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This Chickpea Curry is a fast weeknight meal, featuring protein-packed chickpeas in a creamy curry base. Adding a squeeze of lime, fresh basil, and a little sweetness create a delicious Thai-style flavor.
Why You’ll Love this Chickpea Curry
This curry recipe has become a go-to for me, because it calls for easy ingredients that I usually already have on hand. You’ll need a can of chickpeas and a can of coconut milk, along with some curry powder and a few fresh veggies. (You can use frozen veggies in a pinch, too!)
Tip: Save the liquid from the can of chickpeas, and make Aquafaba Mousse. It’s an impressive egg-free dessert, calling for only 3 ingredients.
How To Cook Chickpeas
If you don’t keep canned chickpeas on hand, or if you would prefer to cook dried chickpeas from scratch, I have tutorials for that! You can cook chickpeas in the Instant Pot, or you can cook them on the stove top. (Click the orange links to go straight to the printable tutorials.)
What Do You Put in Curry?
If you’re like me and don’t always keep a jar of curry paste on hand, I find it’s easy to create a rich flavor using canned coconut milk and a curry powder blend from the store. Curry powder is typically a mix of turmeric, coriander, ginger, cumin, chili powder, and pepper, and the strength can vary by brand, so definitely be sure to taste this sauce as you go.
For a rich flavor, I also like to add:
- Fresh lime juice
- Fresh basil (Thai basil is great, but regular basil also works)
- Maple syrup (for a little sweetness)
- Plenty of salt (you can use tamari or soy sauce, for a deep flavor, too)
What I love about recipes like this one, is that you can use up any produce you have in the fridge. I’m using red onion and bell pepper in this case, but this recipe also works well with kale, spinach, Swiss chard, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and sweet potatoes. It can be a kitchen-sink style meal!
More Curry Recipes
If you have other ingredients you want to use up, you may enjoy the following recipes, too!
- Comforting Sweet Potato Lentil Curry
- Easy Coconut Curry
- Curry Chicken Soup
- Instant Pot Lentil & Kale Curry
- Instant Pot Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 red onion , chopped
- 1 red bell pepper , chopped and seeds removed
- 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk (I use full fat)
- 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas , rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/4 cup fresh basil , roughly chopped
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion and pepper until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the ginger, garlic, and curry powder and stir for 1 minute, or until fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk, chickpeas, salt, and maple syrup, then give the mixture a stir. Bring the liquid to a boil, then lower the heat and cover the pot to let the flavors simmer together for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid and stir in the lime juice and fresh basil. Stir until the basil is wilted, then adjust any seasoning to your taste. Serve warm, with rice or cooked quinoa.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is for 1 of 4 servings, and is automatically calculated using an online calculator. For more accurate results, be sure to use the labels on your own ingredients at home.
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how it turns out for you! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite fast weeknight meal?
Oh man, this was so delicious. My husband doesn’t like onions, so I swapped with carrots. Otherwise, I followed the recipe exactly. We both loved it. I thought it was a warming and wonderful blend of sweet and spicy. And it was so easy to make! This is definitely going to be a recipe I make again and again.
Wow. This exceeded my expectations. I make and eat a lot of curries, and this might be my new favorite. The seasoning is spot on. The chickpeas get nice and soft (so even my littles liked this!). Not to mention it’s fast and easy. The only change I made was to use a yellow bell pepper because that’s all I had on hand 🙂
I’m literally eating this right now and it’s absolutely delicious! I had to change a couple of ingredients but I simply love it!!
This is the second time in two weeks that we’ve had this. LOVE it (and I thought I didn’t really like Curry 😉 We added some roasted cauliflower this time around for even more veggies.
Fantastic recipe. I had it simmering within ten minutes for a quick lunch, with leftovers for the next few days. Flavor is perfect.
Another hit! It had incredible flavor and the heat was perfect! I served it over quinoa and my tummy could not be happier!
I love this recipe and cook it at least twice a month! I like to use a bag of frozen stir fry veggies to add more veg to the meal and I sometimes skip the basil and lime if I don’t have them on hand. Still yummy and easy to throw together!
Looks good!
Please can you make a recipe for curry powder itself?
I have only found some with various additives, so I’d love to make the actual spice mixture myself.
Thanks!
I am a big fan of you and your recipes! This one is so easy that you can’t believe the gorgeous taste it have.
All my family enjoy a lot!
So yummy! Cooking is not my gift, but I followed the instructions and everyone loved it. Thanks for making it easy and delicious!