Guys, I’m begging you to try this easy Paneer recipe.
Why?
Because making Indian Paneer from scratch is so friggin easy. Once you’ve done it you’ll be constantly wondering why:
- You never ate that much Paneer before
- Whenever you did eat Paneer you used store-bought
- Why on Earth so many Indian restaurants in France use cream cheese (La Vache Qui Rit or Kiri) instead of Paneer, when it’s so ridiculously simple to make?!?! (This one really makes me cranky!)
Paneer cheese is the perfect dairy product for vegetarians. You can cook it just like halloumi cheese because it stays firm when you fry it. You can even thow it on the grill or BBQ! Add a pinch of Tandoori masala to give it a bit of a kick, or ground turmeric for a beautiful, golden color.
Here’s a little video from my Instagram Reels that shows you the exact process. Full recipe below!
Easy Paneer Recipe
How to make Paneer
Learn how to make Indian Paneer cheese from scratch!
Servings: 2 people
Calories: 50kcal
Equipment
- cheesecloth
Ingredients
- 1 liter whole-fat milk
- 1.5 tbsp lime juice or vinegar
Instructions
- Bring the milk to a boil on medium-high heat.
- Once the milk is boiling, add the vinegar or lime juice.
- Turn the heat down to medium, and stir the milk with a spoon and watch it curdle! The liquid will seperate from the solids, leaving some little chunks and a yellow liquid called whey.
- Keep stirring for a couple of minutes, and then set up your draining station:Put your cheesecloth over a fine-meshed strainer, and the strainer on top of a big bowl.Pour the mixture on top of the cheese cloth, and you should end up with the liquid in the big bowl and all the hot cheese curds in the cheesecloth.
- You can either keep the whey to add to a smoothie or bread (it's full of protein!) or you can throw it away.
- Take the cheesecloth, twist it closed, and try to squeeze as much water out as possible (without burning yourself!).
- Finally, take the cheese off of the strainer (keep it in the cheesecloth) and set it on a cutting board. Try to shape it into a rectangle or a square, but no worries if you end up with a weird shape. It really doesn't matter!
- Lay the cheesecloth gently on top of the Paneer, and top it with something heavy that will fully cover it (like a pan, a pot, or a pot in a pan with some cans of beans on top.)
- Let sit for 20 minutes and you're done!
Tips & Tricks
- I would highly recommend buying a piece of cheesecloth for your Paneer experiment. It’s washable and costs practically nothing.
- Be sure to only use whole-fat milk, otherwise it won’t work.
- For the curdling agent, you can use white vinegar or lemon juice. Both produce great results.
- Bear in mind that the Paneer will take on the texture of the cheesecloth. Although that doesn’t bother me!
- Also bear in mind that it can take on the shape of the object you use to press it. What do I mean by this exactly? Well I used a Staub enamel baking dish to squash my Paneer last time, and ended up with the words Staub printed on my cheese. I hadn’t noticed that the logo of the company was embossed on the bottom of the tray…That said, you could use this to your advantage and end up with funny branded Paneer. You do you!
So now you’ve made your Paneer and don’t know what to do with it? Check out my recipe for Palak Paneer, a classic Indian dish with spinach and Paneer!
I hope you enjoyed learning how to make paneer from scratch!