Thai Peanut Curry Recipe with Chickpeas (Easy, Vegan)

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Vegan-friendly Thai Peanut Curry is a one-pot dish that is comforting, delicious, and so so satisfying! Each bowl of this curry contains hearty chickpeas, peppers, zucchini, carrots, seasonings, creamy coconut milk, and chopped roasted cashews. You will love this easy, healthy recipe!

It’s impossible not to fall in love with all the pleasing and inviting flavors of this Thai peanut curry. This vibrant vegan recipe is so comforting and wonderful. This particular curry uses chickpeas instead of the traditional tofu that you’d see in Thai food, and I really enjoyed the change of pace.

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It’s packed with flavor thanks to the garlic, onions, and warm spices like cumin, cardamom and coriander. Ground peanut powder adds a richness without all of the calories of peanut butter (more on that in a sec!), and coconut milk turns that peanut powder into a creamy, thick sauce that all of the veggies and chickpeas just soak right up.

You can serve it over brown rice, quinoa, eat it as a “stew” on its own, or enjoy it with naan or roti! It’s really versatile and a one-pot dish, which makes clean-up that much easier. I topped ours with roasted chopped cashews, and we ate it with brown rice on the side.

This recipe makes a TON of food, so we also had this for leftovers later in the week and then I froze a big batch to save for later (it freezes great and makes for an easy weeknight dinner!) Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did!

How to Make Thai Peanut Curry

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

• Medium Sized Pot
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Garlic press
• Chopping Knife
• Cutting Board

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

Onion, Fresh Garlic, and Ginger: A staple in Thai cuisine. Sautéed together, these aromatics gives this curry the best flavor! You can also use garlic powder or ground ginger if you don’t have fresh garlic/ginger.

Spices and Oils: Olive oil (or coconut oil), cumin, ground coriander seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, cayenne pepper and turmeric powder give this fragrant curry its rich Thai flavors. You can also use a curry powder that contains all of these ingredients, or a Thai red curry paste to save time.

Peanut Butter Powder: To make the Thai peanut sauce! I love using peanut butter powder because it gives you all the peanut flavor and tons of protein for half the calories and fat of regular creamy peanut butter. You can also add extra peanut butter to the peanut butter powder in this dish.

Bell Peppers: A red bell pepper or yellow bell pepper (or a mixture of both) would work well in this dish.

Carrots and Zucchini: These were the veggies I chose to add in, but you can use any veggies you like! (see note below)

Light coconut milk: For a creamy broth without all the fat and calories. For a more decadent curry, use full-fat coconut milk.

Vegetable broth: Traditional thai curries will often use chicken broth, but I substituted in vegetable broth to make this vegan friendly.

Chickpeas: A protein alternative for tofu in this recipe.

Salt, Soy Sauce, or Coconut Aminos: Don’t skimp on this – pick your favorite salty seasoning and add as much as you need to taste.

Brown Sugar: Just a little, to balance the heat of this dish slightly.

Brown basmati rice: For serving. You can also use quinoa, jasmine rice, rice noodles, or even whole wheat naan.

Optional (based on your personal preference): Lime Juice for acidity, chopped roasted cashews for additional texture, cilantro or green onions for brightness, chili sauce or sambal oelek for more spice.

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Rinse your veggies in cold water and prep all of your ingredients. On the stove top, heat oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and ginger and saute until the onions are translucent. Add all of the spices and let them toast for 1 min, stirring constantly. 

Step 2: Add the coconut milk and peanut powder and let it cook for a couple of minutes. This will be the base for the flavorful peanut curry sauce.

Step 3: Add rest of the ingredients (broth through sugar) and give it a good stir until everything is combined. 

Step 4: Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a low simmer for at least 30 minutes, but the dish can be simmered as long as 1-2 hours. 

Step 5: Serve warm, top each serving with 1 tsp chopped roasted cashews and any of the other optional toppings you like! 

What Makes This Peanut Butter Curry Healthy?

• High in Protein: Plant protein is great for keeping you full and strengthening your muscles. Each serving of this recipe will give you 14 grams of plant protein.
• Vitamins and Minerals: Just a few of the nutrients you will get are folate, iron, copper, and manganese.
• Low Calorie: This easy Thai curry recipe has only about 200 calories per serving! That means you can go back for seconds or thirds and leave the dinner table feeling full and satisfied!

Additional Vegetables To Consider

This curry is a great way to use up any leftover veggies you have in your fridge! Here are some of the veggies that will pair nicely with the other ingredients. 

• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Sweet Potatoes
• Snap Peas
• Spinach
• Baby Corn
• Green Beans

Recipe FAQs

Top Tips For Making Thai Peanut Curry

• When adding spices to the pan, be sure to stir them constantly. They will burn quickly, and this will cause an unwanted flavor. 
• The longer you let the Thai peanut curry simmer, the better the flavor is going to be because the spices will just blend together for more time!
• You can pressure cook this dish or use the instant pot. You can also use a slow cooker! To use an instant pot, add all of the ingredients to the pot and pressure cook on high for 6 minutes. Natural release for 10-15 minutes, manual release after that! For the slow cooker, you can probably add all of the ingredients to the pot and cook this recipe on high for 5 hours.

Check Out These Other Thai Inspired Delicious Recipes!

• Vegan Thai Green Curry
• Thai Yellow Curry
• Thai Sweet Potato Soup with Poblano Peppers
• Sweet Potato Curry with Chickpeas
• Sweet Sesame Noodles with Tofu and Broccoli
• Vegetarian Panang Curry With Tofu 

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