Spinach Paratha (Indian Spinach Flatbread)

Soft, flavorful spinach paratha is a delicious breakfast, snack, or side! This North Indian-style flatbread is packed with spinach! You can also stuff it with a flavorful tofu filling. (nut-free with gluten-free and soy-free options). This post was originally published on May 18, 2015.

Parathas are this quintessential Indian flatbreads that are unleavened, i.e., don’t usually have yeast or baking powder. They're easily available all over India and differ based on the region. North Indian Parathas are different than the South Indian Parathas.

You also see parathas from other countries — like Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Fiji — that have adapted them from Indian cuisine. Some places use whole wheat flour, some places use all-purpose flour, and there are other variations. North Indian parathas usually use 100% whole wheat flour.

In India, the wheat for paratha and roti is a bit different from the wheat you find elsewhere. It is closer to white wheat, and it gives you really soft flatbreads. They also grind this flour a little bit more finely compared to the whole grain flour in the US. The whole wheat flour in the US comes from harder wheat and is more coarsely ground, so when you make roti flatbreads or paratha flatbreads with that, the flatbreads tend to be a little stiffer and not as soft. If you can get your hands on Indian roti flour, chapati flour, or Indian 100% whole wheat flour — called atta flour — use that.

You can also add various fillings to parathas, like an aloo paratha, which is a potato-stuffed flatbread. Gobi paratha is spiced cauliflower stuffed in a flatbread, and there are many more. In India, we ate parathas for breakfast or brunch or served them as a side with curries and dals. Stuffed parathas are usually the parathas of choice at breakfast, and we’d serve them with some Indian pickles or some yogurt or raita (spiced yogurt dip). The recipe below includes a raita recipe in the notes section.

This spinach paratha is hearty and delicious. There is protein from the whole wheat flour and in the non-dairy yogurt, if you’re making a raita dip. To up the protein even more, you can use higher protein fillings, such as tofu, or add some hemp seeds and so on.

For today’s spinach paratha, I am taking the flour and adding pureed spinach into the flour as the wet ingredient to make these vibrant, green parathas. They are nutritious, delicious, and easy. You can stuff them or make plain parathas and serve these as is or with some chutney, Indian pickles, or yogurt. This recipe works with frozen spinach or fresh spinach.