Forget your regular white sauce pasta, make this high protein paneer pasta which tastes so good and similar to your cheesy white sauce pasta. This creamy paneer pasta has no flour, butter, cream or cheese.This makes a fast and easy lunch or dinner for kids lunch box.
Paneer pasta recipe
Paneer pasta is one of the fastest and easy pasta dish you could ever make. This makes perfect lunch box option as well. What makes this pasta special is the flavour you get from garlic, herbs and creamy paneer sauce.
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This recipe is perfect to whip up on busy mornings when you have to pack lunch box for your kids, all your need is to boil some pasta, while pasta is cooking you can make the sauce in an instant.
About Paneer Pasta (High Protein Pasta)
Paneer pasta is also known as high protein pasta. The sauce is made with paneer, herbs, milk and cashews which create a thick and creamy sauce. The sauce is then tossed over cooked pasta to make the dish more substantial.
When we think of pasta dishes, few recipes instantly come to our mind like red sauce pasta, tomato pasta, white sauce pasta. Now let's give those dishes a break and think different. How about making a pasta sauce using paneer.
The idea for this dish comes from the urge to create a sauce that tastes similar to bechamel sauce without the addition of flour. I decided to make it with paneer or tofu and flavouring it with garlic, cashews, Italian seasoning, chilli flakes, milk. To replicate the bechamel sauce flavour, I added a dash of ground nutmeg.
Storing leftover pasta sauce in your fridge is a brilliant thing to do. It comes handy when you are planning for a quick dinner.
Similar Recipes
Here are my extra tips for you to nail this recipe perfectly. The taste of this pasta dish lies in the sauce. So always taste your sauce before adding into the pasta. Feel free to use extra garlic in the sauce because it enhances the taste.
Also be generous with the sauce, the pasta likes to drink up the sauce. So add extra and also use the reserved pasta water to emulsify the sauce.
The best substitute for paneer would be tofu. You can use tofu which makes this pasta dish vegan as well. For making it entirely vegan, you can substitute regular milk with unflavoured unsweetened almond milk, soy milk or oat milk.
Ingredients
- Paneer - the base of this creamy high protein sauce is paneer. You can use tofu instead of paneer. You can use homemade paneer or store bought.
- Olive oil - I used olive oil to cook the pasta since I wanted to make it lighter. You can use butter instead of oil.
- Cashews - I used cashews in the sauce to give the sauce creamy and thicker consistency.
- Garlic - If you are a garlic lover, use as much as you like. I love garlic so I add a generous amount of it.
- Herbs - Addition of herbs is your choice. You can add lots of basil, oregano, italian herbs. Each herbs add different flavour.
- Seasonings - Add the right amount of sugar, salt to balance the sauce.
- Milk - I used regular milk for make the creamy sauce. You can use soy milk to create the sauce.
- Pasta - I used Spaghetti, you can use any shape pasta that you like.
- Vegetables and Protein - even though this is optional, I used green peas. You can use sweet corn, Boiled carrots, green beans, mushrooms, cooked chicken.
Step by Step Pictures
1)Start by cooking pasta. Bring water to a full boil. Add salt to the water. Drop the pasta in water and cook as per package directions.
2)While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Heat oil in a pan. Add in garlic, cashews and paneer. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
3)Add in dry red chilli flakes and Italian seasoning and mix well.
4)When you mix the spices into the oil, it blooms the spices and makes it more fragrant. Just 30 seconds is enough.
5)Pour in the milk and bring it to a boil. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool a little because we are going to blend it.
6)Now take this whole thing in a blender and blend till creamy.
7)Add in salt, sugar and ground nutmeg. Blend once again till combined.
8)Taste the sauce adjust the seasoning. Paneer sauce is ready.
9)The sauce shouldn't be too thick or too thin. you can add more milk if the sauce is too thick.
10)In the same pan in which you cooked the sauce. Heat 1 teaspoon oil, add in the peas and stir fry for 30 seconds to heat it through.
11)Now take the cooked pasta using tongs and directly add it to the peas. Pour the prepared sauce over the pasta and toss to coat.
12)If you are making this dish ahead of time the pasta may get thicker. So reserve some pasta cooking water. Because you can add that to the pasta to make it creamy again.
13)Serve hot.
Expert tips
- To make paneer pasta even more special you can add any vegetables or cooked chicken as you like.
- Add cream in the end if you want to make the sauce creamier
- You can add a dollop of cream cheese to make it creamier.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese if you want to make cheesy pasta.
- For baked pasta. pour it in a baking dish. Top with cheese and broil in oven till bubbly.
Storing and Serving
You can make the sauce ahead of time and store in fridge upto 3 days. Leftover pasta can be stored in fridge. To reheat paneer pasta, add some hot water or milk and emulsify the sauce. Enjoy pasta hot with garlic bread or toasted bread.
FAQ
Q: What is paneer?
Paneer is also known as Indian cottage cheese. It is available in Indian super markets. It is made with milk and is naturally high in protein.
Q: What can I use instead of Paneer?
The best substitute for paneer would be tofu. You can use tofu which makes this pasta dish vegan as well. For making it entirely vegan, you can substitute regular milk with unflavoured unsweetened almond milk, soy milk or oat milk.
📖 Get Recipe
Paneer Pasta Recipe (High Protein Pasta Sauce Recipe)
Equipment
Ingredients
For Cooking pasta
- 150 grams Spaghetti
- 2 litre Water
- 2 teaspoon Salt
For Paneer Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 6 cloves Garlic peeled and chopped
- 8 piece Cashews
- 200 grams Paneer cubed
- 2 teaspoon Red chilli flakes
- 2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg optional
For Toppings
- 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
- ½ cup Frozen Green peas
Instructions
- Start by cooking pasta. Bring water to a full boil. Add salt to the water. Drop the pasta in water and cook as per package directions.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Heat oil in a pan. Add in garlic, cashews and paneer. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add in dry red chilli flakes and Italian seasoning and mix well.
- Pour in the milk and bring it to a boil. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool a little because we are going to blend it.
- Now Take this whole thing in a blender and blend till creamy. Add in salt, sugar and ground nutmeg. Blend once again till combined. Taste the sauce adjust the seasoning. Paneer sauce is ready.
- In the same pan in which you cooked the sauce. Heat 1 teaspoon oil, add in the peas and stir fry for 30 seconds to heat it through.
- Now take the cooked pasta using tongs and directly add it to the peas. Pour the prepared sauce over the pasta and toss to coat. Take it off the heat. Serve hot.
- If you are making this dish ahead of time the pasta may get thicker. So reserve some pasta cooking water. Because you can add that to the pasta to make it creamy again.
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