Thai Pumpkin Curry Recipe with Coconut

Thai Pumpkin Curry Recipe — 🎃🥥😋 An EASY curry that’s ready in 30 minutes! Tender fresh pumpkin, chickpeas, bell peppers, spinach, and more all bathed in the most aromatic Thai-inspired coconut milk broth! If you love Thai food, skip the restaurant and make this better-than-takeout curry at home!

Quick Thai Chickpea Pumpkin Coconut Curry

I am the queen of Thai-inspired coconut curries. I have a whole slew of them on my site. 

Among the most popular are my Thai Chicken Coconut Curry, Green Thai Chicken Coconut Curry, and my Yellow Thai Chicken Coconut Curry. Once I realized how much you all loved the red one, I made green, and then yellow, too.

Today’s pumpkin curry reminds me a lot of my Sweet Potato and Chickpea Coconut Curry.

This pumpkin curry is easy to make and ready in 30 minutes yet has such fabulous depth of flavor your friends and family will be convinced that you spent all day on it.

So healthy yet hearty with tender chunks of pumpkin, chickpeas, bell peppers, spinach, cilantro, and lime juice for layers of incredible flavor.

Everything is drenched in the most flavorful and aromatic coconut milk-based red Thai curry sauce. It’s so flavorful and truly my favorite part of any curry and is comprised of a combination of red curry paste, fresh ginger, coriander, cumin, and more.

You’d never guess that naturally vegan and gluten-free comfort food can taste so amazing! 

Ingredients in Thai Pumpkin Curry

To make this Thai pumpkin chickpea curry, you’ll need a lot of ingredients. None are difficult to find and they do all serve a purpose.

If you’re thinking about making substitutions or wondering what you can sway, there’s more on that below.

But for now, get out the following easy-to-find ingredients:

• Coconut oil (or another cooking oil)
• Yellow onion
• Bell peppers
• Small red chile, jalapeno, or serrano chile; optional
• Garlic
• Ginger (ground or fresh) 
• Ground coriander and cumin
• Fresh pumpkin – Use sugar pumpkins, also known as pie pumpkins or sweet pumpkins, or Long Island Cheese pumpkins can also be substituted
• Thai red curry paste
• Low-sodium broth (vegetable broth or chicken broth), or water (I used water)
• Canned coconut milk – Full-fat coconut milk will give you a much richer overall mouthfeel and texture, and the dish will simply taste better than using light coconut milk. Do not confuse canned coconut milk with cream of coconut that also comes in a can, which is extremely sweet and better suited for a piña colada than a curry. Additionally, don’t try to use another milk — cashew, soy, cow’s, etc. — instead of canned coconut milk and expect it to resemble a proper coconut curry or achieve the same creaminess
• Bay or kaffir lime leaves, optional
• Chickpeas 
• Fresh spinach 
• Lime juice – For the best flavor, use juice from fresh lime wedges, not bottled varieties
• Soy sauce (or fish sauce, if not vegan)
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Brown sugar
• Fresh cilantro
• Nuts, optional for garnishing

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Thai Pumpkin Coconut Curry

If you’ve been too intimidated to try your hand at making curry at home, this recipe is perfect for you! All the ingredients come together in a single skillet and cook in less than 30 minutes, making it perfect for busy weeknights.

Here’s an overview of the cooking process:

1. Sauté the onion in oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Once the onion softens, add the bell peppers and optional chile, and continue to sauté until the veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the garlic, coriander, and cumin, and continue to cook until fragrant, stirring constantly. Then, add the pumpkin followed by the Thai red curry paste, broth, coconut milk, and bay or lime leaves.
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer until the pumpkin is tender and cooked through. Remove the bay or lime leaves from the skillet.
4. Add the chickpeas, spinach, lime juice, soy or fish sauce, salt, and pepper, and stir to incorporate and wilt the spinach leaves. Season to taste.
5. Top with cilantro and optional nuts, and serve with cauliflower rice, white rice and/or naan bread. Enjoy!

What to Serve with Chickpea Pumpkin Coconut Curry

Greek Pita Chip Salad

Soft and Chewy Coconut Milk Bread

Easy Sourdough Bread

No-Knead Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter

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5 from 4 votes

Thai Pumpkin Chickpea Coconut Curry

By Averie Sunshine

🎃🥥😋 An EASY curry that’s ready in 30 minutes! Tender fresh pumpkin, chickpeas, bell peppers, spinach, and more all bathed in the most aromatic Thai-inspired coconut milk broth! If you love Thai food, skip the restaurant and make this better-than-takeout curry at home!

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

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Equipment

• 1 large high-sided skillet

Ingredients  

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• ▢ 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut oil, olive or vegetable oil may be substituted
• ▢ 1 medium/large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
• ▢ 1 small red bell pepper, seeded and diced into thin strips
• ▢ 1 small yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and diced into thin strips
• ▢ 1 small red chile pepper, jalapeno, or serrano chile, seeded and diced finely with seeds removed; optional
• ▢ 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
• ▢ 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• ▢ 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• ▢ 1 medium sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and diced into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 to 4 1/2 cups total, diced* See Notes)
• ▢ 2 to 6 tablespoons Thai red curry paste, to taste **
• ▢ 2 cups low-sodium broth, vegetable or chicken or water (I used water)
• ▢ one 14-ounce can coconut milk, full-fat will deliver a richer/thicker result, lite is ok
• ▢ 2 or 3 bay or kaffir lime leaves, optional
• ▢ one 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used no-salt added)
• ▢ about 3 cups fresh spinach leaves, heaping handful
• ▢ 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ▢ 1 tablespoon soy or fish sauce, optional and to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sugar, optional and to taste
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing (basil may be substituted)
• ▢ Nuts, cashews, peanuts, etc., optional for garnishing

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Instructions 

• To a large high-sided skillet, add the oil, onion, and sauté over medium-high heat until the onion begins to soften and turn a bit translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes; stir intermittently.
• Add the bell peppers, optional chile, and continue sautéing for about 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender; stir intermittently.
• Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, and cook for about 1 minute, or until fragrant; stir almost constantly.
• Add the pumpkin, and stir to coat it with the spices.
• Add the Thai red curry paste, broth, coconut milk, bay or lime leaves, turn the heat to medium-low, and bring to a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender and cooked through. Tip – Make sure to keep your pumpkin chunks in the 1/2-inch size range or it will take much longer for them to cook through.
• Optionally and if you prefer a smoother curry, remove about 1 cup of the softened pumpkin, peppers, and onion mixture (make sure not to grab a bay or lime leaf), add it to a blender, puree, and add the puree back into the curry. Alternatively, you can do this with a handheld immersion blender in the skillet if desired. I don’t tend to puree at all because I like the texture, but do as you prefer.
• Remove the bay or lime leaves from the skillet if you added them.
• Add the chickpeas, spinach, lime juice, optional soy or fish sauce, salt and pepper, stir to incorporate, and allow the spinach leaves to wilt, about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Taste the curry and optionally add the brown sugar (recommended because it helps balance the acidity and adds overall depth of flavor). If desired, add additional curry paste, salt, pepper, etc. to taste.
• Add the cilantro, stir to combine, optional nuts, and serve with rice, naan bread, etc.
• Curry will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. The flavors marry over time in the fridge and I find the the curry tastes better after a day or two in the fridge; reheat gently before serving.

Notes

*Choosing the pumpkin: You want to use sugar pumpkins, which may also be called pie pumpkin or sweet pumpkins. They are small and round.

Long Island Cheese pumpkins, which are more oblong and can look like a wheel of cheese, can also be suitable. 

Make sure you don’t try to cook with the same type of pumpkin you carve and set out for Halloween. The flesh of those has a stringy undesirable texture and normally they are much larger than pumpkins to eat. 

Since pumpkins and produce varies widely regionally, investigate what you can get your hands on in your area, do some research online, but by and large in the US it should be fairly easy to source a sugar or pie pumpkin this time of year in most well-stocked grocery stores.

Pumpkin substitute: If you can’t get your hands on pumpkin, use sweet potato or squash such as butternut or acorn instead.

**Curry paste: As with all curry pastes and powders, they vary in intensity and everyone’s preferences for spice and heat vary, so adjust to taste. I used essentially the entire 4-ounce jar or Thai red curry paste and I wouldn’t call it the spicy because of it. You can always start with less and add more, to taste if desired, towards the end.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 431kcal, Carbohydrates: 43g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 19g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Sodium: 1188mg, Fiber: 10g, Sugar: 11g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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