This easy vegan chickpea curry is quick and simple, yet packed with so much flavorful. You’ll be amazed at how good it is!
Curry is the one of the easiest and most flavorful dinners that you can make and this easy vegan chickpea curry is no exception.
Coming up with vegan dinners that can serve a crowd that has a variety of food preferences can be difficult. However, curry is a universal dish that most people seem to love no matter their dietary choices.
While I grew up eating strictly Jamaican curry recipes, as an adult I’ve eaten curry from a variety of cultures and even played around with some of my own easy curry recipes.
This recipe is more of a fusion recipes between what I grew up with plus what I’ve grown to love from other cultures. I hope you love this spin on maybe your traditional curry recipe.
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Why you’ll love chickpea curry
Made in one pot
One pot meals are so satisfying because it means less dishes! It’s already hard enough trying to think of the ideas every night, so being able to have an easy meal with easy clean up is always a win!
30 Minute Meal
What’s even better than one pot, is when it’s also quick. This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make from start to finish which is wonderful when you need to get a meal on the table fast
Loaded with Flavor
Often times when you have one pot or quick meals you may feel like you sacrifice flavor; however, there’s none of that with this recipe and you’ll love how great the flavors burst with each bite
Easy Chickpea Curry Ingredients:
Below are notes about the ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy coconut curry recipe:
- Yellow Onion – For the base of our recipe we are starting with yellow onions.
- Garlic – Another aromatic to start the base of our curry dish, garlic is a wonderful way to add in base level flavors.
- Thyme – we are using fresh thyme for it’s depth of flavor and fragrant fresh herbs
- Ginger – one of the most fresh aromatics to add depth to any dish is ginger. It’s slightly sweet and peppery and gives a lot of flavor with a tiny bit added
- Globe Tomatoes – your standard store tomatoes work just fine for this recipe. Smaller on the vine tomatoes or roma tomatoes are best.
- Tomato Paste – a little goes a long way and you just need a bit, but the concentration of flavor in tomato paste help add to the taste.
- Curry Powder – We start building our curry flavor profile more with the addition of curry powder. You can find curry powder in the same aisle as spices in most stores; however, if it’s not there, you can typically find in the international section.
- Spices – we are adding other spices like allspice, ginger, and cumin. Because most store bought curry powders are slightly lacking in strong flavors, we use these individual spices to build the flavor profile that we are looking for
- Coconut Milk – Full fat canned coconut milk is what we are using in this recipe for flavor and creaminess
- Vegetable Stock – Helps with the texture consistency of the dish as well as adding more flavor than water would
- Chickpeas – We are adding a simple plant based protein with chickpeas that are neutral in flavor but take on the flavor of the curry dish so nicely
- Spinach – just adding a bit more nutrition and leafy green, spinach compliments this dish nicely
Substitutions and Variations:
- Yellow Onion – white onions can also be substituted
- Thyme – dried thyme could be substituted, but will change the flavor
- Ginger – ground ginger could be used, but we do recommend using fresh preferably
- Globe Tomatoes – canned diced tomatoes work well in this recipe
- Red Pepper Flakes – can be omitted or increased depending on spice tolerance
- Coconut Milk – if you cannot have coconut milk, we’d recommend another creamy non-dairy milk like soy or a creamy oat milk
- Veggie Stock – water could be used in place but will change come of the flavor
- Chickpeas – neutral foods like cauliflower, tofu, and white beans would be a good substitute for chickpeas
- Spinach – kale could also be a good replacement for spinach
Step by Step Instructions:
To start the recipes you’re going to saute onions until softened and then add in garlic, fresh thyme, and ginger.
Then add your tomatoes and break apart into smaller pieces. Cook for a few minutes.
Add in tomato paste plus all your spices and stir to combine.
Then, add in coconut milk and vegetable stock and stir until well combined.
Next, add in your chickpeas and stir well. Let your mixture then simmer for 20-25 minutes. It will reduce down and become creamy.
Finally, add in your spinach in the last few minutes to wilt down.
Serve your dish over rice with naan or switch up rice for quinoa. Top with red or green onions and more red flakes if desired.
Frequently Asked Questions:
The only Top 9 allergen in this recipe is coconut milk. In order to make this dish top 9 free, you can replace coconut milk with an alternative non-dairy milk. We’d recommend a creamy oat milk first. You may need to let it simmer a bit longer for desired consistency.
Yes. Make and let cool completely. Then you can store in an air tight container for 3-5 days in the fridge. To heat up you can use the microwave or stove until desired temperature.
Yes, you can double all the ingredients with no other changes to make more for this recipe.
Chickpea curry is great served over rice with naan. You can use our vegan naan recipe. Quinoa is another alternative to rice.
What other vegan one pot meal ideas could I make?
- Vegan Swedish Meatballs
- Vegan Chili Mac and Cheese
- Vegan Cheesy Cauliflower Taco Casserole
- Easy Vegan Broccoli and Pepper Ramen
Check out even more one pot vegan dinner ideas.
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Easy Vegan Chickpea Curry
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 inch fresh ginger, minced or grated
- 3 medium globe tomatoes, rough chop
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste + 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
- ½ teaspoon all spice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more or less to taste
- 15 oz can coconut milk, full fat (400ml)
- ½ cup vegetable stock (120ml)
- 29 oz chickpeas, rinsed and drained (878g)
- 2-3 cups fresh spinach, packed, chopped
Instructions
- In a large skillet with high walls, over medium heat, add oil. Add onion and cook until softened. Toss in garlic, thyme and ginger to cook for an additional minute.
- Next, add in your chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes to soften. Push down on tomatoes to help fall apart.
- Mix together tomato paste and water and add in with all the spices (from curry powder to red pepper flakes), then stir to combine. Add a little oil if needed to help create paste like mixture.
- Stir in coconut milk and stock until mixture is well combined. Add in chickpeas and bring to a simmer. Allow curry to simmer for 20-25 minutes to reduce and become creamy.
- Stir in your spinach to wilt and gently cook until ready 1 – 2 minutes.
- Serve with rice, naan, quinoa, etc. then top with fresh red or green onions, additional red flakes, and more! Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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Did you make and love this recipe?
Click the 5 stars in the recipe card above or below in the comment section! This is a great way to support us so we can continue to bring great recipes!
Courtney brightharp
Made this recipe this week as a part of my meal prep. Will definitely make this again soon!!!!!
LarishaBernard
Awesome. love it!
Kathy
I made the chickpea curry dish last night with my 7 year old sous-chef. It was so tasty. Looking forward to trying others. Thank you
LarishaBernard
Love getting the kids involved!
PamW
I omitted the oil, added 1 carrot, 1/2 a poblano pepper, 4 small sweet red peppers, 1/2 cup rice, and cup of water. I also tripled all the spices. Fantastic! I split it into 7 servings for lunches that are less than 400 calories each! Thanks much, I will definitely be following your YouTube channel.
LarishaBernard
Sounds like wonderful additions, glad you enjoyed!
Nina
Delicious!
LarishaBernard
Glad you liked!
Abi
Make this at least once a week now! Even my meat eating family leave clean plates 😱
LarishaBernard
So glad that everyone is enjoying it! Such a win
Sherry
Made this yesterday- it looked a little dark in color (more than yours in the video), but it tasted so yummy!!
LarishaBernard
Wonderful!
Estee
made this tonight and added diced sweet potato. love the combo of the spices!! hubby loved it too. thanks for a great recipe.
Libby
Im obsessed, I have made this recipe for the last 3 weeks to eat during the week. the taste is warmth and love-filled. You have to try it !!
LarishaBernard
So glad that you are loving the recipe so much
Lo
Thank you for this recipe! Made it for breakfast today. Didn’t have thyme, allspice, spinach, or enough chickpeas(15oz) or even a big enough can of coconut milk(13oz) 😛 I subbed in more garlic and ginger.
Added frozen kale and peas. And some red lentils:) great sauce tasted great!
LarishaBernard
Glad you enjoyed it so much with your swaps!
Denise
I made this last night and my entire family loved it, we are not vegan but mostly eat plant based. I did add broccoli and chopped red pepper and omitted the spinach, red onion and cilantro and it was delicious!! This recipe is going to be a staple in my household.
LarishaBernard
Glad you enjoyed!
Deborah
Great and easy recipe. I added diced sweet potatoes. My husband is a runner (marathons) and loves adding sweet potatoes to many of his salads, shakes and soups. We both loved this dish with the recipe!
LarishaBernard
Sounds great!
Keisha D.
First I should say, your recipe videos on YouTube led me here. and I couldn’t be more pleased!!! I just completed a 10 day vegan detox, and this was my 1st meal, breaking the fast/detox. I enjoyed the process of gathering & preparing the ingredients, cooking the meal per instruction, and finally. consuming this most sumptuous meal! I was transported to instant comfort, savory flavors and creaminess, this was friggenawesome!! Omg, this will be a staple recipe, in my home going forward. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
LarishaBernard
Wow Keisha, this comment just made me so happy. Thanks so much for your kind words, glad you enjoyed it
Nicole
This will become a staple for me all winter. Loved it!
Annette
This is so good! It has a great flavor. I’ve tried different recipes for this dish and hands down this is the best. I’m not vegan, but do enjoy vegan food. This is the 2nd recipe of yours that I’ve tried and have enjoyed them both.
LarishaBernard
Wow Annette, thanks so much for sharing. Thrilled you’re loving the recipes!
Cathy
I can’t wait to make this!!
LarishaBernard
Enjoy!
tony
are chickpeas pre soaked or from a tin?
LarishaBernard
They need to be cooked fully first – so out of a tin or cook fully from dried
Luna
I got bored of my other chickpea curry recipe so this curry recipe is exactly what I needed in my life! It has such a unique flavor with the thyme, allspice, and this new Jamaican curry powder I bought. Thanks so much for sharing!
LarishaBernard
So happy you enjoyed the recipe Luna!
Margaret
Made this for dinner this evening. Delicious and so easy!
LarishaBernard
So happy you enjoyed!