Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Reasons to love it

• Quick & easy: Ready in about 25 minutes using mostly canned pantry staples—perfect for busy weeknights.
• Healthy & filling: Packed with plant-based protein and fiber. Naturally vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
• Big on flavor: A cozy mix of warming Indian spices, sautéed aromatics, tangy tomatoes, and creamy coconut milk—this chana curry doesn’t hold back on flavor.
• Meal prep friendly: Great made ahead and stores well in the fridge or freezer for those “I don’t want to cook” days.
• Creamy & comforting: The coconut milk and tomato sauce make it velvety and rich, with tender garbanzo beans in every bite.

Notes on the Main Ingredients

Spinach: A couple of handfuls of baby spinach wilt beautifully into the chickpea masala curry and require zero chopping. No spinach? No problem—it’s still delicious without it.

Tomato Sauce: Use canned tomato sauce like Hunt’s or Contadina, or tomato passata. This shortcut saves time and skips the traditional step of sautéing fresh tomatoes. Avoid pasta sauce, marinara, or pizza sauce—they’ll change the flavor completely.

Coconut Milk: Full-fat canned coconut milk gives this curry its creamy, rich texture without making it taste like traditional chana masala.

Chickpeas: One can of drained and rinsed chickpeas works great. If you’re using home-cooked chickpeas, use about 2 cups. (Need help cooking garbanzo beans from scratch? Check out how to cook chickpeas in the instant pot)

Oil: I use coconut oil for an extra boost of coconut flavor and added health benefits, but any neutral oil like vegetable or avocado oil will work too.

Spices: No store-bought curry powders needed. All you need are a few pantry-friendly Indian spices—turmeric, cayenne, coriander powder, and garam masala—for authentic flavor.

Cumin Seeds: Known as jeera in Hindi, cumin seeds are traditionally toasted at the beginning of most Indian vegetarian dishes to build flavor. While you can skip them if you don’t have any on hand, don’t substitute with ground cumin or jeera powder—it changes the flavor profile completely.

So, is this recipe chana masala?

Well... not exactly! While both dishes feature boiled chickpeas as the star ingredient, traditional chana masala is a bold and tangy North Indian dish made without any cream or coconut milk. It’s heavily spiced—especially with garam masala—and gets its signature tang from tomatoes or amchur (dry mango powder). The texture is thicker, more rustic, and deeply flavorful.

This creamy chickpeacurry, on the other hand, is milder, subtly spiced, and has a rich, velvety texture thanks to the addition of coconut milk. Think of it as a more comforting, cozy version—perfect for weeknights or when you're craving something nourishing but not too intense. It is lighter than the Indian butter chickpeas.

Recipe tips

• Chickpeas: Use one or two cans of chickpeas. If using homemade cooked garbanzo beans, about 2 cups works perfectly.
• Add water with spices: Adding 1-2 tablespoons of water when adding the spices prevents them from burning, helps them toast evenly, and keeps them from sticking to the pan.
• Spiciness: Adjust the cayenne powder to your preferred heat level. Note: cayenne pepper is equivalent to Indian chili powder.
• Resting time: Let the curry chickpeas with spinach rest for at least 5 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to thicken and flavors to meld.
• Tomato sauce: Use canned tomato sauce (like Hunt’s or Contadina). Avoid marinara or pizza sauces, as they can alter the flavor.
• Ginger garlic paste: Use 3 tablespoons of homemade ginger garlic paste instead of the minced garlic and ginger.

Variations

This vegan chickpea and spinach curry is super flexible—once you’ve got the base recipe down, you can easily adapt it to what you have on hand. Here are a few tasty ideas:

• Swap the protein: Try cubed paneer instead of chickpeas for a delicious vegetarian twist.
• No spinach? No problem—just leave it out.
• Use kale: Replace spinach with chopped kale. Since it takes longer to cook, add it in along with the tomato sauce so it softens fully.
• Add potatoes: Skip the spinach and toss in peeled, chopped potatoes (about 1-inch cubes). Add them with the tomato sauce, cover, and cook until tender. No need to mash.
• More veggies: Feel free to mix in other vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, or sweet potatoes along with or instead of spinach.
• Make it lighter: Use light coconut milk if you prefer a lighter version of the chickpea spinach curry.

More vegetarian curry recipes for rice

• Beet curry with chickpeas tastes so good that it will leave you amazed and craving more. This vegan chickpea curry is pretty in pink, healthy and made in the instant pot in about 30 minutes.
• Thai red curry with tofu is bursting with bold flavor—and it’s way better than takeout! Ready in under 30 minutes, it’s the perfect quick and tasty vegetarian dinner to serve with rice.
• This butternut squash curry with cashews is thick, creamy, vegan, wholesome, and full of warming Indian spices.