Paneer Tikka Recipe

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

About Paneer Tikka

Paneer Tikka is a popular Indian-style skewer made with marinated cottage cheese (paneer), bell pepper, tomato, and onion. It is a vegetarian, gluten-free, and meal-prep-friendly Indian snack. ‘Tikka’ is a Persian word meaning ‘bits’ and ‘pieces’. Hence, the bite-size grilled pieces of chicken, meat, cauliflower, broccoli, or paneer are called tikka.

The Marinade for Tikka

The secret tip of my delicious achari paneer tikka recipe is the marinade.

easy to cook BIG on flavour best finger food meal-prep friendly vegetarian & gluten-free perfect for BBQ and potluck

The Indian pickles in Hindi are called ‘achaar‘. And the spice mix used in making the pickles is known as achaar masala. The word ‘achaari’ describes any dish with the taste, flavour, or aroma of a pickling spice mix. I use a mix of – curd, ginger-garlic paste, salt, spices, mustard oil, fenugreek leaves, and the homemade pickle (achaar) masala to make a marinade for the tikka. Skip pickle masala, and you have a basic, versatile marinade to which you can add – coriander paste to make Hariyali Paneer Tikka, saffron to make Zafrani Paneer Tikka, or cashew cream to make malai broccoli tikka. The possibilities are endless. You can use homemade masala paneer also instead of plain one for an additional layer of flavour.

Watch Paneer Tikka Video

Serving Suggestion

Paneer Tikka is best enjoyed with a flavoursome green chutney, salsa, a cooling garlic yogurt sauce, or tzatziki, and a drizzle of lemon juice. It is usually served on skewers as finger food or a BBQ snack. Hence, you can serve it with a pasta salad or a big green leafy fattoush salad with Indian baked bread like naan on the side.

Leftover Usage

Store the leftover grilled paneer tikka in airtight containers in the refrigerator. Use them for stuffing sandwiches, tacos, moong or besan chilla and wraps. I use leftover marinated paneer and vegetables to make lip-smacking, flavoursome, Biryani-style – paneer tikka pulao. It is probably the best use of marinated paneer and veggies.