Tandoori Paneer Tikka In Air Fryer

Learn how to make irresistible tandoori paneer tikka with this easy and delicious recipe. These paneer and vegetable skewers are amazing for meal prep! They taste just like restaurant-style tandoori tikka but are made effortlessly in your air fryer. I'm also sharing oven and tawa (stovetop) to cook paneer tikka in this post.

Paneer dishes are a staple at my gatherings and they never fails to impress. These paneer tikka are colorful, crowd-pleasing, and disappear fast. The smoky flavor, aromatic spices, and creamy texture will keep everyone coming back for more. Paneer is a staple at my gatherings and never fail to impress.

At restaurants, this popular paneer appetizer is cooked in a tandoor (clay oven), but the same flavors can be recreated at home with modern tools like an air fryer or oven with a broiler, along with a few simple recipe tweaks. I've been getting consistently wonderful results making different kinds of tikka and kebabs in airfryer. The taste is spot on, and the texture turns out beautifully every time.

Tandoori Paneer Tikka Ingredients

• Paneer - Use malai or full fat paneer from the stores or use homemade paneer. If purchasing from stores, from stores, my favorites brands are Gopi or Verka. Besides indian grocery stores, paneer is easily available in the cheese section of stores like Costco, Sprouts and Whole Foods. 
• Besan (Gram Flour) - Is used in indian tikka recipes for two reasons. It adds mild nuttiness (without making marinade taste of gram flour) and also keeps the marinade thick so that it wont slide off the paneer pieces.
• Whole Yogurt - You could use plain whole greek yogurt (I use it) or regular yogurt. Make sure that the yogurt is thick and not too sour.
• Kasuri Methi - Or dry fenugreek leaves are a popular dried herb used in north indian cuisine. They are added to curries and marinades to add a unique aroma and flavor. There is no substitute.
• Mustard Oil - Is a key ingredient and gives the tikka a smoky restaurant like taste.
• Bell Peppers & Onions - Onions are a must to add a sweetish bite to these tikka, you could skip bell pepper or use colorful ones if you wish.

Few Ingredient Substitutions

1. Instead of paneer, use extra firm tofu or halloumi cheese (adjust the salt in marinade if using latter).
2. If you cannot find besan, use chickpea flour or all purpose flour/
3. Chaat Masala & Amchoor (Dry Mango Powder) - Use extra lemon juice. Also add a bit of cumin powder.
4. Smoked paprika is a good substitute for Kashmiri red chilli powder.
5. Instead of mustard oil, use ghee or clarified butter.

How To Make Paneer Tikka in Air Fryer

Preparation

1. Place the paneer on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut into large (about 2 inch) squares or cubes.
2. Peel and cut 1 medium onion into square shape pieces about the same size as paneer. Similarly, de stem and discard the core of bell pepper and cut in about the same size as onion.
3. Pound the green chillies using your mortar pestle into a coarse paste. If you are making ginger garlic paste at home, you can pound them together with green chillies.
4. In a pan, on low heat dry roast the besan (gram flour) for 4-5 minutes to do away its raw smell. Keep a close eye as besan burns easily.
5. Optional Step - Some people are quite sensitive to the taste and aroma of mustard oil. I use raw mustard oil in the marinade. However, you can warm up the oil till you see ripples on its surface, let cool down and then use in the marinade. Heating up the mustard oil before using reduces its strong aroma and taste.

Make The Tandoori Marinade

6. In a large bowl, add the greek yogurt along with ginger-garlic paste, green chillies paste, all the ground spices (red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, chaat masala, amchoor, cardamom powder, nutmeg) ,roasted besan, kasuri methi, lemon juice and mustard oil.
7. Using a whisk, beat the yogurt marinade until it's smooth and thick. If you feel that the marinade is runny, add ½ to 1 tablespoon roasted besan. We want the marinade to cover the paneer without sliding off. Alternatively, add 1-2 tablespoon of yogurt if needed in case the marinade becomes very thick after adding spices.

Tip - If time allows, let this marinade sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours to deepen the flavors. Yes, marinate the marinade- it used to be a thing in my mom's kitchen!

Marinate Paneer Tikka

8. Add the paneer cubes to the marinade and using a spatula or with your hands gently mix taking care that the paneer doesn't break. Cover and let sit for 1-2 hours or up 6-8 hours. If your paneer is soft(the kind you get from halwai(indian sweet shops), don't marinate beyond 2-3 hours.

Note - Don't marinate the vegetables else they will get watery due to salt in the marinade. If you want to add flavor to the vegetables, save 3-4 tablespoon of the marinade and toss the reserved marinade with capsicum and onion 6-8 minutes before you are ready to make tikka.

9. If using metal skewers, brush the skewers with oil before threading the paneer. Skewer the marinated paneer, bell pepper and onion onto wooden or metal skewers. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, make sure to soak them in water for 30 minutes prior to cooking to avoid burning.

Tip - When skewering paneer, thread the paneer with the flattest side facing up(see image 5). This way the tikka will get maximum exposure to heat while cooking.

Air Fry Paneer Tikka

10. Pre heat your air fryer at 370F for 2 minutes.
11. Arrange 4-5 skewers or more/less depending on size of your air fryer basket in a single layer making sure that the skewers arent touching each other. Spray or liberally brush avocado oil or you could also use ghee to brush on the tikka. You could line the air fryer basket with a perforated sheet for easy cleaning.
12. Cook for 4-5 minutes at 370F. Using tongs, flip the skewers. Spray some oil on other side and cook for 2-3 minutes on the other side.
13. Remove using tongs and sprinkle and char the tikka over stove flame. I am writing different charring methods below.
14. Sprinkle with chaat masala while the paneer tikka is still warm. Serve with lemon wedges & green chutney.

Tip :- The only downside of air fryer method is that you can cook maximum of 6-7 skewers (in an 8 qt air fryer). This limits its convenience when making paneer tikka for parties or for a large group of people. If that's the case, use oven to make paneer tikka.

How To Make Paneer Tikka in Oven

Preheat the oven to 450F (250C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.Place a wire rack and brush the rack with little oil. Arrange the skewers on the rack. Brush the skewers liberally with oil. Make sure that the skewers are not touching each other. Bake for 12-14 minutes, flip midway or until the edges start getting charred.

Paneer Tikka on Gas/Stove Top Tawa

This was (and still is) one of my favorite methods to make paneer tikka at home from when I didn't have an air fryer.

Warm up a cast iron skillet, stove top grill pan or any heavy tawa you have at home. Brush with oil once hot. Layer the paneer skewers on the tawa and let brown up. Flip and brown on the other side. Add oil as needed.

Dry Or Soggy Paneer Tikka- Both these situations happen due to overcooking the tikka (becomes dry) or undercooking at low temperate (starts releasing water). Make sure to follow the times mentioned in the recipe card.

How to Create Charred Taste At Home

Use ONE of the two methods mentioned below to get restaurant style charred taste  on your paneer tikka skewers after you are done cooking them.

1. Char directly on the flame of stove (I use this method)- Make sure that the skewers are long enough so that you can hold them on both sides. I wear baking mittens to be extra careful. Switch on the stove flame on high and rotate the skewers over it (without touching the flame) to get an even char on all sides. Takes about 45 seconds to 1 minutes. This methods makes the paneer tikka irresistibly smoky.
2. Broiler - You can char the tikka for a total of 2 minutes under the broiler. Rotate after 1 minute for char on other side.
3. Dhungar (Charcoal Smoking)- This method won't char that tikka but infuse a smoky taste. Place the cooked paneer tikka in a large bowl. Place a small bowl in the center and add a burning piece of charcoal to the bowl. Add a few drops of ghee on the charcoal. Immediately you will notice smoke. Cover with a lid and let smoke infuse for a minute or so.

Recipe Tips

• If using frozen paneer chunks, make sure to thaw them completely before adding to the marinade.
• You can make paneer tikka without skewers in oven, air fryer or pan. Place the paneer chunks apart from each other.
• Don't skimp on oil else the tikka will be dry and stick to the pan.
• Vegan Tikka- For vegan version of this recipe, use firm tofu instead of paneer. Instead of yogurt, use dairy free yogurt (cashew yogurt works great!).