Aloo Palak is healthy, gluten-free, vegan, and easy to whip up using a handful of fresh ingredients. This simple Spinach and Potato recipe will win your hearts! Eat it as is, or with flatbread for a wholesome meal.
Aloo Palak-Indian Spinach and Potatoes
Aloo translates to Potato and Palak translates to Spinach. The combination of spinach and potato is truly out of this world delicious.
My Ammi made aloo palak during the Spring a lot. This recipe was her favorite way to feed us spinach. Aloo palak mixed with Dal chawal takes the meal to the next level. I promise!
I’ve tried cooking Aloo Palak in many different ways but Ammi's method of cooking aloo palak sabzi is the way I like it best. This recipe is super easy to follow and tastes phenomenal.
What's in This Spinach Potato Recipe?
No fancy ingredient hunting is needed for this delicious recipe. All the ingredients are easily found at any major grocery store throughout the US. Spices can be purchased from the Amazon.
Produce:
- Spinach: any variety of spinach is great for this recipe. I like to use baby spinach from Costco. Large leafy spinach with stems from a regular store is great as well.
- Potato: I like using gold potatoes or red potatoes for this recipe. I have tried russet/Idaho potatoes but I did not appreciate the texture of them with spinach.
- Tomato: vine tomatoes or Roma tomatoes are great. I like diced tomatoes for this recipe.
- Onion: diced yellow onion or shallot is an excellent option.
- Garlic: I love adding lots of roughly chopped garlic to this recipe. For each half pound of spinach, I use 4 cloves of garlic.
- Ginger: freshly grated ginger gives a delicious savory flavor to this recipe.
Spices:
- Kashmiri Chili Powder: following my mother's footsteps, I only use Kashmiri chili powder for Indian cooking. The flavor and beautiful color of Kashmiri chili powder are hands down the best.
- Cumin-Coriander Powder: I make homemade cumin-coriander powder. Indian stores usually carry cumin-coriander powder separately. That's why I always keep separate measurements for them in my recipes. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to share the cumin-coriander powder recipe.
- Turmeric: turmeric powder is a must-have for Indian cooking.
- Salt: I like using pink salt. It has a beautiful earthy & intense flavor to it. Table salt or Kosher salt is fine as well. You might need to adjust the salt measurements accordingly.
- Cumin Seeds: adding cumin seeds is optional but I highly recommend them for tempering.
How to Make Aloo Palak-Step-by-Step Instructions
- Heat the oil on medium-high heat and add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to change color add diced onions and whole red chilies. Cook onion until it becomes slightly golden for about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the onion is slightly golden, add roughly chopped garlic and grated ginger to the pan. Sautee ginger & garlic for a few seconds. We don't want the garlic to turn brown at all.
- Add diced tomatoes, all the powdered spices, and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat while stirring in between the cooking until tomatoes soften.
- Add cubed potatoes now. Mix well until potatoes are coated with sauce. Turn the heat down to low. Cover the pan and cook on low for 7-9 minutes or just until potatoes are tender.
- Uncover and check the potatoes in between cooking. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons of water to speed up the cooking process.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add all the roughly chopped spinach. Cover the pan and let the spinach wilt for easy mixing.
- Uncover the pan and mix everything gently. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until all the water from the spinach completely evaporates. Takes about 3-5 minutes depending on your stove.
Tip for Spinach-Potato
- Baby Spinach Tip: Baby spinach cooks faster than larger spinach leaves. Adjust cooking time accordingly, as larger leaves have more water content and take longer to cook.
- Potato Preparation: Cut potatoes into small pieces for quicker cooking. Cooking them in oil and tomato sauce enhances their flavor. Avoid pre-boiling potatoes, as they can become mushy and won't soak up the delicious flavors of the sauce and spices.
- Pan Size: Use a large pan to cook spinach. Spinach shrinks a lot when cooked, so a big pan gives it space to shrink properly. Also, it's easier to mix in the sauce and spices in a larger pan.
- Creamy Option: For a milder, creamier curry, add coconut or heavy cream to the dish. It adds richness and a creamy texture to the curry.
What to Serve Aloo Palak with
This Aloo palak is more of a stir-fried type of curry. It is a loved and adored vegetarian dish in India. Indians love serving aloo-palak with flatbread and Dal-Chawal.
Make dal tadka and plain rice to go with Aloo-Palak. You might like my other Indian recipes as well.
More Indian Vegetarian Recipes
- Aloo Matar Gobi (Cauliflower and Potatoes)
- Chicken and Potato Curry
- Palak Paneer (Spinach and Indian Cheese)
- Roasted Potatoes with Coriander
- Potato Samosa
- Masala Potatoes
Aloo Palak | Indian Spinach Potato Recipe
Aloo Palak-Indian spinach and potato recipe is healthy, gluten-free, vegan, and easy to whip up using a handful of fresh ingredients. Great recipe for meals under 30 minutes! Eat it as is or with flatbread for a wholesome meal.
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby spinach , roughly chopped, prewashed baby spinach or 2 bunches of thoroughly washed and stems removed spinach
- 3 medium vine tomatoes , diced
- 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes , peeled, washed, and cut into about ½ inch thick cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion , peeled and diced
- 8 roughly chopped garlic cloves , roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 3 tablespoons olive oil , or mustard oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried whole red chilies
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon pink salt , or table salt to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons Kashmiri chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 tablespoons water , if needed
Instructions
- Heat the oil on medium-high heat and add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to change color add diced onions and whole red chilies. Cook until onion becomes slightly golden for about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the onion is slightly golden, add roughly chopped garlic and grated ginger to the pan. Sautee ginger & garlic until fragrant, takes only a few seconds. We don't want the garlic to turn brown at all.
- Now add diced tomatoes, all the powdered spices, and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat while stirring in between the cooking until tomatoes soften.
- Add cubed potatoes once tomatoes are soft. Mix well to coat the potatoes with sauce. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan.
- Cook on low for 7-9 minutes or just until potatoes are tender. Uncover and check the potatoes in between cooking. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons of water to speed up the cooking process.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add all the roughly chopped spinach. Cover the pan and let the spinach wilt for easy mixing. Takes less than 1 minute for spinach to start wilting with the cover.
- Uncover the pan and mix everything gently. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until all the water from spinach completely evaporates. Takes about 3-5 minutes depending on your stove.
- Serve with warm with dal, rice, and flatbread.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 174kcal ,Carbohydrates: 17.4g ,Protein: 4.9g ,Fat: 11.3g ,Saturated Fat: 1.6g ,Sodium: 683mg ,Potassium: 984mg ,Fiber: 4.9g ,Sugar: 1.9g ,Calcium: 132mg ,Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information is sourced from a third-party application and should be considered as approximate figures for reference purposes only.
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Melissa says
Thank you Safiya for this delicious yet accessible recipe! It's my go-to for this dish. The first time I made it with your instructions, I almost couldn't believe I had cooked it myself!
FeastwithSafiya says
Hi Melissa, I am so happy you tried my recipe. My goal is to create easy and accessible Indian recipes. I hope they can be made by anyone- with any level of cooking skill. Your feedback means the world to me.
Kristina says
Just made your recipe and it is lovely! I have made this before but I like how you are very generous with the spinach. For visual interest and flavor depth I added a dollop of light sour cream onto the top. It was wonderful with the mild chili spice and combo with baby spinach. So good.
FeastwithSafiya says
Hi Kristina, your comment made my day! Thank you so much for trying my recipe. A dollop of sour cream sounds phenomenal. I will have to try it.
m says
Thank you for sharing!