October 7, 2015
(last updated November 17, 2022) 
This butternut squash and chickpea curry comes together easily, and it packs a lot of sweet and savory flavor. With some cooked rice, it’s a perfect meal for busy evenings.
This golden butternut chickpea curry is my newest favorite weeknight meal! Using cooked chickpeas and pre-cubed butternut squash makes it come together in fewer than thirty minutes. It’s also freezer friendly and easy to make ahead.
Some of the curried dishes I make, like my chickpea and eggplant curry, are predominantly savory. This golden butternut chickpea curry and my red lentil, sweet potato, and coconut curry are more sweet. Here, garam masala and a handful of golden raisins compliment the sweetness of the butternut squash. This is a perfect recipe for fall, when the scent of cinnamon and the sight of winter squash are in full swing.
How to meal prep golden butternut chickpea curry
There are a number of ways to make this meal come together fast. The first and most important is to prepare your butternut squash ahead of time! Cutting and cubing butternut squash takes time. In many ways, it’s the most laborious step in making this recipe. I really like Ali’s tutorial on how to prepare butternut squash. Try breaking down your squash a day or two in advance of cooking this recipe. That way, there will be minimal vegetable prep involved when it’s time to cook.
I also recommend cooking your chickpeas ahead of time, if you’d like to use scratch cooked beans. Of course, you can also use canned chickpeas (2 cans, or 3 cups cooked beans in total).
The Vegan Week
Embrace the joy of eating homemade food every day with the hearty and wholesome recipes in The Vegan Week.
Whether you have three, two, or even just one hour of time to spare, The Vegan Week will show you how to batch cook varied, colorful, and comforting dishes over the weekend.
Finally, the recipe includes some leafy greens. You can use what you have here. Baby spinach is the quickest cooking option. It’s also the one that requires the least work, because you won’t have to chop or stem your greens. But I personally love stemmed, chopped kale in the recipe, and that’s what I use most often!
If you don’t have leafy greens, you can get creative. Broccoli florets and pieces, chopped zucchini, and halved green beans all work well in the recipe. They add extra fiber and a little more plant-power to an already nutrient-dense meal. No matter what you choose, you can cut and prepare the vegetable ahead of time. This will save you work when it’s time to cook.
Substitutions and swaps
Part of the beauty of a one-pot meal like this is that you can be playful with ingredients. If you don’t have butternut squash, you can use kabocha, acorn, or delicata squash instead. If you’re out of chickpeas, try white beans in their place. Use tips above for different vegetable add-ins.
I love the addition of golden raisins here! And I love raisins in general, especially when they make unexpected appearances in savory recipes. They show up in my kale salads, chickpea salads, and my favorite Israeli couscous salad, not to mention lots of my baked goods. If raisins make this recipe too sweet for your personal taste, you can certainly omit them.
And if you don’t have golden raisins, you can use regular raisins instead. They’re actually made from the same type of grape! Golden raisins, also called sultanas, are just dried with a different process.
Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry
Author –Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons neutral vegetable oil, such as refined avocado or grapeseed
- 1 white or yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons sweet curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- 1 medium or small butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 lb after preparation)
- 2 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
- 3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed)
- 1/3 cup golden raisins
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 cups stemmed and chopped leafy greens of choice, or 2 cups packed baby spinach
- Optional: cooked brown rice, quinoa, cousous, or your favorite type of flatbread, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cook the onions for 7 minutes, or until they're very tender and browning lightly. Add a few tablespoons of water as needed to prevent sticking. Add the garlic and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, or until the garlic is very fragrant. Add the curry, turmeric, garam masala, salt, and black pepper. Give everything a good stir.
- Add the squash and 2 cups of the vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Turn off the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup about halfway, so that there are still chunks of butternut squash, but some of the squash has been turned into a thick puree. Alternately, you can transfer half of the mixture to a standing blender, blend, and return it to the pot.
- Stir in the chickpeas, raisins, lime juice, and an additional 1/2 cup broth (or enough to create a thick but easy-to-stir stew). Bring the curry to a gentle simmer again. If you're adding greens, stir them in now and allow them to wilt completely, about 5 minutes. Taste the stew and adjust salt, pepper, and lime juice to taste. Serve with cooked grains.
In the time since I originally made this recipe, I’ve learned more about the colonial origins of the word “curry” in recipe creation. I’m always revising my understanding of the best way to describe the dishes that I make. Were I to make this recipe for the first time today, I’d probably call it “curried butternut squash and chickpeas” rather than label it a “curry.” If you’d like to read more about this, I recommend this article.
I kept the added broth in this recipe to a minimum, so that the finished dish would be thick and hearty. If you’d prefer for it to be more like a soup, you could use a splash of extra water or broth.
Storing and freezing
The golden butternut chickpea curry can be frozen for up to six weeks. This is good incentive to make a double batch, if you’re feeding a crowd! Or you can double it if you’d simply like to get ahead of your cooking.
Like most soups and stews, the recipe also tastes even better a few days after you initially make it. The flavors will intensify and the texture of the dish will thicken as it rests. You can store it for up to five days in an airtight container in the fridge.
With cool weather and a busy fall schedule, I feel more glad than ever for one-pot meals like this one. Food that’s nutritious, flavor-forward, easy to prepare and store, and which warms my spirit as well as my belly. I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
xo
A note: since the time this recipe was first published, I’ve learned more about the colonialist origins and common misusage of the word “curry” in recipe titles. I understand that I have casually labeled this recipe and others “a curry” without having either a deep or broad perspective on Indian cuisine. I don’t plan to title future recipes as “curries,” and I am grateful to the online discourse that has helped me to better understand the history of this word as a recipe description.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. Visit my privacy policy to learn more.
Categories: Recipes,
Stews
Method: One Pot, Stovetop
Ingredients: Butternut Squash, Chickpeas
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Recipe Features: 30 Minute or Less, Meal Prep, Quick & Easy
Method: One Pot, Stovetop
Ingredients: Butternut Squash, Chickpeas
Dietary Preferences: Gluten Free, Soy Free, Tree Nut Free, Vegan
Recipe Features: 30 Minute or Less, Meal Prep, Quick & Easy
Leave a Comment
I love this recipe. Tried it out today, but only half in case I didn’t like it. I didn’t care for raisins so left them out. Fixed some Naan and Jasmine Rice to go with it. I pinned it in my East Indian dishes, but what is the origin of it?
Delicious! I only had regular raisins and lemon juice. Still worked out great!Served it with whole wheat couscous. With and without greens!
Awesome, Steph! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful, delicious recipe. I tweaked it a little and added some cilantro and left out the greens. I also used only 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (instead if vegetable broth). I only had Thai curry and oriental curry so I use 1/2 tsp each. I also mistakenly put in the raisins when I added the butternut squash so when I blended part if it for creaminess the raisins sweetened it a bit more than the recipe called for but it was perfect because the mild fruitiness balanced the spices. I served it with with Jasmine rice. It was a big hit and will make it several times this winter.
Loved it! Have a vegan friend who doesn’t eat any of the usual go tos, this was brilliant for both of us, Thank You
WOW! I had some leftover roasted Hubbard squash and chickpeas to use up and looked on your site and viola! Amazing dinner! I mixed in about 6 oz canned coconut milk too boost creaminess and puréed everything with an immersion blender pre chickpea, raisin, spinach. Served with steamed broccoli and brown basmati rice. Super toddler friendly too! I am certainly going to be making this on the regular. Can’t wait to try it with the green pea addition next! A real keeper!
So glad you loved it, E!
This was so delicious,thank you!
Wow, I absolutely loved this! I added some cayenne pepper for an extra kick but otherwise followed the recipe. My squash chunks that I didn’t blend up somehow disappeared, but I really didn’t mind. The texture and flavor of this dish is on point.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
HI, IS THAT COUSCOUS IN YOUR PICTURE?
Have made this curry a few times now, it’s absolutely delicious! Thank you very much for the recipie!
This is fantastic. Just made it using up squash and kale from my garden. Perfect flavor.
Really wonderful. Try lots of curry recipes and this one was perfect. Might have added a little more onion and garlic than specified but delicious and easy. Thank you.
I’m going to make this again! So delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was SO. GOOD. Warm and hearty and comforting and the perfect dinner for a cold, rainy day. Will definitely make this again!
Delighted that it was a hit, Lee!
Just made this and it turned out amazing! I added some peas and kale as well. It even got my meat-eating Dad’s seal of approval! 😀
Great recipe Gena
The cold rainy day we are having puts me totally in the mood for this!
I wondered if anything can sub for chickpeas? I tend to eat lots of hummus and to not want chickpeas in my meals ( though I do love them!)
Good luck on the rest of your exams. Glad you are more calm with them. My son just did poorly on a test due to over thinking his answers and second guessing himself… Too much anxiety!
Thanks so much!
Have a great weekend
Suzanne, over-thinking and changing answers was one of my many Achilles’ heels when I was a post-bacc student. I learned the hard way that having a confident, calm frame of mind is so crucial in test-taking!
I think you could use nearly any other medium or large sized bean you like — white beans, aduki, kidney — they’d all be great.
such a great comboo!! yumm
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
I LOVEE the combo of raisins and squash!:)
This looks fabulous, Gena! I like the golden raisins and lime juice, and how flexible the recipe is. I really like arugula with chickpeas, so I might use that when I try this. I also have a lazy way of adding squash to stews–I cook it first (no peeling and cubing) and then add blobs of it to the broth, and only smash some of them. Thanks for a great fall recipe!
I love arugula + chickpeas, too, but I tend to reserve the combination for salads. I bet it would be great to serve the dish over rice or quinoa with some arugula mixed in. And I love your idea to add cooked squash and smash it up — you always have the most ingenious and intuitive shortcuts, Maria!
I made this today and oh my goodness so yummy! I added peas and it was so so delicious.
Thrilled to hear that, Sarah! Glad you had such good results.
Looks and sounds great but I only have regular raisins. Do you think they would change the flavor too much? Love your recipes and pictures. My daughter is in photography so I really enjoy the quality of your work.
This is such a kind comment, Juli. Thank you.
Regular raisins will be just fine! I only specified golden to keep the color scheme consistent 🙂
This recipe is actually really perfect for my family. My little girl has a ton of allergies, so I’ve been looking for a tomato-free, coconut-free curry recipe. Thanks for this!
Hooray! I hope your daughter loves it, Lauren.
Definitely making this for the next week! Looks so delicious and warming!
This reminds me of my favorite vegan chickpea and sweet potato curry recipe! Your addition of golden raisins sounds SO good!
Chickpeas, butternut squash, and curry!! Yummy! 🙂
This looks wonderful, perfect fall or winter hearty curry recipe that we need to try. Thanks!