Paneer is creamy, soft, and perfect for curries, fry ups, or even to top a salad with. It’s easy to make and stores in fridge perfectly.
Paneer is light in flavor and incredibly versatile. I’ll never say it enough, Punjab is a farming community personified. We’re the grain belt, but given that India has nearly 75 million dairy farms, it’s no shocker that we’re a dairy state, as well. We drink milk by the liter and eat butter and cheese by the pound. So it was no shock that when panir came to Punjab with the Mughal empire, that it quickly was adapted to modern day paneer became a staple in the cuisine.
There are a lot of great things about paneer – the best one being that you can make it and eat it right away — no aging or culturing required. It’s also one of the easiest cheeses to make. All you need is milk and lemon juice. When you mix the milk and lemon juice you’ll immediately notice the milk begin to curdle.
It’s not a gooey or melty cheese, so don’t plan on a grilled cheese sandwich, but it’s great for crumbling, sauteing, barbecuing, and frying. Need recipe ideas? Check out paneer tikka, palak paneer, or paneer tikka masala. Not a fan of those? Consider using it as as a salad topper or stuffing for a bun, samosa, or even substitute for feta.
Fun fact #823: India is the world’s largest producer of milk.
Paneer
1
lbs0
minutes1
hour50
minutes1
hour50
minutesKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
1 gallon whole milk
3 tbsp lemon juice
Directions
- Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink for later.
- Bring milk to a bare boil, over medium heat, stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick to the bottom. The worst thing that can happen is burnt milk in paneer.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in lemon juice. The milk should begin to curdle nearly immediately.
- Continue stirring for approximately 3-5 minutes. You should see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) continue to separate. If it’s not fully separated add another teaspoon of lemon juice. If it still won’t separate, check your milk and be sure you are using non-UHT milk; this kind of milk won’t separate.
- Carefully pour the curds and whey into the colander.
- Once it’s cool enough to handle, gather the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese, gently squeezing to remove the excess whey.
- Flatten the cheesecloth w/curds into a round/square block. Place it on a large plate or cutting board (back in the sink for extra run off) with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side. Then set another plate on top. Weigh the second plate down with a heavy pot full of water. Let sit for 1 hour. If you want the cheese to be firmer let sit overnight.
- Refrigerate: Once set, your paneer is ready to eat. I really suggest refrigerating the paneer overnight so that it’s firmer and less likely to crumble.
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Nutrition Facts
4 servings per container
Calories490
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Total Fat
20.1g
31%
- Saturated Fat 12.1g 60%
- Cholesterol 80mg 27%
- Sodium 462mg 20%
- Amount Per Serving% Daily Value *
- Potassium 570mg 17%
- Total Carbohydrate
48.2g
16%
- Sugars 44.2g
- Protein 32.1g 64%
- Calcium 89%
- Iron 1%
- Vitamin D 25%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
