This quick and easy Chicken Saag (chicken and spinach curry aka palak chicken) is the fastest curry you'll ever make from scratch. It's healthy and delicious with a flavor bomb of spices. You'll never need to order Indian takeout again with this recipe in your arsenal.
(This recipe was originally published in March 2019, but was updated with new photos and content in 2020).
Since first making this chicken saag recipe, I have made it countless times. I always amaze myself with how easy it is to make, and how it satisfies my craving for Indian food. Although my favorite Indian curries when I go out to eat are chicken tikka masala and chicken korma, I have since fallen head over heels for chicken saag (palak chicken).
If you've never eaten or even seen Indian chicken saag curry, you may be a little surprised by it's appearance. It's a cooked spinach curry, so the color and texture is that of a muted green puree.
Take my word for it though, the aroma and flavors of this curry are out of this world! If you like Indian food, definitely give this recipe a try. The taste will speak for itself.
Believe it or not, this recipe rivals the saag at my favorite local Indian restaurant! I may even say I prefer my own heavily spiced concoction to theirs. It contains nearly a dozen spices and aromatics in the pureed spinach sauce.
Ingredient notes
- Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts or chicken tenders for this recipe, and cube them into small, bite-size 1-inch pieces.
- Spinach: I use fresh baby spinach since it's already trimmed and easy to use. You can also use regular spinach and trim the stalky stems yourself. Alternatively you can also use a combination of spinach and other dark leafy greens like kale, mustard greens, or Swiss chard. Fenugreek leaves are also quite traditional to include.
- Aromatics & Spices: For this chicken and spinach curry you'll need onion, garlic and fresh ginger for your aromatics. For spices you'll need salt, ground coriander, garam masala (a spice blend), ground turmeric, ground cumin, ground cardamom, and chili powder (such as Indian chili powder or cayenne, NOT American chili powder which is a spice blend and not pure, ground chiles). If you are missing any of the spices you can omit them, but the flavor of the curry will be a bit different than the original. I recommend using all these spices for optimal results.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste comes in cans or resealable squeezable tubes. If you have leftover tomato paste to use up from making this chicken saag recipe, use it to make Tas Kebab, Czech Beef Goulash, Individual Beef and Mushroom Pies, Autumn Vegetable Soup with Sausage and Green Lentils, or Armenian Lentil Soup with Macaroni.
- Yogurt: Use plain thick yogurt such as Greek-style, but any thick unflavored yogurt will work.
How to make it
The first step in making this chicken saag curry is to make the spinach sauce. Heat a little bit of oil in a non-stick skillet, and add chopped onion, garlic, and ginger. Cook until softened and aromatic (PHOTO 1). Add your mixture of spices (PHOTO 2).
Stir your tomato paste into water to dissolve, then add it to the spices and aromatics in the pan (PHOTO 3). Mix until combined, and then stir in the spinach leaves. Cover the pan to allow the spinach to wilt. Stir the mixture until all the spinach is wilted, but still vibrant green (PHOTOS 4-6).
Remove from the heat and puree the mixture in your blender or food processor. It should still have a bit of texture so don't over-do it. The sauce is ready!
Next cook cubes of chicken in a bit of oil until cooked through (PHOTOS 7-8).
Pour the spinach sauce over the chicken, and continue to cook so the flavors can meld together (PHOTOS 9-10). Stir in a big spoonful of plain yogurt, and this healthy chicken and spinach curry is ready (PHOTOS 11-12).
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
The recipe comfortably yields 4 servings, although if you are super hungry you can divide it into 2 or 3 larger portions of chicken saag.
I typically serve this simple chicken and spinach curry with plain basmati rice or jeera rice, basmati rice made with cumin seeds. You can also serve it with another dish, such as Chana Dal to expand the menu and yield more overall servings.
Expert tips
Making this recipe on a weeknight is fast and easy. You can prep your chicken in advance by cubing it up and refrigerating it until it's time to cook. You can also measure out all your spices, mix them together, and set them aside. The aromatics are also easy enough to chop, measure, and prep in advance. Then at the last minute, just get cooking.
The saag sauce cooks quite rapidly, as does the chicken. Your authentic, homemade Indian meal will be ready before you know it! Technically, you can even cook the spinach sauce ahead of time and refrigerate it, and then finish the dish by cooking the chicken and adding the sauce to heat it through.
This authentic chicken saag curry is just as delicious reheated the following day. I often take a portion to work for lunch and will admit it's probably the best work lunch ever! If anything the flavor gets even better over time, and it's very easy to reheat in a microwave if that's all you have access to.
FAQs
This curry is quite healthy compared to many other curry dishes. The amount of oil is minimal, but can be reduced further if you prefer, especially if using a nonstick pan to cook it. You may also use reduced fat or fat free plain yogurt to save a few additional calories. Although you can make this chicken saag recipe with chicken thighs, I prefer white meat which is also leaner than the alternative.
"Saag" is more of a broad term for green leafy vegetable curries, and "palak" is specific to curries made with spinach. Both apply in this case, though I've always called it the former so that's what I'll stick with.
If using frozen spinach use about 3 ⅓ ounces of frozen spinach (or about ⅓ of a 10-ounce package) to get the equivalent of 8 ounces fresh spinach. Thaw before using, but no need to squeeze out the excess liquid (it will help keep your sauce the right consistency). You can skip the step of wilting the spinach in the spice sauce, and just transfer the spice sauce and thawed frozen spinach to the blender together and proceed as directed in the recipe. I've used as much as 5 ounces of frozen spinach in this recipe before and it's delicious too, just a bit more spinachy than usual!
Other recipes you may like
- Chicken Vindaloo
- Chicken Korma
- Murgh Makhani (Indian Butter Chicken)
- Murgh Masala (Chicken Masala)
- Murghi aur Masoor Dal (Bombay-style Chicken with Red Split Lentils)
- Aloo Chaat
- Chana Dal
- Dal Makhani
- Gajar Matar (Carrots and Peas)
- Homemade Naan
- Browse all Indian Recipes
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Chicken Saag (Chicken and Spinach Curry)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic minced (about 1 tablespoon)
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt plus more as needed (preferably Diamond Crystal brand; start with ¾ teaspoon if using another brand—SEE NOTES)
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon Indian chili powder or cayenne pepper or to taste
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 8 ounces baby spinach or trimmed regular spinach, washed and dried
- 1 pound chicken breast or tenders cut into 1-inch pieces
- ¼ cup plain yogurt preferably thick Greek-style yogurt
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat (if you plan to double the recipe, definitely use a pot instead of a skillet so you have room for all the spinach!). Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and saute until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly, and lowering heat to medium-low if it starts to brown too quickly.
- Over medium heat, add the salt (SEE NOTES), coriander, garam masala, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, and chili powder, and stir on medium-low heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds or so. Dissolve the tomato paste in the water by stirring vigorously together in a measuring cup or bowl. Then stir into the spices in the pan, creating a thick spiced sauce, about 1 minute.
- Add the spinach and gently stir to combine, as the skillet will be very full. Cover and raise the heat to medium-high, allowing the spinach to start to wilt. Occasionally remove the lid, stir, and then cover again until most the spinach has begun to wilt, about 3 to 5 minutes (can depend on the size of your spinach leaves). Remove the lid and finish stirring the spinach until it is completely wilted but still bright green, another minute.
- Transfer spinach mixture to a blender or food processor and puree until relatively smooth but still a bit chunky (you don’t want it to be super smooth, a bit of texture is good). Taste and adjust salt and spice if necessary.
- Meanwhile, wipe the skillet clean with a paper towel (or don't--leave the residue to flavor the chicken), return it to medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add the cubed chicken pieces, sprinkle salt over the top to season, and cook until almost completely cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the spinach mixture back over the chicken, using a rubber spatula to get every last bit out of the blender, and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and the chicken to finish cooking. Stir in the yogurt, and serve immediately with basmati rice and/or naan.
Notes
- I typically serve this simple curry with plain basmati rice or jeera rice, basmati rice made with cumin seeds.
- The recipe comfortably yields 4 servings, although if you are super hungry you can divide it into 2 or 3 larger portions.
- You can also use a combination of dark leafy greens in this recipe. Try half spinach and half kale, mustard greens, or Swiss chard as another option. Those other greens are more bitter and will change the general flavor of this curry. Fenugreek leaves are also quite traditional to include. The combination of greens is simply a matter of personal preference.
- If using frozen spinach instead of fresh use about 3 ⅓ ounces of the frozen spinach (or about ⅓ of the 10-ounce package) to get the equivalent of 8 ounces fresh spinach. Thaw before using, but no need to squeeze out the excess liquid (it will help keep your sauce the right consistency). You can skip the step of wilting the spinach in the spice sauce, and just transfer the spice sauce and thawed frozen spinach to the blender together and proceed as directed. I've used as much as 5 ounces of frozen spinach in this recipe before and it's delicious too, just a bit more spinachy than usual!
- This recipe uses kosher salt (aka cooking salt, kitchen salt, coarse salt outside of the US), preferably Diamond Crystal brand which has larger flakes (this is the brand used in many restaurants, and the brand I use to test all my recipes). If you are using table salt or a fine (less coarse) kosher salt (such as Morton), scale down the salt to ¾ teaspoon to start, and add more later if needed.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Bec says
Hi Victoria
I’ve made this once before and again tonight. It has that “wow” factor for sure.
Thanks for a lovely recipe.
Sarah says
Tried this last week and it’s ah-mazing!!! So much flavor! Thanks for the recipe!
Madeline says
This was delicious and so easy to make, I’m a big lover of making curries and this has been bookmarked which is a compliment! I had no cardamon powder so as google suggested I used clove/cinnamon powder mix instead which worked well. Thank you for sharing! X
Tammy Breitweiser says
I made this recipe this week and it was perfect! It was easy and delicious. I have been missing my favorite Indian restaurant and this was a solution. I would have never thought it would be this simple to make! Thank you!
Christina Schroeder says
Very good recipe. Next time I would cut out ½ teaspoon salt. I used frozen spinach and found I had to add added at least ¾ cup more water. I also added ¼ cup of half and half and half cup of yogurt. Thank you for the recipe.
AsThor says
Good flavor - easy to make. Make extra for leftovers!
Lorraine says
Thank you for this recipe. I moved where I can’t find Indian food and you convinced me I can make it myself. It was easy and so flavorful. I will look for more recipes from you.
Jennifer says
Excellent recipe, easy to make and tasty. Only changes I made were to use ghee instead of oil (and only one tablespoon) and to saute the chicken in that, then set it aside and follow the rest of the recipe. Really nice marriage of the spices. Will double next time so we can have this as leftovers the next day.
Necra says
I doubled the recipe and this was easily the most amazing chicken saag I've ever had. I did add 1/4c more yogurt though.
Lenore says
Wonderful! I'm a big fan of Indian food, but I've never made any saag before. It turned out perfect! Very authentic (or authentic to Indian restaurants where I've eaten saag). Thank you for posting the nutritional information as well. Is it for one portion, which would be 1/4 of the recipe?
Victoria says
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Yes, the nutritional information is for 1 serving (so in this case 1/4 of the recipe).
Darren K says
I made this tonight, slightly upscaled for four big appetites and it was a hit! Thank you!
Darren K says
I made this again tonight for my family of four - to save time I cooked the chicken in one pan while making the saag in another, (that way I just could use a hand blender after adding the spinach without removing the sauce from the pan and then I just added in the chicken when it was fully cooked. I also marinated the raw chicken for several hours in extra yoghurt and a tikka spice mix. It was a big hit again.
I'd bought a large pot of yogurt, so I used the rest of the yoghurt to make some fresh naan breads to go with this meal.
Mike Schroeder says
Turned out pretty good. I think I added too much salt, but it still passed family’s approval
NS says
Delicious and easy recipe! I doubled the spinach and for 3 chicken breasts and turned out perfect. Will be making this again.
Paul says
Delicious and easy to make. Tasted better than a takeaway i recently had.
Geani says
Delicious- Best chicken and spinach curry I ever had!