How To Roast Paneer In Oven - Roasted Oven Baked Paneer Recipe

If you wonder how to roast paneer in oven, to get soft and crispy baked paneer, here is how you can do it. The roasted paneer will be crispy outside and soft inside which makes it an excellent side or snack.

Simply oven roasted paneer slices can be used in any curry or gravy without any additional cooking which also helps with reducing the amount of oil used since this gives the paneer a slightly crispy texture outside without frying it in oil.

So if you want to reduce the oil and make it more healthy while you still want to enjoy the paneer that is crispy in texture, you can easily bake them in the oven and use the roasted paneer in any dish that you want to use them!

You can use this roasted paneer to make paneer dishes like matar paneer, paneer butter masala, dhaba style punjabi palak paneer, instant pot palak paneer etc, instead of using fried paneer!

I lightly roasted this paneer and it was soft inside and crispy outside, you may try baking for a couple of minutes more if you want it to have more of a golden brown color.

Paneer is Indian style cheese which is very delicious and you can enjoy the paneer as a snack or side you can make very delicious curry recipes using paneer.

I have this super easy and quick paneer curry recipe here.

This is a simple and basic oven roasted paneer recipe, however you may add your favorite spices to the paneer cubes and modify the recipe if you wish and see how you like it.

In this roasted paneer recipe, I am using lemon juice to add flavor for the roasted paneer, without using very hot spices.

This is a kid friendly paneer recipe too, and although I have given black pepper as an extra optional ingredient in the ingredients list, you can avoid using black pepper if you are making for kids, to make it even less spicy.

The oven roasted paneer recipe gives you paneer with crispy outside yet tender and soft inside.

However a lot can depend on your oven temperatures too, and things may slightly vary with different kinds of oven.

You can follow this roasted paneer recipe for nice baked or roasted paneer cubes.

Paneer cubes tend to stick to the baking sheet as it gets baked, so you can use a reusable silicon baking mat for easy clean up later.

If you are not using a non stick baking sheet or non slip baking mat for making this, you may use aluminium foil as well.

However, when you bake these using aluminium foil, the paneer cubes will slightly stick to the foil as you take them out of the oven.

To release them gently without breaking the paneer slices, wait until they are completely cooled and then carefully release the cubes from the foil.

They will come off pretty easily once they are completely cooled.

I had bought store bought paneer which came wrapped in a plastic cover and it was frozen.

So I kept the paneer block outside the refrigerator for a couple of hours and then removed the plastic wrap using a knife, without cutting the paneer.

Then I defrosted the paneer in the microwave by heating in the microwave in high for about 2 minutes.

You can cut the defrosted paneer into cubes so easily without crumbling the paneer.

So here is how to roast paneer in the oven following this simple oven roasted paneer recipe.

How to roast paneer in oven?

We use the following ingredients to make simple, roasted & delicious baked paneer.

Ingredients to make oven roasted paneer

14 oz paneer (about 400 grams) sliced in cubes

¼ teaspoon salt adjust to taste

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder (may use fresh minced garlic too)

½ teaspoon onion powder optional

⅛ teaspoon black pepper powder optional

Step by step instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degree Fahrenheit.

Transfer the paneer cubes to a large bowl or plate, and add salt and oil, gently mix well to coat the paneer cubes.

Add the garlic powder, lemon juice and also onion powder and black pepper powder (if using) also to the paneer cubes, gently mix the cubes to combine all ingredients so the paneer cubes will be coated nicely with the spices.

Make sure you mix gently to avoid the paneer cubes crumbling.
Let it sit for about 15 minutes for marination (this step is optional, you may also directly bake this if you want to do it quickly.

However, marinating the paneer will help the paneer slices to absorb the flavors more).

Line a baking sheet with non stick silicon mat or non slip baking mat (which will make the work easy as the paneer tends to stick to the pan while baking).

(You may also use good quality aluminium foil, however the paneer tends to slightly stick to the aluminium foil which you will need to gently release once the baked paneer is cooled.)

Lay the paneer cubes in a single layer (you can discard any excess oil or water residue from the bowl, and just transfer the paneer cubes to the baking sheet).

Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, as the paneer will get nicely cooked by this time, leaving a tender and soft texture inside and a nice crispy outside.
Allow the paneer slices to completely cool down if sticking to the foil (if using foil) so you can gently release the paneer slices without breaking them.

If you try to release the paneer while it's still hot, it will be difficult and the paneer may break.

So make sure to let them cool down completely (this will take only few minutes) so you can easily take them off.

More Easy Paneer Recipes:

roasted masala paneer easy recipe

paneer stir fry with carrots

paneer pualo

paneer masala rice

palak paneer restaurant style recipe

matar paneer without tomatoes

matar paneer with tomato sauce

punjabi palak paneer without cream, onions or tomatoes

instant pot palak paneer

Below you can get the recipe for simple oven roasted paneer in detail.