A quick and easy dinner, ready in 30 minutes. Creamy pumpkin cauliflower curry with chickpeas is the perfect vegetarian meal, packed with protein, fiber, and bursting with flavor!

I learned a very valuable lesson this week; pureed pumpkin is the PERFECT addition to vegetable curry. I can't believe I've gone over 40 years without trying this! O to the M to the G.
This recipe was born out of necessity (all good ones are). I had a ton of pumpkin in my cupboard from an over-ambitious shopping trip a few months ago, the pureed pumpkin was on sale and I was buying. Hoping I would have had a ton of free time this fall to just cook away my life, I bought 10. 10 tetra packs of pumpkin puree. (This is my favorite brand). 10 packs too many because, remember, I have a very small kitchen in a one-bedroom NYC apartment, no pantry, and a boyfriend that likes to do things like buy 21 pounds of pasta and 17 jars of truffle sauce when Eataly has a sale.
I digress… I forced myself last week to start to use some of the overstocked pantry food. No grocery shopping for random cravings, I needed to cook what was in the fridge and cupboards. So I had to get to some of that pumpkin. A tough spot I was in, I wanted curry. Pumpkin and curry? I didn't know if it would work but I wouldn't fail from lack of trying.
It works. It works so well that pumpkin should be a curry staple. Pumpkin adds an extra layer of earthy sweetness and a super creamy texture.
Fresh ginger, cauliflower, pumpkin, coconut milk, and chickpeas are the main ingredients in this quick curry. Since I almost always have those ingredients on hand I can easily whip up this tasty 30 minute, one-pot, super healthy, vegetarian meal.
Creamy Pumpkin Cauliflower Curry Tips
- When you buy a fresh bulb of ginger you can pop it right in the freezer! It will keep for several months and you can just take it out and whack off the bit that you want as needed.
- You could easily add any additional veggies to this recipe like spinach, broccoli, or potatoes.
- If you want to add animal protein chicken or shrimp would be super yummy, I find this dish to be perfectly satisfying as is.
- I serve this with brown rice or any grain that suits your fancy. I almost served it over cauliflower rice but I thought that would be cauliflower overkill.
- The lime is NOT optional. It is an essential element of flavor. Trust me
Thanks for reading Abra's Kitchen! If you make this recipe tag #abraskitchen on Instagram 🙂
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Here are a few more pumpkin recipes you may like
Pumpkin Shitake Tacos
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkin Pie Dip

Creamy Pumpkin Cauliflower Curry with Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger
- 3 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 can chickpeas rinsed
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
- 1.5 tbsp curry powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp turmeric
- pinch black pepper
- Juice from 1/2 a lime
- Fresh cilantro and extra lime for serving
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium heat melt coconut oil. Add onions, garlic, and ginger and cook for 5 minutes until onions are tender.
- Add cauliflower, chickpeas, and vegetable stock. Simmer partially covered for 5 minutes.
- Remove cover add coconut milk, pumpkin, curry powder, salt, turmeric, and black pepper. Stir well to combine. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in lime juice.
- Serve over rice with fresh cilantro and lime wedges.
Steve B says
Very good, but I was checking the amount of sodium since the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon salt. Online sources say that makes about 1160 grams of sodium which is 50% of the daily value. Did you mean 1/4 teaspoon? This should be fixed.
AbraPappa says
No, that’s correct. That is the amount for the entire recipe which serves 4. Feel free to adjust salt to your liking.
Pippa says
I made this in the thermomix, it was more watery than expected so I added more pumpkin and blitzed it into a thick soup. It turned out great.
AbraPappa says
I’ve never used a thermomix but I’m assuming it is similar to a slow cooker or pressure cooker? If so, both a slow cooker and pressure cooker dilute flavor because there is no evaporation so you end up with a more “watery” end product. When adjusting any recipe for either a pressure cooker or slow cooker you will need to concentrate flavor and use less liquid.
Hope that’s helpful!!
Thorunn Sleight says
As we can’t get pumpkin puree here in Iceland, I’m thinking about trying this with butternut squash instead. What do you think – steam it first or bake it?
AbraPappa says
I think that’s a great idea! I would steam it, either would work though.
kate says
can I freeze this?
AbraPappa says
I’ve never tried but I imagine it would work really well. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.
Sarah says
Oh my god! One of THE best recipes ever! So simple! Did it in my thermomix and my husband just polished off three bowls! On his first bite he said “oh god i’m Already thinking about seconds” ha!
AbraPappa says
Yay!!! Oh my gosh this makes me so happy. So glad you enjoyed it 🙂