Saag Paneer is one of my favorite Indian dishes. The combination of spinach and cheese is absolutely delicious. However, I have to be careful with dairy, as I am lactose sensitive. My husband kept this in mind and decided to make it for me using tofu instead of cheese and making his own cream using DairyPure’s Lactose Free Reduced Fat Milk and a plant-based buttery spread. While this is not a sponsored post, I did partner up with DairyPure on this sponsored post recently – Lactose Free Cream of Broccoli Soup – I was so impressed that I wanted to see what other recipes I could use DairyPure’s Lactose Free milks in.
We scoured our trusty How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman and did not find it, so my husband turned to the interwebs and found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and adapted it to our tastes. You can find that recipe here. We had planned on using tofu instead of cheese and the DairyPure Lactose Free Milk with a plant based buttery spread (instead of the heavy cream). The added benefit (besides reducing the dairy for me) was reducing the calories.
You’ll need:
Two large bunches of spinach (or just buy two bags of washed spinach)
1 large onion
2 tomatoes
1 package extra firm tofu
Olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fresh ginger
3 minced garlic cloves
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup DairyPure Lactose Free Milk (I used the Reduced Fat)
1 tbsp plant based buttery spread
Instructions:
Chop up 2 bunches of spinach.
Chop 1 large onion.
Chop tomatoes. 
Chop up tofu.
.
Bring a pot of water to boil, add spinach and cook for 3 minutes.
Drain and add to a food processor. Pulse until it’s smooth.
To make the “cream”, take 1/2 cup of DairyPure Lactose Free Reduced Fat Milk and 1 tbsp butter spread. Microwave or melt it slightly (20 seconds in the microwave should do it) and stir it together.
Saute tofu with a little olive oil. Then take tofu out of the pan and set aside.
Add a little more oil and cook the cumin seeds until they are toasted (this should take 3 minutes). Add the onion and cook for around 4-5 minutes (you want it to soften).
Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 10 minutes.
Add the pureed spinach and tofu back to the pan.
Add in the “cream” and keep stirring.
Cook for around 15 minutes more and keep stirring while it cooks.
Serve over rice as a main dish or serve as a side dish (Chicken Tikka would be great with this).
Lactose Free Saag Paneer
Ingredients
- You'll need:
- Two large bunches of spinach or just buy two bags of washed spinach
- 1 large onion
- 2 to matoes
- 1 package extra firm tofu
- Olive oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp fresh ginger
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup DairyPure Lactose Free Milk I used the Reduced Fat
- 1 tbsp plant based buttery spread
Instructions
- Chop up 2 bunches of spinach.
- Chop 1 large onion.
- Chop tomatoes.
- Chop up tofu.
- Boil water, add spinach and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and add to a food processor. Pulse until it's smooth.
- To make the "cream", take 1/2 cup of DairyPure Lactose Free Reduced Fat Milk and 1 tbsp butter spread. Microwave or melt it slightly (20 seconds in the microwave should do it) and stir it together. I would do this right before you need to add it to the recipe, but you can do it a little earlier and let it sit. Saute tofu.
- Then take tofu out of the pan.
- Add oil and cook the cumin seeds until they are toasted (this should take 3 minutes). Add the onion and cook for around 4-5 minutes (you want it to soften). Add the ginger, garlic, tomatoes, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add the pureed spinach and tofu back to the pan.
- Add in the "cream" and keep stirring. Cook for around 15 minutes more and keep stirring while it cooks.
- Serve.
This was not a sponsored post. I used leftover samples from a sponsored post by DairyPure Milk. There is an affiliate link in this post.
Other VeLactose Free Saag Paneer Recipe
Other Vegetarian Recipes:
Quick and Healthy Vegan Weeknight Dinner: Couscous with Chickpeas and Cauliflower
Layered Rainbow Salad Platter for Dinner – Great for Picky Eaters
Healthy Frittata Recipe with Less Eggs and Lots of Flavor – Great for Brunches or Lunches
You can easily make lactose free paneer and use it in this recipe instead of tofu. Making paneer is super easy – just boil lactose free milk , add salt + acid ( i prefer lactose free yogurt, but you can use lime juice)
What a terrific idea, thank you!
Saag peneer is one of my favorite ! Wow lactose free? It’s a keeper. I can’t get over your cream of broccoli lactose free that you recently posted… you rock!
Looks so great!!!!