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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.
Looks delicious. Just bought your book! My son is allergic to cashews. Is there a substitute for cashew cream or could I omit? Not a fan of coconut cream with palak.
Hi Leena, you can omit the cashew cream for the garnish. For the creamyness in the sauce, you can soaked pumpkin or sunflower or watermelon(magaj) seeds. or use silken tofu. In the book I mention these substitutes in the beginning of the chapter. There are also recipes that use non cashew or non nut based creamy sauces, and you can use those methods for other nut based sauces. See the pasanda sauce and malai kofta in the book.
Have you ever made this with frozen spinach instead of fresh? I was going to give it a try since that’s all I have on hand.
I have. Use less frozen. about 1.5 cups instead of 2 cups fresh.
I’ve decided this is my favorite recipe on your site. Every time I make this, the first feeling is bliss. It is so amazingly delicious and satisfying to the palate. The fact that it’s relatively easy to prepare is an added bonus.
I’ll take this opportunity to add that I’ve been reading your blog for a long while now and I really love your recipes. This is one of the first places I look when looking for an idea.
Thank you !!! <3
Very Good Idea. Thanks a lot.
Thanks for this recipe. I really enjoyed it, but I need to work on the consistency of the spinach gravy–I guess I didn’t keep it in the blender long enough. Also, I substituted the following, because of lack of ingredients, and it seemed to work: soy milk, jalapeno peppers, almond butter (for cashew butter)
blend longer or shorter depending on the consistency you prefer. i like it smooth, so i blend it long enough so everything is well blended. you can use whole cashews if you have a high speed blender or soak the cashew sin hot water for 15 minutes and then blend.
I just made it with my Vitamix and I almost felt that I should have used my old-fashioned blender to leave some texture. Also it does not quite look like the one your picture, and looks more like tofu in some green smoothie 😛
What kind of blender did you use, Richa??
🙂 i use a blendtec. you can blend just a few pulses to mix up the tomatoes and garlic, or blend all the way depending on the texture you prefer for the sauce. Most days I blend it into a smoothie as it works really well served over rice. its the taste which is awesome either which way 🙂
Thank you for the extra tip 😉 Yes, it definitely taste good anyways! (I just thought yours looked so professional :D)
😀 ah, its just the display and photography. the cashew cream was too thin so it is adding some liquid to the top, but otherwise it is close to smoothie consistency. the lighting adds more texture in the the photos than there is 🙂
you can also split the step in 2. blend the tomatoes garlic etc until smooth first and transfer to the pan, then blend the spinach. pulse until desired consistency and transfer to pan.
Is it a problem with my browser or are some of the ingredients (eg. the Spinach part) not listed ?
Also from the pic it looks like turmeric and chilli powder have been added to the tofu but I don’t see those listed in the Ingredients list.
Thanks,
Renu
Hi Renu. This recipe is also in my cookbook, so it isnt available on the blog this month (Publisher requirement). It will be back available end of June. Or you can grab a copy of my cookbook! Print or digital. https://fettabbau-trim.today/vegan-richas-indian-kitchen-cookbook%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I need to stop drooling over ur photos to concentrate on the recipes.. the pix are amazing..