This easy vegetable curry recipe is my go-to weeknight dinner. It's loaded with tender potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans and bell peppers, all simmered in a creamy, aromatic coconut milk sauce. You can change up the veggies to use what you have in the fridge. Serve the curry with basmati rice or an Indian flatbread like roti or naan.
Table of Contents
Vegetable curry with coconut milk and chickpeas
This easy vegetable curry is not just easy and beginner-friendly - it is also delicious and will quickly become one of your favorite meals to make in a hurry.
The recipe checks all the boxes for weeknight dinner: it's one-pot, it's pantry-friendly, it's loaded with colorful veggies and protein from chickpeas, and the coconut milk sauce spiced with curry powder wraps you in fuzzy deliciousness.
You don't need too many spices to make this veg curry: if you have turmeric, cayenne, cardamom and curry powder in the pantry you are all set! And you can use any quick-cooking vegetables you have on hand or a bag of frozen veggies. The vegetables I most often use are carrots, bell peppers, sweet potatoes, green beans and potatoes. See recipe FAQs below for more veggie options.
I like to make the sauce thinner if I plan on serving the curry with rice, and thicker and creamier if I want to serve it with an Indian bread like naan or paratha. I'll include instructions in the FAQs below for how to tweak the consistency so it's perfect for you.
What I love most about this curry is that although it comes together so quickly, it tastes like a mix vegetable curry you might order at a high-end Indian restaurant. It has mouthwatering, aromatic flavor from the spices and it's so luxuriously creamy. It is vegan, of course, but it's also gluten-free, nut-free and soy-free.
Here's the recipe. I can't wait for you to try it tonight!
Be sure to also check out similar Indian style curries like vegetable korma, curry with "mince" and veggies, and vegetable jalfrezi.
Five-Star Review
Fantastic recipe, loved by my meat eating boys!
-Chris
Recipe card
Vegetable curry recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (or use seeds of four cardamom pods - crush into a coarse powder before use)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne (tweak to your taste)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or crush six cloves of garlic and a 1-inch knob of ginger in mortar and pestle)
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (cut in ½-inch dice)
- 2 medium potatoes (yellow or red is fine, diced into ½-inch cubes)
- 1 large carrot (sliced into thin rounds)
- 1 large green bell pepper (diced)
- 2 cups green beans (chopped lengthwise into ½-inch pieces)
- 1½ cups vegetable stock (or mushroom stock)
- 14 oz cooked chickpeas (strained. If using canned chickpeas strain out all liquid)
- 1½ tablespoon curry powder (or garam masala)
- 14 oz coconut milk (approximately one can of full fat coconut milk. You can also use fresh-squeezed thick coconut milk)
- 3 scallions (green and white parts chopped, optional)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons cilantro (chopped, for garnish)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil. Add the onions followed by the cardamom pods and sauté over medium heat until the onions start to sweat and turn translucent.
- Add the turmeric and cayenne and stir-fry for 30 seconds. This step is called "blooming" the spices because it helps the spices release their aroma and flavor. Add ginger garlic paste immediately and sauté for a few more seconds.
- Add the sweet potatoes, potatoes, and carrots. Season with some salt and cover the pan. Turn the heat to low and let the vegetables cook about five minutes. If the veggies start to stick, add some water.
- Now add the green beans and green peppers and ½ cup of water or vegetable stock. Cover again and cook five more minutes.
- Check to see if the potatoes and sweet potatoes are cooked and fork-tender. If they are not, continue to cook, covered, for a few more minutes.
- Stir in the chickpeas, curry powder and another cup of vegetable stock. Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the coconut milk and scallions, if using. Lower heat to a simmer and turn it off as soon as the curry comes to a boil.
- Stir in the lemon and cilantro and add more salt if needed. Serve the vegetable curry hot.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Vegetable stock: Use a good quality vegetable stock or mushroom stock for the best flavor. But if you don't have stock or broth on hand use plain water.
- Coconut milk: Use canned, full-fat coconut milk and don't be tempted to substitute with light coconut milk if you want the curry to be creamy and taste amazing.Â
Nutrition Information
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Watch how to make vegetable curry
Pro tips for the best vegetable curry
- Don't skip the cardamom: A little extra cardamom adds amazing aroma to the curry. Don't skip it, even if your curry powder blend already includes cardamom.
- Use full-fat coconut milk. This will reward you with the most creamy, luxurious mouth feel.
- Layer the veggies: Add vegetables that take a little longer to cook, like the potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots, first, let them tenderize a bit, then add the remaining veggies. This way you won't overcook the bell peppers and green beans, which don't take as long to cook.
- Finish with a dash of acidity: A squeeze of lemon juice at the very end rounds out all the flavors in the curry and also adds freshness.
Recipe FAQs
No, any spiciness from the cayenne and ginger is balanced by the coconut milk and sweet potatoes. You can always adjust the amount of cayenne up or down based on your tolerance. Some curry powders (including mine) can include red chilies. In that case skip the cayenne.
Serve the vegetable curry with basmati rice or jeera rice.
Absolutely. Add ½ cup vegetable stock or water in step 4 but skip the additional cup of stock in step 6. This thicker curry is perfect for serving with vegan naan, paratha or roti.
Absolutely! This curry is extremely versatile. Here are some suggestions:
Summer veggies: zucchini or yellow squash, green peas, sweet potatoes and green beans.
Winter veggies: butternut squash, potatoes, cauliflower and spinach.
Hearty and comforting: cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green peas and corn.
Potatoes will cook very slowly in an acidic environment. If you add tomatoes to the curry, add them in only after the potatoes are fork-tender.
Use a 16-oz bag of your favorite frozen vegetables or mixed veggies. No need to thaw.
I use my homemade curry powder blend, which comes together in 10 minutes and is incredibly aromatic. Store-bought blends can vary greatly by brand but I suggest you look for a Madras curry powder blend. Taste the blend to check how spicy it is and skip or add less cayenne if necessary.
Yes. Swap out an equal quantity of garam masala instead of curry powder.
Store the veg curry in the refrigerator for up to four days, or freeze in a freezer safe container for up to two months. Thaw and reheat in a saucepan until warmed through. The coconut milk might appear grainy after freezing but that won't affect the taste.
Vanessa Fromm says
This was amazing! This is the first recipe of yours I have cooked. We served over basmati rice. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Mary-Ann Norgren says
This is so flavourful, will make again.
Vaishali Honawar says
Yay! So happy to hear.
Rachael says
This recipe was delicious but it definitely took longer than 20 minutes to cook. It easily took me over an hour for the potatoes to get soft. I would suggest using frozen sweet potatoes & veggies to make it a 20 minute dinner. We did enjoy it & it made a lot. We love leftovers 🙂
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Rachael, so happy you loved the curry. It should not take potatoes an hour to get soft - usually it takes no more than 10 minutes for potatoes to cook in boiling liquid. Did you by chance add tomatoes or something else acidic to the pot?
Sweet potatoes sound yummy or try pre-cooking the potatoes next time.
Anonymous says
Delicious. I wanted to thicken the curry sauce (maybe I used to much stock) so I added some ground almonds which worked. I'll be sure to make it again. Thank you.
Vaishali Honawar says
Sounds yummy!
Jaime says
Hello! This sounds delicious. I’m wanting to make this tonight. I have yellow curry paste, do I just omit the seasonings part of this recipe? Thank you!
Vaishali says
If it’s the Thai yellow curry paste, yes, skip other seasonings.
Greg Evans says
Best curry soup I have ever had. 5 stars.
Vaishali Honawar says
Awesome!