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Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas

Liz DellaCroce Avatar

LIZ DELLA CROCE

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Indian-inspired slow cooker vegetable curry is satisfying and comforting, packed with chickpeas for protein, warm spices and lots of hearty vegetables.

Garnishing slow cooker vegetable curry with chives.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas is the perfect hands-off recipe for a busy weeknight. Warm, comforting, and jam-packed with nutrients, this vegetarian curry recipe well with just about any vegetables you have on hand. In fact, we rarely make it with the same ingredients twice for that very reason! The reason I fell in love with this recipe is because of its versatility, and the ease of it being a slow cooker meal! For added protein, I love adding chickpeas which I always keep on hand in my pantry to whip up a quick veggie tagine with chickpeas, a pan of crispy roasted chickpeas or a big bowl of Lebanese chickpea salad.

Why You’ll Love this Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry

  • Using a slow cooker, it’s perfect to set it and forget it!
  • This dish is vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free!
  • Can be easily customized to what is already in your fridge and pantry.
  • Makes great leftovers to reheat and eat all week long.

Ingredients

  • Cauliflower: Mild and a bit nutty in flavor, cauliflower is an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients.
  • Broccoli: A great source of Vitamin C, fiber, and many other nutrients.
  • Sweet potato: Hearty, creamy, and sweet, they are full of fiber and other nutrients.
  • Red pepper: The sweetest of the bell peppers, it also adds great color to the final dish.
  • Onion: I usually use a white or yellow onion for this curry.
  • Chickpeas: A great source of plant-based protein.
  • Tomato sauce: Acts as the base for the sauce of the curry.
  • Coconut milk: Makes the sauce a bit creamy, while helping to cut through some of the spice.
  • Broth: Use vegetable broth to keep this dish vegan/vegetarian, otherwise you can use chicken broth.
  • Spices: This curry is flavored with a delicious blend of cumin, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and pepper.
  • Peas: Frozen peas are added towards to end to prevent them from getting mushy.

Easy Substitutions

  • Mix up the vegetables. You can use almost any vegetable you have! Use regular potatoes instead of sweet potatoes, throw in some carrots, or even Brussels sprouts!
  • Swap the spices. You can use red curry paste instead of curry powder, but I would use more of it. And if you don’t have cumin and turmeric, you could use garam masala!
  • Use frozen instead of fresh. Fresh would be best for a slow cook process. However, you can add frozen veggies to the slow cooker just an hour before eating. Slow cooking frozen veggies (that are already precooked) would make them really mushy.

How to Make Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas

Step 1. Peel and dice your onion.

Step 2. Wash and cut your cauliflower and broccoli into florets.

Step 3. Peel and chop your sweet potato.

Step 4. Dice your bell pepper.

Step 5. Add all your vegetables to the pot of your slow cooker, along with the canned chickpeas. Then pour in the broth and coconut milk, and stir in the spices.

Step 6. Top with the lid, and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. Add the peas the last 5 minutes or so before serving.

Top view of slow cooker vegetable curry with chickpeas.

Serve on top of a bed of rice or quinoa, garnish with fresh herbs, and enjoy your Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas!

Frequently asked questions

What vegetables should not be added to a slow cooker?

It’s not like there are banned foods from slow cooking. But delicate or quick cooking vegetables, like peas, spinach, or asparagus, should be added towards the end so they don’t get mushy.

How to stop curry from being watery in a slow cooker?

Towards the end of the cook time, if your curry seems a bit watery, take the lid off and change the heat to high to let some of that excess water cook off.

How long is vegetable curry good for?

This curry will be good in the fridge for up to 7 days, and in the freezer for 3 months.

More Slow Cooker Meals

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Liz eating slow cooker vegetable curry.

The perfect weeknight dinner, or a great make-ahead recipe for lunches all week long, you’ll be sure to love my Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry.

Your fork is waiting.

Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas

4.38 stars average
Satisfying and comforting Indian inspired vegetarian dish packed with protein and full of flavor thanks to warm spices.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes
Serves4
CourseMain Dish
Calories283

Ingredients
 
 

  • 4 cups cauliflower cut in florets
  • 2 cups broccoli cut in florets
  • 1 sweet potato peeled and diced
  • 1 red pepper diced
  • 1 medium onion diced
  • 15 ounce can chickpeas drained
  • 15 ounce can tomato sauce low sodium
  • ½ cup light coconut milk
  • ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth low sodium or vegetable broth
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon cayenne optional
  • ½ cup frozen green peas
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • plain yogurt cilantro, sriracha and scallions – optional garnishes

Instructions
 

  1. Place vegetables, chickpeas, tomato sauce, coconut milk, chicken broth and spices in the slow cooker and heat on Low for 8 hours or on High for 4 hours.
  2. Before serving stir in green peas to warm.
  3. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
  4. Serve over brown rice or grain of choice (or on own) with yogurt, cilantro and scallions. Sriracha doesn’t hurt either.

Nutrition

Serving: 1.5cupsCalories: 283kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 13gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1009mgPotassium: 1321mgFiber: 15gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 10143IUVitamin C: 112mgCalcium: 149mgIron: 6mg

Video

Liz’s Notes

This recipe is really versatile – feel free to use whatever veggies are in season or you have on hand. It freezes very well and will last up to 3 months in the freezer.

Have you tried this?

Let us know how it was!

4.38 from 269 votes (248 ratings without comment)

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135 responses to “Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas”

  1. Kristin Avatar
    Kristin

    I love this recipe so much. I’ve made it several times and has come out great. So hearty and spicy, great for a nice wintery day like today!

  2. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    Mine did not look like the picture, but it was very flavorful and spicy, we really enjoyed it and will make again. Thank you.
    One problemwas that we only had dried chickpeas, and they took a very long time to soften in the cooker. I Initially put everything in together but after four hours I scooped out the cauliflower and sweet potatoes (put in fridge) because they were soft, and left the chickpeas in for another four hours on low. That gave everything the same cooked but firm consistency. We used two Tbls of curry paste, veggie broth, and a little extra coconut milk.

  3. Tracy N Avatar
    Tracy N

    I was skeptical with the all veggies going into this but it turned pretty good. I will say I adjusted to taste. It did not have near enough curry flavor. I also added fresh minced ginger and extra coconut milk (a whole can). It was surprisingly great and my husband liked it too.

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Tracy!

  4. Alysia Avatar
    Alysia

    I’m not sure what exactly I did wrong. I’m thinking maybe it’s the type of broth I used. Your veggies look like they’re covered in sauce and nice ‘n plump. Mine turned to mush and more of a soup. Real head scratcher especially when I followed the recipe accurately. Again it might have been the broth. ???? Yours looks so good. I’ll try a different broth next time and maybe 4 hours instead of 8 in the crockpot.

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      Did you use fresh or frozen veggies?

    2. Lynda Margaret Stephenson Avatar
      Lynda Margaret Stephenson

      I had exactly the same results, and I did not use any frozen, besides the peas. Which was in the recipe, I followed it exactly, and it was like a bowl of mashed veges!

      1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
        Liz DellaCroce

        Hey Lynda! By nature of cooking veggies for 4+ hours, it’s going to be a bit on the mushy side. :) If the texture isn’t for you I understand!!

  5. Jocelyn Avatar
    Jocelyn

    This dish was so flavorful and delicious while being made purely from good-for-you ingredients – highly recommend!

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      That makes me so happy!

  6. Nikki Kamminga Avatar
    Nikki Kamminga

    In the UK I think the substitution would be a carton of passata, not tomato paste (which we call puree here). Tomato puree is very concentrated, whereas passata is just sieved tomatoes.

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      Yes you’re correct!

  7. Deanna Avatar
    Deanna

    I’m one of those people that can’t do cooked tomatoes. Any substitution advice ?

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      You can skip it!

  8. Charlie Avatar
    Charlie

    I guess us vegetarians would substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth.

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      Yes great idea!

  9. Julie Kraft Avatar
    Julie Kraft

    I’m anxious to try this for the first time. Would there be a problem with using more authentic whole fat coconut milk as opposed to lite, which typically has more sugar, especially now that whole fat is not so “villainized?” Thanks so much!

    1. Liz DellaCroce Avatar
      Liz DellaCroce

      That would work great!! Great idea! I love full fat milk! :)