This delicious Sweet Potato Chickpea Coconut Curry recipe is super simple to make, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and it’s simmered with the coziest creamy coconut curry flavors. Perfect with rice and/or naan bread!
On chilly winter nights that call for cozy comfort food…this sweet potato chickpea coconut curry is sure to hit the spot. ♡
We’ve been making versions of this recipe all season with whatever leftover veggies we have in the house, but this simple combination of sweet potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes and spinach has definitely been our favorite. These basic ingredients are all simmered together in a silky, creamy, coconut curry broth that is brightened up with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Then I highly recommend serving the curry piled high with lots of fresh toppings (hello, fresh cilantro and thinly-sliced red onions) over either rice, rice noodles, and/or homemade naan bread.
It’s a quick, easy, vegetarian (also vegan), gluten-free, flavor-packed meal that’s easy to customize with whatever veggies and greens you have on hand. And, bonus, it also makes for fantastic leftovers the next day. So go rummage through that crisper drawer and let’s make some cozy coconut curry together!
Sweet Potato Chickpea Coconut Curry | 1-Minute Video
Coconut Curry Ingredients:
Before we get to the full recipe below, here are a few notes about the ingredients you’ll need to make this coconut curry:
- Onion: Our curry begins with onion (white, yellow or red), sautéed in olive oil until softened.
- Ginger and garlic: I highly recommend using fresh ginger and garlic for maximum flavor in this curry, which we will mince (or you can grate the ginger) and add to the sauté. That said, if you don’t have fresh ginger in the house, you can substitute 1 teaspoon of ground ginger in place of the fresh ginger.
- Spices: I kept things simple for this curry with a combination of garam masala and curry powder (plus salt and pepper).
- Milks: To make this curry nice and creamy, we will use a blend of full-fat coconut milk (I like this brand) and some type of plain plant-based milk (I used oat milk). Alternately, you could also just add in some veggie stock in place of the plain plant-based milk.
- Tomatoes: One can of diced tomatoes. (I recommend fire-roasted diced tomatoes, if they are available in your grocery store, for extra flavor.)
- Sweet potato: One large sweet potato, diced into 1/2-inch cubes.
- Chickpeas: One can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained.
- Greens: I added a few handfuls of fresh baby spinach to this curry, but feel free to use kale, collards, or any other greens that you prefer.
- Lemon juice: A generous squeeze of lemon juice (or you could also use lime juice) really helps to brighten up the flavors of the broth.
- Toppings: Finally, I recommend loading each bowl of curry up with lots of chopped fresh cilantro, a sprinkling of thinly-sliced green onions, and/or a pinch of crushed red chili flakes if you would like to add some heat. Feel free to serve your curry with naan bread, rice, and/or rice noodles.
Possible Curry Recipe Variations:
Here are a few additional ways that you can customize this curry recipe if you’d like:
- Make it spicy: If you would like to add more heat to the entire batch of curry, add a few pinches of crushed red chili flakes to the broth. Or you can also mince and add in a fresh chili, such as jalapeño, serrano or a Thai bird chili.
- Make it lighter: You are welcome to sub in low-fat coconut milk if you prefer, but note that the broth will be significantly less creamy and a bit thinner.
- Use butternut squash (or other potatoes): Feel free to sub in diced butternut squash or another type of potatoes (such as Yukon Gold or red potatoes) in place of the sweet potatoes.
- Add a protein: Feel free to also add meat (chicken, beef, pork, ground turkey, etc) or seafood (shrimp, salmon, etc) to add some protein to this dish if you would like, either in addition to or in place of the chickpeas.
More Favorite Curry Recipes:
Love curry as much as I do? Here are a few more of my favorite curry recipes on Gimme Some Oven:
- Green Curry Salmon
- Thai Red Curry Soup
- Cozy Cauliflower Curry
- Tomato Lentil Curry
- Cozy Chicken Curry Soup
Sweet Potato Chickpea Coconut Curry
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Description
This delicious Sweet Potato Chickpea Coconut Curry recipe is super simple to make, it’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and it’s simmered with the coziest creamy coconut curry flavors. Perfect with rice and/or naan bread!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large white or yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 cup plain oat milk (or almond milk or veggie stock)
- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (with their juices)
- 1 (13-ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound), peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 large handfuls fresh baby spinach
- juice of 1 fresh lemon
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- toppings: chopped fresh cilantro, thinly-sliced red onions and/or crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Sauté the veggies. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add the curry powder and garam masala and sauté for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.
- Add the next round of ingredients. Add the oat milk, chickpeas, tomatoes, coconut milk, sweet potato and stir to combine. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a very low simmer.
- Simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking the curry (uncovered) over a very low simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potatoes are softened, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. Add the baby spinach and lemon juice and gently toss with the curry until the spinach has begun to wilt. Season the curry with however much salt and pepper you think is needed, to taste.
- Serve. Serve warm, garnished with lots of toppings, with either naan, rice, and/or rice noodles.
Can this be canned? Thx
So delicious! Followed recipe exactly, but doubled. Took about 30 minutes for sweet potatoes to soften. Texture is on thinner side, might reduce oat milk next time. Top with cashews. Loved this over brown basmati rice.
I made this recipe for lunch today while WFH and it was quick, easy and better than take out. I did not have Naan or rice made so I just ate it in a bowl by itself. Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe its stellar. I will try and add some tofu next time for extra protein. Do you have a calorie breakdown?
I don’t know if you will actually see this, given most comments are from 3 years ago. I happened upon your recipe while looking for something to use with sweet potatoes. I love Indian and Medeterranean spices and this looked interesting and doable as I had a can of coconut milk on hand.
I was really, really delicious! I used chicken stock rather than milk and added some blanched fresh green beans and red pepper. I also used what is often used in Indian cooking – a blend of garlic and ginger in a paste form., and a 1/2 tsp of Kashmiri red pepper. Twenty minutes or so and I was rewarded with an unctious, creamy curry.
I very seldom comment on recipes but this was so good.
Please tell me how many people this recipe serves
Made this last night, easy and delicous. My toddler loved it!
So good! I made it as written except I used Rotel tomatoes with green chiles because that’s all I had on hand. Used veggie broth and added one large shredded chicken breast for extra protein. Thanks for another great recipe!
This is my absolute favorite dish/recipe!! Easy to make, super healthy, amazing flavor. I can eat this three days a week. I’ve made it over a dozen times and have shared it with several people. I recently made it for our Indian themed Thanksgiving and it was a hit. Everyone loves it, even meat eaters! Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
Very tasty enjoyed the flavours,thank you for sharing this recipe
to me it tasted overly acidic , and was missing important spices. Also there is no heat. I had to do major amendments with the spices