Chickpea Curry

This flavor-packed Chickpea Curry is loaded with aromatic spiced veggies, tender chickpeas, and a creamy coconut sauce. This plant-based curry is an easy weeknight meal that is naturally gluten-free and vegan.

Try some of our other popular curry recipes next, like this Coconut Curry Chicken, Lentil Curry, Sweet Potato Curry, or Vegetable Curry.

Chickpea Curry

Wow! This curry has quickly climbed to the top of family favorite recipes! My kids can not get enough of it; even my 2-year-old polished off what I’d consider an adult-sized serving and was begging for more. Although, she did leave the rice and naan behind — apparently it wasn’t exciting enough after the chickpeas, ha!

I’ve made this quite a few times and kept it mild for the kiddos, but if you’re looking for a spicy chickpea curry recipe, I also share how to amp up those flavors below.

Let’s Chat Ingredients

• Coconut Milk: I highly recommend using full-fat coconut milk for the best flavor and thickness. 
• Red Curry Paste: Red curry paste makes the dish tasty without needing many extra ingredients. Different brands have different spice levels. Thai Kitchen® is less spicy and tastes good, great for kids. Maesri® has more spice but also a great flavor, and I like it best.
• Veggies: Throw all the veggies in a food processor for quicker prep.
• Spices: Cooking the spices with the veggies makes the spices taste stronger and adds more flavor. You can adjust the spices to personal preferences.
• Fire-Roasted Crushed Tomatoes: The tomatoes make a big difference flavor-wise in this chickpea curry so I recommend good-quality fire-roasted tomatoes but in a pinch any canned crushed tomatoes will work. 
• Chickpeas: Rinse and dry before adding to the curry. 
• Lime Juice & Cilantro: These add so much freshness and flavor to the dish.

Chickpea Curry Tips

• Finely dice the veggies: To avoid any chunks of uncooked carrot or red onion, take your time to be certain the veggies are diced finely and evenly. Short-cut? Quickly pulse these veggies in a food processor!
• Add spice. If you want a spicier curry, increase the red curry paste to 3 tablespoons, and/or add in some cayenne pepper (to your preference; start slowly and increase as desired).
• Taste and adjust. As with most recipes, taste and adjust the seasonings to your personal preference. Remember you can always add more, but you can’t remove any seasoning.
• Take the time to develop flavors. While it may seem tedious to add just a few ingredients at a time (sauté, add a few more, sauté, etc.), we do this to add layers of flavor to the curry. The spices get so much more flavorful by sautéing in the oil, the tomatoes’ sweetness is accentuated, and the chickpeas will become tender quicker. 

Our three favorite accompaniments to Chickpea Curry are warmed naan, cucumber raita, and cooked basmati rice.

More plant-based recipes

• Black Bean Bowls with a cashew cream sauce
• Vegetarian Sushi Bowls with Sriracha mayo
• Vegetarian Chili with lots of veggies
• Moroccan Stew with butternut squash and couscous
• Caprese Quinoa Salad with a balsamic vinaigrette

SaveSaved Pin Print

5 from 4 votes

Chickpea Curry

By Chelsea Lords

This flavor-packed Chickpea Curry is loaded with aromatic spiced veggies, tender chickpeas, and a creamy coconut sauce. This plant-based curry is naturally gluten-free and vegan.

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients 

USMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• ▢ 1-1/2 cups finely diced red onion (~1 large onion)
• ▢ 1 cup finely diced carrot (~2 large carrots)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons minced garlic (3-5 cloves)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (~1-inch piece)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons red curry paste Note 1
• ▢ 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder Note 2
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 teaspoon EACH: garam masala, paprika, ground coriander, white sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• ▢ Fine sea salt and black pepper
• ▢ 1 can (14.5 oz.) fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
• ▢ 2 cans (15.5 oz.) EACH chickpeas (also called Garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 can (13.5 oz; 400mL) coconut milk (I don't recommend lite coconut milk)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lime juice (~1 juicy lime)
• ▢ 1/3 cup finely diced cilantro
• ▢ For serving: cooked basmati rice (Note 3), warmed naan (Note 4), raita (Note 5)

Instructions 

• ONION AND CARROT: Heat the coconut oil in a large cast iron pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is melted, add in the diced onions and carrots. Cook, stirring frequently, until translucent and tender, about 8-11 minutes. Don't rush this; these two ingredients don't get much more tender throughout the cooking process. (Cooking will take slightly longer in a nonstick pot since it does not retain heat the same as a cast iron pot.)
• AROMATICS: Add the garlic and fresh ginger; cook for 1 minute. Add the seasonings (curry powder, garam masala, paprika, coriander, sugar, cumin, turmeric, salt and pepper to taste (I add 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper) and red curry paste. (See Notes 1 and 2.)Cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 more minutes or until very fragrant. (Nothing should be burning/browning; lower heat if this is the case.)
• TOMATOES AND CHICKPEAS: Add the fire-roasted tomatoes and cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pot for 1 more minute. Add the drained and rinsed chickpeas, cooking and stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add in the coconut milk; stir until combined. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Curry should be very fragrant and thick.
• FINISHING: Stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding additional salt or pepper if needed. Serve over rice, with warmed naan, and a scoop of raita if desired. (See Notes 3, 4, and 5.)

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Curry pastes can vary from brand to brand, particularly in spiciness. We use Thai Kitchen® which I would say is very mild and has a great flavor. I've also used Maesri® red curry paste, which is probably my favorite flavor-wise, but it's a lot spicier than Thai Kitchen.

Note 2: Yellow curry powder is another ingredient that varies a lot from brand to brand. We’ve tested this curry with Great Value®, Simple Truth Organic®, and McCormick® — all work similarly and are very mild.

Note 3: Check out the blog post for my quick and fool-proof way to cook basmati rice!

Note 4:  I recommend warming the naan first; char it over the stovetop, warm it in the microwave, or pop naan minis in the toaster (more details in the blogpost).

Note 5: We love the cooling contrast of this raita yogurt sauce. Here's the recipe if you're interested in whipping this up to top the chickpea curry with: Stir all the following ingredients together in a small bowl:

• 1/2 cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup finely chopped English (or Persian/Salad) cucumbers
• 2 tablespoons EACH: chopped fresh cilantro, chopped green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon each: ground cumin, ground coriander, fine sea salt

Nutritional information is for the curry only, and not the rice, bread or raita.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Sodium: 47mg | Potassium: 346mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 11089IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!