Comforting vegan roasted butternut squash and chickpea curry in a flavourful creamy coconut and tomato sauce. Perfect for cold autumn nights and ready in under an hour!
Butternut squash is my favourite winter squash, especially when roasted. It's such a versatile vegetable and works great in so many recipes!
And if you make a big batch of this curry then you can enjoy it throughout the week - or freeze it for a later date! This curry is even better the next day too when the flavours have developed even more.
You want to go for a medium sized butternut squash. It should yield between 3-4 cups diced squash, with peel and seeds removed.
If it is a little more or less, that's fine as we aren't cooking it in the sauce and won't affect the cook time.
By roasting the squash we are letting it caramelise and sweeten whilst becoming melt in your mouth soft on the inside.
This curry is inspired by my chickpea and spinach curry and my cauliflower and chickpea curry - which are two of your favourites so I hope you'll love this squash one too!
What you'll need for butternut and chickpea curry:
- Coconut oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Curry powder
- Garam masala
- Ground Cumin
- Cumin seeds
- Ground turmeric
- Chill powder
- Chopped tomatoes
- Coconut milk
- Vegetable stock
- Chickpeas
- Salt and pepper
Most of these ingredients are probably already in your pantry - the only fresh ingredients you need are onion, garlic, ginger and butternut squash!
And with autumn upon us it's a great time to make the most of seasonal squash!
How to make roasted butternut curry:
Start by preparing the butternut squash. The easiest way I find is to cut off both ends, peel the skin and cut in half lengthways.
From here you can scrape out the seeds and stringy insides with a spoon, it will come out easily.
Cut it into roughly equal sized cubes, about 1 cm big. It should make around 3-4 cups.
Place on a large baking sheet with a generous drizzle of oil, salt and pepper. Place in the oven at 200C/400F for 30-40 minutes until soft through and starting to crisp and brown on the edges.
Whilst the squash is roasting we can start the curry. Heat the coconut oil in a large pan and add finely chopped onion. Fry for a couple of minutes then add the garlic and ginger.
Once they have softened add all the spices - let cook until fragrant. Add a little more oil if needed so they don't burn.
Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave for around 10 minutes.
At this stage you can either leave the sauce as is or blend it until smooth, which I prefer.
Use a handheld blender or place into a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer back to the pan. Add the drained chickpeas and leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
The sauce should have thickened, and be creamy and orange in colour. If not you can leave it to simmer for a bit longer. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Add the roasted butternut squash and serve! I like to top with some chopped coriander and serve with basmati rice. It would also be delicious with a side of my onion bhajis!
If you want to add some greens into this curry add some spinach or kale in the last few minutes!
For more curry recipes you may enjoy these:
Roasted aubergine and chickpea curry
Cauliflower and chickpea curry
As always if you make this vegan roasted butternut squash and chickpea curry be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!
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Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry
Comforting vegan roasted butternut squash and chickpea curry in a creamy coconut and tomato sauce. It's healthy, packed with flavour and ready in an hour!
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash (about 3-4 cups, cubed)
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 red onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- Thumb sized piece of ginger
- 1 tablespoon curry powder, medium
- 1 teaspoon garam masala,
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon hot chilli powder
- 1 tin (400ml) chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin (400ml) coconut milk
- 200ml vegetable stock
- 1 tin (400g) chickpeas
- Salt and pepper
To serve
- Chopped coriander
- Basmati rice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Cut both ends off the squash, peel it and cut in half lengthways. Cut into roughly equal sized cubes about ½-1 inch.
- Place on a large baking tray, drizzle generously with oil salt and pepper, toss and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until soft through and starting to brown on the edges.
- In the meantime, start the curry. Add coconut oil to a large pan on medium heat, once melted add finely chopped onion. Stir and fry for a few minutes then add crushed garlic and grated ginger. Leave to cook for a further minute.
- Add all the spices - curry powder, garam masala, cumin, cumin seeds, turmeric and chilli powder. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, add a little more oil if needed so it doesn't burn.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and blend with a hand blender till smooth, or a food processor. Transfer back to the pan.
- Add the chickpeas and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, it should have thickened and be nice and creamy and orange in colour. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. If you like it spicy you can add some extra chilli powder.
- Add the roasted butternut squash, stir and serve! Top with some chopped fresh coriander and serve with basmati rice and your favourite sides - like my onion bhajis!
Notes
Go for a butternut squash that feels heavy, with a fat neck and small bulb (more squash, less seeds).
You can leave the sauce chunky if you prefer, just skip blending it.
If you want to add some greens add some spinach or kale in the last few minutes.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 3 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 268Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 154mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 7g
Nutrition information is a rough estimate
Super good!
Thanks Kelly 🙂
Excellent recipe! I have made a few curries, but this one is exceptional. Did not blend anything! Great as is! Thank you for an outstanding recipe!
Hi Dagmar, so glad you enjoyed it so much, thanks for letting me know! Tamsin xo
I am not sure if I should drain the chickpeas??
Hi Jessica, yes please drain them 🙂 Tamsin xo
left out the tinned tom's, added loads of chopped fresh spinach. Awesome curry, thank you. Trying to go meat free at least once a week, so we need lots of great recipes, with loads of flavour. This is definitely on the do again list. Must admit, with squash and chickpeas, it was always going to be great. Andy
Hi Andy, so glad you enjoyed it! Great to hear you will be enjoying more meat free recipes 🙂 the spinach sounds like the perfect addition, Tamsin xo
This was DELICIOUS! First - the smells from all the spices while you are cooking it made the house smell amazing, and the taste was really good! Full disclosure, husband thought it was a bit sweet for his taste (this is due to the mild sweetness of the butternut squash), but I thought it was fantastic! If you don’t mind a little sweetness in your meal, this is a must try! I will definitely be making this again!
Hi Katelyn, thank you for your comment! So glad you enjoyed it so much 🙂 pumpkin would be a good alternative if he wants less sweetness, or any other veggie 🙂 Thanks, Tamsin xo
Hi @Katelyn, A quarter tsp of asafoetida and five or so curry leaves will add a hint of bitterness and bring the sweetness level down
Made this the other day and it is one of the best curries I've ever tasted. I didn't have any curry powder so I filled in with extra garam masala and other spices. I didn't bother to blend the sauce, it's fine chunky!
Hi Chris, so glad you enjoyed it! I made it chunky the other day too, it's equally delicious! 🙂 Tamsin xo
This was DELISH ! For someone who NEVER eat leftover this is surprising to say but this was AMAZING like when I first try it! Love,love Indian spice and the fact that made this during squash season was just PERFECT! Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
Hi Trish, thanks for your comment! So glad you enjoyed it so much 🙂 Tamsin xo
Just made this with my first home grown butternut squash. Absolutely scrumptious, a winner in my house and will definitely be cooking again. Thank you for sharing l.
Hi Charlotte, thanks for your comment. So glad you enjoyed it, even better with home grown squash I'm sure! Tamsin xo
Can you substitute a different squash -- acorn or buttercup perhaps?
Hi Elaine, yes definitely! Either would be delicious, Tamsin xo
Just made this and it's really tasty. I will be adding this to my weekday recipe collection. Would totally recommend.
Hi Gretta, thank you for your comment! So glad you enjoyed it and will be making it regularly 🙂 Tamsin xo
I just made this recipe! It is really wonderful. The combination of spices is just perfect!
Thank you for sharing. Do you know if this freezes well?
Hi Lisa, thank you for your comment, so glad you enjoyed it! I've not frozen this particular curry but I'm pretty sure it'll freeze just fine! The sauce itself will definitely be fine frozen, Tamsin xo
This is a gorgeous recipe! It's delicious and pretty easy to make, which is important to me. I just made it tonight, and I can't stop eating it! I'm so happy to have a new meal in my rotation, and I will definitely be checking out some of your other recipes. Thanks a bunch!
Hi Charmaine, thank you so much for your comment. I am so glad you enjoyed it! Would love to know if you try anything else from the site 🙂 Tamsin xo
Wow! absolutely delicious, my kids even ate and enjoyed it. Will definitely be trying some of your other recipes. Thank you ? ?
Hi Kelly, so glad you all enjoyed it! Hope you'll enjoy some more of my recipes 🙂 Tamsin xo
Absolutely delicious veg curry! I actually put mine in the slow cooker overnight to marinate more after following the recipe/instructions - then reheated it slowly in that and it was very tasty.
Hi Christine, so glad you enjoyed this curry! And great to know that it worked in the slow cooker 🙂 Tamsin xo
Very good indeed!
Love this, make it regularly. Thanks!
This is one of my favourite curries ! Second time making this and I know i'll be doing it regularly - it's so delicious!!! All the flavours and textures. Thank you!
Hi Angel, thank you! So glad you enjoyed it, it's one of our favourites 🙂 Tamsin xo
Such a fab recipe, loved it.
This is the 3rd time I've made this. I just love the sauce. I roasted eggplant, orange peppers, and mushrooms instead of squash. It freezes great and I freeze it in portions for my lunches. A definite keeper recipe!!
Hi Erin, so glad you enjoy this recipe so much! Those additions sound really yummy 🙂 Tamsin xo
Hi,
Am going to try this tonight and just wanted to check that you use both ground cumin (rather than coriander) and cumin seeds?
Thanks
Hi Melissa, yes the recipe calls for both 🙂 Hope you enjoyed if it you made it! Tamsin xo