sounds like everyone loved it. i am so happy
In my “pre-gan” days, I looooooved saag paneer! This dish is delicious! Even better than the original, even my kids love it! So easy to….I kind of don’t want to let them know how easy it is 🙂
Keep ’em coming 🙂
awesome! it is one of my fallback recipes when in time crunch. delicious, easy and quick.
I made this tonight and it was fabulous! And super easy. I used Twin Oaks Extra Firm tofu and my omni husband couldn’t tell it wasn’t paneer!
perfect. that is always music to my ears:)
hi richa thanks for this recipe.. i don’t eat dairy products but i love paneer. I have one question can I replace paneer with tofu in Indian punjabi cooking in every recipe of paneer . plz reply
Yes you can pretty use tofu in most recipes. Since tofu has a distinct taste and also slightly different texture, shallow frying it with some spices like n the recipes, or marinating it overnight in spices, helps make it a better sub in the dish.
Richa, your palak tofu looks really REALLY good. The palak tofu I made wasn’t completely vegan as I had to use my remaining ghee so it wouldn’t go to waste. Shall follow all of your recipe next time, hopefully soon! Glad I came across your blog.
Here’s what I did. Or tried to do 🙂
https://sunnysunnysunny.me/2014/01/19/week-3-unfinished-business/
Made this this weekend, fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing.