This is my go-to vegetable curry recipe. It's easy to make, but it packs a punch of flavor from turmeric, ginger, more delicious spices & fresh chiles.
This coconut curry recipe is everything I want on a weeknight. Scratch that – it’s everything I want… any time. I’ve been eating it as leftovers for lunch, dinner… I even ate a bowlful for breakfast the other day.
The recipe is particularly Monday night-friendly because it’s quick to make yet packs a punch of flavor. It’s filled with cozy, nourishing vegetables that will help you recover from a weekend of maybe… I dunno… too much pumpkin cake?
The ingredient shot above makes this recipe look more complicated than it actually is. Once you’ve chopped the vegetables and measured the spices, you’re only about 20 (mostly hands-off) minutes from a creamy, delicious hot curry dinner on the table.
I find this recipe really fun and soothing to make. There’s nothing better than this moment when the coconut milk and spices hit the vegetables. Of course, this moment will happen on the stove and not on the countertop, I just had to move my pot near the window to show you:
The ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom… it all smells so good! You’re going to have to take my word on it unless you can smell through your screen.
How to Make Coconut Curry
Most of the steps of this recipe are actually pictured above – it’s really that simple. Here’s all you need to do:
- Heat coconut oil in a medium pot over medium heat, add a chopped onion and cook until it softens.
- Stir in the butternut squash (or sweet potato) and chiles, and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Add the cauliflower, coconut milk, and spices, and simmer until the veggies are tender.
- During the last five or so minutes, stir in the green things and add squeezes of lemon and lime to brighten everything up.
So healthy!
Vegetable Curry Recipe Variations
This butternut and cauliflower curry recipe is very flexible, so I encourage you to use it as a template. Here are some ideas to change it up:
- Use different veggies. If you don’t have butternut squash, use sweet potatoes. If you don’t have cauliflower, then use broccoli. Green beans, carrots, bell peppers, and potatoes would be great here as well.
- If you want more heat, spice it up. Add extra chiles or more turmeric, ginger, cardamom, cayenne, or red pepper flakes.
- Vary how you serve it. You can serve this curry with basmati rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, or even quinoa. You can also customize it with any type of protein that you like in your curry, or you can just make the recipe exactly as it’s written, a.k.a. my favorite version 🙂
If you love this vegetable curry recipe…
Then be sure to try my Curried Red Lentil Dip, Curried Cauliflower Soup, or Curried Lentil Soup!
Easy Coconut Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups cubed butternut squash
- 3 red Thai chiles, or 1 serrano, or ½ jalapeño, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- ½ cup fresh or frozen peas
- Freshly ground black pepper
for serving:
- 2 cups cooked basmati rice
- a few big handfuls of fresh basil or cilantro
- Naan bread, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and well-browned, about 10 minutes, reducing the heat to low halfway through.
- In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, and salt. Set aside.
- Add the butternut squash and chiles to the pot, stir, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the cauliflower and then add the coconut milk and the spice mixture. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the lemon juice, lime juice, spinach, peas, and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding additional lime juice, salt, and pepper, as desired.
- Serve the curry over the rice with fresh basil, naan bread, if desired, and lime wedges on the side.
I have made this three times. It is one of my go-to favorites. I love having it as an easy warm lunch.
Prepared it tonight. Delish !
I’m so glad you loved it!
Loved this curry. I kept to the recipe and it is such a sweet fresh curry. Clean food. I had a taste …and then another…and another!!Just delicious!!
From an Australian fan!!
Any ideas for a replacement for califlower?
I’m low fodmap…(sigh)…
thks!
Hi Barbara, you could do broccoli (or really any veggie you like in the same quantity).
Why is this call COCONUT CURRY when there is no curry in it?
Hi Donna, curry powder is just a spice blend – these are the spices commonly found in various blends.
With the current spice shortage I can’t find Cardamom .. can I just substitute a little curry?
yep, that’d be great.
Loved the mixture of veggies in this recipe! Used a Serrano chili and will use red chilis next time. My only reason for 4 stars is that I could have used a tad more flavor (going to up the salt, garlic, cumin and turmeric next time). Overall a healthy comfort dish for weeknights. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious! Full of flavor and I will definitely be making this dish again.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Amazing!!! I’m a new father who will be staying home with my little one and though it took me a long time to organize and cut all of the ingredients, the end result left my wife with a satisfied stomach and she said she was proud of me!!!
This recipe will definitely be a family fave and I am excited to try more from your wonderful site. Thank you so much!
Why don’t you use curry powder in this recipe? It did not have enough flavor for me.
I was sadly disappointed with the lack of flavor in this recipe. I doubled the spices and it still was bland.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy this one. I might check the freshness of your spices.
I grind my spices regularly and have used them in other dishes with excellent results. My daughter made the recipe separately and had the same results. I think we just have different palates and I like dishes with more flavor.
This is so rude. A one star? This recipe was delicious and you seem like someone who tries to feel more important by complaining and cutting others down.
Maybe your life is the thing lacking spice?
I had coconut curry in Hawaii a few weeks ago and have been excited to try to recreate it at home! Quick question – is this vegan? All ingredients look vegan but doesn’t state it so wanted to double check…
Looking forward to trying it!
Hi Marisa, yep, it’s totally vegan!
Phenomenal! Super easy to make and everyone loved it!
Do you show nutrition for your recipes? I have a medical condition that requires me to have low salt. How can I find the sodium levels in your recipes?
Hi Catherine, I don’t calculate nutrition facts. In this recipe, the only sodium is the sea salt (1 teaspoon), you could always add less to fit your needs.
Excellent! Didn’t have the peppers so used dried flakes and sweet potato instead of squash. I added one can of drained, rinsed garbanzos since I wasn’t planning to serve over rice. Very tasty and looking forward to enjoying the leftovers!
Made this recipe
And didn’t have the chilies on hand or spinach or basil or onions or lemon 😂 had everything else though! It was soooo delicious ! I cooked it and had it on brown rice .
I used broccoli, cauliflower , butternut squash all fresh and mixed peas and carrots frozen. Was very flavorful. Would make again !
Made this yesterday. Used sweet potato instead and messed around with veggies. It was fabulous. Thanks for putting this on here. New family fav
I’m so glad you loved it!
This was super delicious. Everyone loved it! Even my husband loved it & he prefers meat or fish in his curries. I used 2 long red chillies without the seeds. Next time I’ll leave the seeds in. It wasn’t super hot but oh so flavoursome! Definitely a keeper for our meat free dinners. Next time I’m doubling the recipe!!
This was amazing! Had a few subs due to a lacking pantry/fridge. ie powdered ginger, chili paste, and delicata squash, but it was fabulous! I love how forgiving this is without having exact ingredients. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it!
My favorite would hard to choose but I will say the dish by The Comfort of Cooking, looks so delicious. We will feature this post on the next Blogger’s Pit Stop, well done.For more visit Uniqop
This was delicious and very pretty with all of the colors! I added some baked tofu and cut back the chilies to two because we like less heat. Such a beautiful recipe. Thank you Jeanine!
Hi, This really looks tasty and this is one of the reasons why this is in demand in diners and even in catering Fort Lauderdale. I hope that my folks will enjoy this as much as you do. Thank you again. Keep posting such great recipes.exotic fruit