Well guess what? You can make Paneer in your Instant Pot, and under pressure at that. The beauty of that of course, is no baby-siting that boiling milk that’s just waiting sneakily for you to get distracted so it can go burn itself, leaving the whole house smelling of burned milk forever. If only you knew how often that has happened to me. It’s pitiful. Okay, I have a confession. When I started out trying to make the paneer, I started like any sensible person would, on the Yogurt mode. Never mind that I never boil milk for making yogurt, I was sure that this way would not burn the half and half I was going to use. But I got impatient. I am not sure how long it’s meant to take to boil the milk on the Yogurt setting but I decided I’d had enough of staring at the half and half I was using and thought, “Oh to heck with it! I’m just going to pressure cook it and we’ll see what happens.” To get the most paneer out of your milk, you really need to stir well and boil so that the milk separates properly and completely. Clearly, if it heats up well and boils, that process is hastened. So logically, it made sense that pressure cooking would work. I just wasn’t sure if you could make paneer under pressure without burning the half and half or milk. And of course, as the pictures show, you can indeed. Now here’s an important note. Please do not use skim or 2% milk. Use either whole milk, half and half, or cream. I use half and half and it is a good in-between from regular doodh (milk) paneer and malai (cream) paneer. So if you’re looking for an easy paneer recipe, this is the one you need. It’s so simple, it’s crazy.
Watch A video to learn how to make homemade Paneer cubes
Step by Step Instant Pot Paneer Indian Soft Cheese Recipe
Add half and half and vinegar to the Instant pot or electric pressure cooker.
Cook the milk and vinegar under LOW pressure for 4 minutes. If you do not have a low-pressure setting, cook at high pressure for 2 minutes.
Allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes. Release remaining pressure. This step is important as the milk continues to separate during this time, so do not rush it.
When you open the pot, you should see the half and half has separated. See the tips section below if your milk is giving you trouble.
Line a tofu press with cheesecloth. Pour the whey and curds into a tofu press. If you do not have one, just line a colander with the cheesecloth. Once you pour in the whey and curds, you can make a ball out of the cheesecloth to shape your paneer into a lovely round sphere.
Place a heavy weight of some kindf on this. The photo shows one can, but feel free to use 2-3 cans. Let the paneer rest for an hour or so to compress down into a creamy, delicious block of cheese.
Remove the paneer, peel away the cheesecloth and try not to finish it all before you use it in a recipe!
You can certainly drain and compress the paneer without fancy schmancy gadgets, but I happen to like schmancy gadgets so I got myself this handy little tofu maker. It was so cute and adorable! I put it on a trivet in the sink and placed a can of beans on it to help it drain. You can use a cheesecloth or a coffee filter in a strainer or colander, and place a weight on it as I did.
Tips and Tricks for Making Instant Pot Paneer at home
Here are some easy but important tips for all of us who want to make cheese in the Instant Pot.
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