This delicious one-pot, 30-minute Vegetable Curry with chickpeas and coconut milk is a weeknight favorite! Chickpeas are simmered with veggies, including potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots, and flavored with cardamom and curry powder. Coconut milk adds a creamy and delicious finishing touch. Serve the veg curry over a bed of basmati rice or quinoa, or eat it by itself. A vegan, gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free recipe.
How about a creamy vegetable curry with Indian flavors for dinner tonight? It's packed with nutritious veggies and tastes absolutely amazing.
This easy curry has been a long-time favorite not just in my home but in the homes of so many readers -- more than 200 five-star reviews say it all! It truly is one of those dishes that makes one feel good from the inside out yet takes very little work, besides some chopping (you can even make it with frozen veggies! See FAQs for more on this).
I came up with the recipe when trying to put together a healthy and delicious dinner in a rush, but I guarantee it will taste like a dish you'd order at a high end Indian restaurant. The curry requires very few spices but they are balanced perfectly to give you the most delicious result. The coconut milk adds an exquisite finishing touch.
The time you will need to get this vegetable curry done depends entirely on your chopping skills. If you have better knife skills than I do (which you almost certainly do), you could get this veg curry done in less than 30 minutes. Be sure to watch the accompanying video below to see exactly how to make it.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this vegetable curry
- Full of delicious flavor. There are so many textures and tastes in the curry, and each is perfectly balanced. There's sweetness from the coconut milk and sweet potatoes, tang from the lemon, nuttiness from the chickpeas, and so much more! I could eat this curry for every meal. 🙂
- Gorgeous. The vegetable curry has a rainbow of colors with the carrots, bell peppers, green beans and sweet potatoes, making it a treat for the eyes as well as the tummy.
- Healthy. One of the healthiest curries you will ever make and eat, period. There's nothing here that's not wonderful for you, from those plump, tasty, fiber- and protein-rich chickpeas to the mixed veggies and the coconut milk.
- One-pot. You not only need just one pot to make this mixed vegetable curry, you will also find all the nutrition you need in the single pot. There are legumes here and veggies and the curry tastes delicious by itself.
- Easily adaptable to any veggies you have on hand. You could, for instance, use other veggies like cauliflower or zucchini or butternut squash. And you can even sub the chickpeas for another legume like white beans, with delicious results.
- Allergy-friendly. The curry recipe is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free. I would even say it is child-friendly: it's vibrant with the spices, yet mellow enough with the coconut cream. The crisp carrots along with the al dente green peppers also make for a happy mouthful. Jay usually polishes it off although he did make a remark once about "too many veggies." 😉
Ingredients
You have a lot of leeway with customizing the veggies that go into this vegetable curry (more on that in FAQs). The ingredients you absolutely must and should use are coconut milk and the aromatics: spices, ginger garlic paste and onions. Together they build up and bring together all those delicious flavors.
- 1 tbsp coconut oil. Coconut oil works perfectly with the other flavors here. If you have to substitute, any neutral oil, like avocado oil, would be fine.
- Aromatics: 1 yellow onion, 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste. If you don't have ginger-garlic paste, crush 4 cloves of garlic with a 1-inch knob of ginger.
- Veggies: 2 medium sweet potatoes, 2 medium red potatoes, 1 carrot, 1 green bell pepper and 2 cups green beans.
- Spices: 4 green cardamom pods, ½ teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon cayenne (use as much or as little as you like depending on your heat tolerance) and 1 ½ tablespoon curry powder. Use a really good curry powder, because it will decide how delicious your curry is. Cardamom is the only whole spice added here and it adds so much rich flavor and aroma
- 1 ½ cups vegetable stock (or water). A good stock will add depth and flavor, but you can just use water with good results.
- 14 oz can of coconut milk. Full fat coconut milk is essential for creating a lovely, creamy sauce. Don't use light coconut milk.
- 14 oz chickpeas. Chickpeas are amazing in this curry because their texture and flavor marry really well with the mixed veggies. If you want to substitute, use a neutral tasting bean, like white beans.
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (or fresh lime juice). This adds a nice tang and balances out the flavors.
- 2 tablespoon fresh cilantro. For a fresh finishing touch and garnish.
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Watch how to make vegetable curry
Serve
- Brown rice or white basmati rice. Drizzled simply over some rice this curry is divine and a wholesome meal.
- Quinoa. Quinoa goes nicely with any spicy curry or stew, and this one is great with it.
- Jeera Rice/Cumin Rice. This simple jeera rice is amazing with the veg curry.
- Carrot Rice. The carrots in the rice nicely complement the flavors of the curry.
You could serve this vegetable curry with vegan naan but keep in mind this dish is more like a stew and naans need a thicker sauce to hold on to. If you absolutely want to eat it with bread, serve it with French or Italian bread, which has a crumb that's porous enough to absorb the curry.
Top tips
- The chickpeas add protein to this veg curry, but for a bigger protein boost and even more texture add cubes of baked tofu or tempeh.
- Once you have added the coconut milk, make sure you reduce the heat to a simmer. Turn off the heat as soon as you've added the final ingredients. There is a small chance that the coconut milk will curdle if you boil it too long, but if it does, don't be alarmed--the curry will still taste fabulous.
Recipe FAQs
While some Indian style curries can be spicy, this creamy veg curry balances out any spiciness from the cayenne and ginger nicely with the creaminess of the coconut milk and the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. You can always adjust the amount of cayenne up or down based on your spice preference. Some curry powders (including mine, which is linked below in the recipe card) can have red chillies in their ingredient list, so make sure you factor that in when adding cayenne.
You can use any of your favorite veggies to this curry so long as they cook fairly quickly. Cauliflower or broccoli florets, any squash -- summer or winter -- like butternut or acorn squash, zucchini or yellow squash, or pumpkin, mushrooms, peas and greens like spinach, chard or watercress are all fine. Tomatoes would also be a nice addition - I'd add them closer to the end of cooking, at the same time as the chickpeas, so they remain sweet and don't lose their shape.
Yes! Frozen veggies will do wonderfully, and will cut down prep time substantially. I would use a bag of stir fry veggies or peas and carrots, or chopped spinach.
Sub the curry powder with garam masala. Or stir in a couple of tablespoons of Thai curry paste, red or yellow, for the flavor base (in that case, you probably will need less cayenne).
Store the veg curry in the fridge for up to four days. For longer storage, freeze in a freezer safe container for up to two months. Thaw and reheat until warmed through before serving. Freezing the curry could result in the coconut milk getting a grainy appearance but it won't affect the taste.
More mouthwatering vegan curry recipes
Easy Vegetable Curry
Equipment
- Dutch oven (or large saucepan)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 4 green cardamom pods (slightly crushed)
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne (use more or less based on your preference)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (diced into ½-inch cubes)
- 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)
- 1½ cups vegetable stock (or water)
- 14 oz canned or cooked chickpeas (Drain thoroughly before adding)
- 1½ tablespoon curry powder (or substitute with garam masala. It will produce a slightly different flavor but works just as well)
- 14 oz coconut milk (one can, stirred)
- 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 saute over medium heat until the onions start to sweat and turn translucent.
- Add the turmeric, cayenne and ginger garlic paste and stir-fry for 30 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, and just let the curry heat through.
- Stir in the lemon and cilantro and add more salt if needed. Serve hot.
Bess K.
I make this almost every week and no one tires of it. It's so good.
Susan E
This is so delicious! I substituted brocolli for the green beans and used almond milk instead of coconut milk, and it was super filling and satisfying! Especially good atop quinoa. Thank you for the easy, healthy recipe!
Vaishali
So happy to hear, Susan. Thanks for sharing your variations with us.
Allison Bates
I've made this a few times now and it's delicious! I want to add tofu to it next time. When would you suggest I add the tofu for the best results? Should I marinate it first?
Vaishali
So happy you loved the curry!❤️ Marinated and baked tofu would be nice in here. I would add it along with the chickpeas.
Roberto
I am usually sceptical of anything vegan, but this was delicious and straight forward.
Added to my favourites already.
Janet
My favorite curry!
Lana
This recipe is so dam good I’m pretty much in tears at the flavor explosion that is happening in my mouth right now 🤝
Vaishali
Awwww, so great to hear. ❤️
Stephanie
Wow. I make a lot of curry recipes and this was one of the best vegetarian curries ever. Thank you. I will try more of your recipes. Stephanie Swartz.