Calories and protein in a katori of palak paneer, with and without oil
Also called saag paneer, spinach paneer.
The short answer
1 katori, about 140 g, normal oil
190 kcal
11 g protein
Fat 15 g · carbs 7.5 g · fibre 3 g · Vegetarian
Portion: a 150 ml steel katori, filled level. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
The paneer carries most of the protein and much of the fat. Count the cubes if you can: five or six cubes is about 50 g.
With and without oil
The same 1 katori, changing only the oil the spinach is cooked in. Normal is about 3 g in this portion. A little halves the recipe’s fat and a lot doubles it, so in a portion of the same weight a lot comes out a little under double. These are the four levels the app asks about, with the same numbers.
| Oil | Added | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | 0 g | 170 kcal | 11 g |
| A little | 1.5 g | 180 kcal | 11 g |
| Normal | 3 g | 190 kcal | 11 g |
| A lot | 6 g | 220 kcal | 11 g |
What moves the number
- Paneerabout 120 kcal
- Oil (the oil the spinach is cooked in)about 25 kcal
- Spinachabout 25 kcal
The recipe behind these numbers
Raw ingredient weights in one 1 katori, scaled from the batch recipe in the Homekcal app’s dish table, with normal oil. Water, salt and spices add almost no energy but are listed so the recipe is complete. If your version has more of something, the numbers move with it.
| Ingredient | Weight | Calories | Protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpinachUSDA: Spinach, raw | 100 g | 25 | 3 g |
| PaneerUSDA: Cheese, fresh, queso fresco | 40 g | 120 | 7 g |
| OnionUSDA: Onions, raw | 12 g | 5 | 0 g |
| TomatoUSDA: Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 10 g | 0 | 0 g |
| GingerUSDA: Ginger root, raw | 1 g | 0 | 0 g |
| GarlicUSDA: Garlic, raw | 1 g | 0 | 0 g |
| Green chilliUSDA: Peppers, hot chili, green, raw | 1 g | 0 | 0 g |
| Garam masalaUSDA: Spices, curry powder | 0.5 g | 0 | 0 g |
| CuminUSDA: Spices, cumin seed | 0.5 g | 0 | 0 g |
| SaltUSDA: Salt, table | 1 g | 0 | 0 g |
| CreamUSDA: Cream, fluid, heavy whipping | 4 g | 15 | 0 g |
| OilUSDA: Oil, canolaThe oil the spinach is cooked in | 3 g | 25 | 0 g |
What we could not match
Stand ins and assumptions in this recipe that a person still has to check.
- Paneer: No reliable USDA paneer (the FNDDS "Cheese, paneer" row lists 22.5 g carbohydrate, implausible for paneer). Queso fresco, a fresh acid-set cheese, used as a proxy. Check.
How this was worked out
This is the same dish the Homekcal app logs, from the same table. Each raw ingredient’s weight is multiplied by its per-100 g values in USDA FoodData Central, the batch is added up and divided by the cooked weight it makes. Calories are rounded to the nearest 10 and grams to the nearest gram, because a standard recipe is not your recipe. These are calculated values, not weighed or lab tested meals, and home versions vary a lot.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2026. fdc.nal.usda.gov. Public domain (CC0).
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