Thinking about pulling out your slow-cooker, now that it's October? If we haven't convinced you yet to break it out of storage, we hope this recipe will do the trick! Creamy and mild, this simple curried soup is full of tender fall vegetables and the warming flavors of ginger and garlic.
This is a great clearing-out-the-fridge recipe. My inspiration actually came from an old Cooking Light recipe and a fridge full of vegetables that needed using—but not all vegetables that the original recipe called for. I love the big pieces of cauliflower that came from that experiment, but I have also made versions with parsnips, turnips, winter or summer squash, extra carrots, and swiss chard.
Since this makes such a large batch, you can freeze what you don't think you'll eat in a week. Just freeze it before adding the coconut milk since this has a tendency to separate once frozen.
This recipe is also easily replicated in a dutch oven, if you'd prefer that route. Pre-heat your oven to 350°F and do all the steps in your dutch oven. Cover and cook for two hours or until the vegetables are tender.
Tester's Notes
This is always one of the first recipes I make once the weather gets colder. It's just so warm and comforting at the end of a long day. I love the mix of all the different vegetables and the way curry-scented coconut milk brings it all together. It's easy to forget that it's actually a vegan recipe!
One thing to note is that this recipe makes a lot! It can be halved if you have a smaller crockpot or if you don't want to make such a big batch. I usually go for gold and make the entire batch, freezing half in individual portions for quick meals later in the fall. - Emma


Curried Vegetable and Chickpea Stew
Serves 8 - 10Adapted from Cooking Light
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 all-purpose potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and grated (about 1 tablespoon)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
2 (16-ounce) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes with their juices
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
10-ounces baby spinach
1 cup coconut milk
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion with one teaspoon of salt until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes and another teaspoon of salt, and sauté until just translucent around the edges.
Stir in the curry, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and chili and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in 1/4 cup of broth and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Pour this onion-potato mixture into the bowl of your slow cooker.
To the slow-cooker, add the rest of the broth, chickpeas, bell pepper, cauliflower, tomatoes with their juices, the pepper, and the final teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine. The liquid should come half-way up the sides of the bowl; add more broth as necessary. Cover and cook for 4 hours on HIGH.
Stir in the spinach and coconut milk. Cover with lid for 1 minute to allow the spinach to wilt. Taste and adjust salt and other seasonings as needed.
Serve on its own or over cous cous, Israeli cous cous, or orzo pasta.
Related: Weekend Cooking: How to Make Curry
(Originally published 10/24/2008)
(Image: Emma Christensen)
Kart Serving Tray b...

Comments (40)
this is the recipe I have been looking for since last fall! So glad something like this came up~
Yes, I really appreciate any slow cooker recipe that doesn't include "add mushroom/chicken condensed soup!" More like this, please. :-)
this sounds so delicious.
Mmm, this sounds soooo good right now.
I hope The Kitchn keeps posting these slow cooker recipes! It's hard to find recipes online that I trust will be good...this looks delicious! Anyone have any recommendations for good slow cooker recipe sites or books?
This looks really good, but I have a question. What could you use in place of the curry powder. I really dislike the taste of curry powder. Not sure why, every few years I try things with curry powder or curry spice in them and I always hate the taste. Anyway, any suggestions for a substitute?
Yeah--if anyone knows of a great slow cooker site, I'd love to know too.
Here's one from a woman cooking for an entire year out of slow cookers:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
I've had good luck with Williams-Sonoma's "Slow Cooker" book (in the "Food Made Fast" series, 2006). (It is cream of mushroom soup free.) The recipes for Turkey Mole and Indonesian Beef Stew are great.
I'm a big fan of a whole chicken in the slow cooker, some mushrooms, lemon, garlic, potatoes...delicious.
I am a poor Grad Student - a batchelor living in a small batchelor pad. I made this this past week and it was SO GOOD. And actually really easy! I froze half of it so I'm looking forward to serving it to some friends one night over cous cous.
:)
I gave this a try this evening and was surprised at how good it is. It's the best homemade soup I've ever made which didn't include some sort of puree to thicken and enhance it. I used a dried red chili (such as is common in Chinese cooking) and chopped it into 3 pieces and skipped the cauliflower, and it was fabulous.
This is a great way to incorporate vegetables into your diet as well as to make a cheap meal.
Wow...this was completely delicious! I was really worried when I tasted it after 4 hours, and then I realized I had forgotten the coconut milk and spinach. With those added it was a completely different dish. It did need 5 hours on high to cook the potatoes, so make sure you cook them enough in the first step. SO GOOD over Israeli Couscous or rice, and so vegetably and healthy. Yum.
is there any way to cook this in something other than a slowcooker? it sounds delicious but i don't have one.
never mind! i didn't read through carefully and just realized i can cook it in my dutch oven! that's what i'm doing tonight. thanks!
what kind of curry powder do you use?
WOW! I made this today and was so blown away by how delicious it was. In reference to the curry powder question above - I bought curry powder from the bulk area/spice section at my Whole Foods.
I made this a few days ago and it is really fantastic! My crockpot wasn't quite big enough to hold a whole head of cauliflower and two cans of chickpeas, so I cut that down. I tried it before adding the coconut milk, and honestly, it's just as delicious without it, so I left it out to save a few calories. Thanks!
Hey everyone...do you think I can use sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes? I am not a cook and I do not know if this could work...
Thanks
falfals, I think this would be delicious with sweet potatoes. You may even improve the recipe!
Hah! I didn't realize I'd need a massive crock pot for this. It's now it my biggest soup pot on the stove set at low. Let you know how it works out tonight.
And wish I had thought of sweet potatoes. Good call, falfals!
this stew is delicious! i made it this evening with a slight alteration to the veggies. instead of two white potatoes and a head of cauliflower...I used one sweet potato, one white potato and a big carrot...thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing some vegetarian recipes!
I'm new to slow cooker cookery and I was wondering if this would work on low for more hours (8 or so) rather than high for 4? I'm trying to figure out recipes I can start in the morning that will be ready when I get home from work.
@lala_lisa - it's a pretty forgiving recipe so I think it'd be okay on low!
If you don't like the taste of curry powder replace it with some cumin, corriander, paprika and a little chilli powder.
This will most definitely be on the menu this week!
This looks almost exactly like a recipe that I found several years ago on Cooking Light.com. I think the only difference is the use of cauliflower instead of green beans, and two cans of tomatoes rather than one. Oh, and the cooking light recipe also has carrots. Anyway, I have made that version MANY times, and it IS delicious! My kids even like it, which is really saying something. (My 6-year old only eats the carrots and potatoes, but still, I don't have to fix her something different! I put in extra carrots and potatoes for this reason.) I also leave out the spinach. I can see where you can really interchange some of the ingredients and still get great results.
Followed directions, explicitly, for cooking in oven, 350F for 2 hours. Thought it was a bit long but decided to trust the recipe. Ended up with mush. Very disappointed. Ah well. Live and learn....
Any notes on how well this keeps ? Can the extra be frozen or canned ?
America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution is the best slow cooker recipe book I've found. Friends are always amazed that the food was from the slow cooker.
I just finished cooking this up.
Much like Macushla, I followed the directions, and I had mine in the crock pot on HIGH for 4 hours. I should have checked on it during the cooking process because I also ended up with a big pot of mushy ingredients. In my opinion I think that 4 hours is WAY to long to cook this on high.
Also, it could have used more curry.
Overall this dish is not that great and I'm not making it again.
Any suggestions on a substitute for the coconut milk? Maybe yogurt? Thanks
I'm making this right now. The timer say 3 hours to go before I add the coconut and spinach.
Absolutely delicious! My only complaint was that it required more work than expected before everything could go in the slow cooker. But once it was all there I could forget about it, go run some errands, and come home to an amazing dinner.
I used sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes as one poster suggested. I also subbed the curry powder for a mixture of cumin, coriander, and paprika as another poster recommended.
So, I'm not a slow cooker person since I got my pressure cooker - this worked great and was done after 10 minutes in the pressure cooker. A very satisfying fall meal! I love using your recipes because my food always turns out looking like your pictures! Yum!
(arghh! just lost a detailed post attempting the 'reply' feature for the first time. won't be trying that again)
"My only complaint was that it required more work than expected before everything could go in the slow cooker. "
@ melibean: This is always my complaint with these recipes. Defeats the purpose of using the slow cooker in the first place for me. You might try skipping the *pre-prep* altogether & tossing everything straight into the crock & cooking it on LOW for 8 hrs or so (test for doneness first time around & adjust cooking time accordingly). Yep, it's a risk but one I'm willing to take after 20 years of experimenting. In all those years I have YET to stumble across a slow cooker recipe that benefits from being cooked on 'high'. I've also discovered that most pre-prep is UNnecessary. And I've worn out more than a couple slow cookers during that time.
Bottom line: There's a reason it's called a slow-cooker. If you need your food prepared in less time than it takes to cook it on 'low'. you're better off using the stovetop/oven.Take the rise, experiment & have fun.
This looks great...similar to a curry veggie soup I make on the stove, but happy to have a slow-cooker version! And my suggestion for other slow-cooker recipes - LOVE the Cook's Illustrated Slow-Cooker Cookbook. A bunch are veggie/vegan friendly and all are tasty tasty
Made it last night! Yum! Will be good over rice. I have finally found the healthy cousin to my favorite Thai dish which is vegetable curry. Thanks Kitchn!
with the snowstorm brewing outside I decided this would be the perfect thing to make for tonight's dinner. I halved the recipe and made it with a sweet potato instead of regular potatoes (which I thought was a delicious swap and definitely worth it for health/flavor reasons). I also used light coconut milk, to save some calories and fat. The stew was delicious, I made it a bit spicier as per my taste preferences with extra cayenne, and used fire roasted tomatoes because it is what I had on hand. Totally yummy, very easy, and great for leftovers! I imagine it will be even better tomorrow!
This looks delicious! I'm wondering if this is the sort of thing I can cook on low for even longer than 8 hours. I'm looking for a vegetarian slow cooker recipe that will cook overnight, for around 18 hours. Thoughts?
I made this a few nights ago and it was delicious! After reading the comments, I made the following changes:
- I started the slow cooker on HIGH, and allowed the garlic and onions to soften up. Still on high, I added the potatoes, about a 1/2 tablespoon of cumin. I left all this going on HIGH while I prepped the rest of the veggies and chickpeas.
- When all the prepping was done, and everything was in the slow cooker, I switched it to low and let it sit overnight for about 8 hours. The potatoes were soft but held their shape.
Definitely something I will be making again!
Thanks. I'm using a pressure cooker also. Glad it only takes about 10 minutes.