Everybody loves this cauliflower curry! This easy dinner recipe is warm-spiced, nutrient packed, and ready in just over 30 minutes. Dinnertime win.

Cauliflower Curry

You know that feeling when you’ve had too much cake and cookies? Alex and I were feeling it one day, so we put our heads together and invented the perfect antidote: this cauliflower curry. It’s easy to make and full of all the good stuff: sweet potatoes, spinach, chickpeas, cauliflower and tomatoes. A bowl of it tastes positively transcendental. It’s warm-spiced, cozy, and nourishing all at once. And, it’s gone on to become a fan favorite! When we ask readers what recipes they make the most, at the top of the list is cauliflower curry. Ready to get cooking?

Another great curry? Vegetable Curry or Chickpea Curry

Cauliflower curry recipe

How to make cauliflower curry

When people ask us how to eat more vegetables or get started eating plant-based recipes, this is one of the recipes we share. Curries are over the top delicious due to the incredible amount of flavor in the curry powder spice blends. They’re also a great way to eat a wide range of nutritious veggies without even realizing it. This cauliflower coconut curry is stuffed with all sorts of delicious veggies: cauliflower, tomato, spinach, sweet potato, and chickpeas. Smothered in a curry sauce, vegetables taste positively delightful!

For this easy cauliflower tomato curry recipe, you’ll need these ingredients:

The basic method: chop all the veggies. Saute the onion, sweet potato and cauliflower, then add the spices, tomatoes and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes. Then add the chickpeas and spinach for a few minutes until the spinach is wilted. That’s it! (If you need a sub for coconut milk, head to our substitutes for coconut milk in curry.)

Tip: Wondering the best way to cut cauliflower? We have a video that shows a trick for how to cut florets quickly without getting crumbles all over the counter. Here’s How to Cut Cauliflower.

How to cook brown rice

How to serve coconut cauliflower curry

The best way to serve this Indian cauliflower curry? Here are some ideas:

  • Rice. Pile that curry atop of rice with a sprinkle of cilantro. Here’s our favorite method for how to make brown rice: and it’s much quicker than most methods! Or if you have an Instant Pot, here’s our Instant Pot brown rice or Instant Pot jasmine rice.
  • Naan. Another way to serve this coconut milk curry is with naan bread. Many groceries these days carry naan; you can heat it up in the toaster for a minute or so. Or if you have time, try our Garlic Naan or Vegan Naan. Use the bread to sop up all the curry sauce stuck to the plate — it’s absolutely delicious!
  • Dollop of yogurt or raita. For an extra garnish, dollop some plain or Greek yogurt on top of the curry to cool it down a bit. It’s a simple spin on the traditional Indian dish called raita.

Reheating and storage info

This vegetable cauliflower curry reheats surprisingly well in the microwave! We recommend reheating it in 1-minute increments and giving it a good stir each time the timer goes off (this will help it reheat evenly). If you don’t have a microwave, you can also reheat it in a saucepan. Reheat it with the lid on and turn the heat to medium-low. If the curry seems a bit thick, feel free to add a tablespoon or two of water to loosen it up.

Tomato cauliflower coconut curry

What is curry powder?

Did you know curry powder is not traditionally Indian? It was actually invented by the British to try to approximate the spices used in Indian curries! They used the term curry to refer to the complex spices used in any Indian meat and broth based dishes. There are many curry powder blends sold in stores all over the world, but the recipes all vary. So, not all curry powders are created equal! Many blends use ginger, garlic and turmeric, but every blend varies.

When we made this cauliflower curry, we used a fancy curry powder we received as a gift from a dear friend. This blend was an incredible mix of flavorful spices and I don’t think I’ve tasted anything more delicious! After cooking with this one we realized that 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.

What is garam masala?

Garam masala is a more standard mix of spices that is used by Indian cooks. Garam masala typically is stronger than curry powder and might taste sweeter. This cauliflower curry recipe calls for both curry powder and garam masala. You should be able to find both at your local grocery.

Want to use up that curry powder?

You’ve bought a jar of curry powder for this recipe: how to use it up? Here are a few great curry recipes and soups to use it up:

This cauliflower curry recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and refined sugar-free.

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Cauliflower curry

Coconut Cauliflower Curry


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 1x

Description

Everybody loves this cauliflower curry! This easy dinner recipe is warm-spiced, nutrient packed, and ready in just over 30 minutes. Dinnertime win.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 1 pound sweet potato (4 cups chopped)
  • 1 head cauliflower (5 cups chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 2 tablespoons curry powder*
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
  • 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, San Marzano if possible
  • 15-ounce can full-fat coconut milk*
  • 15-ounce can chickpeas (or 1 ½ cups cooked)
  • 4 cups spinach leaves
  • Cilantro, for garnish
  • Brown or white rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Make the rice according to How to Cook White RiceHow to Cook Brown Rice, or Instant Pot Rice.
  2. Dice the onion. Chop the sweet potato into bite-sized chunks (do not peel). Chop the cauliflower into florets.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 2 minutes, then add the sweet potato and saute 3 minutes. Add cauliflower and ½ teaspoon kosher salt and saute another 5 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons curry powder, 1 tablespoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon cumin, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne. Add the Muir Glen tomatoes and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until the cauliflower and sweet potato are tender.
  4. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. When the vegetables are tender, add the chickpeas and 4 cups spinach and stir for 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. Add another ½ teaspoon kosher salt to taste, adding additional salt if necessary.
  5. Garnish with chopped cilantro, and serve with brown rice.

Notes

*Using a high-quality curry powder is key to a complex taste in this curry. Using a full-fat coconut milk is also recommended versus light coconut milk, as it imparts a satisfying richness.

  • Category: Main Dish
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Indian

Keywords: cauliflower curry, curry recipe, vegetarian curry

Looking for fast and easy dinner recipes?

Aside from this coconut cauliflower curry, here are some of our favorite fast and easy dinner recipes:

Last updated: March 2020

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.

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97 Comments

  1. This is the exactly the kind of food that I crave at this time of year – especially when I’ve been overindulging a little on the Christmas treats. It sounds so full of flavour and goodness.

  2. This looks soooo hygge if you ask me. I love how simple this dish is but embraces so many warm flavors. I can’t wait to listen to your new podcast episode too, it’s first on my workout playlist for tomorrow! :)

  3. Graeter’s is so good and so addictive, which is why I never buy it. I can’t be trusted with it, especially their mint chocolate chip. This looks like exactly what I want to eat tonight, after spending four days stuffing myself with leftover mashed potatoes.

    1. Glad to find another Graeter’s fan/addict! It’s those darn HUGE chocolate chunks, right?! I haven’t tried their mint chocolate chip, but now I’ll have to for a splurge someday :)

  4. This looks like the perfect counterbalance to holiday indulgences! I’m curious why you say to avoid light coconut milk? Also, any online recommendations for good curry powder? Thanks!!

    1. Great question — I mentioned this since I made it with light coconut milk and it was not nearly as good! I’ll clarify that in the recipe notes. In terms of curry powders online — we actually don’t have a go to. Do any other readers have recommendations for great curry powders?

  5. This looks so good! I love curry but have never used tomato in one; I’ll have to give that a try! Butternut squash is a delicious replacement for the sweet potato too!

  6. My very first recipe from your site and it was a big hit! Very tasty, fast, easy, easy dish! Also easy to vary ingredients depending on what is in the cupboard. I had no spinach and my husband loves canned peas so I threw those in instead. I used pinto beans instead of chick peas and that worked also and I agree that butternut squash might be a nice alternative to sweet potato. I backed off a bit on the curry powder and cayenne but it still had nice heat. We ate over white rice. A lot of information out there suggests that white rice has less arsenic and other heavy metals, so I use white rices and rinse several times before cooking. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again for a great recipe!

  7. I made this last night for dinner. SO yummy and filling. The best part is that is made so much food so we will be eating it all week. Thanks for another awesome recipe

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