Chana Saag: An Easy And Healthy Indian Recipe

Name: Chana Saag
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (drained and rinsed, or 1 ½ cups cooked ); Drizzle of olive oil ((optional)); Dash of spices; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 medium onion (chopped (about 2 cups)); 3 minced garlic cloves; 1 tablespoon grated ginger; 1 to 2 serrano peppers ((green chili peppers)); 2 pitted dates; 1/4 cup water; 2 small tomatoes (chopped (about 1 cup)); 1/2 teaspoon turmeric; 1/2 teaspoon coriander; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or Kashmiri red chili); 1/4 cup water; 10 ounces spinach (or baby spinach, kale, beet greens, swiss chard, or a mixture); 1/2 cup water; 1/4 cup unsweetened nondairy milk (soy, cashew, hemp, pea, or coconut milk); Juice of 1/2 lemon; 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro ((optional)); 1 teaspoon garam masala; 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves; Dash of mustard powder; Tahini Yogurt Sauce (or cashew yogurt)

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Easy and Healthy Chana Saag, packed with flavorful spices and nutritious ingredients. Perfect for, vegans, vegetarians, and those looking to eat more plants! This recipe is packed with antioxidants, and great for using leftover leafy greens.

Chana saag with roasted chickpeas, pita, and Indian yogurt sauce in a white bowl.

Made with all healthful and flavorful ingredients, this quick and easy Indian recipe for Chana Saag is bound to be a favorite! It's packed with fiber and antioxidants, and the spices are added at the end to preserve their numerous health benefits.

'Saag' means 'leafy greens' in English as this healthy Indian dish can be made with a mixture of greens. It's a great recipe for using leftover greens, such as carrot tops, herbs, or leafy greens about to go bad to reduce food waste.

Did you know that adding mustard powder to cooked greens increases the bioavailability of sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting phytonutrient, by over four times? Plus, the calcium in leafy greens is absorbed much more efficiently by the body than in milk. You can make this dish with low-oxalate greens—any greens except for spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens.

For more high-protein recipes with chickpeas, try this Tempeh Chickpea Mushroom Orzo Bowl and this Easiest, Healthiest, And Most Tasty Roasted Chickpea Salad on my site.

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👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients
🥬 Substitutions
📖 How to Make Easy & Healthy Chana Saag
✔️ Expert Tips
🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
🍽️ Related Recipes
🫙 Pairing
👩🏽‍🍳 Made This Recipe?
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

👩🏼‍🌾 Ingredients

Spinach, chickpeas, garlic, spices, tomato, serrano pepper, onion, lemon, dates, cumin seeds, nondairy milk, cumin seeds, and cilantro on a gray board.

Spinach or kale
Chickpeas
Tomato
Garlic
Ginger
Onion
Green chili pepper
Cumin seeds
Mustard powder
Nondairy milk
Dates
Spices

See the recipe card for quantities.

🥬 Substitutions

Chickpeas - substitute with cubed and baked tofu instead
Spinach - use baby spinach, kale, beet greens, swiss chard, collards, or a combination
Tomato - plum, vine, beefsteak, or any red tomato will work
Nondairy milk - use unsweetened soy, cashew, pea, or creamy nondairy milk

For more healthy chickpea recipes, visit my Vegan Chickpeas Recipes page.

📖 How to Make Easy & Healthy Chana Saag

For the full recipe with quantities, scroll down to the bottom of the post. This is an overview.

Seasoned crispy chickpeas on a baking sheet next to paprika.

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Dry the chickpeas between layers of a dish towel. Toss them in a drizzle of olive oil or lemon juice, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric, cumin, black pepper, or your choice of spices. Roast them for about 20 minutes, or until crispy.

Chopped onion, dates, garlic, and cumin seeds cooking in a white saucepan.

Step 2. Heat a large skillet over high. Add a few drops of water and they should sizzle when the pan is ready. Or heat a drizzle of oil instead. Add cumin seeds and toast for 1 minute.

Add onion, garlic, ginger, serrano peppers, dates, and ¼ cup water. Reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until onions are tender, stirring frequently and adding water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, to prevent sticking.

Chopped onion, dates, garlic, cumin seeds, and tomatoes cooking in a white saucepan.

Step 1. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, coriander, black pepper, cayenne, and water. Cook, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until tomatoes are soft.

Baby spinach leaves in a white saucepan.

Step 2. Stir in the leafy greens.

Chopped onion, dates, garlic, cumin seeds, tomatoes, and baby spinach cooking in a white saucepan.

Step 3. Cook for about 10 minutes more, or until wilted, stirring occasionally.

Saag cooking in a white saucepan with an immersion blender.

Step 4. Add 1 cup water and blend using an immersion blender. (Or transfer to a blender, add water, and blend until mostly smooth with some chunks remaining.)

Saag in a white saucepan with soy milk for creaminess.

Step 3. Stir in the nondairy milk until the desired creaminess. Add lemon juice, cilantro, garam masala, cinnamon, and cloves and mix well to combine.

Step 4. For serving: Add a generous dash of mustard powder. Top with the chickpeas and drizzle with Spiced Yogurt Sauce.

✔️ Expert Tips

Do not skip the mustard powder for serving. Adding mustard powder to cooked greens boosts sulforaphane levels to help protect against cancer.
Grain: Enjoy Chana Saag with farro, quinoa, barley, wild or Forbidden rice, naan, and Spiced Yogurt Sauce.
Turmeric: Check out my clean brand of turmeric powder tested for heavy metal contamination.
Long pepper: Add ground long pepper for a kick and proven anti-aging properties.
Storage: Refrigerate leftover vegan saag in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

Is Chana Saag Healthy?

Leafy greens are the main ingredient in Indian Saag. Greens are one of the healthiest vegetables, and they're budget-friendly. The calcium in dark leafy greens is better absorbed than in cow's milk.
Plus, leafy greens are the best source of plant-based nitrates, which form nitric oxide, a compound that significantly lowers blood pressure.
Some nutrients are destroyed by cooking, but some nutrients become more absorbable.

Is this recipe anti-inflammatory?

While no one food is anti-inflammatory, several ingredients in this recipe have been shown to fight inflammation. Cloves, ginger, and turmeric significantly blocked the inflammatory response of tumor necrosis factor in this study. 'Tumor necrosis factor' plays a role in autoimmune attacks, like inflammatory bowel disease.