This healthy vegan chickpea curry is a 5 star plant based dinner recipe! It’s ready in 20 minutes and so tasty you’ll immediately want seconds.

Vegan chickpea curry

Oh hi! We’re Sonja and Alex, and we love eating plant based meals. And this vegan chickpea curry? Well, it hits all the checkboxes for plant based dinner perfection. It’s full of plant based protein, so it will keep you full for hours. It’s full of nutrients, and it takes only 20 minutes to make. Twenty minutes! That’s speed demon dinner, right there. And then the flavor of this vegan chickpea curry hits it out of the park. Really, every person who thinks plant based eating is bland should make this STAT. Ready to get started?

Another great vegan curry? Quick Vegan Curry, Vegetable Curry or Butternut Squash Curry.

Why make this vegan chickpea curry?

The virtues of this vegan chickpea curry are many. Let’s get into the details:

  • It’s ridiculously flavorful. Onion, garlic and fresh ginger bring aromatics to the fire-roasted tomato sauce, then cumin, coriander and curry powder round it out. Swirl in coconut milk at the end for the perfect shot of creamy.
  • It’s incredibly healthy. You can’t get much better than this. Chickpeas bring in plant based protein and spinach adds tons of nutrients.
  • It’s so fast. Really, there aren’t many plant based dinner recipes that are this quick to make! Often our fast dinners rely on cheese or dairy for quick flavor. But in this one, veggies take up the heavy lifting in just 20 minutes.
Vegan chickpea curry

Make it a meal! How to serve vegan chickpea curry

So, did we convince you? I hope so. If you’re loading up your shopping list now, there are a few ways to make this vegan chickpea curry into a full meal.

  • Basmati riceA traditional Indian way to serve curry is with long-grain basmati recipe. Here’s our method for a life-changing way to cook it perfectly ever time! White takes about 15 minutes total and brown takes about 20 to 25 minutes. (That’s almost half the time of the traditional stovetop method for brown rice!) You can also make Instant Pot Basmati Rice.
  • Naan breadIf you’re in a rush, store-bought naan bread is a great quick side dish for this chickpea curry. Make sure that the package is labeled vegan naan, since naan is typically made with dairy. Or, try our homemade Vegan Naan!
Quick chickpea curry recipe

A vegan Indian curry, made for weeknights

This vegan chickpea curry is actually similar to chana masala, the traditional Indian curried chickpeas. This isn’t a 100% authentic Indian curry recipe. However, it uses the flavors of Indian cuisine to make a fast weeknight dinner.

If you’d like a more authentic Indian dinner recipe, head to our Masoor Dal (Indian Red Lentils). This recipe was shared with us directly from Asma Khan, an Indian chef with a popular restaurant in London.

Plant based dinner recipe

A note on curry powder

All curry powders are not created equal! Curry powder blends sold in stores all over the world, but each recipe varies. So it’s important to find a curry powder that you like the taste of for this chickpea curry. The quality of the curry powder matters. Find the highest quality that you can for this recipe. Try experimenting with different brands available at your grocery until you find one you love. Here’s a curry powder that we enjoy.

How to cook dry chickpeas

This chickpea curry is one of our favorite recipes with these protein-packed legumes (here are 24 more recipes with chickpeas!). Is it better to cook chickpeas than use canned chickpeas? You can definitely use both! When we find time, we like cooking chickpeas from dry because the texture is a little firmer and the flavor a little better. However, we often use canned as well! Our favorite way to cook chickpeas is with our Instant Pot: the dry chickpeas cook in just 1 hour! If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can use our Dutch oven method.

Vegan Chickpea Curry

Want more plant based recipes and resources?

Maybe you eat vegan all the time, or maybe just looking to incorporate more whole food plant based recipes in your diet! Well, you’ve come to the right place! Not only is this chickpea curry the perfect place to start, we have lots of other resources for plant based eating. Here are a few more of our vegan and plant based recipes:

This vegan chickpea curry recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
(PS Need a substitute for coconut milk in this curry?)

Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
Vegan chickpea curry

Vegan Chickpea Curry


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 1x

Description

This healthy vegan chickpea curry is a 5 star plant based dinner recipe! It’s ready in 20 minutes and so tasty you’ll immediately want seconds.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
  • 6 cups (5 ounces) baby spinach leaves (or chopped spinach)
  • 28-ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon coriander
  • ¾ teaspoons kosher salt
  • 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • White or brown basmati rice, to serve

Instructions

  1. If you’re serving with rice, start the basmati rice.
  2. Mince the onionMince the garlic. Peel and mince the ginger (or grate it).
  3. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and spinach and saute for 2 minutes until the spinach is fully wilted.
  4. Carefully pour in the tomatoes, then add the curry powder, cumin, coriander, salt, and chickpeas. Cook for 5 minutes until bubbly.
  5. Stir in the coconut milk until fully combined, then remove from the heat. Serve with basmati rice.
  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Indian Inspired

Keywords: Vegan Chickpea Curry

About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

Leave a Comment

Recipe rating

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

20 Comments

  1. This recipe is great! I was wondering if there was anyway to make it less tangy, I tried adding kore coconut milk but it didn’t really help.

    1. Hi! We’re you using fire-roasted tomatoes? These are less tangy than standard tomatoes.

    2. Filling out my grocery list, and I have a question about the coconut milk. Is this the canned coconut milk or fresh coconut milk carton in the dairy cooler?

      Thanks.

    1. This was SHOCKINGLY good. I used regular crushed tomatoes and seasoned with my heart haha but it turned out super fresh tasting and the layers of flavor were perfect. Can’t wait to eat the leftovers!!

  2. Love your pea recipes, my favorite vegetable. I also like chickpeas. I cannot eat tomatoes so I need a good recipe without them. Would love to receive a recipe of chickpeas with simple sauce.

  3. Great recipe. I’ve made it twice now. Second time, I doubled the spices, and in my opinion it’s an improvement. Will really depend on what curry powder you’re using though. I used DRAGONFLY brand HOT curry powder.

See More Comments