This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
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.
–
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite fast weeknight meal?
Fabulous!! Yellow curry is one of my faves! I changed this up a little. I didn’t have any onion. I used lite unsweetened coconut milk and yellow curry sauce from Trader Joe’s instead of curry powder. I did add some red pepper flakes. My son and husband said it would be good with chicken.
Help! I cannot eat peppers (nightshade)….what do you recommend as substitute for
The red peppers? Thanks!
This was a hit with my entire family (even my fussy vegetarian 12-year-old). I will be doubling this next time because I need leftovers 🙂 Thank you for always creating and sharing such fantastic recipes.
Soooo good! I just used 1 tbsp. maple syrup and felt that was the perfect amount of sweetness. I also didn’t have fresh ginger so used 1 tsp. ground ginger. It was delicious and so easy to make!
I can’t use your recipes because you use coconut oil which is unhealthy and contains saturated fat.
I’m sorry to hear that. This recipe does not use coconut oil, but if you are looking to avoid coconut products in general, I have plenty of recipes here on my website that do not use coconut at all.
We all enjoyed this recipe but I would not consider it quick. It has a lot of ingredients and lots of chopping plus squeezing and draining.
Fast, easy & delicious.
This was so delicious. It was wonderful the next day as well! Very quick and easy to make too.
I cannot even count how many times I’ve made this recipe. It’s so easy and so delicious. I pretty much always have the staples in my pantry, so it’s great for a food rut. One of my all time favorites!
I liked how easy it is to make. I think I would put one tablespoon of maple syrup next time because I like it strong and not sweet. Thanks Megan!