Paneer Tacos is a creative Indian Mexican Fusion dish. It features melt in your mouth paneer bites and colorful fajita veggies infused with spicy tangy seasoning and creamy cilantro sauce. Beautiful colors and bright flavors make these tasty tacos ideal for unique weeknight dinner or a large party.
The perfect alchemy of spicy, tangy and creamy, these colorful fajita tacos will dazzle your taste buds " fiesta " style!
Street Style Tacos
Elevate your next party with these delicious and beautiful street style desi tacos. It will wow your guests with something different and delightful.
Perfect crowd pleaser recipe that is gloriously tasty. This is the kind of meal you will go back to over and over again because it is "oh so GOOD".
These mexican tacos with Indian twist will be your new favorite way to enjoy tacos! We are marrying the taco lovers and paneer tikka lovers - two best foods out there !!
Indian Fusion Food
We are always experimenting to create beautiful fusion recipes in our kitchen. And we are super excited to share this recipe.
So flavorful in every bite! And so easy to make.
I had paneer tacos a few times in India. However, they had prominent Indian taste including chutneys. More like Paneer Kathi Rolls. So even though I loved the idea, it wasn't quiet right.
I wanted to create a good likeable fusion. Mexican spices are very adaptable to Indian cuisine. They are tangy, spicy and bold. And well liked by most of my Indian friends.
So I decided to marinate Paneer with taco seasoning. Added trio of peppers to bring the perfect sizzler fajita effect too.
Mexican Paneer Tacos
And instead of typical cilantro chutney, I decided to make a sauce similar to Peruvian green sauce called Aji Verde. This spicy bright green condiment is easy to whip up and adds creamy cool flavors to round up the tacos.
I know fusion dishes can be tricky if not done right. So we try several times to perfect them before sharing.
This is one of our most liked and often requested Indo- Mexican fusion recipe. When you are bored of typical - same old food , try this fusion ! We know you will fall in love with this too.
This is my favorite dish to make for parties and gatherings. We love keeping these on Diwali menu since it offers a unique alternative to typical traditional recipes ( that everyone else is having)
How to Char Tortillas on the stove?
I LOVE a good char on my corn tortilla. It brings a layer of smokiness and extra rustic element to the tacos.
If you have a gas burner, simply put the tortillas on the burner, watch for few seconds to char underneath. Then using tongs, flip the tortilla to other side. You have to be watchful and do this quickly to avoid burning the tortillas.
If don’t have a gas burner, use the cast iron skillet.
On a medium high heat, lay each tortilla in a dry cast iron skillet. After a minute, the underside will be well-charred and ready to flip. After heating each side, stack the tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and fold it closed.
In case you are doing this for a large party, to save time, you can skip this step and just warm up the stack of tortillas covered in damp kitchen towel in Microwave for 2 minutes for 2 times. They won't be charred but moist and warm.
THESE SPICY DESI PANEER TACOS
- make a great vegetarian appetizer for Diwali, Holi or festival celebrations. They are perfect for barbeque, potlucks or picnics as well.
- combine two of the universally loved foods—the blissful paneer and almighty tacos
- are easy to make. You can even do some prep in advance and assemble the rest at the time of eating.
Ingredients to Make Best Paneer Tacos
We are using pretty straightforward ingredients that are easily available. Also, I use store brought paneer and taco seasoning to save time and efforts. With some prep work, you should be able to make these tacos rather quickly!
Paneer: To make the paneer cubes more flavorful, I marinate it with lime juice and spices and let it sit for few hours and then pan fry. Also I like to soak the paneer in warm water for 15 to 20 minutes and then use it. This ensures paneer stays soft and less chewy texture.
Vegetables: I like to use trio of peppers to make these Fajita tacos. The variety of bell peppers add different flavors and beautiful colors. You can also use sliced onions or zucchini to the mix if you like.
Cilantro Green Sauce: This simple sauce adds wonderful flavor to these tacos. Cilantro, yogurt, garlic, salt and chilies is all you need. Using a high speed blender, you make it into smooth puree. Alternatively, you can use Indian Cilantro Mint Chutney as well.
Taco Seasoning and Marinade : This is where the flavor explosion happens. I am using store brought taco seasoning. Adding a link of my favorites brand here. Combined with lime juice and oil, this makes a superstar marinade.
💡You can add chili powder, cumin seeds or cumin powder, paprika, jalapeno for additional flavors. You can substitute paneer with tofu or beans for vegan plant based protein.
How To Make Paneer Tacos?
To make the marinade - in a large bowl, add oil, lime or lemon juice, taco seasoning and two spoonful of water. Whisk until everything is well combined.
Cut the veggies and paneer into bite size cubes. Make sure to remove the seeds of the color peppers.
Add the marinade to the paneer and veggies cubes. Stir until every piece is well coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for minimum of 1 hour.
After an hour, take the stuffing out of the refrigerator. Heat a skillet on high heat. Spray with a oil spray. Add the panner veggie stuffing mixture to the pan in a single layer.
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on high medium heat until paneer is nicely browned. Veggies should be crispy and tender. Remove pan from heat. Stuffing is ready. Alternatively, you can also do this in the air-fryer or the oven. Adding details in the recipe card below
In the meantime, make the green cilantro chutney sauce by blending together yogurt, cilantro leaves, green chilies, cloves garlic and salt.
Warm up the store-bought tortillas either in Microwave or char grilling on the stove.
Spoon the paneer-veggie taco stuffing on to each warm tortilla. Add additional toppings like cut cilantro, onions or cheese if desired. Drizzle cilantro green sauce over the stuffing.
Fold the tortilla in the middle. Pick up from the plate and DEVOUR !!
Serving Suggestions
You can serve these kid friendly Paneer Tacos with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice, Tawa Pulao or a fresh side salad for a dinner that whole family will love.
If you are making this vegetarian tacos during summer months, add Mango Peach Salsa as a topping. Sweet mangoes and spicy paneer.. my mouth is watering already 🙂 Black bean and corn salad or spicy street corn salad also works.
Our Popular Vegetarian Recipes
Here are some more colorful vegetarian weeknight dinners or party worthy recipes. These easy fusion recipes are super simple, gloriously tasty and extra nutritious.
- Pav Bhaji Quesadillas
- Samosa Puff Pastry Pinwheels
- Spicy Panner Puffs
- Naan Pizza
- Makhani Masala Pasta
- Potato Cheese Poppers
★ If you make this Paneer Fusion Taco Recipe, do let us know how you like it by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. We would love to hear your feedback. Use the PIN button in the recipe card or image below to pin this recipe !
📖 Recipe
Paneer Tacos - Indian Mexican Fusion Recipe
Ingredients
For Paneer Taco Stuffing
- 1 cup paneer cubed
- 1 red bell pepper cut into bite size pieces
- 1 green bell pepper cut into bite size pieces
- 1 yellow bell pepper cut into bite size pieces
- 2 Tablespoon Taco seasoning adjust per taste
- 2 Tablespoon lime or lemon juice
- 2 Tablespoon water to make a paste
- Salt - adjust per taste
For the Creamy Cilantro Marinade
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 2 green chilies
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- Salt per taste
For Tacos and optional garnishes
- 12 corn tortillas
- Chopped red onions lemon wedges, cut cilantro, avocado slices, tomato salsa or cheese
Instructions
Marinate the veggies and paneer
- Make the green cilantro chutney sauce by blending together yogurt, cilantro leaves, green chilies, garlic and salt.
- In a large bowl, add oil, lime or lemon juice, minced ginger and garlic and taco seasoning and two spoonful of water. Whisk until everything is well combined
- Cut the veggies and paneer into bite size cubes. Make sure to remove the seeds of the color peppers. Add the marinade to the paneer and veggies cubes. Stir until every piece is well coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for minimum of 1 hour.
Cook the Taco Stuffing
- After an hour, take the stuffing out of the refrigerator. Heat a skillet on high heat. Spray with a oil spray. Add the panner veggie stuffing mixture to the pan in a single layer.
- Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on high medium heat until paneer is nicely browned. Veggies should be crispy and tender. Remove pan from heat. Stuffing is ready.
Prepare the tacos
- Warm up the tortillas either in Microwave or char grilling on the stove.
- Spoon the paneer-veggie taco stuffing on to each tortilla. Add additional toppings like cut cilantro, onions or cheese if desired. Drizzle cilantro green sauce over the stuffing.
- Fold the tortilla in the middle. Pick up from the plate and DEVOUR !!
Notes
How To make the Paneer Vegetable Taco Stuffing in the Air Fryer or Oven?
Arrange the marinated paneer and vegetable mixture in a single layer on the air fryer grill or the baking sheet. Choose 350 Fahrenheit temperature for 12 minutes. Make sure to toss the mixture mid way through for even air frying or baking.Nutrition
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This recipe was originally published on October 16, 2019. It has been revised and republished with air fryer instructions and serving suggestion on April 20, 2024.
Mike
I made this yesterday, and it was AWESOME. I did cheat a bit - I used coriander chutney instead of going with the fresh ingredients in the recipe. It still turned out fabulous. I also made a carrot kosambari as a side/topping; it went together with the tacos perfectly. I'll make this again for sure!
Charu
Yes I also do such changes instead of carrot I do cucumber raita with Greek yogurt…. I also do this for homemade falafel I do shredded cucumber squeeze water out add Greek yogurt and mix Thani and use as dressing .
Kavin Shivnani
You have given so many information thank you
Shilpa Lele
Loved the easy recipe. I like paneer and this was different combination which was very tasty
Beefie
may want to revise wording in spots, green cilantro merinade on ingredients list. then says add veggies to marinade, which I'm guessing should be the water, juice and taco mix. other than that very good!
Mamtha Balasubramaniam
Made this for the 1st time today for dinner and it was a big hit with the family! It’s very tasty and has that perfect tang that one tastes in tandoori dishes. Will definitely make this again. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!