Saag paneer is an Indian dish thatās loved worldwide – the combination of milky, smooth paneer, spiced gravy, and earthy spinach base are not replicated in any other dish. To keep saag paneer at home, have you considered whether it’s freezable?
Can You Freeze Saag Paneer?
Yes, you can freeze saag paneer for up to 3 months. This dish freezes exceptionally well. We recommend transferring saag paneer to freezer-safe containers before allowing the dish to come to room temperature. When itās cool, place the lids onto the containers and freeze.
Do Does Saag Paneer freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Saag Paneer? Yes
How to Freeze Saag Paneer
The first step to freezing saag paneer is to gather all the dishes together in one bowl, ensuring that the dish is as well mixed as possible. This is so you can ensure that the ingredients are evenly distributed.
You don’t want to freeze one portion loaded with paneer and another with no paneer at all. What’s saag paneer without the paneer??
- Portion: When the dish is well mixed, portion it out into sealable, freezer-safe containers, ensuring that the lids of the containers are off for the time being.
- Cool: Allow the saag paneer to come to room temperature, ensuring that every portion is entirely cool. This will prevent condensation, which can lead to bacterial growth or freezer burn over time.
- Seal: Place the lids onto the containers, ensuring they are sealed tight. If you’re worried that they’re not airtight then you can wrap them in cling film.
- Freeze: When the saag paneer is cool, and the containers are sealed shut, transfer them to the freezer, where theyāll freeze very well for up to three months.
3 Tips for Freezing Saag Paneer
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing saag paneer to have the best results:
Leave Headspace
When anything containing a lot of liquid is frozen, it can expand due to the fact that water expands when it freezes. To avoid the saag paneer expanding to the point of exploding in your freezer, it would be a good idea to leave a few centimeters of headspace on each of the containers that youāre using.
Ensure the Containers are Sealed
The containers being a little open will allow for freezer burn to get its claws into your food when itās sitting in your freezer. To prevent this from happening, make sure that all of the containers and bags you might use as entirely sealed before you place them into your freezer.
Try Using Bags
Anything loaded with spices and curry will stain Tupperware containers. You can clean them, but they’ll have an orange-yellow stain. To avoid this, consider using bags instead.
How Long Can You Freeze Saag Paneer?
You can freeze saag paneer for a maximum of three months – since a large portion of the dish is liquid-based, freezer burn will spread quickly once it sets in.
Once it has set in throughout the saag paneer, it will start to damage the structure of the paneer youāre using, leading to a poor final meal when it is thawed to be eaten.
If saag paneer is kept in airtight containers or a covered bowl in the fridge then it will last for just 2 days. This is why freezing it is such a good idea.
How Do You Defrost Saag Paneer?
The best way to defrost saag paneer is in the microwave, as with a whole range of soup and stew-style things that you might find yourself freezing.
The reason for this is that microwaving soups and stews allows for heat to circulate very well over time, leading to an evenly thawed meal.
Remove the lid from your saag paneer, and microwave it for two minutes intervals on high until itās steaming hot all the way through – this will ensure that it is perfectly safe to eat.
Can You Refreeze Saag Paneer?
Yes, you can refreeze saag paneer. This dish freezes exceptionally well, which means that it can be thawed and frozen several times over before any real deterioration starts to occur.
The main reason that it holds up to being refrozen so well is that the liquid-content of the recipe spreads freezer burn through itself before the paneer – which is where the deterioration would be noticed.
Does Saag Paneer Freeze Well?
Yes, saag paneer freezes exceptionally well. The reason for this is the same as the reason so many types of stew freeze well – the liquid content ensures the whole saag paneer freezes at the same rate, preventing any odd swelling or spoilage in your food.
To ensure that saag paneer freezes well, try to prevent the container that it is in from touching the sides of the freezer – those sections will freeze more rapidly, leading to a poorly frozen dish.
Saag Paneer Freezer Recipe
Spinach and paneer come together to form this simple yet fragrant vegetarian dish. Once you’ve made it, allow it to cool and then pop it into freezer-safe containers:
Freezer-Friendly Saag Paneer Recipe
6
servings15
minutes20
minutes35
minutesThis is a classic Indian dish loaded with spice, spinach and cheese. The good news is that you can freeze this recipe easily.
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Ingredients
2tbsp Olive Oil
1tsp Ground Turmeric
1tsp Chilli Powder
1tsp Ground Cumin
1tsp Ground Coriander
450g Paneer, Cut Into 1cm Cubes
500g Spinach
1 Onion, Roughly Chopped
4 Garlic Cloves
4cm Peeled Ginger
1 Green Chilli, FineRoughly Chopped
Salt
Directions
- Toss the paneer cubes in the oil, dried turmeric, chilli powder, cumin and coriander until they’re evenly coated and set aside in a bowl.
- Blanch the spinach by placing it in a colander and then pouring over boiling water. The spinach should have softened sufficiently. Place it into a clean towel and squeeze to remove as much excess liquid as possible.
- In a mini processor, blitz the garlic, ginger, onion and chilli together to form a rough paste.
- Heat a pan over a medium heat and then add the paneer to the pan, cooking for around 8 minutes. You’ll need to toss them regularly so that they become golden all over. Remove from the pan.
- Add your onion and ginger paste to the pan with a pinch of salt then turn the heat down to low. Fry slowly until the oils release from the onion and it becomes golden. If it looks a little dry then add a little splash of water.
- Place the spinach into the pan with 75ml of water to loosen everything. Give it a good stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add the paneer back into the pan to warm through for a further 2 minutes.
Notes
Related FAQs
If youāve still got questions about freezing saag paneer or paneer in general, then these may help:
Yes, butter paneer can be frozen. Once cooled to room temperature, portion it out into containers or freezer bags, seal and freeze for up to 3 months.
Yes, you can freeze matar paneer for around 3 months. It can be portioned out into either Tupperware containers or freezer bags before being frozen.
