Paneer Biryani is a delicious, flavorful, one-pot rice dish made with paneer, whole spices, biryani masala, and long-grain basmati rice in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop. Ready in under 30 minutes, this easy vegetarian biryani is perfect for busy weeknights and packs beautifully for kids' and office lunch boxes.
One of the most loved foods at our home is Biryani. I regularly make vegetable biryani, chickpea biryani, soya chunks biryani, and paneer biryani.
Today, I am sharing an easy one-pot pressure cooker paneer biryani. It can be prepared in under 30 minutes, and it is protein-rich and delicious. This restaurant-style paneer biryani goes well with onion tomato raita. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, and kids school lunch box.
More Indian Paneer Recipes, you may like
Ingredients
- Paneer: Homemade or store-bought paneer, cubed into 1-inch pieces. For a crispy texture, you can shallow fry or air fryer paneer if you prefer. You can also add vegetables of your choice, like potatoes, carrots, and beans.
- Rice: Traditionally, long-grain basmati rice is used for making biryani, and I have used white basmati rice for this recipe.
- Water: I used 1.5 cups of water for every cup of Basmati rice to make this biryani in an Instant Pot. Adjust the water based on the type and quality of rice.
- Ginger and garlic: I used fresh homemade ginger paste and garlic paste. You can also mince and add them.
- Yogurt: Use fresh homemade plain yogurt.
- Herbs & spices: Used mint and coriander leaves for herbs, red chili powder, turmeric, roasted cumin powder, and biryani masala for dry spices. I highly recommend using Shan Biryani Masala because it gives restaurant-style Biryani flavor.
- Whole Spices: Used bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds, and cardamom.
How to Make Paneer Biryani in Instant Pot
Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Heat homemade ghee (or oil), add 1 bay leaf, 1-inch cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom, 3 cloves, and ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds. *Vegans can use oil instead of ghee.
Add 1 large sliced onion, 1 tablespoon minced ginger-garlic, and 2 green chilies (slit lengthwise). Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and turn light golden brown.
Add ¼ cup mint leaves, and ¼ cup coriander leaves, and sauté for a few seconds.
Then stir ¼ cup yogurt (curd), spices like ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder, 2-3 teaspoons biryani masala powder, and salt. Mix well until the spices are evenly combined with the yogurt.
Add 1 cup of rinsed basmati rice, 1.5 cups of water. Give a quick stir.
Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve set to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Instructions: Follow the same steps as Instant Pot pressure cooker. Cover the cooker with a lid and cook for one whistle, followed by natural pressure release.
Once the pot beeps, wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR).
Add air-fried paneer, squeeze some lime juice, and add coriander leaves. Mix well, and Instant Pot pressure cooker Paneer Biryani is ready to serve with raita or plain yogurt.
Add 1 cup of air-fried paneer, squeeze in some fresh lime juice, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Gently mix everything.
Note: I marinated paneer cubes with a little turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt and air-fried it. You can also shallow fry it in a pan.
Your Pressure cooker Paneer Biryani is now ready to serve. Enjoy it hot with raita, plain yogurt.
Serving Suggestions
Serve paneer biryani with a side of onion tomato raita, plain yogurt, along with mango lassi or nimbu pani.
Variations
- No Biryani Masala?: If you don't have biryani powder, then replace it with the same quality of garam masala powder.
- Vegan: You can skip yogurt and add lime juice or 1 medium tomato.
- Veggies: If you want to make it healthier, add some vegetables to this biryani.
Expert Tips
- You can use air-fried or shallow-fried paneer for the biryani for a rich flavor, but you can also add raw paneer directly if you prefer.
- You can add fried onions (birista) on top before serving.
- I recommend adding the paneer after pressure cooking, as prolonged cooking can make it chewy or rubbery. Simply stir it in at the end and let it warm through for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, use fresh homemade paneer, which stays softer even after cooking.
More Veg-Style Biryani Recipes
Paneer Biryani (Instant Pot & Stovetop)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 - 1.25 cups paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cubed and air-fried
- 2 tablespoons ghee (or oil)
- 1 large onion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon ginger and garlic minced
- 2 green chilies slit lengthwise
- ¼ cup mint leaves chopped
- ¼ cup coriander leaves chopped
- ¼ cup curd (yogurt) (vegans can use dairy free)
- 1.5 cups water
Whole Spices
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2-3 cloves
- 2 cardamoms
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
Dry Spices
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 2-3 teaspoons biryani masala powder
- salt to taste
Garnish
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves
Instructions
Instant Pot Method
- Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Heat homemade ghee (or oil), add 1 bay leaf, 1-inch cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom, 3 cloves, and ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds. *Vegans can use oil instead of ghee.
- Add 1 large sliced onion, and 1 tablespoon minced ginger-garlic, and 2 green chilies (slit lengthwise). Sauté for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions soften and turn light golden brown.
- Add ¼ cup mint leaves, and ¼ cup coriander leaves, and sauté for a few seconds.
- Then stir ¼ cup yogurt (curd), spices like ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder, ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder, 2-3 teaspoons biryani masala powder, and salt. Mix well until the spices are evenly combined with the yogurt.
- Add 1 cup of rinsed basmati rice, 1.5 cups of water. Give a quick stir.Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve set to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, Wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE(NPR).
- Add 1 cup of air-fried paneer, squeeze in some fresh lime juice, and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Gently mix everything together.Note: I marinated paneer cubes with a little turmeric powder, red chili powder, and salt and air-fried it. You can also shallow fry it in a pan.
- Your Pressure cooker Paneer Biryani is now ready to serve. Enjoy it hot with raita, plain yogurt.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker
- Follow the same steps as Instant Pot pressure cooker. Cover the cooker with a lid and cook for one whistle, followed by natural pressure release.
Video
Notes
- No Biryani Masala?: If you don't have biryani powder, then replace it with the same quality of garam masala powder.
- Vegan: You can skip yogurt and add lime juice or 1 medium tomato.
- Veggies: If you want to make it healthier, add some vegetables to this biryani.
- You can use air-fried or shallow-fried paneer for the biryani for a rich flavor, but you can also add raw paneer directly if you prefer.
- You can add fried onions (birista) on top before serving.
- I recommend adding the paneer after pressure cooking, as prolonged cooking can make it chewy or rubbery. Simply stir it in at the end and let it warm through for 1-2 minutes. Alternatively, use fresh homemade paneer, which stays softer even after cooking.
Nutrition
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Anonymous
I loved all your blogs... Thanks for sharing 😉
Bhavana Patil
Thank you so much, Appreciate it for writing to me.
Ramya
Tastes awesome. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Bhavana Patil
Thank you Ramya, I am so glad you liked it :).
Anonymous
Brilliant recipe! We have tried it a several times and always a hit
Bhavana Patil
Thank you so much for the kind words, made my day 🙂
Priyanka
Yummy paneer biriyani i made it. It was perfectly cooked. Accurate measurements. I loved it. Thank you for yummy recipes
Bhavana Patil
That's really awesome Priyanka 🙂 Thank you for trying out the recipe and sharing your feedback, I am very glad it turned out well. Keep trying more recipes from the blog. Have a great day 🙂