Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhani is one of the most popular paneer recipes in Indian cuisine where paneer cubes (Indian Cottage Cheese) are simmered in a mildly rich onion tomato cashew nut based gravy and, Of course with some butter and cream made in the Stovetop or Instant Pot pressure cooker. Keto-friendly, Gluten-free, Low carb.
There is one North Indian a la carte curry, which my family never discusses before ordering it in a Restaurant & it is undoubtedly Paneer Butter Masala. There is no restaurant where we have not had this curry. It tastes great with Naan, Paratha, Roti's, and the gravy, which goes well with Jeera Rice or Veg Biryani.
So this curry is superhit in our family. Recreating this authentic restaurant taste at home was something I was always passionate about & here it is. If you follow this easy one-pot recipe as is, I am sure you will impress your family and friends. I have shared how to make Paneer Butter Masala in Instant Pot and Stovetop methods below.
It is called by various names such as butter paneer masala or butter paneer, or paneer makhani, and is a popular paneer dish on the restaurant's menu.
More Instant Pot Curry Recipes from my blog Black-Eyed Pea Curry, Lauki Ki Subji, Vegetable Korma, Chickpea Curry, Mushroom Masala
This Butter Paneer dish is also Keto Friendly; replace cashew nuts with almonds or skip it and add more heavy cream at the end. If you are on a Keto or Low Carb Diet, check out my 40+ Keto Indian Food Recipes Collection.
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Paneer Makhani Ingredients
- Paneer: homemade or store-bought paneer cubed into 1-inch pieces (about 200 grams).
- Onion, garlic, and ginger: I have used roughly diced onions, along with garlic and ginger.
- Tomato: I have used 3 medium tomatoes. You can also use canned crushed or diced tomatoes.
- Cashew nuts: This is one of the most important ingredients to add creaminess to the dish. So do not skip it. You can also use almonds instead. In restaurants, they use a combination of white melon seeds (magaj) and cashew nuts.
- Cream: I have used heavy cream. You can also use cashew or coconut cream.
- Oil or Butter: I used butter in this recipe.
- Herbs & spices: I have used fresh-cut cilantro, kasuri methi for herbs, and red chili powder, and garam masala (or Kitchen King Masala) for dry spices.
- Whole Spices: Used cinnamon stick, cloves, and cardamom. You can also skip whole spices and just add extra garam masala at the end.
- Lemon Juice: Use fresh lemon/lime juice whenever possible.
How to Make Paneer Butter Masala?
Stovetop Pot Method
Put the onions, tomatoes, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic, whole spices, and 1 cup of water into a pan and bring to a boil.
Cook on a medium flame for at least 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Blend to a smooth puree/paste using a high-speed blender.
In a pan, heat the butter, add the jeera seeds, and saute for 30 seconds.
Add Kashmiri red chili powder, bay leaf, give a quick stir.
Then add onion-tomato cashew puree. Close lid and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add the paneer, kasoori methi, garam masala, or kitchen king masala, salt. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil.
Finally, gently stir in the cream, and paneer butter masala is ready to serve.
Serve Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer makhani recipe hot with chapati, naan, rice, and onion slices.
Instant Pot Method
Firstly, add 1 cup of water to the Instant pot insert. Place the trivet.
Put the onions, tomatoes, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic, whole spices, and 1 cup of water into a deep pan. Place the pan over the trivet.
Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
Puree the cooked onion-tomato mixture using a hand blender until smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, puree in a blender in batches once slightly cooled.
Then I usually sieve the onion-tomato puree for a silky texture and discard the residue, but it's optional.
Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add butter/oil to the POT. Once hot, add cumin seeds and saute for 30 seconds.
Add Kashmiri red chili powder, bay leaf, give a quick stir.
Then add the onion-tomato-cashew pureed mixture. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the paneer, kasoori methi, garam masala, salt. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil.
Lastly, gently stir in the cream, and paneer butter masala is ready to serve.
Serve Instant pot paneer butter masala or paneer makhani recipe hot with chapati, naan, rice, and onion slices.
What to serve with Paneer Butter Masala?
This Paneer curry is a delicious side dish that perfectly complements various delicacies like naan, parotta, poori, and roti. I like serving it with Restaurant style Dal Makhani with jeera rice or ghee rice.
Tips & Variations
- If using a store-bought paneer, soak it in hot water for 15-20 minutes before using it in the recipe.
- Grind the cooked tomato-onion mixture to a smooth paste. You can also strain the masala through a soup strainer to get really creamy curry.
- Always add the cream at the end of cooking else, it will curdle.
- Use nuts in the gravy, it makes the gravy thick and creamy. I have used Cashews in this recipe, but almonds, melon seeds also work.
- Adding sugar balances the flavors and so you can add ½ teaspoon of sugar or 1 teaspoon of honey at the end.
- I usually add kitchen king masala (also available in the Indian grocery store) in place of garam masala powder to get the restaurant-style flavor to the paneer recipe.
- I have added Kashmiri red chili powder to give nice red color to this dish. However, if you want to make it spicier, add extra red chili powder.
- If you don't have whole spices, then add an extra 1 teaspoon of garam masala instead at the end.
Recipe FAQs
YES!!!!!!! If you plan to freeze the gravy, skip adding cream and add them at last when you are ready to serve. You can freeze this gravy in a freezer-safe container for two months. Just thaw over the countertop for 3-4 hours and then heat again in a pan or microwave and add cream before serving.
I have used Amul cream (heavy cream) to make paneer butter masala. You can use any whipping cream available in your nearest grocery store. You can also use homemade cream (malai).
To make Vegan paneer butter masala, you can replace paneer with extra-firm tofu—butter with any vegan butter, and fresh cream with cashew or coconut cream.
Yes. Replace cashews with almonds.
Yes, you can use canned tomatoes.
Yes, you can. Before adding it to the gravy, you can either shallow fry or deep fry paneer cubes to a light golden brown.
If you don't have cream available at home, you can replace it with cashew cream or coconut cream. Sometimes I also replace it with ½ cup of full-fat milk, but it doesn't turn out as rich.
More Indian Paneer Recipes
- Paneer Tikka
- Matar Paneer
- Paneer Jalfrezi
- Paneer Biryani
- Palak Paneer
- Palak Paneer Paratha
- Paneer Bhurji Sandwich
More Curry Recipes
- Chana Masala
- Black-eyed Peas Curry
- Potato Peas Curry
- Potato Green Beans Curry
- Rajma Masala
- Mushroom Masala
Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani
Equipment
Ingredients
Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250 ml
For Onion Tomato Puree:
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 medium tomatoes diced
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- ¼ cup cashewuts (about 12-15) OR almonds
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 cup water
For Paneer Butter Masala:
- 2-3 tablespoons butter or oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
- 1-2 bayleaf
- 2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder (i used everest kashmiri lal brand)
- 200 grams paneer (cottage cheese) cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1.5 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder or use kitchen king masala
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh cream (full fat)
- ½-1 teaspoon sugar or honey optional
- salt as per taste
- 2 tablespoons cilantro/coriander leaves for garnish
Instructions
Stovetop Method:
- Put the onions, tomatoes, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic, whole spices, and 1 cup of water into a pan and bring to a boil.
- Cook on a medium flame for at least 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Blend to a smooth puree/paste using a high-speed blender.
- In a pan, heat the butter, add the jeera seeds, and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add Kashmiri red chili powder, bay leaf, give a quick stir.
- Then add onion-tomato cashew puree. Close lid and cook on medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the paneer, kasoori methi, garam masala, or kitchen king masala, salt. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Finally, gently stir in the cream, and paneer butter masala is ready to serve.
- Serve Paneer makhani recipe hot with chapati, naan, rice, and onion slices.
Instant Pot Method:
- Firstly, add 1 cup of water into the Instant pot insert. Place the trivet.
- Put the onions, tomatoes, cashew nuts, ginger, garlic, whole spices, and 1 cup of water into a deep pan. Place the pan over the trivet.
- Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to Sealing. Cook on High Pressure for 8 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Puree cooked onion-tomato mixture using a hand blender until smooth. If you don't have a hand blender, puree in a blender in batches once slightly cooled.
- Then I usually sieve the onion-tomato puree for silky texture and discard the residue, but it's optional.
- Press SAUTE on Instant Pot. Add butter/oil to the POT. Once hot, add cumin seeds and saute for 30 seconds.
- Add Kashmiri red chili powder, bay leaf, give a quick stir.
- Then add onion-tomato-cashew pureed mixture. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the paneer, kasoori methi, garam masala, salt. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Lastly, gently stir in the cream, and paneer butter masala is ready to serve.
Notes
Tips & Variations
-
- If using a store-bought paneer, soak it in hot water for 15-20 minutes before using it in the recipe.
- Grind the cooked tomato-onion mixture to a smooth paste. You can also strain the masala through a soup strainer to get really creamy curry.
- Always add the cream at the end of cooking else it will curdle.
- Use nuts in the gravy, it makes the gravy thick and creamy. I have used Cashews in this recipe but almonds, melon seeds also work.
- Adding sugar balances the flavors and so you can add ½ teaspoon of sugar or 1 teaspoon of honey in the end.
- I usually add kitchen king masala (also available in the Indian grocery store) in place of garam masala powder to get the restaurant-style flavor to the paneer recipe.
- I have added Kashmiri red chili powder to give nice red color to this dish. However, if you want to make it spicier add extra red chili powder.
- If you don't have whole spices then add an extra 1 teaspoon of garam masala instead at the end.
Nutrition
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Jill says
Made this dish and it’s now one of my all-time favourite recipes!!! Wow!!! So delicious!!! Thank you!!!❤️🙏🏽
Bhavana Patil says
Thank you so much Jill 🙂 I am really glad to hear that, have a great day 🙂
Linda says
I made this for my family and everyone loved it! Absolutely delicious!
Bhavana Patil says
Hi Linda... thats so nice to hear.. glad your family members liked it
Linda says
I tried this with the pressure cooker last night and it was amazing. I think it's the first time I've actually succeeded in making a restaurant quality recipe at home. My husband and I both loved it.
Bhavana Patil says
Aww, i am so happy to know that the dish turned out well. Thank you for sharing your feedback:)