Easy Vegan Coconut Curry

The best kind of recipes are the ones that you keep making over and over again, until you finally realize – this is one of my favorite recipes! That’s this Vegan Easy Coconut Curry. It is one of our original Tuesday Foods recipes - and without a doubt, it’s a CROWD PLEASER. We always have all the ingredients in our pantry and it comes together quickly and easily. Everybody always comes back for seconds, and it makes great leftovers too!

This is our foundational curry recipe, but it is very flexible.  We encourage you to use it as a template. Here are some ideas to change it up:

1. Use different veggies. If you don’t have butternut squash, use sweet potatoes. If you don’t have cauliflower, then use broccoli. Carrots, bell peppers, swiss chard, or spinach and potatoes would be great additions as well.

2. If you want more heat, spice it up. Add extra chiles or red pepper flakes. You can bump up all of the spices too.

3. Vary how you serve it. You can serve this curry with basmati rice, black forbidden rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, or quinoa. You can also customize it with any type of protein that you like in your curry, or you can just make the recipe exactly as it’s written....Our favorite version!

Easy Vegan Coconut Curry

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil

  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion

  • 2 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin

  • 1/4 teaspoon coriander

  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

  • 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash

  • 3 red Thai chiles, or 1 serrano, or ½ jalapeño, thinly sliced

  • 2 cups cauliflower florets

  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving

  • 4 cups fresh spinach

  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

  • Freshly ground black pepper

For serving:    

  • 2 cups cooked basmati rice

  • lime wedges

  • Fresh herbs - basil, cilantro, scallions

  • Chopped peanuts    

  • Naan bread, optional

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and well-browned, about 10 minutes, reducing the heat to low halfway through.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.

3. Add the butternut squash and chiles to the pot, stir, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the cauliflower and then add the coconut milk and the spice mixture. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

4. Add the lemon juice, lime juice, spinach, peas, and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding additional lime juice, salt, and pepper, as desired.

5. Serve the curry over the rice with fresh herbs and peanuts, naan bread and lime wedges on the side.

RecipesCo-Founder | Nutritionist