Easy Paneer Butter Masala | Paneer Makhani

Easy Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani) is a restaurant-style Indian curry made with tender paneer simmered in a creamy tomato gravy flavored with butter, cream, garam masala, and kasuri methi. Mildly sweet yet perfectly spiced, this quick paneer curry is ideal for weeknights or festive dinners. Serve hot with naan, jeera rice, or basmati rice for an authentic and comforting meal.

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For today's post, I'm sharing a restaurant-style Paneer Butter Masala recipe, simplified for home cooking. There are many versions of this dish, and even I make it in a couple of ways. Recently, I have become hooked on quick and simple ways to make meals, and this is one of my go-to paneer dishes. It can be made in a jiffy and yet comes out perfect every single time.

This Paneer butter masala is a luscious dish, so definitely heavy on the calories, making it apt for special occasions, dinners, parties, gatherings, and not so much for daily use or everyday cooking.

Paneer Butter Masala Ingredients

The key ingredients to make paneer butter masala restaurant style are

Paneer: You can use fresh or frozen paneer. For frozen paneer, soak it in hot water until it's thawed and soft before adding it to the gravy.

Butter: The name calls for butter, so don't skip this. Cooking onions and curry in butter adds great flavor.

Tomato Puree:  Highly recommend using store-bought tomato puree instead of fresh tomato puree for making this. Store-bought tomato puree is concentrated and helps give the butter paneer recipe that bright color and rich flavor.

Cream: This is my paneer butter masala with cream recipe since I use heavy whipping cream instead of cashew paste. As I mentioned, this is a quick and easy recipe, so using cream saves the time required for soaking and grinding, which is necessary with cashews. Plus, it gives it that luscious, smooth, velvety texture, which is the signature of this dish.

Spices: you need the basic ones used regularly in Indian cooking, like turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and my homemade Garam Masala..

Garam Masala: The other key ingredient for this recipe is my Punjabi Garam Masala. It pairs well with many Punjabi (North Indian) recipes. The addition of this spice mix makes this dish taste restaurant-like, or should I say even better. Way better! Highly recommend making a batch of this garam masala today if you haven't already. Believe me, you won't go back to repurchasing the store-bought one.

Please refer to the recipe card for exact ingredient measurements. 

How to Make the Best Paneer Butter Masala Recipe

Soak the frozen paneer block in hot/warm water until completely thawed and soft. This will make the paneer soft. You can skip this step for fresh paneer. Keep paneer soaked until ready to add to the gravy.

In a cooking pan or Dutch oven, heat butter, and once it starts melting, add the bay leaf and green cardamom. Sauté for a few seconds till fragrant, and then add the onions and saute. When the onions turn translucent and start to brown, add ginger, garlic, and green chili (optional). Sauté till the raw garlic smell disappears.

Now add the tomato puree/sauce and mix. Cook for 2 mins, stirring intermittently. Then add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt, and black pepper powder. Cook until this mixture thickens, then add the Garam Masala and cook, stirring intermittently, until the mixture has thickened, reduced, and starts to ooze oil from the sides.

Lower the heat, add the cream, and mix. Depending on the consistency you like, slowly add milk (for richer gravy) or water (half cup at a time). Mix again. Crush the dry fenugreek leaves between your palms and add them to the gravy.

Cut the paneer block into triangles or cubes and add it to the gravy. Gently mix and allow it to simmer for 5-7 minutes. Luscious Restaurant Style Paneer Butter Masala is ready.

Serving Suggestions

Serve paneer butter masala warm, topped with butter and cilantro, and pair it with Indian flatbreads like Naan or Roti, or even rice, along with some Sirke Wala Pyaaz (Quick Pickled Onions) and Green Chutney for that perfect restaurant-like meal at home. Enjoy!!

How to make Butter Paneer Vegan

To make this paneer butter masala recipe vegan, replace the paneer with tofu, butter with vegan butter, and cream with vegan or cashew cream.

More Paneer Recipes

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Recipe Card

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Paneer Butter Masala Recipe | Paneer Makhani

Shweta Arora

Easy Paneer Butter Masala recipe! Restaurant-style paneer makhani in a rich, creamy tomato gravy with butter, cream & spices. Perfect with naan or jeera rice.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Calories 597 kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 350 grams Paneer fresh or frozen
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 3-4 green cardamoms
• ▢ ½ cup yellow onion finely chopped
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ginger minced or paste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon garlic minced or paste
• ▢ 1-2 green chilies finely chopped or minced, optional
• ▢ 1 cup tomato puree store bought or tomato sauce (store bought) or 3-4 medium tomatoes pureed (See notes)
• ▢ 1 cup cream
• ▢ 1 cup milk or water
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder adjust to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Salt
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Punjabi Garam Masala
• ▢ 1 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves
• ▢ 1 teaspoon sugar optional

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Instructions

 

• Soak the frozen paneer block in hot/warm water until completely thawed and soft. Keep it soaked until ready to use. You can skip this step for fresh paneer.
• In a dutch oven or cooking pot, heat butter and once it starts melting add the bay leaf and green cardamoms. Saute for a few seconds till fragrant .
• Add the onions and saute until translucent and start to brown. Add ginger, garlic, and green chilies (optional). Saute till the raw garlic smell disappears.
• Stir in the tomato puree/sauce and mix. Cook for 2 mins stirring intermittently.
• Add the spices - chilli powder, turmeric powder, Punjabi Garam Masala, salt, pepper powder. Cook stirring intermittently till mixture has thickened, reduced and starts oozing oil from the side.
• Lower the heat and add the cream and mix. Depending on the consistency you like slowly add milk (for richer gravy) or water (half cup at a time). Mix again.
• Crush the dry fenugreek leaves between your palms and add it to gravy.
• Now, cut the paneer block into triangles or cubes and add it to the gravy. Gently mix and allow it to simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• Restaurant-style Paneer Butter Masala is ready. Serve it hot, topped with some butter, cilantro leaves, and pair it with Naan/Roti or rice, along with some Sirke Wala Pyaaz (Quick Pickled Onions) and Green Chutney for that perfect restaurant-like meal at home.Enjoy!!

Notes

You can use either fresh tomato puree or store-bought tomato puree/sauce for this recipe . Both work beautifully. Personally, I prefer store-bought tomato sauce as it gives the gravy a richer flavor and deeper color. With fresh tomato puree, add one tablespoon of tomato paste to elevate the taste and color. 

For making fresh tomato puree, boil 3–4 medium tomatoes for 5–10 minutes, peel the skins, blend until smooth, strain, and use. This should yield about 1 cup of puree.

The key flavor comes from my homemade Punjabi Garam Masala. But if you don’t have it on hand, substitute with store-bought garam masala. 

This gravy thickens as it sits. When reheating before serving, adjust the consistency with a splash of water or milk and adjust the salt as needed.

To make it mild, skip the green chilies. Add more to make it spicy. 

Nutrition

Calories: 597kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 18g | Fat: 52g | Saturated Fat: 32g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 147mg | Sodium: 754mg | Potassium: 523mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1634IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 569mg | Iron: 2mg

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