Paneer Butter Masala
Paneer in a silky tomato-cashew-butter gravy.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 300 g Paneer
- 5 Tomato
- 50 g Cashews
- 60 g Butter
- 1 Ginger
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 80 ml Heavy cream
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) (optional)
Method
- Soak the cashews in hot water to soften.
- While the cashews soak, quarter the tomatoes and grate the ginger and garlic.
- Simmer the tomato, ginger-garlic, and chili, then blend with the soaked cashews into a smooth gravy.
- Cook the gravy in butter until rich, then add the paneer and cream.
- Finish with garam masala and crushed kasuri methi off heat.
- Serve with naan.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Paneer Butter Masala
Paneer Butter Masala is one of the defining dishes of North Indian restaurant cooking, a mild, luxurious curry of soft paneer cubes bathed in a tomato gravy enriched with cashews, butter, and cream. It belongs to the family of makhani-style dishes born from Delhi's Punjabi kitchens, prized for a sauce that is smooth and gently sweet rather than fiery. The signature here is the cashew paste: nuts soaked soft and blended into the simmered tomato give the gravy its velvety body and rounded richness without any flour.
On the palate it's silky and mellow, the acidity of the tomato tamed by butter and heavy cream, with warmth from red chili and depth from garam masala. The finishing move that marks a proper version is kasuri methi — dried fenugreek leaves crushed in off the heat — which lends the unmistakable faintly bitter, herby aroma that separates butter masala from a generic tomato curry. It's a crowd-pleasing, family-friendly plate, best served with naan or jeera rice to catch the sauce. Naturally low in carbohydrate on its own, it makes a rich centrepiece for a weekend spread.
Paneer Butter Masala: frequently asked questions
What's the difference between paneer butter masala and butter chicken?
The main difference is the protein: paneer butter masala uses paneer (fresh Indian cheese) while butter chicken (murgh makhani) uses tandoor-cooked chicken. Both share a very similar base gravy of tomatoes, butter, cream, and warm spices like garam masala, kasuri methi, and often cashews, giving them a rich, mildly sweet, orange-red sauce. Butter chicken is generally credited to Delhi's Moti Mahal restaurant in the 1950s (created to use leftover tandoori chicken in a tomato-cream gravy), whereas paneer butter masala is a vegetarian adaptation built on the same style of sauce.
How many calories are in Paneer Butter Masala?
One serving of Paneer Butter Masala has about 493 calories, with 18g of protein, 15g of carbs, 41g of fat and 3g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Paneer Butter Masala gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Paneer Butter Masala has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Is Paneer Butter Masala dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Paneer, Butter, Heavy cream. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Paneer Butter Masala take to make?
About 35 minutes start to finish, but only around 25 of those are hands-on — the rest is cooking time. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Paneer Butter Masala?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Paneer Butter Masala make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.