This post contains affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
If you’re looking for a Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry that is hearty, rich, and bursting with flavor, you have found the one! Plus it’s easy to make and perfect for meal prep. Serve it with fluffy Instant Pot Brown Rice or Vegan Naan for the perfect meal.
If you’re looking for more plant-based curry recipes, you will also love my Sweet Potato Red Lentil Curry, Vegan Tikka Masala, Vegan Butter Chicken (made with oyster mushrooms!).
Quick Look: Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
- 🔪 Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 35 minutes
- 🍽 Total Time: 45 minutes
- 👨👩👧👧 Serving: 4
- 🌱 Calories: 345 calories per serving
- 🫘 Protein: 15 grams per serving
- 🍠 Dietary breakdown: Vegan and vegetarian, gluten-free, and soy-free.
- 😋 Flavor Profile: A hearty curry with a creamy broth. Bold flavor from the warm spices. Slightly spicy.
- ✅ Difficulty: Beginner-friendly vegan recipe with guided by step-by-step photos.
Summarize & Save This Post With
Table of Contents
Love for this Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry ⭐️
When asked how to go vegan the easy way, I almost always recommend folks work in more plant-based meals that you enjoyed before making the switch. Often, people note that curries fit in this category. They are very easily made dairy-free and without animal products, are satiating, and are within a familiar dietary repertoire.
This sweet potato curry is such a recipe. It’s incredibly tasty and a favorite with plant and meat eaters alike. It also doesn’t require any expensive or hard to find faux meat products, specialty foods, or half your paycheck; dispelling the myth that veganism is only for the affluent.
Possibly best of all, it’s ready in beginner-friendly steps, making it an accessible recipe for vegan or vegan-curious cooks of all abilities. Let’s dive in, shall we?!
Hungry for more tasty chickpea recipes? Try my Chickpea & Butternut Squash Tagine, Chickpea Tuna Salad, Spiced Chickpea Soup, and Roasted Chickpeas.
Key Ingredients
Chickpeas: Grab two cans of these beans and drain and rinse them well. If desired, you can also cook dried chickpeas.
Sweet Potatoes: For sweetness, heartiness, and nutrition. You need just 1 medium sweet potato. I recommend Jewel or Garnett sweet potatoes with firm skin that are heavy for their size. Peel it and cut into 1/2-inch cubes.
Aromatics: Yellow onion, minced garlic, and minced ginger add warmth and nuttiness, laying a delicious foundation for the spices. If needed, you can use white onion. I recommend fresh minced garlic and ginger but bottled can substitute in a pinch.
Garam Masala: This fragrant, sweet, and full-bodied spice blend adds signature Indian curry flavor. I recommend using a high-quality brand if possible for the best chickpea and sweet potato curry.
Curry Powder: Made with turmeric base, curry powder gives this dish a earthy base.
Canned Tomatoes: One 14 oz can of diced tomatoes adds a natural, jammy sweetness to the vegan curry. If needed, you can also use 3 diced fresh tomatoes.
Coconut Milk: Adds richness and a creamy finish. I always recommend using full fat milk, though light works if needed.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Ingredient Variations
Adapt this sweet potato curry recipe to your own preferences, making any of the following swaps or additions:
- Carrot: Swap all or part of the sweet potato with sliced carrots (orange or rainbow!) for a less sweet, more vegetal curry.
- Spinach: Stir in 2-3 cups of chopped baby spinach in the last 5 minutes of simmering time to make chickpea spinach curry. *Swiss chard, kale, and collard greens work too.
- Butternut Squash: Celebrate fall by using 2 cups diced and peeled butternut squash instead of sweet potato.
- Other Beans: Kidney beans, navy beans, pinto beans, and other beans are great replacements for chickpeas in this recipe. Make your beans at home, or use canned.
How to Make Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
- Sauté Aromatics. Heat the oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
- Add Spices. Add the garam masala, curry powder, and cumin to the pot. Do not stir it right away. Allow the spices to toast with the aromatics for 30 seconds before stirring.
- Cook Tomatoes. Add the diced tomatoes and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and lost their shape.
- Add Vegetables. Stir in the chickpeas, coconut milk, sweet potato, salt, and pepper.
- Simmer. Stir the sweet potato and chickpea curry well and bring it to a simmer. Cook with the lid ajar for 20-25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
- Season and Serve. Add the lime juice (if using) and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the curry hot with brown rice or vegan naan and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Jenné’s Recipe Pro-Tips
Preheat the skillet. Let it come to full heat over a medium flame before adding the aromatics to allow them to express their fragrant flavor.
Don’t stir the spices. It will be tempting to do so, but the spices need to toast unbothered for about 30 seconds before stirring. This allows them to bloom and release their flavor as well. Bonus: your kitchen will smell amazing!
Simmer with the lid ajar. This traps in the moisture, tenderizing the sweet potatoes and chickpeas and making the sauce thick but scoopable. Stir the curry every 5-10 minutes as it simmers; if the sauce looks too thin on the final few stirs, remove the lid to let it thicken.
Make it fancy by garnishing the finished curry with Crispy Chickpeas or Roasted Sweet Potatoes. This adds more flavor and a nice crispy texture to the topping.
Serving Suggestions
Ladle the hot curry into large bowls, garnish it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of chopped cilantro. Make it a complete meal by serving it with any of these sides:
Storage Directions
- Refrigerating: Leftover chickpea sweet potato curry keeps covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Cool the leftovers to room temperature before transferring them to a freezer-safe container and freezing for up to 3 months. Defrost the curry overnight in the refrigerator, or reheat it on low heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Reheating: Warm the sweet potato coconut curry over low heat on the stovetop or on gentle heat in the microwave, stirring periodically until hot. If needed, add a splash of coconut milk or vegetable broth to reconstitute it.
More Great Curry Recipes
Main Dishes
Thai Pumpkin Curry
Soups & Stews
Curried Parsnip Soup
Main Dishes
Sweet Potato Black-Eyed Pea Curry
Main Dishes
Jamaican Chickpea Curry
I hope you love this Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry recipe as much as I do. If you enjoyed it or any of the other recipes on this blog, please leave a 5 star rating and review!
Save now, cook later.
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Sweet Potato Chickpea Curry
Video
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp avocado oil, or extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ tbsp minced fresh ginger, about 1-inch piece, minced
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, or 14-ounces of fresh tomatoes, diced
- 3 ½ cups cooked chickpeas, from 2, 14 oz drained and rinsed cans
- 1 14 oz can coconut milk
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed (½-inch cubes)
- 2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp fresh black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, optional
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
- brown rice, for serving. Or vegan naan
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté, stirring frequently, for about 4 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
- Add the garam masala, curry powder, and cumin to the pot. Do not stir it right away. Allow the spices to toast with the aromatics for 30 seconds before stirring.
- Add the diced tomatoes and stir. Cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened and lost their shape.
- Add the chickpeas, coconut milk, sweet potato, salt, and pepper.
- Stir well and bring the curry to a simmer. Cook with the lid ajar for 20-25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
- Add the lime juice (if using) and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve the curry hot with brown rice or vegan naan and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- Refrigerating: Leftover chickpea sweet potato curry keeps covered in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: Cool the leftovers to room temperature before transferring them to a freezer-safe container and freezing for up to 3 months. Defrost the curry overnight in the refrigerator, or reheat it on low heat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- Reheating: Warm the sweet potato coconut curry over low heat on the stovetop or on gentle heat in the microwave, stirring periodically until hot. If needed, add a splash of coconut milk or vegetable broth to reconstitute it.
- Preheat the skillet. Let it come to full heat over a medium flame before adding the aromatics to allow them to express their fragrant flavor.
- Don’t stir the spices. It will be tempting to do so, but the spices must be toasted unbothered for about 30 seconds. This allows them to bloom and release their flavor as well. Bonus: your kitchen will smell amazing!
- Simmer covered. This traps in the moisture, tenderizing the sweet potatoes and chickpeas and making the sauce thick but scoopable. Stir the curry every 5-10 minutes as it simmers; if the sauce looks too thin on the final few stirs, remove the lid to let it thicken.
This is so delicious. Will be adding it to my regular rotation. Great for meal prep and freezing (if you have enough to freeze). Next time, I need to try making the naan from scratch instead of store bought.
This is a recipe I return to again and again. It is hearty and has a wonderful balanced flavor profile. My picky eater daughter always says yes to a bowl of this.
This sweet potato chickpea curry is one of those meals that makes your whole kitchen smell like you actually know what you’re doing. The mix of savory spices with the natural sweetness of the potatoes hits that perfect balance,,, kind of like comfort food with a little personality. The aroma alone could probably convince the neighbors to “just stop by real quick.”
And the texture? Hearty in the best way. The chickpeas bring that satisfying bite, while the sweet potatoes are soft and cozy. I added green peas as an extra veggie and for color contrast, served over brown rice, and had naan bread as a side. It’s filling without being heavy, and somehow tastes even better the next day… if it lasts that long. Definitely in my rotation!
The lime is essential!! This is really good and really simple. I ate it straight out of the pot. The only change I made was to add smoked paprika only because I love it. I can definitely see this with tofu included. I will be making this again. I’m excited to eat it tomorrow after the flavors get extra cozy.
This curry was delicious and creamy and luxurious! I threw in some multicolor grape tomatoes that I had leftover from a different dish with my diced tomatoes. I think the next time I make this, I’ll use purple sweet potatoes for a pop of color.
Love the pops of color, Destiny! Thanks for sharing 🙂
A yummy curry that hits the spot! This one is hearty, without being too heavy. The lime adds a perfect finish. Pairs greats with brown basmati rice! I used less oil and sea salt, and it still was amazing.
Delicious!!! I served it to a friend and he loved it also. I ate up the leftovers faster than I anticipated, once I made a few tweaks:
– I’m deathly allergic to coconuts, so paired it with creamed spinach made with lots of almond milk to add back in that rich, nutty taste and a little fat. Some cashew cream or chopped cashews added at the end also did nicely.
– I initially used a coriander-heavy madras-style curry powder, and a coriander-heavy garam masala blend….and that made it a little too sweet and one-note right off the bat. I asked and apparently the recipe as written uses a muchi-style curry powder, with more turmeric, ginger, and cumin as the kick-starters. Adding more of those spices plus cayenne and pairing it with the bitterness of the creamed spinach really made this dish sing!
– The leftovers froze really, really well. When I ate them again week I was out of creamed spinach and cilantro but found that the minty-bitter spring weeds from the garden brought a similar zing when chopped up and microwaved with the chickpeas….so for those other broke souls out there who work the earth, try some purple deadnettle, henbit, dandelions, and a handful of lamb’s ears wilted on top to stretch it! Lambsquarters or arugula would also be divine.
Thanks so much for doing the supper club!
Thanks Sarah!
Absolutely delicious and so very easy to
make!!! Definitely 5 stars!!! I made it immediately on the first of March and I think I will have to make it again today!!!! Thanks so very much!
Thank you Elizabeth!
Great recipe! I enjoyed this curry over brown rice and sprinkled dukkah on top (a toasted mixture of whole spices and ground nests and seeds). I’m looking forward to eating leftovers throughout the week, and will likely experiment with adding a spicy component to change it up.
I think this is probably one of my favorite recipes from this blog that I’ve tried. Everything is so creamy and the flavors really meld together perfectly. I paired this with coconut rice and naan bread. This will definitely stay in rotation in my house!
That makes me so happy to hear. Thanks for sharing, Kelly!
I swapped out chickpeas for lentils and love it! I prepared dinner for a friend yesterday and he enjoyed the sweet potato lentil curry with brown rice, pan seared/baked chicken, mixed veggies, and a salad. I had the leftover sweet potato lentil curry and rice for lunch and it was just as delicious as it was yesterday. 😋