Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)

This is the easiest way to make paneer butter masala. Mix a few ingredients together on the stovetop and you’ll have this restaurant-worthy dish ready in minutes.

What is Paneer Butter Masala?

Paneer butter masala might be the most popular paneer dish ever. If you haven’t heard of it, think soft paneer in a creamy and buttery, well-spiced, tomato-based sauce. You may also know this dish by another name: paneer makhani.

Paneer butter masala is similar to my popular butter chicken recipe and my butter chickpeas recipe, but it’s also a bit different in that I add cashews to this sauce. I like adding cashews with the paneer – it makes the sauce a little thicker and a little richer. If you don’t like cashews, you can use almonds or leave the nuts out if you want.

Why Use Onion Masala

The great thing about this particular recipe for paneer butter masala is that it’s easy. It takes minutes, thanks to my pre-made onion masala. All you need to do is heat the ingredients and add the paneer. That’s it.

By making a big batch of onion masala one day, you can prepare meals like this one with very little effort. You don’t need to cook down tomatoes daily, just do it once and keep the masala in the freezer and use it as needed. If you don’t have onion masala handy, then you can try using canned tomato sauce as that’s already cooked down though I haven’t tested it this way for the blog.

Serve this paneer makhani with Indian flatbread (naan or roti) or basmati rice. To make this more of a complete meal, add one or two of these dishes too:

Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)

Paneer Butter Masala (Paneer Makhani)

4.87 from 15 reviews

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Servings 4 -5

Ingredients

 

• ▢ ½ cup water
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted/raw cashews
• ▢ 2 tablespoons ghee or butter
• ▢ 1 ¼ cups frozen or thawed onion masala

Spices

• ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ 1 teaspoon paprika or kashmiri chili for color
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
• ▢ Pinch of dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)

• ▢ 1 14 ounce block Paneer, cubed
• ▢ 2 tablespoons heavy cream OR full-fat unsweetened coconut cream, to taste

Instructions

 

• Add the water and cashews to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for now.
• Add the ghee, onion masala and spices to a saucepan over low heat and allow it to simmer for a couple minutes (if using frozen masala then simmer until the masala melts).
• Pour the blended cashews into the saucepan along with the paneer and cook until the paneer is heated through.
• Stir in the cream and serve.

Notes

• This recipe is part of my onion masala series – be sure to check it out!

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