This easy Chana Saag recipe is a comforting meal prepared with chickpeas, spinach and Indian spices. Prepare chana saag just like your favourite Indian restaurant.
- What is Chana Saag?
- Ingredients
- Method
- Serving Suggestion
- Storage
- Other Chickpea Recipes
What is Chana Saag?
Chana Saag is a classic Indian curry you may recognise from restaurant menus. Cooked chickpeas are simmered in a delicious leafy greens and onion tomato sauce with warming spices.
Chana Saag is different to a normal chana masala or vegan chickpea curry because of the green leafy vegetable sauce.
As an umbrella term, “saag” can refer to spinach leaves, mustard greens, collard greens or basella (malabar spinach). The greens are either finely chopped or creamed into the sauce. A classic is Sarson da Saag served with Maize flour flatbreads.
We love to add spinach in this delicious Paneer Palak Kofta Curry .
In chana saag, you can either prepare the dish by added chopped spinach only or by blending spinach into the sauce, restaurant style.
Other Indian restaurant style recipes:
Chana Masala
Saag Aloo
Saag Paneer
Punjabi style Matar Paneer
Palak Paneer
Dum Aloo
Paneer Tikka Masala
Black Daal (Daal Makhani)
Ingredients
Full measurements can be found in the recipe card below
Chickpeas – also known as garbanzo beans. You can use dry chickpeas or a can of chickpeas for faster cooking time. I have cooked my chickpeas in the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker.
See my other Indian chickpea recipes .
Spinach – I have used fresh spinach but you can use frozen which works just as good for this recipe. Finely chop it.
Baby spinach is easiest to find in local supermarkets and it does not need to be blanch cooked before adding to the recipe as baby spinach leaves are tender.
Onion, garlic, ginger, green chilies – crushed to a paste or finely chopped.
Tomato puree – use either crushed fresh tomatoes or tomato paste.
Spices – red chili powder (alternatively use cayenne pepper), turmeric powder, ground coriander powder, ground cumin powder, garam masala powder. Note that often ground cumin and coriander powder is sold combined
Alternatively to individual spices, use this madras curry powder or homemade curry powder made with warm spices.
Oil – I have used olive oil, you can use flavourless oil
Optional:
Cumin seeds – tempered in oil.
Lemon juice – enhances the flavours, use fresh or bottled
Dried fenugreek leaves – if you happen to have them lying around, the quintessential ingredient to your homemade Indian curries tasting restaurant style is to add a large pinch of dried fenugreek leaves or kasoori methi. I have used kasoori methi in this recipe.
Method
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan or large skillet on medium heat. Once the oil is warm, add the cumin seeds – a teaspoon cumin seeds will do. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle and infuse their flavour into the oil.
Add the chopped onion, ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture has reduced. Do not cook on high heat as the mixture will burn and not properly cook
Add in the tomato puree and again cook until you see oil on the sides of the pan. Add the spices – red chilli powder, turmeric, ground cumin coriander and garam masala. Mix well.
If you are blending spinach into the sauce, add half the spinach, a cup of water and blend the masala using an immersion blender or jug blender to get a sauce.
Add the cooked chickpeas, add more water if required and salt to taste. Cook until the sauce has thickened up and turn off the heat.
If adding kasoori methi, crush a pinch in your palm and stir into the curry.
Toss in the remainder of the chopped spinach and stir in. It will wilt and will retain its vibrant green colour.
If using, add a little lemon juice or cream of choice at this stage.
Serving Suggestion
Chana Saag is best enjoyed the British Indian Restaurant way!
You need an Indian flatbread such as garlic and coriander naans , Peshwari Naans or soft chapatis .
Serve alongside jeera rice (cumin rice), plain basmati rice or Coconut Milk Pulao .
You need a bowl of Indian restaurant style Indian Onion Chutney or this Indian Onion Salad along with Indian Mint Sauce and poppadoms.
For drinks, go for Mango Lassi or a simple Sweet Lassi .
To end your meal on a sweet note, go for Gulab Jamun Cake or Vegetarian Mango Panna Cotta
Storage
Chana Saag tastes fantastic the next day as the flavours have a chance to build and deepen.
Store leftover curry in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a pan with a tablespoon of water or heat in the microwave until piping hot.
If preparing in advance, you can always add the spinach at the last minute before serving.
Chana Saag freezes well. Place in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Allow to thaw and reheat in a pan with a pinch of garam masala or curry powder to revive the spices. You’ll have a delicious curry ready for the next time the craving hits!
Other Chickpea Recipes
Chickpea Salad with Avocado Dressing
Vegan Chickpea Tikka Masala
Bhel Puri
Tandoori Chickpea Tacos
Roasted Carrot and Chicpea Soup
Easy Chana Pulao
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Chana Saag
Equipment
- 1 pan
- 1 Instant pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 3 cup chickpeas cooked
- 1 ½ cup spinach fresh
- 1 cup tomatoes crushed
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 2 medium green chilli chopped
- ⅛ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder red
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasoori methi
- salt
- ½ teaspoon curry powder optional
Instructions
- In a pan , heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter.
- Then add chopped onion with minced ginger, garlic and green chillies.
- Saute on low to medium heat until light brown (pinkish).
- Add the crushed or pureed tomatoes.
- Continue cooking until tomatoes reduce and the masala gets thicker.
- Add all spice powders and mix well.
- Cooking the mixture further minute or so.
- Add half of the spinach to curry mix and 1/2 cup water. Cook 40-50 seconds.
- Either use immersion blender to puree the mixture or transfer into the blender jug and make smooth puree.
- Add spinach puree back into the pan.
- Tip in cooked chickpeas, and some water. Mix well.
- Season with salt and add dried fenugreek leaves.
- Let the curry simmer for 10-12 minutes on low to medium heat.
- Add coconut milk to the chickpea curry, if using.
- Last, add the remaining chopped spinach leaves and turn off the heat.
- Mix well, add lemon juice (if using) and stir.
- Serve hot with rice, salad or naan, roti or paratha.
Video
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Chana Saag
Equipment
- 1 pan
- 1 Instant pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 3 cup chickpeas cooked
- 1 ½ cup spinach fresh
- 1 cup tomatoes crushed
- ½ cup onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 2 medium green chilli chopped
- ⅛ cup oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon chilli powder red
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasoori methi
- salt
- ½ teaspoon curry powder optional
Instructions
- In a pan , heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let it splutter.
- Then add chopped onion with minced ginger, garlic and green chillies.
- Saute on low to medium heat until light brown (pinkish).
- Add the crushed or pureed tomatoes.
- Continue cooking until tomatoes reduce and the masala gets thicker.
- Add all spice powders and mix well.
- Cooking the mixture further minute or so.
- Add half of the spinach to curry mix and 1/2 cup water. Cook 40-50 seconds.
- Either use immersion blender to puree the mixture or transfer into the blender jug and make smooth puree.
- Add spinach puree back into the pan.
- Tip in cooked chickpeas, and some water. Mix well.
- Season with salt and add dried fenugreek leaves.
- Let the curry simmer for 10-12 minutes on low to medium heat.
- Add coconut milk to the chickpea curry, if using.
- Last, add the remaining chopped spinach leaves and turn off the heat.
- Mix well, add lemon juice (if using) and stir.
- Serve hot with rice, salad or naan, roti or paratha.
Video
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
These Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes are the ultimate breakfast treat! Delicious pancakes are doused in a sweet cream made with 3 different kinds of milk – just like the Mexican pancakes served at IHOP and Denny’s.
- What are Tres Leches Pancakes?
- Why this recipe works
- Ingredients
- Delicious recipe variations
- Vegan Mexican Pancakes
- Method + important tips Tres Leches Syrup Recipe
- Serving suggestion
- FAQS
- Other great recipes for breakfast
This is the best tres leches pancake recipe – it’s creamy, it’s gooey and it’s PACKED with flavour! The best part is that it takes less than 30 minutes!
The milk cream is super addictive and so indulgent that you will come back to this recipe again and again!
Serve your homemade pancakes restaurant style with dulce de leche and vanilla sauce. IHOP is one such restaurant that serves Mexican Tres Leche Pancakes
What are Tres Leches Pancakes?
Tres Leches means three milks in Spanish. Three different milk products are used to create a sweet cream syrup that is poured on top of the Mexican pancakes.
This is much like the Mexican Tres Leches Cake – a white sponge cake which is soaked in the same tres leches mixture. There is also some similarity with Fresas con Crema , an easy recipe of Mexican Strawberries and Cream, which also needs a sweetened cream made with 4 different milks!
These pancakes would go down a treat for special occasions and the best part is the recipe uses simple ingredients!
This delicious pancake recipe yields fluffy pancakes just like traditional recipes but without needing any egg
To make things even simpler, you could always buy a pancake mix from the supermarket and make your milk syrup at home.
Why this recipe works
The recipe comes together in less than 30 minutes
Eggless Tres Leches Pancakes recipe – no need to worry about separating your egg whites from egg yolks here!
Get the whole family involved – older kids will love helping out
Serve for breakfast, brunch or as a dessert!
You can easily half or double the recipe
Ingredients
For the eggless pancake batter:
All purpose flour – White plain flour works best. For gluten-free pancakes, use a gluten-free flour. My favourite is buckwheat but you can use a gluten-free flour mix from the supermarket.
Baking powder – I have used baking powder as a raising agent to make the pancakes light and fluffy. Baking powder creates air as it is exposed to heat allowing the pancake to rise
If you only have baking soda around, you can use that but use half than the recipe amount as baking soda is much more potent.
Whole milk – I have used full fat milk but you can use semi-skimmed too
Vegetable oil – you need to use an oil which is flavourless. Sunflower oil works well too.
Unsalted butter – melted
Water – water is necessary to keep the pancake batter light and airy. Using milk alone will cause the batter to become chewy and heavy.
I have left out sugar as the cream will be sweet enough but you can add two tablespoons of sugar if you wish to. Use either white or brown sugar or even pure maple syrup.
For the tres leches milk mixture:
You need 3 different types of milk which are all easily available in supermarkets
Heavy cream – for UK readers, use double cream or whipping cream
Sweetened condensed milk – found in a can form in the baking aisle. I recommend using the normal version compared with the “light” condensed milk. It is important to use the amount of condensed milk that is in the recipe because it is the only sweet ingredient!
Use leftover condensed milk in this eggless cheesecake recipe.
Evaporated milk – also found in the baking section next to the condensed milk
The IHOP version is prepared with a vanilla sauce, I recommend adding a few small drops of vanilla extract , vanilla essence or a little vanilla bean paste.
Delicious recipe variations
Dulce de leche sauce – I find it easier to buy this in the supermarket. You may want to warm the sauce slighter first so that it reaches a drizzle consistency.
IHOP is served with both vanilla sauce, dulce de leche and a spoon of whipped cream. Use leftover dulce de leche sauce to make 2 ingredients Caramel Mousse or Dulce de Leche Mousse dessert.
Vanilla sauce – add a few drops of vanilla extract to the tres leches sauce.
Whipped cream – use either squirty cream or whip your own double/heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold in a small amount of powdered sugar if you wish to,
Caramel sauce – Drizzle over some caramel sauce
Add a pinch of cinnamon powder to the pancake batter
Add a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder to the batter to make chocolate pancakes. You could also top the pancakes with chocolate sauce or chocolate flakes.
To make Mexican Cornmeal Tres Leches Pancake, use half cornmeal and half all purpose flour.
Vegan Mexican Pancakes
You will need to use a vegan pancake recipe and dairy free alternatives for the milk cream.
You can use the same recipe as above but instead of regular milk, use a plant based milk such as coconut milk, oat, almond or soya milk. For the butter, use a vegan butter alternative.
Another option is to buy a vegan pancake mix from the store.
For the milk cream, use vegan sweet condensed milk and a vegan heavy cream alternative. These plant based options are available in supermarkets.
Method + important tips
First prepare the tres leches syrup so it has time to cool.
Tres Leches Syrup Recipe
Add all ingredients for the milk syrup into a heavy bottomed pan and gently heat on medium-low heat. Keep stirring to prevent sticking.
Simmer for 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens then remove from the heat.
Allow to cool whilst you make the pancakes
Tres Leches Pancakes Recipe
In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients – the milk, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk together a little bit.
Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add a little water bit by bit to create a pancake batter consistency.
You do not need to over mix as slight lumps in the batter produce fluffier pancakes.
Overmixing also develops gluten making the pancakes rubbery and chewy.
Stir the melted butter into the batter.
As the batter rests for around 10 minutes, you can prepare your skillet.
Spray with a nonstick cooking spray and heat on medium heat.
When the pan is hot, pour a ladle of batter into the skillet.
Reduce the heat down to medium-low to ensure the batter cooks all the way through and prevents a burnt pancake.
For American style pancakes, keep the pancakes small, for English style thinner pancakes that are larger, add a little more batter and spread it out thinly. English pancakes are more like crepes. They do not become fluffy but remain flat.
As bubbles appear on the edge of the pancake, pop and leave small holes, carefully flip over with a spatula and cook until golden brown. Do not flip just as bubbles appear – this is too soon. Also, the pancakes should be golden underneath.
If your batter becomes thin and you see large bubbles appearing as the pancakes cook, add a little more flour to the batter. Too thin batter will prevent the pancakes from rising and becoming fluffy.
To prevent pancakes from becoming soggy, do not stack them on top of each other.
Repeat with remaining batter.
It may help to clean the pan with kitchen paper dipped in a little oil and water mixture between each pancake.
To keep them warm as you cook a whole batch, keep them in a single layer in a warm oven at Gas Mark 1-2 or around 50C/120F.
If you’re going for the pancake mix option, follow the instructions on the box.
Serving suggestion
Serve the pancakes warm.
Arrange a stack of 1 or 2 pancakes on a serving plate
Drizzle over the milk mixture and optionally spoon some dulche de leche
Top with fresh berries like strawberry halves, blueberries, raspberries if you wish
Add some whipped cream for double creaminess
For extra crunch, you could add some chopped nuts or even lightly crushed biscuits (cookies) such as biscoff or oreo.
In a small bowl, keep some extra syrup so everyone can help themselves to more!
I love them with this copycat Starbucks Pistachio Latte that is made with pistachio cream.
Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 5 days. Keep stored in an airtight container to prevent strong smells mixing in. As the syrup is prepared with dairy products, do not leave out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If it is very hot, keep refrigerated at all times.
I do not recommend preparing the batter in advance as the baking powder will loose its potency. Prepare just prior to using in the recipe. An option is to make the batter but leave out the baking powder until the last minute. I haven’t tried this myself but it may work for you.
Ensure pancakes are at room temperature. Store in an airtight container and place in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. To freeze, place in a freezer safe bag or container and freeze in a stack with a small piece of parchment paper between each pancake to prevent sticking. Keeps for 3 months. Defrost in the microwave.
No. The original pancake recipe requires large eggs but this eggless version yields the same fluffy texture.
Other great recipes for breakfast
Buckwheat banana pancakes – these pancakes are naturally sweet, moist and fluffy and ideal for a healthy breakfast.
Mango and Coconut Pancakes
Orange Cranberry Scones (Starbucks copycat)
Pumpkin Semolina Waffles
Cardamom Chai
Kefir Mango Lassi
Air Fryer French Toast Sticks – delicious eggless recipe
Use leftover milk syrup on these Vegan Waffles that are prepared with just 3 ingredients
As always if you make this recipe, be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram @jcookingodyssey or #jcookingodyssey. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media using the buttons below – I can’t wait to see you all there!
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Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Skillet
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
Tres Leches Syrup
- ¼ cup condensed milk
- ¼ cup evaporated milk
- ⅛ cup double cream heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Eggless Pancakes
- 1 cup plain flour all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon oil vegetable or sunflower oil
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 1 tablespoon dulce de leche to serve
Instructions
Prepare the Tres Leches sauce
- To a saucepan, add the condensed milk, evaporated milk and double cream 1/4 cup condensed milk, 1/4 cup evaporated milk, 1/8 cup double cream
- Heat gently for 2-3 minutes and leave to cool
- Once cooled, add the vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Prepare the eggless pancake batter
- To a bowl, add the flour and baking powder 1 cup plain flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder
- Pour in the milk, oil, water and vanilla extract 1 cup whole milk, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Whisk until the ingredients are combined but keep the batter slightly lumpy
- Set aside to rest for a few minutes
- Add in melted butter and whisk again, keeping some lumps intact 2 tablespoon butter
Make the pancakes
- Heat a skillet or frying pan on medium heat and add a dash of oil
- When the pan is hot, add a ladle of batter
- Cook until you see bubbles and small holes appear on the sides
- Flip over the pancake and cook until both sides are golden brown
- Repeat for the remaining batter
- To serve, pour over the tres leches milk, spoon some dulce de leche and optionally top with whipped cream 1 tablespoon dulce de leche
Video
Notes
Nutrition
PLEASE NOTE: Nutritional values are estimated by a computer and may vary based on ingredients and portion sizes. For personalised dietary advice, please consult a qualified healthcare professional.
