Instant Pot Pumpkin Matar Paneer

If you have an extra can of pumpkin puree in the pantry, this is the recipe to make!

Pour and cook pumpkin matar paneer calls for a 1 minute cook time in an instant pot, making this a quick and easy recipe to make during this busy/exciting time of year.

Pumpkin Matar Paneer vs. Matar Paneer:

Pumpkin matar paneer is just as flavorful as my traditional Matar Paneer, and it’s lighter too. Pumpkin puree adds creaminess to the sauce, eliminating the need for heavy cream. We’re substituting a vegetable (okay, technically a fruit) for heavy cream, and I promise, you won’t miss it.

My recipe calls for pumpkin pie spice, but if you don’t have that spice blend, you can use garam masala instead. I’ve tried this recipe using both spice blends, and the dish tastes about the same – there’s no need to go out and buy the spice if you don’t have it. I just like knowing there’s pumpkin pie spice in here – it makes the dish feel a bit more festive. 🎃 🍂

“Ashley – wow was this a winner; thank you. It came out splendidly with homemade paneer – and the pumpkin made the gravy texture just right. We had this with aromatic spinach rice and can’t wait to dive into the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the amazing recipe collection you share here on My Heart Beets! ❤️ 😋

Irene

How to Make Pumpkin Matar Paneer:

This recipe calls for my pre-made Onion Masala. If you don’t know what that is (you must be new to my site 😂), it the answer to everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but it does help the answer that daily question, “what’s for dinner?”

Make onion masala once, then use it to make one of my many recipes that call for onion masala. Once you have this masala prepared, you can make a meal in minutes. I promise the minimal amount of time it takes to meal prep by making the masala is absolutely worth it.

You cannot beat a pour and cook recipe that calls for a 1 minute cook time. It’s amazing. And it tastes amazing.

To make this, just add all of the ingredients to the pot:

Pressure cook for a minute, and when it’s done – enjoy!

Every year I try to share a savory pumpkin recipe on the blog. There’s no rule that says only Pumpkin and Sugar are allowed to be best buds. I personally feel like Pumpkin gets along better with Spice anyway. After all, Pumpkin is such a good vehicle for flavor, it only makes sense to load Pumpkin with Spice.

Pumpkin and Paneer also make a great team. I don’t know if you know this, but Paneer is a bit shahi shy, tends to stick to what’s familiar. I’m trying to get Paneer to meet new friends. Earlier this year, I introduced Paneer to Peach, and they hit it off. I have a feeling Pumpkin and Paneer will be great friends too.

As I’m writing this post (and imaging food friendships – which is, oddly enough, typical for me), I’m suddenly feeling inspired to cook a pumpkin-themed dinner menu (I did something similar with apples a few years back). I think that would be so fun!

Okay, here’s what I’m thinking for my pumpkin menu:

Sounds like a perfect pumpkin plan. 🎃 😋