This creamy vegan butternut squash curry with chickpeas, broccolini, and rice makes a hearty main dish.
In September, I was fortunate enough to go to New York City with my husband, and we did what we always do in cities with lots of vegan options: Eat. And we were very lucky this time because Farmacy Kitchen, a London-based vegan restaurant, had just opened in Soho for a limited 6-months run. And it was within walking distance from our hotel, and we were able to get a reservation. Very fortunate indeed!
The highlight of the meal was the Chef’s Curry my husband ordered. It was creamy and flavorful with a base of butternut squash. (You can see photos of this decadent meal on Instagram.) I came home from that trip and immediately bought butternut squash so that I could try to duplicate this incredible butternut squash curry.
And then, of course, I got busy. I put the squash in the fridge so it would stay fresh while I made vegan chicken gumbo and worked on Thanksgiving menus. I finally found the time this week to work on that curry, and I wish I hadn’t waited so long because it was SO good: creamy, lightly spiced, and comfort-food good.
I made my version with chickpeas because chickpeas make everything better, right? And this may be a personal failing of mine, but I really don’t feel full unless a meal contains some form of legume. This vegan curry is very filling and yet still low in calories and fat. Win!
You’ll probably notice that I made the curry the easy way, by using curry powder. Since I found a curry powder that I really like–Penzey’s Maharajah curry–I often use it when I’m in a hurry because I really love its flavor. I encourage you to use a tried and tested curry powder in this butternut curry; a high-quality curry power makes all the difference in flavor.
Butternut Squash in the Instant Pot
One of the reasons I tend to put off cooking with winter squash is that I’m afraid that peeling it and cutting it is going to be a pain–both difficult to do and, if the knife slips, actual pain. So this time around I made it easy for myself by softening up the squash in the pressure cooker.
I put the whole thing, uncut, into my new 8-quart Instant Pot on a rack with just a cup of water. I set the pressure time to 8 minutes, and it came to pressure pretty quickly. When the 8 minutes were up, I waited for about 5 minutes for the pressure to fall and then opened the top so the squash could cool. Once it was cool enough to handle, it was easy to peel and cut. The squash was about half cooked, so it didn’t take long to cook once I started making the curry. (You can also put it in the fridge and let it get good and cold before working on it.)
I hope you enjoy using your Instant Pot for this recipe, and if you’re looking for more ways to use your pressure cooker, please check out the dozens of recipes in my Pressure Cooker Archives.
Vegan Butternut Squash Curry
Ingredients
- 2 pounds butternut squash (approximate weight after cooking)
- 1 large onions chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- 1 tablespoon ginger root minced
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 6 cups water or vegetable broth (or water plus 2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon No-Chicken)
- 2 16-ounce cans chickpeas drained
- 2 teaspoons curry powder or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice or to taste
- 6 servings your choice of steamed vegetables broccoli, broccolini, and green beans are good
- cooked brown rice for serving
Suggested Tools
Instructions
- Start with a large squash that is just over 2 pounds. To make it easy to peel and chop, precook it in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker: Place a trivet in the bottom of the cooker, add 1 cup water, and place the squash on the trivet (if it won't fit, cut it in half and arrange halves on trivet.) Set pressure cooker to 8 minutes at high pressure. When cooking time is over, allow pressure to come down naturally, remove the squash, and allow it to cool until comfortable to handle. (If you do not have a pressure cooker, you may steam the squash for 15 minutes or skip this step and peel and chop it raw. You may also use pre-chopped fresh or frozen squash.)
- Peel the squash, cut it in half, and remove the seeds. Cut the squash into large chunks (about 1-inch). Set aside
- Heat a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the onions and cook until they begin to brown. Then add the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds and cook for another minute (be careful not to let the spices burn.) Add the water or broth (or water plus 2 teaspoons bouillon) and the chopped squash. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, and cover. Cook until the squash is tender, around 15 minutes.
- Once the squash is tender, use a slotted spoon to remove 4 cups of the squash and onions and place it in a blender. Use a ladle to remove 3 cups of the liquid and add it to the blender. Carefully start the blender on its lowest setting to avoid splashing hot liquid. Increase the speed gradually to blend the squash into a smooth puree.
- Add the pureed squash back to the soup pan along with the drained chickpeas, curry powder, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, and cook for at least 15 minutes for flavors to blend and curry to thicken. Add salt to taste. Just before serving, add lemon juice.
- Serve over rice with steamed vegetables.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Please pin and share:
Maria
December 13, 2019 at 8:26 pmThis looks absolutely delicious Susan! I love winter squash and I love curry–win win! xo
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 8:17 amThanks, Maria! It’s a great comfort food this time of year.
Sally Rosloff
December 14, 2019 at 9:53 amI have a big bag of frozen roasted butternut squash cubes from Costco. How much of those would I use for this recipe? Thank you!
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 12:10 pmMy squash weighed right around 2 pounds after cubing it, so shoot for 2 pounds worth.
Sally Rosloff
December 14, 2019 at 3:25 pmThank you! Will do…
Ivy
December 14, 2019 at 10:24 amThis looks amazing, Susan! Can’t wait to try it. I did not know that Better Than Bouillon came in no-chicken flavor. Hoping to find it locally; $10 online is pricey.
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 12:08 pmI buy it in bulk now from Vitacost, which has the best price online. I can’t seem to find it locally, but I LOVE it.
Ivy
December 14, 2019 at 2:52 pmThanks for the tip, Susan!. Do you find the Instant pot always to be on high? I was cooking chili before and whether it was on sautés or the chili setting (I tried both), it was boiling the food.
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 3:59 pmYes, it seems to either be on high or off. I have a hard time using the sauté setting for anything I want simmered.
Heather
December 14, 2019 at 10:47 amSounds yummy! But instead of a Dutch oven, I would just use the Instant Pot on saute mode. I cook so much in the IP, I hardly use the stove any more.
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 12:07 pmMy only trouble with the IP is that sometimes even the low setting on sauté is too hot. If you try this recipe, be careful that it doesn’t overheat or burn, especially after the squash is pureed.
Ivy
December 18, 2019 at 7:23 amSo I made it night before last in a stainless steel pot on the stove. I bought cubed squashed from the produce section of the supermarket. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the curry never thickened. It was a thin soup even after pureeing much of it in my Vitamix. As soon as I put it back with the remaining soup, it thinned out again. Any tips for the kitchen-challenged?
Susan Voisin
December 18, 2019 at 7:46 amThat’s really strange! So the only thing you did differently was to use already cubed squash? How much did you use? I’m sorry it didn’t thicken up for you. I need to test it with pre-cubed squash to see if the amount of water needs to be changed.
Ivy
December 18, 2019 at 5:10 pmI weighed 2 lbs. of raw, cubed squash on a kitchen scale. Thanks for looking into it for me, Susan!
Stephanie
December 28, 2019 at 1:46 pmI made this on Christmas Day and served it to my husband, my sister and my brother-in-law. Everyone loved it! The toasted cumin and mustard seeds combined with the curry add such a rich flavor. I will definitely make this again.
I always seem to have good luck with your recipes. I appreciate how thouroughly you test them.
Kensington Cooker
December 14, 2019 at 3:18 pmOh, I’m certainly going to try this recipe Susan! Sounds irresistible. But before I do, I wanted to share a discovery I made recently: cut-resistant gloves. They are not a substitute for careful knife technique, of course. But they really do add a layer of protection when cutting things like butternut squash.
Susan Voisin
December 14, 2019 at 3:57 pmI have seen those and keep meaning to buy some. I’m a little accident-prone. 😂
Sunya
January 25, 2020 at 5:45 pmI’ve been on a 20 day All Raw detox plan. Yesterday was day 20. I’ve been Patiently waiting for day 21 to try your recipe! The only thing is I’ve been resistant to buy the Instant pot.(I’m close to breaking down and purchase) I’m going to try in my Dutch oven and hope it come out yummy yummy good. I’ll let you know.
Susan Voisin
January 25, 2020 at 6:17 pmI hope you enjoy it! It should be fine on the stove.
Kathleen Hickey
December 14, 2019 at 4:17 pmI will be trying this soon! So glad to know about the restaurant in NYC. We get there a couple of times a year and never know where to eat.
Cynthia
December 17, 2019 at 8:43 pmI just signed up for your newsletter, and this is my first email. I’m so excited to have a curry that isn’t filled with coconut milk. Thanks for the recipe and will make it as soon as I get more chickpeas in my pantry. Not big on rice so I plan on switching it out with quinoa.
Stephanie
December 28, 2019 at 1:49 pmI made this on Christmas Day and served it to my husband, my sister and my brother-in-law. Everyone loved it! The toasted cumin and mustard seeds combined with the curry add such a rich flavor. I will definitely make this again.
I always seem to have good luck with your recipes. I appreciate how thouroughly you test them.
Kate S
January 15, 2020 at 8:47 amFinally made this last weekend and wow. The flavors are amazing! Adding this to the very long list of FFV recipes I love and make all the time. Mine was also a bit thin but maybe because I’m lazy and just used my immersion blender to blend about half the curry. Rice soaked it up perfectly.
Kensington Cooker
January 16, 2020 at 11:58 amI made this delicious recipe. My only adaptation was to leave out the red pepper since I’m a spice wimp. It’s going into my favorites folder along with so many of Susan’s recipes. Like others, mine was a little thin at first ( it may have to do with each cook’s way of defining a simmer), so I just removed the solids and reduced the broth further until it was a nice thick consistency. As is often the case, this tastes even better on the second day. I’m thinking of modifying it for the slow cooker. I’ll let you know how it goes if I do.
Sunya
January 26, 2020 at 7:27 pmI made it!!! And soooo good!!! The only deviation was instead of 6 cups of water are used 4 cups and it thicken up just nicely, also since I do not have an instant pot, I prepared it all in my Dutch oven yummy!!!!!
Melanie Lemburg
April 21, 2020 at 12:38 pmThis recipe never thickened for me either. I used a fresh butternut squash, and it was very soupy even after following the recipe closely. If I try it again, I may reduce the amount of water/broth.
Lyndsey
May 26, 2020 at 3:28 amButternut squash is my favorite food. This dish impresses me a lot, I can’t stop thinking about having a vegan butternut squash curry served at dinner tonight. I’ll make it for my whole family. Thanks for your recipe!
Denice
July 10, 2020 at 4:53 pmCan you tell me how to make this without an instant pot?
Thanks! Looks yummy! Trying to be oil-free.
Valerie
December 6, 2020 at 12:46 pmThis looks yummy! I don’t have a kitchen scale. About how many cups of cubed squash would 2# be?
Susan Voisin
December 6, 2020 at 1:03 pmIt’s about 7-8 cups of cubed squash.
Valerie
December 11, 2020 at 10:38 amThank you! I’m going to make it today 🙂
Valerie
December 11, 2020 at 10:39 amThank you! I’m going to make it today 🙂
Christine
February 28, 2021 at 7:54 pmSusan thank you for a lovely recipe! You have no idea how much time you spend riding around on my shoulder in my kitchen ; )
I do not think my 2 lb butternut yielded 7-8 cups of squash so that may be where the liquid discrepancy came in, which i also found. I was running out of squash as I measured 4 cups for the blender. I agree that reducing liquid to 4 cups and adjusting as needed is probably about right. How much squash do you like to leave not pureed, and what would you say the final consistency should be like?
I also used the pressure cooker method for making the squash cuttable — so glad I did not throw away my 45 year old pressure cooker when i got the instant pot! I was working on the squash while sautéing the onions in the Instant Pot!
One more thing: I made this using Penzey’s “NOW” curry, which I just picked up at a sale price at our local Penzey’s. I liked it very, very much — it may prove an economical alternative to Maharajah, which is over $19 for a half cup quantity. (sounds good, but I’m not quite there yet!)