Go Back
–+ servings
Plate of vegan saag paneer and rice with fork.
Print Recipe
4.66 from 32 votes

Vegan Saag Paneer (with Tofu Paneer!)

This vegan saag paneer has pan fried tofu cubes that stand in for cheese and are smothered in spicy curried spinach and coconut milk mixture.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time35 minutes
Course: Entree
Cuisine: American, Indian
Servings: 4
Calories: 211kcal
Author: Alissa

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 9 ounces fresh spinach
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 14 ounce package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed at least 20 minutes, and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon Asian chili paste (sambal oelek)
  • 2 teaspoons granulated vegan sugar
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup full fat coconut milk from a can, or more, if you like

Instructions

  • Place onion, ginger, garlic and spinach in food processor. Pulse, stopping to stir up everything a few times. You may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your food processor bowl. Stop when spinach is very finely chopped, just shy of becoming blended.
  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu. Cook about 10 minutes, until tofu cubes begin to brown lightly and crisp up, tossing a few times to ensure even cooking on all sides.
  • Sprinkle turmeric over tofu and toss a few more times to coat the tofu cubes.
  • Add spinach mixture, broth, lemon juice, cumin, garam masala, chili paste, sugar and salt. Stir a few times to mix everything up. Reduce heat to medium and allow to simmer about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked off.
  • Add coconut milk, and cook another minute. Mixture should be thick and creamy.
  • Serve with rice and naan.

Notes

I've made this a few times since originally posting the recipe, and found that I prefer a higher spinach to tofu ratio. If you do too, either cut the amount of tofu, oil, and turmeric in half (you'll get fewer servings though), or double everything else (in which case you'll get a few more servings).

Nutrition

Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 10.8g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 14.8g | Saturated Fat: 5.2g | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 637mg | Fiber: 3.1g | Sugar: 4.2g | Calcium: 220mg | Iron: 4.3mg