Peanut Butter Curry

I’m sure you’ve had peanut butter before… but have you ever had peanut butter curry? 

Peanut butter creates an irresistibly full flavoured and surprisingly creamy vegan curry, and is the perfect dish to use up cans of chickpeas and tomatoes that are sitting at the back of your pantry!

The beauty of this peanut butter curry sauce is that it satisfies sweet, salty and savoury cravings all in one go. But it’s also the perfect sauce for using up store cupboard ingredients – i.e. what you have on hand already.

So if you have a can of chickpeas, a tin of tomatoes and a tub of peanut butter languishing at the back of the cupboard, then this is the recipe for you!

How to make vegan peanut butter curry

I love how versatile this recipe is.

It uses a simple base that you can even make in bulk and save half to make another curry later. Just double up on the onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and spices and then take out half before you continue with the rest of the recipe.

This is such a great building block that can be used across so many different recipes.

Simply, cook down an onion, three cloves of garlic, around a thumb-sized piece of ginger until soft and fragrant. Then spices, a tablespoon or two of peanut butter and a tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer until you have a thick and delicious sauce.

This recipe calls for chickpeas, but you can do peanut butter curry with tofu, peas, potatoes or whatever else you like!

The base

Onions, Garlic, Ginger and Tomatoes

This is the base I’ll make in bulk and then freeze. It’s perfect for making so many different types of curry and can be taken straight from the freezer and turned into a full meal on a whim. That’s why it’s a staple of my weeknight rotation.

You can choose to blend the paste first, or cook it down and leave it whole – the difference will be in the final texture of the curry.

The key is to build all of our flavour at this step and allow the rest of the ingredients to shine later.

Spices

You have two options here.

One is the easy and quick method of throwing everything together into the blender – spices and all – and blitzing them raw.

That will save time and make this dish incredibly quick!

If you do that, however, you should add the tomatoes after returning the curry paste to the pot.

The second option cooks down the onions garlic and ginger until soft, and then adds the tomatoes. This allows the tomatoes to cook too, so they lose some of their raw flavour.

This also gives you the opportunity to bloom your spices, allowing them to cook in the hot oil, really bringing out the flavour.

I’ve also added a fresh chilli here. This is optional, but if you want some additional spice, this is where you can add it.

Peanut Butter

I call for smooth peanut butter here, but that’s personal preference.

Ultimately, smooth PB creates a smoother curry paste when heated, and that’s what I’m going for here. Crunchy will leave small crunchy bits in it – are you really ok with that?

Other nut butters are acceptable here, too, by the way. Substitute almond or cashew butter if you want to… but I’m keeping this simple with peanut.

Chickpeas

When chickpeas are the star of the show, I always recommend the jarred kind if you can find them.

For me, creaminess is the name of the game here. And jarred chickpeas are nothing if not creamy!

If all you have or can find in the store come in tins, then use them – this will still be delicious!

This dish is that it’s great for using up what you have on hand.

Add them once the tomatoes and chickpeas have melded into the sauce and it has bubbled for a while. The pulses won’t take long to cook.

Final Flourishes

Right at the end, ensure the curry is salted to your liking and I find a teaspoon of sugar also really helps add that final touch to this peanut butter curry.

This dish really is creamy enough already so it doesn’t need any dairy or vegan alternatives to finish it off. 

I also love to add some chopped spinach towards the end to create a new texture and add some colour. Alternatively, you can garnish it with some chopped herbs, such as coriander, instead.

Continue to Content

Yield: Serves 4

Peanut Butter Curry

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

This peanut butter curry is irresistibly creamy and is the perfect dish to use up cans of chickpeas and tomatoes that are languishing at the back of your pantry!

Print

Ingredients

• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• Pinch of salt
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 inch of ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
• ½ tsp fenugreek powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 2 tins of chickpeas, drained
• 100 ml water, to loosen the sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 handfuls of chopped spinach (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot or saucepan over a medium heat, then add cumin seeds and saute until they sizzle.
2. Once sizzling, immediately add the onions and a pinch of salt. Cover and cook, stirring frequently.
3. When onions are soft, around 5 minutes, add garlic and ginger. Cover and cook again until the garlic and ginger are soft too, around three minutes. 
4. Add the spices and salt and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
5. If using the blender method, take the mix out of the pot and transfer to a blender. Blend until smooth, then return to the pan and reheat. If not using the blender method, continue to step 6.
6. Add the peanut butter to the onion and spice mix. The peanut butter should melt and incorporate the spice and oil mixture when stirred.
7. Add tomatoes and cover, cooking until the mixture is thick, around 10 minutes.
8. Add the chickpeas and stir to coat, then add water to loosen the mixture. You should need around 100 ml of water, but the exact amount will depend on how dry or saucy you like your curry to be. Once the water is added, the curry should be just slightly thinner than you want to serve it - it will thicken as it cooks.
9. Cover again, and simmer for around 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
10. Taste the sauce and check for seasonings, and add the sugar and more salt if necessary.
11. If using the spinach, add it now and cover the pot again, allowing the greens to wilt. If not using spinach, serve the curry with rice and / or gluten free naan bread.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 290Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 834mgCarbohydrates: 37gFiber: 10gSugar: 11gProtein: 11g