A delicious six-ingredient Mushroom Spinach Curry that goes from stovetop to table in less than 15 minutes. The creamy coconut sauce flavored with curry powder is out of the world. Serve it with basmati rice.
Mushrooms are terrific in Indian dishes like this delicious, spicy mushroom curry and mushroom matar. Another one of my favorite curries to make in a hurry is this dazzlingly flavorful and utterly simple Mushroom Spinach Curry. It needs a handful of ingredients, is super-nutritious, and tastes great served simply with rice.
I make this with homemade curry powder I have already shared with you. You can also use a store-bought curry powder. A big advantage of having premade, flavorful spice mixes on hand is that you can really cut down on cooking time while keeping all of the flavor and complexity in your dishes.
I hope you will try it and if you do, be sure to know in the comments below or take a photo and tag me @HolyCowVegan on Instagram!
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy. It goes from scratch to done in practically 15 minutes.
- Very little prep work needed, besides chopping an onion and some mushrooms.
- Tasty. Flavorful veggies swimming in a creamy, spiced coconut sauce. What's not to love?
- Versatile. You can tweak it to your tastes by adding other things you love. Chickpeas? Check. Bell peppers or zucchini? Check.
- One pot
Reader review
This is really good! It's not easy finding Indian recipes with few ingredients that taste good. I will definitely make this again.
-Nina
Ingredients
- Button or crimini mushrooms: Mushrooms shine brightly in Indian dishes like Mushroom Makhani or my Chettinad Mushroom Masala. Either cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms work in this mushroom spinach curry recipe, or you can use portobello or even dried wild mushrooms. If using dried mushrooms make sure you reconstitute them by soaking 30 minutes in hot water before adding to the dish.
- Baby spinach or regular spinach. Use fresh or frozen. If using baby spinach no need to chop, but if using the larger spinach leaves chop them coarsely.
- Coconut oil: Any oil is fine but coconut oil is best here. It adds even more flavor and healthfulness.
- Black mustard seeds (optional): These are not absolutely necessary, the curry powder has mustard added to it, but if you have some toss them in here for more flavor.
- Onion: For the curry base, and for lots of flavor.
- Curry leaves (optional): The curry powder has curry leaves so you can leave them out if you don't have them. Or use cilantro and add it at the same time as you would the curry leaves.
- Curry powder: Use a good homemade blend like the one I shared with you. If you have sambar powder, a south Indian spice blend, that works really well in this recipe too.
- Coconut milk: Use full fat coconut milk, which is thick and creamy, for this curry. Stir the coconut milk in the can well before using.
- Salt to taste
How to make Mushroom Spinach Curry
1. Make the "tadka" or tempering by heating oil and then adding the mustard seeds to it. Wait for the mustard seeds to start sputtering and crackling, then add in the onions and curry leaves, if using, with a pinch of salt and saute until the onions are soft and translucent but not browning.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and spinach and saute for a minute until the spinach has wilted down.
3. Add the curry powder and half the coconut milk and mix well.
4. Add half a cup of water or vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
Pour in the remaining coconut milk and add salt if needed. Stir well and allow the curry to heat through but turn it off before it comes to a boil.
Expert tips
- Always wait until the oil is very hot (but not smoking) before adding tadka ingredients like mustard seeds. Otherwise they won't sputter and bloom and will leave a bitter undertone in your dish.
- Adding a pinch of salt to your onions ensures they cook faster and become more flavorful.
- Add more cayenne or red pepper flakes if you want more heat in this recipe.
- If you use dried mushrooms in this dish, save the water or stock that you reconstituted the mushrooms in and use it instead of the water in step 4. It will add lots of flavor.
Serving suggestions
- Serve with plain brown rice or white basmati rice.
- With Carrot Rice or Jeera Rice.
- With a yummy potato dish like Jeera Aloo or Bombay Potatoes.
More curry recipes
Mushroom Spinach Curry
Equipment
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional)
- 1 medium onion (thinly sliced)
- 1 sprig (about 10-12 leaves) curry leaves (optional)
- 8 oz crimini mushrooms (or button mushrooms, sliced)
- 5 oz baby spinach (or regular spinach. Chop regular spinach but you can leave the baby spinach whole. Frozen spinach is fine here, thaw before using)
- 2 tablespoon curry powder
- 14 oz coconut milk (canned)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard, if using, and wait for it to sputter.
- Add the onions and curry leaves, if using, and saute on medium heat until it sotens and becomes translucent.
- Add the mushrooms and spinach and saute until the spinach wilts, which should take no more than a couple of minutes.
- Add half the coconut milk and the curry powder with half a cup of water. Stir to mix and let the sauce come to a boil.
- Add salt to taste and the remaining coconut milk. Warm the curry through at this point but turn off the heat before it comes to a boil.
- Check salt and add more if needed.
Lynda Patricia Rae
Mushrooms and spinach are very earthy flavours, along with the coconut milk I found them a bit bland, so added a little squeeze of lemon juice to add a touch of acidity.
Also added powdered garlic at the end. Mushrooms, spinach and garlic are a marriage made in heaven!
Cabral Meghji
Very nice, easy ingredients and method... Really enjoyed it. Thanks
Vaishali
So happy you made it!
Geffen
This is one of the best, easiest most delicious curries I have every made/had!
I substituted Garam masala/turmeric/cumin/ginger and used a tablespoon of red curry paste instead of the curry powder and curry leaves. I toasted the spices in the pan with my mustard seeds for just a minute or so. It came out so good!
Served with fresh chopped mango, red onion, cilantro and lime juice “salsa” and simple basmati rice.
Thank you so much for such a terrific, fancy, easy mid-week meal!!!
Vaishali
Wow, that sounds like one delicious meal. My mouth's watering, and I just had dinner. 🙂 So happy you made the curry and enjoyed it.
Nina
This is really good! It's not easy finding Indian recipes with few ingredients that taste good. I will definitely make this again. Thanks!
Hasita
Amazing how a dish that you posted three years ago is what I want to eat today. Your passion for food really shows in the way your recipes are relevant long after you post them. I hope, like several others I'm sure, that you'll keep cooking and writing for a very long time to come. 🙂
Rekha
I have bought fresh mushrooms and spinach. I could not wait to cook them since they are sooo freshhhhhhh! Then I got an idea to cook mushrooms and spinach together and see how the result will be, but I have no clue how to cook them together... I wanted to cook some gravy kind... so I searched online and viola! I found your recipe... It satisfied all my criteria mushrooms, spinach, gravy... moreover I like the idea of sambhar powder in it...so I cooked immediately and the end result is awesome. Thank you so much... Btw, you have a nice blog! 🙂
Anonymous
Simply Awesome and Super Healthy
Anonymous
brilliant! keep up the good work, more spinach recipes please!!
Anonymous
cooked this for dinner.used curry powder and added green chillies,red chilli powder,black pepper(a little bit of each one of the spices) and a bit of coriander powder.I used fresh spinach and before adding the coconut milk I dried all the water in the pan(dont like a lot of gravy). the ingredients were well out of my comfort zone but loved the end result.lets hope hubby likes it too(not home yet).keeping my fingers crossed.