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This easy vegetable curry recipe simmers cauliflower, broccoli, and chickpeas in a delicious sauce. It’s a cozy vegan dinner in 35 minutes!
A vegetable curry is one of the best ways to make eating your veggies taste incredible. Alex and I love eating curry for dinner, and guess what? It’s one of the best ways to get loads of nutrients without even noticing.
This vegetable curry is so good, you’ll be shoveling it down by the spoonful. It’s full of big flavor and all the best veggies you can eat, like cauliflower, carrots, bell peppers, and chickpeas. It features crisp tender veggies in a seriously flavorful broth. Serve with naan bread or rice and it’s one of the most satisfying plant-based dinners around.
5 Star Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Have made many times and always delicious!” -Bonnie
Why This Vegetable Curry Works
Curry is a very loose term. Per Bon Appetit, in many countries it was a word used by colonizers to simplify what they saw as foreign cuisines. Today, curry is usually a dish with a spiced sauce and meat or vegetables, often eaten with rice or flatbread like naan. Many times the spice curry powder is included in the sauce, or sometimes curry paste. The dish is made in many countries, including India, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, and England.
Knowing curry has a loose definition, I designed this vegetable curry to include a sauce with curry powder and feature a variety of healthy vegetables. This curry features crisp tender veggies and a flavorful broth. It’s important to note that it’s not as thick of a sauce as with a tomato or coconut milk-based curry, like my cauliflower curry or chickpea curry.
Ingredients You Need
Most of the ingredients you’ll need here are (you guessed it), vegetables! Here are the veggies and spices you’ll need for this vegetable curry:
- Vegetables: You’ll need onion, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, bell pepper, peas, and chickpeas.
- Protein: A can of chickpeas makes this a filling plant-based main dish.
- Flavorings: For the savory flavor, you’ll need garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander.
- Sauce: To build the sauce, all you need vegetable broth and peanut butter (for thickening).
Pro Tip: Know Your Curry Powder
Well, yes and no! The heat level in this vegetable curry is directly related to the curry powder that you use. Here’s the thing: some curry powders are spicy, some are mild. It really depends on the brand! There’s no way to know based on the label.
So, you’ll have to do some trial and error to find the curry powder brand you like with a heat level that works for you and your fellow eaters.
Best Curry Vegetables & Easy Swaps
This curry is very customizable to whatever vegetables you have on hand! Here are a few other veggies I might add here:
- Sweet potato or butternut squash: Dice it into small cubes and cook them for a few minutes extra before adding the other veggies. See my Sweet Potato Curry or Butternut Squash Curry.
- Spinach: This cooks very quickly, so stir it in with the broth.
- Lentils: Cook them first (see how to cook lentils) or use canned lentils. These work as a sub for the chickpeas or along with them.
- Nut-free: Swap tahini for the peanut butter for a nut-free version.
What To Serve With Curry
What to serve with this vegetable curry? There are a few options, depending on how much time you have. Alex and I created a new homemade naan recipe especially to go with this curry, which we’d reserve for dinner parties or weekend dinners. But it’s fun to make an oh so tasty! Here are our recommendations for serving this veggie curry:
- Naan bread: Store-bought naan bread is a great quick side dish for this vegetable curry. But if you have time, try homemade! Use our Garlic Naan or Vegan Naan recipes.
- Rice: Start a pot of rice before you even begin prep, and let it cook while you make the curry. Brown generally takes about 30 minutes with our quick method (below), and white takes about 15 minutes. Here are several methods for doing it:
- Quinoa: We’ve eaten it with quinoa and while not authentic, it tastes good and is very filling! Try our Basic Quinoa or Instant Pot Quinoa.
Make Ahead, Storage & Reheating
Can you make this vegetable curry ahead? Yes! To meal prep, you can easily make it 1 day in advance and refrigerate until serving. Then just reheat it gently in a skillet, being sure not to overheat it so that the sauce doesn’t evaporate. Leftovers stay good for about 3 days in the refrigerator.
You also can make rice in advance if you’re serving with rice! To reheat the rice, place it in a pan on the stovetop and add a splash of water. Heat gently for a few minutes until the water evaporates and the rice is warmed through.
More Vegetable Curry Recipes To Try
Dietary Notes
This vegetable curry recipe is vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
As I mentioned, curry is a loose definition and there are many varieties. While this isn’t a 100% authentic Indian curry, it uses the flavors of Indian cuisine to make a fast weeknight dinner.
For an authentic Indian dinner recipe from an Indian chef, head to our Masoor Dal (Indian Red Lentils). Another great resource for authentic Indian recipes is chef and author Madhur Jaffrey.
This curry is brothy, but you can simmer it a few extra minutes to reduce the sauce. If you love a thick sauce, see my Coconut Cauliflower Curry and Easy Chickpea Curry.
Yes. It should taste the same and the vegetables will be a little softer. Cool it, then freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Yes, cook shrimp or chicken separately, then stir it in at the end. For a seafood version, try my Shrimp Curry.
Easy Vegetable Curry (30 Minutes)
This easy vegetable curry is the best way to eat your veggies! Cauliflower, bell pepper and chickpeas swim in a flavor-packed broth.
Note: This curry features crisp tender veggies and a sauce that is broth-like. It’s not as thick of a sauce as with a tomato or coconut milk-based curry like our cauliflower curry or chickpea curry.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 3 to 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons ginger, grated
- 1 small yellow onion
- 1 large carrot
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 small cauliflower
- 2 cups chopped broccoli or broccolini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon coriander (optional)
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- ½ cup frozen peas
- 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 1 ½ cups cooked)
- Torn cilantro or roasted salted cashews, for garnish
- Serve with: white rice, brown rice, quinoa, or naan bread (Garlic Naan or Vegan Naan)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and grate the ginger; place them in a small bowl and set them aside.
- Dice the onion into bite-sized pieces. Peel the carrot and thinly slice it. Cut the pepper into large squares. Chop the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Cut the broccoli into florets.
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat it to medium high. Add the vegetables to the skillet with ½ teaspoon kosher salt and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fork tender and lightly browned. Once tender, add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in the vegetable broth, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander (optional), ½ teaspoon kosher salt, peanut butter, peas and chickpeas. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce is thickened just slightly. (The sauce with be brothy, not thick.) Taste and add additional salt as necessary (we added several more pinches). Spoon the veggies over rice or quinoa, along with a few spoonfuls of broth. Serve with naan bread on the side, if desired.
More healthy dinner ideas
This vegetable curry is a healthy plant-based dinner recipe that features tons of nutrient-rich vegetables. Here are a few more healthy dinner ideas that are also vegan and plant-based:
- Vegan Enchiladas Over the top delicious! Stuffed with black beans and guacamole, they’re doused in a zesty homemade red enchilada sauce.
- Best Chickpea Burgers A hugely satisfying plant-based dinner! Here they’re painted with BBQ and served topped with vegan bacon and spicy mayo.
- Vegan Shepherd’s Pie The hearty veggie and lentil filling contrasts fluffy potatoes in this stunning plant based dinner recipe.
- Chili Baked Potatoes Top these baked potatoes with your favorite chili, like our vegan chili or healthy chili.
If allergic to nuts what can I use as a sub for peanut butter? (Almond butter wouldn’t be an option). Thanks!
I would use tahini or just omit.
Have made many times and always delicious!
This is a weird question, but I’d love to know what size skillet you use. I’ve tried making this recipe with a 12-inch and there isn’t enough room to put all the vegetables in and stir without ingredients falling out.
Hi! We use a 12-inch all clad skillet; it’s packed but just enough room for us to squeeze it in.
Would like more receipes
Spices were a little much, for our tastes. We prefer something with a lighter hand on the spice jar. I’ll add less next time.
Broccoli was limp and tasteless. Other vegetables held up well.
I might add some raisins, craisins or dried apricots next time.
Apologies to all. I should have waited to post my review: This dish was FAR better on the second day. Spices mellowed and blended into a VERY nice sauce. (How often have I heard that soups and stews are better on the second day?)
Regrets that I couldn’t change/upgrade my original rating.
if you make this, be sure to double check what you read or you’ll end up making way more than you need for a two person meal. Have not eaten it yet. but it’s not the taste I’m commenting on.
This vegetable curry was really good! I might try adding shrimp next time. I will definitely make this again. Thank you :)
So glad you enjoyed!
Could lentils be used in place of chickpeas? How would the cooking time be impacted?
Yes, but I would cook them separately in broth or buy canned lentils as there is not a lot of extra sauce in this recipe. https://www.acouplecooks.com/how-to-cook-lentils/
This looks really good but my husband is allergic to chickpeas. Would another bean work?
Cannellini beans would be good!