Nearly every Indian restaurant has saag aloo or palak aloo on their menu, this simple potato, mustard greens with aromatic spices is full of flavor and simple to make. When we were in India, we were overwhelmed by the variety of vegetarian dishes, and saag aloo is one of our favorite easy side dishes to make.

Saag aloo recipe with rice and an orange napkin

When we cook an Indian meal and make saag aloo for our friends and family, they can’t believe that it’s homemade. It tastes good – really good, and it’ll make you think twice about ever ordering a take away again.

Why you’ll love this delicious Indian side dish

It’s really easy to make and you’ll have it on the table in 30 minutes.

It’s as good as any Indian restaurant saag aloo.

It’s a great Indian side dish that helps create an Indian banquet.

It’s 100% vegetarian and vegan.

How to make saag aloo with step-by-step instructions

Making saag aloo is easy if you follow our simple instructions.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add your cumin seeds, the cumin seeds will start to sizzle as they cook.

Then, add green chili and garlic.

Now, add onions and cook for approximately 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Next, add turmeric powder and cilantro, stir to combine.

Then, add your cooked cubed potatoes and ginger, stir and cook until the cubed potatoes are heated through.

Lastly, add spinach or baby spinach and let it wilt, stirring to combine.

Remove the pan from the heat and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

What is Saag Aloo?

Saag means curry that uses vegetables and Aloo means potatoes. These are popular food items within Punjabi cuisine. Saag is created with a mix of greens such as winter mustard leaves, bathua, fenugreek leaves & spinach leaves.

This saag aloo recipe could be called palak aloo as it uses spinach, (palak meaning )spinach.

Is saag aloo healthy?

Yes, it is!

We use spinach which is rich in iron and there are plenty of nutrients in the potatoes, turmeric, and garlic.

If you are looking to cut down on your carbs, simply leave out the potatoes, chickpeas are a great substitute.

Is saag aloo vegan?

Yes, saag aloo is 100% vegan, the ingredients include potatoes, mustard greens, and different spices.

We make saag aloo part of an Indian banquet for our vegan friends.

What are the best potatoes for making aloo?

It’s a personal choice, we prefer waxy potatoes but if you like a fluffier potato then that will work as well.

What greens should I use?

While palak aloo uses spinach, saag aloo uses a variety of different greens.

Leafy greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, baby kale, or fenugreek are all great alternatives to spinach.

Can I use frozen spinach?

Yes, you can use frozen spinach.

While we have used fresh spinach for this recipe, sometimes you just want the convenience of grabbing a bag of spinach out of the freezer.

Homemade saag aloo with spinach and potatoes, and a bowl of rice.

Saag Aloo Indian Restaurant Style

Author: Mandy Applegate

No Indian feast would be complete with this classic dish. It's very easy to make and is super tasty.

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Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 50

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Calories: 171kcal

Equipment

Large pan

Ingredients

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3 Birds eye green chillies finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic peeled and finely sliced
1 onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1¼ pounds potatoes peeled and cubed
½ tablespoon fresh ginger peeled and thinly sliced
1 pound fresh spinach washed

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

In a large pan, turn the heat to medium and heat the oil
Now add the cumin seeds, you should be able to hear them cooking and when you do, add in the chillies and garlic, give it all a good stir and cook for 1 minute
Now add the onion and cook for around 6 minutes, make sure you keep stirring
Add in the turmeric and the coriander, once again give it a good stir and cook for 2 minutes
Now add in the potatoes and also the ginger, give it a good stir and cook for until the potatoes are virtually hot enough to eat
Add in the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted
Transfer to bowls or plates to serve
Enjoy!

Notes

For this saag aloo recipe, we’ve used fresh spinach because we prefer fresh but if you’d like to use frozen then after you’ve added the turmeric and coriander, place the spinach in, pop a lid on it and then cook for approximately 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Recipe notes and tips

Out of fresh spinach?
Use frozen instead, you can also use baby spinach.
Play with the flavors
Add a little garam masala, black mustard seeds and any other of your favorite spices.

More delicious recipes for you to try

If you love our saag aloo recipe, then you should give these vegetarian aloo recipes a try; aloo gobi, dum aloo, aloo pala, aloo tikki, and jeera aloo.

We hope you enjoy making saag aloo and would love to hear how you got on with it.

Please leave a comment below or feel free to ask any questions you may have.

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Saag Aloo – Indian Restaurant Style