This easy, flavorful coconut chickpea curry is ready in no time and packed with flavor! Now with a recipe video, above the curry recipe below!
Okay. I still have a couple MORE Thanksgiving recipes coming for you in the next couple of weeks, but right now I sort of need another break. As you may have realized, I eat all of the recipes that I make and test for this site and two straight months of Thanksgiving food is *a little much*, even for this potato lover.
I realized that I haven’t yet shared a basic coconut chickpea curry recipe here and it seemed like the perfect easy, budget-friendly, not-weird meal to break up the comfort food monotony. This healthy but comforting dish is inspired by Indian cuisine and easily customized with whatever nutritious vegetables and accompaniments you prefer.
Sometimes I see curry recipes on food blogs that basically amount to stirring together chickpeas, coconut milk, and curry powder*. We are not making our coconut chickpea curry like that today. We are building together several layers of seasoned umami flavor that will not leave you disappointed. Not to worry – this naturally vegan, gluten-free stew is still VERY easy to make, just follow the instructions and you will be good to go.
Tomatoes are a crucial part of the sweet, tangy, and savory background notes for the garbanzo beans here, so please don’t leave them out – if you do, your coconut curry chickpeas will taste a little blah. Fresh tomato season is finally over here in Maryland but canned tomatoes are perfectly fine in this recipe.
Anticipating another question I might get, you can adapt this to the slow cooker if you want to, but because there’s only about 10 minutes of simmering time anyway, I question whether the crock pot is really going to add anything. Same goes for the Instant Pot. This recipe is already quite fast and easy on the stovetop!
See the recipe notes for instructions on how to incorporate a few other common veggies like sweet potato, cauliflower, and spinach! For even more veggie power, you can also serve this with cauliflower rice!
*If I could change one thing about the way people make curries, soups and stews, it would be that everyone should STOP stirring raw spices into liquid, and instead toast them in the oil with the aromatics, which releases their flavors and allows them to be infused uniformly into the rest of the dish.
Easy Coconut Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 large red onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 inch fresh ginger peeled and minced or grated
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper (reduce to 1/8 tsp if freshly-ground)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 and 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (equal to 1 14-oz. can; drain before using)
- 1 and 1/2 cups full-fat coconut milk (equal to 1 14-oz. can)
- 1 and 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas (equal to 1 16-oz. can; drain and rinse before using)
- 2 tbsp freshly-squeezed lime juice (1 lime) (lemon also works)
- chopped fresh cilantro (coriander) for serving
Instructions
- In a large pan, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the red onion with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is softened and starting to brown.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic and ginger; stir and cook for 60 seconds or until fragrant. Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt. Cook for 30 seconds more to toast the spices.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 3-5 minutes or until the tomatoes are starting to break down and dry up a little bit. Stir in the coconut milk and chickpeas. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Simmer the coconut chickpea curry for about 10 minutes or until reduced slightly. Stir in the fresh lime juice. Season to taste with additional salt (I used about another 1/2 teaspoon at this point). Serve hot, over rice or other accompaniments of choice, and garnished with chopped fresh cilantro.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Pictured with my vegan coconut curry with chickpeas is a blend of forbidden rice, black quinoa, and black lentils (also featured here in my chickpea burrito bowls).
I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
Petra says
This is the best recipe ever starting with the fact that if you keep your pantry stocked you don’t need to go out and get any ingredients. A couple of nights ago someone came unexpectedly for dinner and then a couple of people came tonight too – not that I didn’t have time to shop I just didn’t feel like it so the convenience of the curry was great and I was perfectly fine eating it three nights in a row.
It’s also great because it’s quick, easy, flexible, cheap, healthy, comforting not to mention delicious. The tomato/coconut milk acid/creamy combo is wonderful.
I vary the vegetables according to what’s on hand – tonight it was daikon, carrots and cabbage, other times eggplant, sweet potato, potato, zucchini, spinach. I also vary the beans. I used to just use chickpeas which I was perfectly happy with but my sister is not crazy about them so now I tend to use a four bean mix that includes chickpeas.
I also vary the spices. Tonight I used a little penang curry paste, garam masala and kabsa (black pepper, cloves, cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, black lime, bay leaves and nutmeg).
Thank you, Shannon, for such a handy, delicious, quick and easy recipe.
hello says
I have made this recipe multiple times and it is my absolute fav. It’s so hearty and delicious. I always half the garam masala and cayenne pepper, but I add in cauliflower, sweet potato and spinach.
TK says
This was great! My 8year old ate off his serving before anything lease on his plate. I tweaked it to suit my taste; however thanks for sharing.
Vic says
This was really quick and easy to make and we loved it. Even 8 year old daughter asked for seconds. I followed the recipe exactly but next time I think I’d add a bit less garam masala.
Rebecca says
Personally I would either add 1.5 -2x the amount of spices called for in the recipe. It will otherwise be quite bland. You could also add some chili peppers as the cayenne called for doesn’t really add any heat whatsoever. It’s a good base but I would recommend some spice tweaks!
Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says
It’s interesting because some people leave comments suggesting cutting the spices in half. Regardless, it is not designed to be a (hot) spicy recipe, but it’s hard for me to imagine this being bland with a tablespoon of garam masala. Did you add salt as instructed? I am thinking salting to taste may have been the issue. I can understand that everyone’s palate is different.
rebecca says
This was a great curry recipe! I had a small sweet potato on hand so I added that as well as 1/4tsp of vindaloo curry powder. Based on some other reviews, I only used 1tsp of garam marsala. I didn’t have a red onion or tomatoes so I used 1/2 of a large yellow onion and tomato paste. We’re garlic lovers and always add more that any recipe calls for! We paired it with jasmine rice. My husband loved it as well. This will probably become one of our weekly staples. I loved how it’s full of pantry staples and how wonderful it turned out even with substitutions made.
Kathy says
Very flavorful. My whole family loves it! Just the right amount of heat as is. Husband prefers more heat with a meat added so must add chicken or shrimp for him. I like more veggies so I usually add beets, cauliflower, zucchini, …pretty much whatever. And my son and daughter (age 20 and 21) love it no matter what is in it so it is a keeper. And they don’t usually reach for veggies so this is a big win. 🥳
Janet says
delicious – wanted it not too spicy so used just a little less garlic (1 big clove) and onion (about ¾ large) and cayenne (about 1/8 tsp) and added the cilantro shortly before serving to cook it a little, was delicious
Rhiannon says
I’m not a vegan, I’m not even a vegetarian, but I could eat this every day for the rest of my life and I wouldn’t be mad… I added capsicum, zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, butternut pumpkin, sweet potato and some red chilli’s and it was so incredible! The flavour was outstanding it has actually blown my mind!
Rhiannon says
*I also halved the amount of garam masala just going off other reviews*
Ari says
Can one use navy, cannelli beans etc as a substitute? My husband doesn’t like chicken peas. Thanks!
Marcus Logan says
OMG. We made this for the family tonight and it was a hit!
We added a little bit of agave syrup for some sweetness.
Janet says
I served it over a baked sweet potato. Yum
Cat says
I really was excited about trying this recipe. I followed all of the instructions and found that a tablespoon of garam masala gave an overwhelming flavor of clove. I wish I would have started with less and built it up to my personal taste. My family ended up eating it but unfortunately I couldn’t get past that taste 🙁
Becky says
Personally I cook a lot of punjabi food and a tablespoon does seem a bit much! Perhaps this is a a typo? I use a heaped teaspoon of garam masala for the base sauces of my currys to feed 3-4 people. It is a strong taste so not surprised it may have put you off! Worth a try though x
Lynn says
It could be the type of garam masala you used.
Different brands taste different.
I find 1 tbsp perfect but a friend of mine shares her own homeade garam masala with me.
Pam says
Delicious recipe. So easy and quick to make. I can’t stop eating it! Thank you
Robin says
Love it too. Will be on my favorite list
sarah says
AMAZINGLY GOOD. I too added curry powder. Had it with quinoa and also added spinach. Threw in some bell peppers the next day too.
Gretchen says
I’ve made it 10 + times and follow it exactly adding whatever extra vegetables I have on hand. I also add a tsb of curry powder or paste depending on what I have and my 92 year old neighbor from England loves it. Thanks
Jo says
Just added courgettes as it’s that time of year at the allotment! Tastes yummy.
Sherry says
Yummy, thanks!
Fred says
Loved it!! Really great combination with naan bread. Going to try it with sweet potatoes next time 🙂
Steve says
Looks great, how well would this keep for a few days refrigerated and being reheated.
AM says
Shockingly, it tastes even better as leftovers!
Sarah says
Curries usually do and pasta dishes because the flavours intensify overnight as the sauce absorbs them etc
Anne says
I added a bag of frozen Shanghai vegetables at the end😋
Sinead says
This recipe is amazing . I’m not a lover of chickpeas but the flavour was so good!
Definitely be using this recipe again, 5 star recipe
Kerri says
Oh my gosh, this was so good! I only had fire roasted tomatoes and Realime, but it still tasted great. I added mushrooms and spinach for extra veggies! Thank you!
Amber says
Really nice recipe! I did increase the spice a bit, I didn’t have cayenne so I added smoked paprika, curry, and crushed red pepper to add more spice. I also had a white onion instead of red so I used that. Thank you!
Louis says
Hi Shannon,
thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. I tried it and it’ was very delicious.
I prepare chickpea curry a bit different. Please check out my version and tell me your opinion.
Thanks 😊
Sue says
The flavor is amazing with the different spices and very easy to make. I had it with cauliflower rice and my husband with white rice, was a big hit for both of us!!!!
tara says
i love this recipe! it’s super simple and always delicious. i follow it as written and add a bag of frozen broccoli and it comes out perfect every time.
Shannon says
Hi Tara! just wanted to ask – do you thaw the broccili first? Or cook it from frozen at the beginning (as step for the cauliflower)? Just trying to work out when to add it – hoping frozen broccoli doesn’t water the dish down!
Andrea M says
This recipe is fast, easy, and makes a delicious meal. Thank you!! I’ll definitely making this again 🙂