Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
This creamy sweet potato chickpea curry with garlic rice, peanuts and lime can be prepared in 30 minutes for a healthy and delicious weeknight meal.
This Thai-inspired curry is perfectly spiced and features nourishing ingredients like jasmine rice, chickpeas, coconut milk, curry paste and sweet potato. It’s easy enough to prepare on a weeknight but it’s so delicious and comforting it’s perfect any night of the week.
You’ll love creamy sweet potato and chickpeas in the sweet and mild coconut curry served over flavourful garlic rice and topped with crunchy toasted peanuts!
Features
- Dietary: Vegan, gluten-free, can be oil-free, can be nut-free.
- Quick and Easy: Prepare this dish in 30 minutes with just a handful of simple ingredients.
- The garlic rice is perfect for soaking up the delicious, creamy coconut curry!
- Great for meal prep.
- Easy to customize with whatever veggies you have on hand.
Ingredient Notes
Complete list of ingredients with amounts is located in the recipe card below. Scroll down or use the Jump to Recipe button at the top for quick access.
- Cooking Oil: Use olive oil, avocado oil or coconut oil. For an oil-free recipe, swap the oil for vegetable broth or water.
- Chickpeas: For convenience, canned chickpeas work great here but you can use cooked from scratch if you prefer. You’ll need 1 – 15 oz can or roughly 1.5 cups of cooked chickpeas.
- Sweet Potato: Sweet potato, white sweet potato or yam all work. You’ll need 510 g which is about 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes.
- Shallot: Shallots make a good choice here for their sweet, mild flavour but they can be substituted with white or yellow onion if that’s all you have.
- Mild Curry Paste: Red or yellow curry paste both work here.
- Peanuts: Toasted peanuts add a delicious crunch to the final dish. You can substitute cashews if you like or if you need the recipe to be nut-free, they can be omitted.
- Coconut Milk: Canned coconut milk adds a rich creaminess to the curry. You can use full-fat coconut milk or light coconut milk for a lower-calorie option.
- Jasmine Rice: I like to serve this curry over jasmine rice but basmati rice or your favourite brown rice would also work. You could also use another grain such as quinoa or for a lower-carb option, cauliflower rice.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Quick Tip: For efficiency preparing this recipe, chop the onion, garlic, shallot, bell pepper and sweet potato and have the curry paste and spices ready to go before starting the recipe.
Once everything is chopped and ready to go, the cooking process will take roughly 20 minutes.
Step 1. Make the rice. To prepare the rice, mince the garlic and add it to a medium saucepan with ½ tbsp olive, avocado or coconut oil. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring often, until fragrant.
Add the rice to the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often, to “toast” the rice.
Add 1¼ cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 12-14 minutes until the rice is tender.
Quick Tip: To save time, start the curry in step 2 while the rice is cooking. Once you have the curry going, toast the peanuts (optional).
Once the rice is cooked, remove from heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes then remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
Step 2. While the rice is cooking, start the curry. Heat 1 tbsp olive, avocado or coconut oil in a large pot (use a pot that has a lid) over medium heat.
Add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often until softened.
Step 3. Add the sweet potato, peppers, spices and curry paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring often to “toast” the spices.
Step 4. Add the coconut, chickpeas including the liquid from the can, sugar, salt and water.
Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 7-8 minutes.
Remove the lid and cook for another 4-5 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender and the curry has thickened.
Step 5. Toast the peanuts. While the curry is cooking, add the chopped peanuts to a dry skillet on the stovetop.
Toast for 4-5 minutes over medium heat, shaking the pan often, until they turn golden brown. Take care not to burn them because it can happen quickly!
Serve the finished curry over the garlic rice and topped with a squeeze of lime and the toasted peanuts. Enjoy!
Notes & Tips
- If you like, you can add extra veggies such as broccoli, zucchini, bamboo shoots or cauliflower.
- For extra nutrition, try stirring in a couple handfuls of spinach at the end.
- This recipe serves 4 but stores well in the fridge so it’s great for 2 people with leftovers!
- The recipe is vegan and gluten-free as written. To make it nut-free omit the peanuts.
- For an oil-free recipe, replace the oil with water or vegetable broth.
Storing Instructions
- Let cool before storing.
- Leftover curry can be stored on its own or with the rice in a sealed container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- The curry can be frozen for up to 3 months in a sealed container and thawed overnight in the fridge.
- Reheat leftovers in the microwave or stovetop until heated to your preference.
Related Recipes
- Cauliflower Chickpea Curry
- Red Curry Lentils
- Vegan Chickpea Curry Stew
- Kabocha Squash Curry
- Butternut Squash Curry
- Sweet Potato Lentil Curry
Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Scroll down to the comment section to leave a star rating and review.
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Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Thai-inspired creamy chickpea curry is a comforting weeknight meal, featuring protein-packed chickpeas in a creamy coconut curry base served over delicious garlic rice. Adding a squeeze of lime, crunchy peanuts, and a little sweetness results in a delicious vegetarian curry.
Ingredients
For the Garlic Rice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (6 g)
- ½ tbsp olive or coconut oil (7 mL)
- 1 cup rinsed jasmine rice (142 g)
- 1 ¼ cups water
For the Curry
- 1 tbsp olive or coconut oil (15 mL)
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas (including liquid)
- 1 medium shallot, minced (50 g)
- 3 cups peeled and cubed sweet potato (510 g)
- 2 bell peppers, chopped (160 g)
- ½ tsp brown sugar, coconut sugar or maple syrup
- ½ cup water (125 mL)
- ⅔ cup coconut milk (160 m)
- 2 tbsp red or yellow curry paste (30 g)
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp cayenne
- salt and pepper, to taste
For Serving
- 4 tbsp chopped peanuts (28 g)
- 1 lime
Instructions
- To prepare the rice, mince the garlic and add it to a medium saucepan with ½ tbsp olive, avocado or coconut oil. Cook it for 30 seconds, stirring often, until fragrant.
- Add the rice to the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring often until toasted. Add 1 ¼ cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 12-14 minutes until the rice is tender.
- While the rice is cooking, chop the sweet potato, shallow and bell pepper.
- Once the rice is done, remove from the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive, avocado or coconut oil in a large pot that has a lid over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often until softened.
- Add the sweet potato, peppers, spices and curry paste and cook for 1 minute, stirring often, to toast the spices.
- Add the coconut milk, chickpeas including the liquid from the can, sugar, salt and water. Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce heat, cover and cook for 7-8 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for another 5-6 minutes until the sweet potatoes are tender and the curry has thickened. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
- While the curry is cooking, add the chopped peanuts to a dry skillet and toast over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until golden brown. Take care not to burn them because it can happen quickly!
- Serve the curry over the rice and topped with a squeeze of lime and the toasted peanuts. Enjoy!
Notes
Original recipe by Chef’s Plate.
Storing: Let cool then store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Reheat as needed on the stovetop or in the microwave. Curry and rice can be stored mixed or separately.
For a lower-calorie and low-fat recipe, swap the oil for water or vegetable broth and use light coconut milk. This will reduce the fat content per serving by half.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
- Calories: 579
- Sugar: 10 g
- Sodium: 555 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 87 g
- Fiber: 12 g
- Protein: 15 g
