Chickpea Spinach Curry
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A delicious and warming Chickpea Curry, great for cooler nights and perfect for the whole family. Both vegetarian AND vegan, this dish boasts the curry FLAVOR vs major heat, and is quick & easy to make!
Step-by-step photos and instructions are below. Jump to the recipe card if you wish!
Curries are comfort food for me, there is nothing better than sitting down to a big bowl of this, along with some naan bread and rice. We eat this year-round!
Growing up in New Zealand exposed me to many different cultures as Auckland is definitely a melting pot! The bonus, of course, is all the fabulous food from all over the world available everywhere. Everyone has their favorite local curry place (much like in Arizona, everyone has their favorite Mexican food place!) and I have participated in many a debate over which restaurant makes the best food!
When I moved to London in my early 20s, I was DELIGHTED to discover Brick Lane – and made it my mission to try as many restaurants as possible.
While I regularly make curries involving beef, lamb or chicken, this one is a huge winner because I don’t have to remember to thaw meat or worry about chopping chicken. Simply open a couple of cans (or cook your own chickpeas in the instant pot!) and you’re good. We don’t miss the meat, and you won’t either!
You’ll love this African Peanut Soup, too!
Why you’ll love this
Simple ingredients, and ready in under 20 minutes. It’s also super budget-friendly! Make this Chickpea Spinach Curry in one large skillet or dutch oven, while you cook your rice.
This recipe is awesome for making in bulk, for a crowd. The bonus is that it’s vegan AND vegetarian, so you can make it for company that has specific diet needs – and please everyone.
Step-by-step photos and tips and tricks are below. Jump to the full recipe card instead
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Key Recipe Ingredients
Note: This highlights some ingredients. Full list is in the recipe card.
- Vegetable oil. Gonna need this to get us started! Canola, vegetable or any other oil will work just fine.
- Garlic. Don’t skimp on garlic.
- Onion. Chop this up relatively small.
- Ginger. This is one you’re going to need to grate fresh. Ginger is a key ingredient in this dish!
- Curry powder. Experiment with your favorite blends. I like a Maharaja style curry powder.
- Chickpeas. Drained and rinsed if canned! Also known as garbanzo beans. While this recipe calls for chickpeas, you can easily swap in your own cooked batch from Instant Pot garbanzo beans for great texture and flavor.
- Fire roasted tomatoes. Undrained, you’ll need all the juices for the sauce. Regular tomatoes will work, but you’ll miss the smokey flavor of the fire roasted, so do try to find them if you can!
- Baby spinach. Just grab a few handfuls. It’s about 2 cups, but you can use more or less depending on your tastes.
- Cilantro. Chopped up finely. This is going to add some fresh flavor to the curry, don’t skip it!!
- Salt. I use kosher salt. Salt intensifies food’s other flavors, don’t leave this out!
- Lemon juice. As essential as the cilantro, this balances the flavor in the curry.
How to make Chickpea Curry
This is a step-by-step photo guide. Full ingredients and instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
Jump- In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.
- Cook onion, garlic, ginger, and curry powder in the oil about 2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant, and the onion is translucent.
- Stir in the chickpeas and tomatoes.
- Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat then stir in the spinach, until it wilts.
- Stir in the lemon juice, salt, and cilantro.
- Serve over rice.
- Devour.
Kylee’s Notes
- Don’t leave out the lemon juice or the cilantro, both are vital to the flavor of this dish.
- I use Maharaja curry powder
- Mess around with the amounts of curry powder, ginger, and garlic to your taste.
- Brown, white, basmati or jasmine are all good rice options
More recipes to love
Want more Indian inspired dishes? Of course you do!
- Spiced Red Lentil Dhal
- Sweet Potato Spinach & Cashew Curry
- Cilantro Lime Rice
- Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
Chickpea Spinach Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion chopped – about 1/2 cup
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger finely grated
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 30 ounces chick peas 2 x 15oz cans, drained, rinsed
- 29 ounces fire roasted tomatoes 2 x 14.5oz cans, undrained
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt kosher or sea salt
- 2 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium heat.
- Cook 1 medium onion (chopped), 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped), 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (finely grated), and 3 tablespoons curry powder in the oil about 2 minutes, stirring, until fragrant, and the onion is translucent.
- Stir in the 30 ounces chick peas and 29 ounces fire roasted tomatoes.
- Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat then stir in the 3 cups fresh baby spinach, until it wilts..
- Stir in the 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and 1/2 cup fresh cilantro.
- Serve over 2 cups cooked rice.
- Devour.
Video
Notes
- Don’t leave out the lemon juice or the cilantro, both are vital to the flavor of this dish.
- I use Maharaja curry powder
- Mess around with the amounts of curry powder, ginger and garlic to your taste.
- Brown, white, basmati or jasmine are all good rice options
Would you like to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Make sure to follow @kyleecooks on Instagram for more and tag me #kyleecooks so I can see!Update: This post was originally posted in 2013 and has been updated to improve reader experience. The recipe remains the same.
About Kylee Ayotte
I am a born and raised New Zealander (a Kiwi), now living in Phoenix, Arizona. I’m happily married to the love of my life – a hot American boy I met while traveling the world. I’m a mama to 2 awesome little boys and love red things, rugby, cheesecake, and bacon. Mmmmm. Bacon. Meet Kylee
It's been far too long since I made curry and this one looks delicious!
This looks awesome! I love curry, and you are right that Auckland is a melting pot of cuisines. Yum!
This looks so pretty! I have been wanting to make a vegetable curry but have yet to get around to it. I'm pinning this one to try here soon!
We had lentil curry this week. I love how easy it is to make curries meat-free.
Oooh this one was one of my surprise favorites! Glad you enjoyed it, too! I bet it was awesome with the good Penzey's spices :).