Palak Tofu

This vegan palak paneer blends the sweet taste of spinach with invigorating ginger, garlic, and spices. To make it vegan, paneer cheese is replaced with tofu. Making it is a snap when you use the Instant Pot!

Palak paneer is on of my favorite dishes. If you’ve never eaten it, seen it, or heard of it before, well I’m glad to introduce you. We make this recipe a few times a month at home to use up fresh spinach, so I’m kind of an expert on it!

Palak is the Hindi word for spinach, which is why this recipe has a lovely rich green color. Paneer is a type of cottage cheese made by pressing curdled milk. The way that it’s made is very similar to how tofu is made, which is why I chose tofu as a paneer replacement in this dish.

The coolest thing about this recipe is that it’s been adapted for the Instant Pot – so you can quickly toss all the ingredients in the pot and it’ll cook it for you in only 5 minutes! No babysitting, no fuss!

You’ll also need a blender to blend up the sauce. I think a food processor would also work, but you may need to process the sauce in batches.

Vegan Palak Tofu

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need to make this vegan palak paneer recipe:

3/4 cup water
8 oz baby spinach
16 oz extra firm tofu
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
1/2 inch of ginger (about 1 Tbsp)
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegan yogurt (optional – for creamier sauce)

The yogurt is recommended, but you can use a cashew cream type sauce too if you don’t have vegan yogurt.

I used almond milk yogurt when I cooked it. I think coconut milk yogurt would also work really well.

Here’s a closer look at the spices you’ll need:

Leave out chili powder and garam masala if you are worried about it becoming too spicy. You can always add more spice later once you have tasted the final palak sauce.

How To Make Vegan Palak Paneer

To get started, cut up your onion into rough chunks. Cutting it will help the Instant Pot cook it thouroghly.

Then add the steaming basket/tray thing that came with your Instant Pot:

This next part is VERY IMPORTANT!! Add 3/4 cup of water into the pot.

If you forget to do this, you’ll get a burn notice!

Then add all the spinach leaves into the pot. Just dump ’em on in. I used an entire 8oz bag of baby spinach.

Then add your cut up onions on top of the spinach.

Add the garlic, ginger, and spices.

Now for the cool part. Place a square of parchment paper into the Instant Pot like this:

And set your tofu block right on top.

I used a block of extra firm tofu, which I think has the right texture and stability for mimicking paneer. I did NOT pre-press this tofu. Most of the extra water gets squeezed out during pressure cooking and becomes part of the sauce.

Then put on the lid, and set the valve to sealing.

Here are the Instant Pot settings to cook your vegan palak paneer:

Then set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Some Instant Pots say “Manual” instead of “Pressure Cook.”

Do a quick release when it’s done. (A quick release means to turn the valve on the lid from sealing to venting. Be careful, hot steam and sometimes a little hot water can sputter out. Some Instant Pots have a button you press on the lid to do a quick release).

When you open the lid, you’ll notice that the spinach has been cooked down, and the tofu will have pressed everything down in the pot.

Using the parchment paper to hold on to, carefully remove the tofu block and cut it into 1″ pieces like this:

Then lift out the steaming wire rack thingy from the bottom of the Instant Pot. Pluck off any spinach leaves that are stuck to it, of course. Waste not want not!

Transfer the spinach, spices, and any liquid in the pot into a blender and blend for 30 seconds, or until the sauce has reached your desired consistency. Some people prefer a chunkier sauce. I made mine pretty smooth.

Voila! Isn’t she beautiful? Behold:

Next, pour that beautiful green sauce into your serving dish.

I recommend adding 1/4 cup of vegan yogurt to the sauce to make it a little bit creamier. You can just stir it into the serving bowl. This picture was taken before I added veg yogurt:

Add in your tofu chunks, and garnish with some additional spices like turmeric, chili flakes, and cumin seeds to make it more beautiful.

I usually serve this palak tofu with jasmine rice, naan, and some other curries.

I hope you enjoy this vegan palak paneer recipe as much as I do! Please check out my other vegan instant pot recipes and vegan dinner ideas as well!

Check out more vegan dinner ideas and tofu recipes!

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