Weeknight Chickpea Curry

November 05, 2019

This chickpea curry is the ultimate healthy and easy weeknight dinner! It’s done in 20 minutes, totally plant based, and full of flavor.

Everyone is always asking for easy weeknight dinners. Guess what: so are we! Even though we love to cook, there are always nights where Alex and I need to get dinner on the table fast. The two of us are always experimenting and on the lookout for the best concepts for quick and easy dinner recipes. So we present: our new favorite easy weeknight dinner: this chickpea curry! It takes only about 20 minutes to make! Warm spices and coconut milk make it one the most tastiest things you can make in that short time window—hands down.

Why it’s the best chickpea curry recipe

This chickpea curry is made for weeknights. That is: it’s 100% designed to get dinner on the table fast. At the same time, there are no shortcuts. You’ll saute real onion, garlic and fresh ginger, then add tomatoes, chickpeas and coconut milk to make a thick sauce. The way it comes together, you’ll be hooked on it as a go-to fast dinner. Here’s why this is the best chickpea curry for weeknights:

It takes about 20 minutes to make. Of course, this depends on your ability to chop a few veggies quickly. But the cook time is only 12 minutes, making this a super fast meal!
It’s a healthy dinner full of plant-based protein. Chickpeas and spinach bring loads of nutrients, along with the veggie-based sauce. It makes for a healthy, filling plant based dinner.
It’s got big flavor. Onion, garlic and ginger make an aromatic base, and cumin, coriander and curry powder put it over the top. It’s got a swirl of coconut milk at the end for creamy body.
Fire roasted tomatoes shortcut the cook time. This variety of tomatoes tastes sweet right out of the can, so it shortcuts some of the cook time.

Is this an authentic Indian curry?

This this weeknight chickpea curry authentic Indian cuisine? It’s actually similar to chana masala, the traditional Indian curried chickpeas. While this isn’t a 100% authentic Indian curry, it uses the flavors of Indian cuisine to make a fast weeknight dinner.

If you’d like an authentic Indian dinner recipe, head to our Masoor Dal (Indian Red Lentils). This recipe was shared with us directly from Asma Khan, an Indian chef with a popular restaurant in London. You’ll love these creamy flavorful lentils, and you can serve with basmati rice as well! Another great resource for authentic Indian recipes is chef and author Madhur Jaffrey.

What to serve with chickpea curry

How to serve this weeknight chickpea curry? We like it with long-grain basmati rice. Here’s what we’d suggest for serving:

Basmati rice: Here’s our method for how to cook brown or white basmati rice: white takes about 15 minutes total and brown takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Brown rice is a bit more nutrient dense than white rice, which is why we like to take the extra time when we have it.
Naan bread: If you’re in a rush, store-bought naan bread is a great quick side dish for this chickpea curry.

What else do you like to serve with curry? Let us know in the comments below.

What if I can’t find fire roasted tomatoes?

Fire roasted tomatoes are key in this recipe, because of their sweet flavor right out of the can. These tomatoes have been charred over an open fire, then canned. Other tomato varieties can taste bitter out of the can, and need to be cooked for longer.

If you can’t find fire roasted tomatoes for this recipe, you can substitute any high quality variety of canned tomatoes. You may find you have to cook the sauce a little longer to remove the bitterness. Take a taste before you add the coconut milk at the end, and see if it needs a little extra love. In this recipe, there’s a lot going on flavor-wise, so you may be ok with the cook time as printed depending on the quality of tomatoes you use.

Do kids like curry?

Our son Larson is 2 years old, and Alex and I have made it our goal to expose him to lots of flavors! He’s very open minded about foods, but when things have lots of spices he sometimes says that it’s too “spicy”. When we served him this chickpea curry, I was wondering how he’d like it. I could see the “spicy” comment being prepped and ready in his mind.

But he took one bite and said, “It’s good!” Then he proceeded to eat an entire bowl of this chickpea curry with some basmati rice on the side. So, we can’t speak for your children, but ours absolutely loved it!

More easy weeknight dinners

If you’re in the market for easy and healthy weeknight dinners (like we are!), we’ve got many ideas on this website! But here are a few of our top recipes for when we’re in a rush on a weeknight. Since we have a 2-year-old, they have been tested on him and are absolutely family friendly.

Epic 5 Minute Tacos: One of our favorite quick dinners is this 5 Minute Tacos recipe! Featuring spiced eggs that taste like meat (we call them “chorizo eggs”) and topped with quick toppings.
Easy Creamy Gnocchi: This is basically gourmet fast mac and cheese, made with just Pecorino Romano cheese, butter and pepper. With doughy gnocchi dumplings, it’s to die for.

This chickpea curry recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.