Curried Chickpeas is a delicious recipe for a simple, fast, weeknight dinner. The ingredients are easy to keep on hand and it comes together quickly. Better yet, it’s vegan! Many of us are looking for meatless meals to include in our dinner rotation and this one has earned a spot for our family.
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Curried Chickpeas
Do you ever buy an ingredient without a specific plan for it? I recently tidied up my pantry and did an inventory. I noticed I had a couple of cans of chickpeas. By the way, did you know that chickpeas and garbanzo beans are the same thing? Yep.
Chickpeas vs. Garbanzo Beans: What’s the Difference?
I’ve never used them before and I’m not entirely certain why I had them. Although I suspect I bought them at the beginning of the pandemic when we were urged to stock up for at least a couple of weeks.
I probably saw them on the shelf and figured they might come in handy as a good protein source. That’s the best reason I can come up with.
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Chickpeas
In any case, while perusing the Eat At Home Tonight cookbook looking for inspiration, I came across this recipe for Curried Chickpeas. I scanned the ingredients and realized I had all of them on hand. I even had some naan bread in the freezer. I decided to put it on the next week’s menu.
I’ve made quite a few recipes with Indian or Moroccan influence and they usually require a fairly lengthy list of spices. I must admit that this one seemed almost too simple. I fully expected that I would need to “doctor it up” a bit.
But guess what? I sampled the sauce and it was perfect! As is. Nothing else needed. I was truly surprised.
Curried Chickpeas
A go-to recipe using only pantry staples and ready in 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 15 ounce cans chickpeas, drained
- 2 15 ounce cans mild diced tomatoes with green chilis, with their juices increase heat with spicier diced tomatoes or turn down the heat with plain diced tomatoes
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 10 ounces canned coconut milk (1 1/4 cups) use remaining milk as part of liquid to cook rice, quinoa or couscous
- salt to taste
Instructions
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In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
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Add onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft.
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Stir in the chickpeas, tomatoes with green chilis and the juices from the can, the curry powder, and the coconut milk. Season with salt.
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Cook for 5 to 10 minutes more, until heated through. Serve hot.
Easy and Adaptable
The only change I made was to add some diced, yellow bell pepper. I only did so because I had some that needed to be used. It certainly would have still been delicious without this addition.
The recipe is quite flexible, though. Add extra veggies such as zucchini, carrots or peppers. And while chickpeas are the intended focus of this dish, the sauce would also be great with chicken.
I served it over steamed rice with some naan bread and fresh apple slices.
All three of us loved it and went back for seconds. It also reheats well for lunches the next day. I love the fact that I can keep a few cans in the pantry and whip this up at any time. I always have fresh red and yellow onions on hand but you could also slice and freeze some. Naan bread also freezes well if you’d like to have it on hand serve alongside as I did.
A sprinkling of raisins on top would be a good addition, as well.
Eat At Home Tonight
My friend, Tiffany, the author of the Eat At Home Tonight cookbook and the creator of the Eat At Home meal plans graciously gave me permission to share her recipe. Even better, she has offered my readers a 25% off coupon code for a subscription to the Eat At Home plans. And that is for the life of your membership – what a deal!
Do you ever wish someone would make your weekly menu for you AND give you a grocery list for all the needed ingredients? That’s exactly what Tiffany has done with the Eat At Home meal plans. For one low price you have access to all FOUR menu plans:
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Click here to buy the Eat At Home Tonight cookbook
You may also enjoy…
Moroccan Chicken and Vegetables
Moroccan Chicken ~ Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
Easy Chicken Tikka Masala ~ An Instant Pot Recipe
Note: I’ve recently had trouble with coconut milk being out of stock in our area stores. Amazon has a case of 12 cans of organic coconut milk available at a decent price in case you can’t find it either.
Thai Kitchen Organic Coconut Milk
I used the Aldi brand of diced tomatoes and green chilis. The usual name brand is Rotel. Either works just fine.
Thanks for the recipe.
For the record: though the canned is preferable, if you can get it, you can substitute canned coconut milk for the coconut-based milks you can get in the long life and chilled alternative milk sections. Using the canned is best, but it’s an option I’ve used.
That’s good to know. I’ve only seen it in half gallon containers in our local stores so in that case one would need to have a plan for the rest. I’ve used coconut milk (the kind in the carton) for smoothies so that’s a good option.