Vegetable curry is a creamy, Indian-inspired one-pot recipe that you can make in 30 minutes with peas and chickpeas for protein.
For more curry recipes, try our lentil curry, eggplant curry, and chickpea curry.
This vegetable curry is one of our go-to one-pot dinners.
It’s flavorful, nourishing, and surprisingly easy to make. Louise adores this curry, it’s one of her favorite way to eat a variety of veggies in one meal 🥰.
And we get it! Once you know the simple steps, you can whip up a delicious curry with almost any vegetable you have on hand.
In this version, we combine chickpeas and peas for a protein boost, and load it up with broccoli, sweet potato, and spinach.
I call this curry our clean-up-your-fridge curry; use the veggies you have at hand and give them new life with a spiced coconut gravy.
Vegetable curry is best served with boiled basmati or jasmine rice, naan bread or paratha. Top it with yogurt, raita, or a quick tadka (flavored oil).
Best of all, it’s a cozy, satisfying meal ready in about 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Flavor base
- Olive oil: we recommend olive oil or extra virgin olive oil. You can substitute coconut oil, avocado oil, or another vegetable oil for olive oil.
- Onion: you can use white, red, yellow onion or shallots.
- Garlic: fresh garlic, grated. Substitute garlic paste.
- Ginger: fresh ginger, grated. Substitute ginger paste.
Spices
- Curry powder, Turmeric powder, Ground coriander, Ground cumin, Red pepper flakes, Black pepper, Salt
- Garam masala (added at the end, shortly before serving the curry)
Veggies (fresh or frozen)
- Sweet potato: substitute potatoes, eggplant, carrots, butternut squash, pumpkin, kabocha squash.
- Broccoli: substitute cauliflower, cabbage, red bell pepper, or mushrooms.
- Chickpeas: you can use canned or dried chickpeas that you previously cooked in water. Here’s our guide on how to cook dried chickpeas.
- Peas: substitute snap peas, green beans, or black beans.
- Spinach: substitute kale, bok choi, or Swiss chard.
Other
- Coconut milk: you can use full-fat or light coconut milk.
- Vegetable broth: you can use reduced-sodium vegetable broth or substitute water.
- Canned tomatoes: use diced or crushed tomatoes. Substitute with ripe fresh tomatoes, chopped into small dice.
How to make vegetable curry
Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven.
Add the chopped onion and sauté on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring often.
Add grated garlic and ginger, curry powder, turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper.
Stir and toast the spices for one minute until you smell their fragrant aroma. If the pan gets dry, add two tablespoons of water and stir until a paste forms.
Tip: Remember to cook the rice so it’s ready with the curry! Brown rice takes about 30 minutes, and white rice takes about 10 to 12 minutes.
Add vegetable broth, coconut milk, canned tomatoes, drained chickpeas, peeled and diced sweet potatoes.
Stir, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add broccoli florets and frozen peas and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Stir occasionally.
Turn the heat off and stir in the spinach and garam masala, then taste and adjust for salt before serving.
How to serve vegetable curry
For a delicious dinner, serve this vegetable curry in a bowl with cooked basmati rice or brown whole-grain rice. You can substitute naan or roti for rice.
We recommend a dollop of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon, chopped cilantro, toasted cashews, and a drizzle of tadka.
Tips
- MEAL PREP TIP: Make a double or even triple batch in a large Dutch oven. Let it cool completely, then divide it into freezer-safe containers for up to 3 months.
- USE OLD VEGGIES: Swap in whatever vegetables are hanging out in your fridge or freezer—think carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, cabbage, or even leftover roasted veggies. Just keep the total quantity similar so the sauce-to-veggie ratio stays perfect.
Storage
Make ahead: Vegetable curry is an excellent meal prep recipe as it keeps well for days.
Refrigerator: Keep leftovers in an airtight container for four days.
Freezer: Let the curry cool down completely, then transfer it to a freezer-friendly container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Defrost it in the fridge over several hours, or pop it in the microwave for a few minutes.
Reheat: Thaw in the microwave or a saucepan on the stove. If it is too dense, add a splash of water.
More Indian-inspired recipes
If you tried this Vegetable Curry 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!
Vegetable Curry
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1 can (14-ounces) coconut milk
- 1 can (15-ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 1 can (15-ounces) chickpeas drained
- 2 cups sweet potatoes diced
- 1 cup green peas
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 4 cups spinach
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
- 4 wedges lime or lemon
- 1 handful fresh cilantro or scallions, chopped
- 4 servings brown rice or basmati rice, naan, or roti
- 4 dollops yogurt
- 4 tablespoons tadka + toasted cashews
Instructions
- MAKE THE FLAVOR BASE: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Add 1 medium onion (chopped) and sauté on medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring often.Add 3 cloves garlic and 1 teaspoon ginger (both grated), 2 teaspoons curry powder, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.Stir and toast the spices for one minute until you smell their fragrant aroma. If the pan gets dry, add 2 tablespoons of water and stir until a paste forms.
- LET IT SIMMER: Add 1 cup vegetable broth, 1 can (14-ounces) coconut milk, 1 can (15-ounces) crushed tomatoes, 1 can (15-ounces) chickpeas, and 2 cups sweet potatoes (peeled and diced).Stir, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.Add 1 cup green peas and 2 cups broccoli florets, and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender. Stir occasionally.Turn the heat off and stir in 4 cups spinach and 1 teaspoon garam masala, then taste and adjust for salt before serving.
- SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Excellent with basmati rice, brown rice, roti or naan. We recommend a dollop of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon, chopped cilantro, toasted cashews, and a drizzle of tadka.
Notes
Nutrition
Don’t Lose This Recipe
Enter your email to get this recipe in your inbox and sign up for our free newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.
You might also like:
Hi! We are Nico & Louise
We're here to share easy, healthy, and delicious recipes 🌿✨.
Welcome to our blog, we are glad you are here.
I have made this dish many many times because it is THAT GOOD. I have ventured off to other curry receipes that were very similar just to give them a try (i.e., RPL, PIL), but I ALWAYS come back to this one. This is my absolute favorite. Even my family members that I served the other curry dishes told me to go back to this one. LOL. Thanks so much Nico & Louise!
So happy that you enjoyed it, Joyful!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here, we really appreciate it 🥰 Kindest,
Louise
This recipe is one of my favorites. Here in Spain I have to travel 15km to find a decent Indian restaurant. This recipe tastes as good as any curry I’ve had, and is so easy to make. Now I can eat a decent curry without having to travel!
That’s wonderful, Edith!! So happy you managed to do a home-cooked curry that you enjoy.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review here 🥰
Hi I made your lovely lentil curry the other day, I just added some sweet potato to bulk it out a bit, it was delicious. I’m really looking forward to trying many of your other recipes
Hi Jeanie,
I’m so delighted you enjoyed the curry, YAY!!
Thanks for your kind feedback here 🙂 Have a great day ahead ☀️
We made this recipe but with some veggies changed. Flavour was fantastic. It’s the spice blend that does it. Thanks so much.
Adding to my recipe book as this is a recipe I don’t want to lose. It’s an amazing no-meat meal and loved by everyone in my family.
Highly recommended 👌
Thank you so much for your message Corne.
We are happy you like the recipe 🙂
Have a wonderful day.
Nico
Love this recipe 😊I add ,peppers, cauliflower, mushrooms aubergine and cannellini beans😊
Fabulous
Excellent. Perfect flavors and spice. I followed the recipe exactly and served it with brown rice.
Yummy!! 😋
Wow!! This Vegetable Curry is AMAZING! So flavorful and packed with nutrition. We are ADDICTED!!(Hubby loved it too!) I made it exactly as written, but love that you have provided so many possible substitutions to customize it to whatever is in your fridge or pantry. Thank you so much for this truly great recipe!
Pam, that’s fantastic. I’m so happy that everyone enjoyed the curry – YAY!
Thank you for your kind feedback, and for taking the time to leave a rating here 🎉
All the best,
Louise
Its my go-to recipe for meal prep. I just love it!
I boiled brown or red lentils on the side and add them for more proteins. It makes the perfect work lunch 🙂
Hi Cynthia,
That’s fantastic, and a great idea with extra lentils for added protein 🙂
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment here. Best,
Louise
I made this tonight and it was amazing!!! I appreciate the suggestions for other veggies because I didn’t have peas so I substituted string beans. I made your recipe for garlic naan to go with this and was blown away by how easy and delicious it was. P.S. I have never posted a comment, but I love your videos and your recipes so I wanted people to know that this is worth making!!
Danielle, that’s fantastic!
It’s great to hear that you liked the suggestions section AND that you enjoyed the curry with Naan bread. What a glorious combination!
Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it means a lot to us 🙂
Kindest,
Louise