Sweet potato curry is an easy one-pot recipe where sweet potatoes are simmered in an aromatic Indian-inspired gravy until they are melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious.
Serve this creamy dish with basmati rice or naan bread for a cozy and wholesome dinner ready in just over 30 minutes.
Introduction
Sweet potatoes are a tricky affair for my spoiled Italian palate 🍠. I didn’t grow up with their sweet and earthy flavor, so they are not something I crave.
In all honesty, Louise taught me how to eat them, introducing them to our diet about 5 years ago.
Since then, I am happy to say that we’ve cooked dozens of Nico-approved sweet potato recipes, and they’ve become a staple in our diet (they are too healthy to ignore).
I dare say I’m even happy to eat them now…provided they are cooked the way I like them, of course ☝️.
Enters sweet potato curry…the recipe that alongside sweet potato gnocchi and sweet potato chili, made me (and I hope it will make you) fall in love with this nutritious sweet-tasting vegetable ❤️.
Imagine buttery-tender sweet potato chunks simmered in a creamy and aromatic Indian-inspired tomato-coconut sauce. So, so good 🤤!
Ingredients
Find complete ingredient list, quantities, and substitutions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
- Sweet potatoes: orange spuds are best.
- Chickpeas: canned or dried that you previously cooked. Here’s our guide on how to cook chickpeas in case you need it. Substitute dried red lentils or canned/cooked brown lentils.
- Flavor base: olive oil, onion, ginger, and garlic. Substitute vegetable oil for olive oil.
- Spices: we recommend curry powder, turmeric, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, and garam masala (optional). Garam masala is a spice blend you can buy in larger supermarkets, online, or in Asian stores. It contains cinnamon, mace, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and cardamom pods. Add garam masala at the end to preserve its warming and aromatic flavor. Substitute 1/2 tsp cinnamon for 1 tsp garam masala.
- Vegetable broth or water.
- Tomatoes: best if canned, such as crushed or diced tomatoes.
- Coconut milk: the one that comes in a can. You can use full-fat or reduced-fat. Substitute heavy cream (half the amount) for coconut milk.
- Serves well with: basmati rice, saffron rice, or naan bread. Optionally, add fresh cilantro, lemon juice, cashew nuts, and a dollop of yogurt on top.
Variations
LEAFY GREENS: Please do add your favorite leafy greens for even more goodness. Spinach, kale, chard, and bok choy all work incredibly well with this dish. Add them 10 minutes before the curry is cooked.
MORE PROTEIN: Pick your favorite based on your diet. I love it with baked tofu. Louise prefers sautéed or grilled chicken pieces. Diced paneer (an Indian cheese) also works beautifully here.
MORE VEGGIES: We tested cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper and green peas. All work beautifully. Add with the sweet potatoes.
Instructions
Important Sweet Potato Tip
The first time we made this recipe I cut the sweet potatoes into too-small pieces and it wasn’t great; we both missed the satisfying bite of a big chunks of sweet potato.
The next time we cut bigger chunks and it was so much better!
The thing is, the potatoes lose a bit of volume as they simmer in the curry, which is great because the starch makes the curry really creamy and satisfying.
Just make your pieces a little bigger than you think and let them cook until they are really tender, like almost melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Step 1: Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into bite-size chunks.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven and sauté a chopped onion for 4 minutes.
Add grated garlic, grated ginger, curry powder, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, and red pepper flakes, and sauté one more minute or until fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons of water if the pan dries.
Step 2: Add vegetable broth, diced sweet potatoes, rinsed chickpeas, canned tomatoes, and coconut milk. Season with salt and black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Step 3: Turn the heat of and stir in the garam masala. Let cool down 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Taste and adjust for salt before serving with rice or naan.
Top with a squeeze of lemon juice, fresh cilantro, and a dollop of yogurt. Easy right?
More Indian-inspired recipes
If you guys love Indian spices and aromas you might also like some of these recipes:
- Eggplant curry
- Aloo gobi (potatoes and cauliflower)
- Chana masala
- Lentil curry
Or check out our list with 30+ Indian vegetarian recipes.
If you tried this Sweet Potato Curry recipe or any other recipe on our blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it goes in the comments. We love hearing from you!
Sweet Potato Curry
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into large bite-size chunks
- 1½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 2 teaspoons coriander
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk
- 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas or 1½ cups cooked chickpeas
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garam masala optional
Serving suggestions
- 4 wedges lemon or lime
- 1 handful fresh cilantro
- 1 to 2 cups basmati rice or naan bread
- 4 tablespoons plain or greek yogurt
Instructions
- MAKE FLAVOR BASE: Peel and cut 2 pounds sweet potatoes in large bite-size chunks. Heat 1½ tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven and sauté 1 onion (chopped) for 4 minutes.Add 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger (both grated), 2 teaspoons curry powder, 2 teaspoons coriander, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.Sauté one more minute or until fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons of water if the pan dries.
- SIMMER UNTIL TENDER: Add 2 cups vegetable broth, diced sweet potatoes, 1 can (14 ounces) coconut milk, 1 can (15 ounces) crushed tomatoes, and 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas.Season with 1 teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon black pepper and simmer for 30 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Turn the heat of and stir in 1 teaspoon garam masala.Let cool down 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Taste and adjust for salt before serving with rice or naan.Top with a squeeze of lemon juice, fresh cilantro, and a dollop of yogurt. Easy right?
Video
Notes
- Cut larger chunks: Sweet potatoes loose volume as they cook, so bigger pieces give a more satisfying bite.
- Cook until tender: Let them simmer until they’re soft and almost melt-in-your mouth tender.
- Adjust consistency: let simmer a few more minutes for a thicker curry. Add more broth for a thinner one.
- Chickpeas: substitute dry split red lentils or canned brown lentils.
- Olive oil: substitute any other vegetable oil or coconut oil.
- Garam masala: substitute 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Veg broth: substitute water and adjust for salt.
- Crushed tomatoes: substitute diced tomatoes, whole canned peeled tomatoes, or tomato puree.
- Coconut milk: substitute 1/2 cup heavy cream for 1 can coconut milk. Alternatively, use a non-dairy cream or 1/2 cup cashews blended with 1 cup hot water until creamy.
- Make ahead: Flavors improve on the second and third days, making it great for meal prep.
- Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: Cool completely before freezing in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Thaw & Reheat: Defrost in the fridge or microwave, then reheat with a splash of water if needed.
Nutrition
More sweet potato recipes
Hi! We are Nico & Louise
We’re here to share delicious, easy, and healthy plant-based recipes (vegetarian & vegan) 🌿✨.
Welcome to our blog, we are glad you are here.
What I really love about all your recipes is the option to substitute ingredients. Such a good idea.Thank you 😘 ❤️
Thank you Lin, for your kind feedback. We’re so happy that those tips are useful to you ❤️.
Have a great week ahead. Kindest, Louise
Absolutely delicious curry! Tried it with and without chickpeas (prefer without but that’s just a personal preference) It’s going to be a staple recipe in my kitchen 😋
So wonderful, Emma!! Good point, as a side note, we have tested sweet potato curry with lentils and fried tofu (instead of chickpeas), and we were very happy with the result.
Thanks so much for your feedback and for taking valuable time to comment here! Kindest,
Louise
This looks absolutely delicious; will elect for meal prep. However, I’m unable to find a 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes. Would a can of petite diced tomatoes, pulsed, do the trick as well?? Thanks in advance!
Hi Brian,
No problem using diced tomatoes, we use that often too for our curries. You do not have to pulse them, just add then straight from the can 🙂
Happy cooking 🎉
I love this recipe, thank you! I want to make this for Thanksgiving. Any drawbacks to making the night before? Thanks!
Hi Betty,
That sounds wonderful. Sweet potato curry is a great meal prep recipe because the curry becomes more flavorful on the second and third days 🙂
OUR TIPS:
1. Store the curry in an airtight container in the fridge before your Thankgiving feast.
2. Reheat on the stovetop until hot and add a couple of tablespoons of water if the curry is too thick (it will get thicker in the fridge as it gets cold due to the coconut milk).
3. Do not over-cook the sweet potatoes on the day of cooking the curry- better to keep them “al dente” and finish cooking them on Thanksgiving Day
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours ☀️
I made this 10/26/24 and it is so good I couldn’t believe I did it this will stay in my roster you will not miss the meat and trust me I am a meat lover.
I love this recipe, my only stipulation is the cooking time for the sweet potatoes. I made sure to dice them small enough to cook through but I still had to double the cooking time until they became fork tender, it seems that is the case with a lot of recipes that call for a very short cooking time for potatoes/sweet potatoes. Other than that everything came out delicious!
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate it. We will make sure that this is reflected clearly in the recipe.
I’m happy that you enjoyed the flavors. Kindest,
Louise
Looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe 🙂 I will give this a try.
Would you mind sharing the curry powder and garam masala brand used here?
I tried curry powder from different brands but didn’t like the taste.
Thank you so much!
Hi Amruta,
I usually buy TRS spices. You can find them online or in most asian grocery stores.
Recently an Indian friend gave us some garam masala homemade from her mom and it was the best I had in my life. But when that’s over, I’ll probably go back to TRS.
I hope this helps.
Nico
OMG this curry was delicioso, made white rice and wow! Love it,just getting over a cold and the spices hit the spot, perfect, thank you
Fantastic, Anna, I’m very happy you enjoyed the spice mix of this curry.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here. All the best,
Louise
So good, thank you for this recipe! I didn’t have coconut milk on hand so I combined almond milk with some greek yogurt (vegetarian, not vegan I know lol) Perfect warm dish for a cold day, and it seems like it will reheat well for a couple more meals.
Hi Jo, that sounds like a wonderful alternative I’m very happy you liked the curry 🎉
Thanks so much for your comment. Kindest,
Louise
So good, savory, creamy with good texture.
Thank you for a great recipe!
You’re very welcome, Leigh, it’s our pleasure.
I’m delighted that you enjoyed it. Have a great rest of your week!
Kindest, Louise