Chickpea and sweet potato curry (one pot, vegan)

By Nikola · Precision Nutrition L1 · Sources checked 5 November 2026

A mild, everyday curry built from the cupboard: chickpeas, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk, with chunks of sweet potato that soften into the sauce and a few handfuls of spinach stirred in at the end. Fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric and cumin do most of the work. It takes one pot and about 50 minutes, and it tastes even better the next day.

Portion: about 500 g each · Difficulty: Easy, one pot · Diet: Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free

Chickpea and sweet potato curry

A mild chickpea and sweet potato curry with tomatoes, coconut milk, ginger and spinach. One pot, 50 minutes, vegan, and it freezes well.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Mains

Servings 4 servings

Calories 539 kcal

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp olive oil 27 g, or another cooking oil
• 1 large onion 150 g, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic 9 g, grated
• 15 g fresh ginger a 3 cm piece, grated
• 1 tbsp mild curry powder 6 g
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 1.5 g
• 1 tsp ground cumin 2 g
• 600 g sweet potato 2 medium, peeled and cut into 2-3 cm cubes
• 480 g cooked chickpeas 2 cans, drained
• 1 can chopped tomatoes 400 g
• 200 ml full-fat coconut milk about half a 400 ml can
• 250 ml water
• 150 g spinach fresh, or frozen and thawed
• 1 tsp fine salt 5 g, less if your chickpeas are salted
• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice 15 g
• Optional: chilli flakes or a fresh chilli coriander leaves to serve

Instructions

 

• Warm the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of the salt and cook for about 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden at the edges.
• Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, turmeric, cumin and chilli, if using. Stir for 1 minute until fragrant; add a splash of water if the spices start to stick.
• Add the sweet potato and stir to coat it in the spices. Pour in the tomatoes, coconut milk, water and the rest of the salt. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 15 minutes.
• Add the drained chickpeas and simmer for another 10 minutes, uncovered, until the sweet potato is soft at the edges and the sauce has thickened.
• Stir in the spinach a handful at a time; it wilts in 1-2 minutes. Take the pot off the heat, add the lemon or lime juice and taste for salt.
• Serve with rice or flatbread, or on its own, with coriander on top.

Keyword autumn, chickpeas, coconut milk, curry, dairy-free, freezer friendly, ginger, gluten-free, meal prep, one pot, spinach, sweet potato, turmeric, vegan, winter

Nutrition per serving

Per serving, 1/4 of the pot, calculated from USDA FoodData Central for each ingredient. Rice or bread is not included.

Data: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: Oil, olive, salad or cooking (FDC 171413); Onions, raw (FDC 170000); Garlic, raw (FDC 169230); Ginger root, raw (FDC 169231); Spices, curry powder (FDC 170924); Spices, turmeric, ground (FDC 172231); Spices, cumin seed (FDC 170923); Sweet potato, raw, unprepared (FDC 168482); Chickpeas, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt (FDC 173757); Tomatoes, red, ripe, canned, packed in tomato juice (FDC 170051); Nuts, coconut milk, canned (FDC 170173); Spinach, raw (FDC 168462); Lemon juice, raw (FDC 167747). Chickpeas are calculated as home-cooked without salt; canned chickpeas and tomatoes also bring salt that is not in the “added” line. USDA gives no fibre value for canned coconut milk, so it is counted as 0. Chilli and coriander are not included. A side of 150 g cooked brown rice adds about 185 kcal (FDC 169704). Carbohydrate is USDA “by difference” and includes fibre.

Swaps and variations

• Lighter: use light coconut milk, or 100 ml coconut milk and 100 ml more water.
• Pumpkin instead of sweet potato: the same weight of peeled pumpkin or butternut squash; it cooks a few minutes faster.
• Red lentils: add 100 g red lentils with the sweet potato and 300 ml more water for a thicker, even more filling pot.
• Other greens: kale or chard instead of spinach; give them 4-5 minutes.
• More heat: a hot curry powder or a sliced fresh chilli with the garlic.

Storage and reheating

Keeps 4 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer. It thickens as it stands, so reheat gently with a splash of water. After freezing, the sweet potato is softer but the curry is just as good.

Related

• Recipes: Roasted pumpkin with chickpeas, tahini and pomegranate · Pumpkin soup with ginger and turmeric · Kale, apple and walnut salad
• Encyclopedia: Chickpeas · Sweet potato · Turmeric

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