This easy vegetable curry recipe is a weeknight dinner favorite! Chickpeas are simmered with chunky mixed vegetables in a lightly spiced, creamy coconut milk sauce. You can mix and match the vegetables with whatever you have on hand, then serve the curry with rice or bread for a flavorful, easy meal that's ready in less time than it takes to order takeout!
Table of Contents
Vegetable curry with coconut milk and chickpeas
This easy vegetable curry is at the top of my list when I need a meal 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 a blanket of fuzzy, cozy deliciousness.
I modeled the recipe to taste like an Indian curry with the coconut milk adding a predominantly south Indian flavor (like my chickpea curry). But unlike some Indian recipes that can take patience and practice to master, this one is ridiculously easy and very beginner-friendly. You don't even need multiple spices: if you have turmeric, cayenne, cardamom and curry powder on hand you are all set!
Use any vegetables you have in the refrigerator; this time I had carrots, bell peppers, sweet potatoes and potatoes. See recipe FAQs below for more veggie options. You can even add a bag of frozen veggies and no one would know the difference.
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. I hate repeating recipes, even my own, but this is one I keep coming back to at least a few times each month. And I am not the only one - read through the reviews below to see what hundreds of readers who have tried it have to say.
Here's the recipe. I can't wait for you to try it tonight!
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 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. 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 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.
Nutrition Information
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Watch how to make vegetable curry
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.
Substitute the veggies in my recipe with others that cook fairly quickly, like cauliflower, broccoli, winter squash, zucchini, green beans, mushrooms and green peas. Greens like spinach, chard and watercress work too. You can also add diced tomatoes to the pot 2-3 minutes before you finish cooking. Don't add tomatoes before the potatoes have cooked because the acidity of tomatoes will keep the potatoes from cooking.
Use a 16-oz bag of your favorite frozen vegetables or mixed veggies. No need to thaw.
Yes. Swap out an equal quantity of garam masala instead of curry powder.
Serve the vegetable curry with basmati rice or jeera rice. You can also serve it with a crusty bread like this easy French bread.
Roti or naan should be served with thick curries like vegetable korma or chana masala, which can easily be scooped up. This vegetable curry has a thinner consistency and is best suited to serving over grains like rice or quinoa.
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.
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!
Chris says
Fantastic recipe, loved by my meat eating boys!
Vaishali says
Yay! So happy to hear.
Rabbit says
Hi..i want to make this tonight but I don't have chickpeas..would lentils work?
Vaishali says
Absolutely, use whole lentils.
Sophie says
Absolutely loved it! And so easy to make, this will be a staple from now on, thank you !
Vaishali says
Awesome! So happy you loved it.
Kate says
It was delicious. However, I must have done something wrong because the potatoes and carrots at the low setting took over thirty minutes. Other than that, I enjoyed it.
Vaishali says
Hi Kate! Happy you enjoyed the curry. The potatoes and carrots should not take 30 minutes to cook. Perhaps try cutting them a bit smaller next time and be sure not to add anything acidic to the pot, like tomatoes or lemon juice, before the potatoes have cooked.
Natasha C says
Best curry ever!
Vaishali says
Awesome! ❤️
Stephanie Vera says
I loved this vegetable curry recipe. The only changes I made: didn’t add Cayanne cause we were out and couldn’t find the Ginger Garlic paste so just added grated garlic and ginger as a substitute. Served over brown rice and it was simply delicious!
Vaishali says
Sounds like a delicious meal! So happy you loved the curry.
Bess K. says
I make this almost every week and no one tires of it. It's so good.
Vaishali says
That's wonderful to hear. ❤️
Susan E says
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 says
So happy to hear, Susan. Thanks for sharing your variations with us.
Allison Bates says
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 says
So happy you loved the curry!❤️ Marinated and baked tofu would be nice in here. I would add it along with the chickpeas.
Elisabeth M says
Is it possible to thicken the curry? It was very thin.
Vaishali says
Reduce the amount of stock or leave it out altogether.
Roberto says
I am usually sceptical of anything vegan, but this was delicious and straight forward.
Added to my favourites already.
Janet says
My favorite curry!
Lana says
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 says
Awwww, so great to hear. ❤️
Stephanie says
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.