This vegetarian chickpea and spinach curry can be made in 10 minutes, perfect for quick and easy weeknight dinners.
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Why you'll love it
- Quick 10-minute meal
- Easy vegetarian curry
- Packed with nutrients and flavors
- Tastes great
- Uses inexpensive and easily available ingredients
- Adjust the recipe to suit your preferences
- Chickpea spinach curry is low calorie and healthy
Ingredients
Chickpeas: Use canned or cooked chickpeas. Dry chickpeas will not work in this recipe.
Spinach: Raw spinach is a key ingredient in this curry. We use a large amount, but the leaves shrink when they wilt. You can use frozen spinach too, but I like the texture of fresh spinach better in this dish.
Canned diced tomatoes (UK: tinned chopped tomatoes): These make a tomato based curry sauce. Feel free to use tomato sauce (UK: tomato passata) instead if you prefer.
Curry paste: Curry paste is really flavorful, and the primary source of seasoning in this dish. You can use any curry paste that you like, such as tikka masala paste or balti paste. You can also replace this with curry powder instead.
Garlic, ginger, onion + chili: These are all added for flavor. You can omit any that you don't like, or add extra to enhance the flavors.
Tomato paste (UK: tomato puree): Makes the sauce thick and creamy.
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Instructions
This 10-minute recipe is super simple, and only requires a few steps.
First, sauté finely diced onion, chili, ginger and garlic in a pot with a little vegetable oil. Then, add curry paste and tomato paste, and sauté for another minute.
Add canned diced tomatoes and drained and rinsed canned chickpeas, and cover the pot with a lid. Leave to simmer on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the curry is warm and fragrant.
Lastly, add the spinach. At first, it will look like you've added way too much spinach, but just continue to fold the leaves into the curry as they wilt down. The greens will significantly reduce in size within a minute or two.
Serve the curry immediately while it's still warm.
Top tips
- Make sure to dice the garlic, ginger, onion and chili into very small pieces to avoid large chunks in your curry.
- Use your favorite curry paste. Alternatively, you can also use curry powder or a combination of seasoning.
Serving suggestions
Chickpea and spinach curry is best served as a main course for lunch or dinner. You can serve the curry alone, as it is, but I prefer to serve it with a side dish or two. Here are some of my favorites:
- Rice: Carrot Rice, Instant Pot Basmati Rice, Turmeric Rice
- Vegetables: Instant Pot Broccoli, Air Fryer Eggplant
- Bread: Naan, roti, chapati and pappadoms
Variations
With more veggies: Feel free to add other vegetables to the curry, like eggplant, cauliflower, peppers or sweet potatoes.
Spicy chickpea curry: To make it spicy, double the amount of chili, use a spicy curry paste, or add some chili powder to the dish.
Creamy curry: To make the dish creamy, you can add some coconut milk to taste. This will give it a creamier texture, as well as a milder flavor. I recommend adding more curry paste, or additional seasoning, if you plan on using coconut milk.
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Leftovers
Store leftover spinach and chickpea curry in a sealed container in a refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat the curry in a pot on the stove top, or in a microwave for a few minutes, and serve it warm.
You can also freeze this chickpea curry for up to 3 months. Thaw and defrost it overnight, then reheat and serve.
Frequently asked questions
You can use raw chickpeas from a can, but not hard or dried chickpeas. Dried chickpeas have to be cooked to soften before being used in cooking.
When you use spinach in curry, or any stew or casserole type dish, you should always add the spinach towards the end of the cooking time. The leaves will wilt fast over the course of a minute or two.
You might also like these recipes
- Instant Pot Chicken Curry
- Paneer Korma
- Mushroom Curry
- Chickpea and Lentil Curry
- Butternut Squash Curry
- Hummus Curry with Chickpeas and Spinach
- Chickpea and Halloumi Curry
- Zucchini Curry
If you make this recipe, make sure to post a photo to Instagram with #hintofhealthy!
Recipe
Chickpea and Spinach Curry
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 red chili pepper
- 3 tablespoons curry paste (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste (UK: tomato puree)
- 1 tablespoon diced ginger
- 3 cups spinach
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion, garlic, ginger and red chili.
- Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chili to a large pot along with the vegetable oil. Sauté for about 1 minute, or until the onion is soft and fragrant.
- Add tomato paste and curry paste to the pot, and sauté for another minute.
- Then, add canned diced tomatoes, and drained and rinsed canned chickpeas. Stir to combine all ingredients, and cover the pot with a lid. Leave the curry to simmer on medium to high heat for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add washed spinach to the curry, and stir until the leaves have wilted, about 1-2 minutes.
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes 4 servings if served with a side dish like rice, or 2 larger servings if served on its own.
- Store leftover spinach and chickpea curry in a refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a microwave or pot, and serve it warm.
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